Category: By TVWriter.Com

The comedy writing rule of…twos?

duetsby Ken Levine

I have this astounding ability to watch a lot of sitcoms and pitch the jokes mere seconds before the actors say them, almost verbatim. It’s an amazing skill. Houdini never could do that. Audiences are mystified.  Talk about magic.

Of course, the truth is that after years of writing comedy I just can identify the most obvious punchlines. And there are shockingly way too many sitcoms that are guilty of this.

You might think this is a byproduct of multi-camera shows where rhythms have become stale and predictable, but single-camera shows are sometimes worse. They often resort to irony so it’s not even jokes. It’s catch-phrases or “Gee, THAT went well.” read article

TVWriter™ Top Posts for the Week Ending 8/8/14

bagga

Here they are, the most viewed TVWriter™ posts during the past week:

Break Into TV Writing, The Time is Now read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 8/8/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Joe Wengert (newbie) is developing BIG KIDS, a comedy about a big brother who just plain tries too hard, for NBC.  (And, hey, it’s about a blue collar family, so the big munch – i.e. me – already loves it.)
  • Richard Price (CRIMINAL JUSTICE) is developing an untitled new crime drama for Fox TV. (Cuz he’s Richard fucking Price and this is a crime fucking drama, and, well, dood’s got the kinda cred I’d commit a crime or two to have. Good luck, Richard! Um, that’s not too big of a suck-up, is it? Huh?)
  • Rachel Carey‘s novel, Debt, described as “a satire of the 2008 financial meltdown in New York, is comilng to ABC Family. (Cuz ABC Family ain’t a family channel anymore and, more importantly, cuz GREY’S ANATOMY star Ellen Pompeo wants to play the lead, so what the hell. Oh, and no writer is attached, so if you know Ellen or Rachel, time to give ’em a call.)
  • Scott Peterson & Joshua Pruett (PHINEAS AND FERB) are developing HAUNTED MANSION as a special (read “backdoor pilot) as an animated Disney Channel project. (Sorry, but try as I may, your munchman just can’t get into this one. I think it’s cuz I absolutely can’t stand the Entity You May Now Prostrate Yourselves Before And Hail As Disney. Then again, it could just be my constipation. Ciao!)

Peer Production: BECOMING RICARDO Episode 4 hits the Interwebs Today!

Watch the new episode here and now!

by the creators of Becoming Ricardo

All of us at BECOMING RICARDO want to share the latest news: Episode 4 of Season One is premiering today, Thursday, August 7 at 10 am on our website.The title of our latest masterwork is “And Then There Was Steven”. In this episode Jesenia finds herself featured in a major tabloid because Ricardo is quickly becoming the hot new Latino lead on “Crime, Law, and Justice.”  All this fame seems to be getting to Jesenia’s head, but she is quickly distracted by a possible new love interest, when she meets Steven Castillo. Thing don’t go as smoothly as they should, though, because someone seems to be stalking Jesenia’s every move – which makes living her double life even harder than it’s been!

For those unfamiliar with BECOMING RICARDO, it’s a web series that gives Latino actors the opportunity to showcase their talent in a way we don’t typically see on TV or film these days. With the release of this NY Daily News article, it becomes overwhelmingly important for Latinos to create their own content complete with the highest quality, solid writing, and the kind of candor that seems hard to find in entertainment outlets that feature us. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 8/6/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (THE DESCENDANTS) have a new overall deal to develop series for Sony Pictures TV. (Welcome, Oscar-winning brothers! Yer friendly neighborhood munchman is thrilled that you’ve taken shelter from the storms that are feature films in the, erm, storms that are TV. Oh well, it’s good for TV anyway.)
  • Kurt Sutter (SONS OF ANARCHY) has a new “first-look” deal with 20th Century Fox TV. (Which isn’t as good as it sounds cuz a first look is far from the same as a “must buy.” But at least Kurt will get paid for all his brainstorming, right? Right? Hey, Fox, munchie’s talking to you.)
  • Jishnu Pablo Dey (newbie) has won the first place prize for third grade in the national PBS Kids Writers Contest with his poetry (and mixed media illustration) book, A Humble Book of Poems (With a Little Seasoning), and muncho’s here to tell you that the title just blows me away. Congrats, Jishnu. Here’s hoping one of your next mixed media is TV cuz there’s no place anywhere that can use your originality and creativity more. And to think, when I was in third grade all I cared about was my GI Joe figures.)
  • Meghan Lyvers and Brianna Bennett (they’re network suits, kids) are the new Senior VP and VP, respectively, of Drama Development at CBS. (You know the drill. If you know either of these two fine peeps and are pretty sure they don’t hate you, give ’em a call and congratulate them. Take ’em to lunch! Tell ole munchberger here where and when you’re doing it so I can kinda pop in and, you know, strug me stuff!)