Category: Resources

40 years worth of TV writing experience and info, yours for the taking.

How Jaydi Samuels Became a Writer for FAMILY GUY

…Cuz inquiring minds like ours want to know. And desperate noobs like us need to know.

by Lauren Le Vine

Many people are quick to dismiss Family Guyas a cartoon with too many cutaway jokes that only appeals to bros in the 18-35 demographic, but fans know that’s not the case. Against all odds, Family Guy‘s 250th episode is airing this Sunday, and it was written by a kick-ass female.image

Jaydi Samuels always knew that she wanted to write comedy, and even the writer’s strike in 2007 didn’t deter her. She just went down and joined the picket line. When it came time to get a job after graduation in 2008, Samuels didn’t just send in writing samples and wait to hear back. The road to her penning Family Guy‘s 250th episode involved plenty of dues-paying, but reading about it will definitely light a fire under you. Even if writing for a TV show isn’t your specific dream, Samuels’ tips for landing the job you want are a must-read. read article

Sitcoms: a changing medium adapts to a changing audience

Change: It’s a good thing, right? So how come everybody in the TV biz is so dang worried about it?

pic by Gustavo Morales
pic by Gustavo Morales

by Stephanie Kocer

NBC canceled a sitcom in 1989 due to low ratings. A year later network executive Rick Ludwin ordered four episodes of that same show. He liked the young comedian it starred. Those four episodes were shown during the summer season on NBC. It then scored a few viewers. Those new viewers, mostly young men, prompted the network to pick up the show for a second season. That struggling sitcom: Seinfeld.

It’s hard to tell whether a sitcom will be a smash hit or a giant flop. Seinfeld had everything working against it: scheduling, ratings and an unknown star. Today it is considered the greatest sitcom of all time. Many shows don’t get that lucky, though. There’s no secret formula for making a great comedy. Whether a show makes it or not depends on more than just being funny. read article

Peggy Bechko tells writers how to “Name that Character!”

whatname

by Peggy Bechko

Name that Character!

Sounds like a game, doesn’t it, but for the writer it’s far from it. If you thought you had a tough time finding a name for your kid, listen up. It can be a far more serious matter to find a name for the characters in your script or novel. (Maybe not to a parent, but certainly to the serious writer.)

It’s all too easy to think of naming a character after a friend, a relative or someone you met once because you happen to remember it. read article

How to Write for Hollywood Without Ever Leaving New York

Yeppers, here it is, the answer to the question you’ve all been asking.

Well, all of you who live in NY and see no damn reason to, you know, move.

Proceed with caution – cuz the following info does indeed work…if you’re already a famous playwright! read article

Why Nobody’s Talking About COMMUNITY Anymore

For awhile there, fan fave TV series COMMUNITY was among the top trending topics on everybody’s list. Now it’s kinda lost in the shuffle, replaced in online TV conversations by DAREDEVIL and its super-powered ilk. In case you’ve been hitting yourself on the head with a trout and wondering what deep-seated psychological needs have caused this sudden loss of popularity, take a deep breath, put down that fish, and chill as you read this article we just found:

 communitycastphotoby Dustin Rowles

After NBC cancelled it last year, and after a last-minute resuscitation hours before actor contracts were set to expire, and after it lost yet another cast member in Yvette Nicole Brown, Communityfinally debuted on Yahoo! last month. This show that so many of us on the internet had a shared history with, whose characters often felt like friends to us, and whose showrunner felt like our beloved uncle who drank too much at Thanksgiving and made us laugh and then yelled at us when we didn’t get at that one joke, had finally arrived. We — the internet — had gotten what we had so desperately wanted for so very long, a sixth season of Community.

… and then we kind of forgot about it. read article