Road to the Emmys: Comedy = tragedy + time (+ commercials)
Sure, not everything about making comedy for broadcast television is a bed of roses, but several sitcom showrunners make it work.
In her lead story for the Variety Road to the Emmys: Comedy section, Shawna Malcom talks to the kingpins about how they do it. It begins with this anecdote:
Ask "Modern Family" co-creator Christopher Lloyd about the realities of crafting a comedy for broadcast television, and he'll tell a story about the name of his production company, Picador.
"A picador is the guy in a bullfight who helps make sure the matador doesn't get killed by distracting the bull," he says. "That's what TV writing is. You're just distracting the bull long enough to stick around for the next set of commercials." ...
Read the rest of the story here, as well as this feature by Randee Dawn on thrice-nommed HBO's halfhour revival. Then check out highlights from the six nominated series.
A native of Los Angeles raised by two parents and "Hill Street Blues," Jon Weisman ankled his scriptwriting career and began working for Variety in 2004, subsequently serving as associate editor of features and television reporter before becoming awards editor. He promises not to use this platform to retroactively campaign for Oscars for “The Misfits,” though he’d feel justified in doing so.
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