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Writing Television Sitcoms
This new edition of Writing Television Sitcoms features the essential information every would-be teleplay writer needs to know to break into the business, including: - Updated examples from contemporary shows such as 30 Rock, The Office and South Park - Shifts in how modern stories are structured - How to recognize changes in taste and censorship - The reality of reality television - How the Internet has created series development opportunities - A refined strategy for approaching agents and managers - How pitches and e-queries work - or don't - The importance of screenwriting competitions
331 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 17, 2021
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:
"Though the norms may change,
Don't underrate the comfort
Of a frank how-to."
"Though the norms may change,
Don't underrate the comfort
Of a frank how-to."
November 26, 2018
LOVED!!!!
October 9, 2011
Given that the professor who wrote this book was my course professor, I can't say bad things about it. No, really, this book provided a detailed introduction to writing sitcoms. And I thought that Professor Smith was very generous to leave his email to any of his readers.
April 11, 2013
No memory, cept a lot of sienfeld and friends references.
March 14, 2023
Target audience: people who want to enter and make a career as a writer in the sitcom television market
Does the book accomplish what it says it will?
In the introduction the author clearly outlines the intended audience and intent of the book and why he is qualified to write this book → after reading the book this introduction is 100% accurate so if you resonate with the intro, you will find value in the book.
What I liked:
It is interesting how he started with the focus being on how to enter this career path as opposed to how to simply just write a sitcom regardless of your interest in it as a professional option. I think making this intent clear from the start makes it easier to get invested and excited about the advice and gets you thinking more seriously if this is the path you want to take in life. This perspective also makes this book unique since it gives you the exact steps on how to become a sitcom writer beyond just writing the script.
What could be improved
For each concept, there was usually only one example maximum (for some there were no examples). I think getting more examples would have been valuable.
For instance in part 2, the author helps you build up to a professional script. I would have loved to have more real world examples of each step for well known episodes of shows. For instance, what would each of those steps look like for the famous “diversity Day” Office script? (I think linking this in the appendix would have been nice).
I also wish there were more explicit exercises written out especially for part 1 so we get a more detailed guide on trying comedy writing ourselves. I know the author is a professor, so I wonder what type of exercises he might be running in a classroom setting and see if he could connect them to the book for people not able to take his class.
Does the book accomplish what it says it will?
In the introduction the author clearly outlines the intended audience and intent of the book and why he is qualified to write this book → after reading the book this introduction is 100% accurate so if you resonate with the intro, you will find value in the book.
What I liked:
It is interesting how he started with the focus being on how to enter this career path as opposed to how to simply just write a sitcom regardless of your interest in it as a professional option. I think making this intent clear from the start makes it easier to get invested and excited about the advice and gets you thinking more seriously if this is the path you want to take in life. This perspective also makes this book unique since it gives you the exact steps on how to become a sitcom writer beyond just writing the script.
What could be improved
For each concept, there was usually only one example maximum (for some there were no examples). I think getting more examples would have been valuable.
For instance in part 2, the author helps you build up to a professional script. I would have loved to have more real world examples of each step for well known episodes of shows. For instance, what would each of those steps look like for the famous “diversity Day” Office script? (I think linking this in the appendix would have been nice).
I also wish there were more explicit exercises written out especially for part 1 so we get a more detailed guide on trying comedy writing ourselves. I know the author is a professor, so I wonder what type of exercises he might be running in a classroom setting and see if he could connect them to the book for people not able to take his class.
January 23, 2020
A lot of good ideas and anecdotes about writing television sitcoms.
July 1, 2021
To be fair, sitcoms are not one of my favored genres to write screenplays for, but this is still a solid book and I learned a lot from it.
October 25, 2015
There is so much great information in this book, I know I'm going to have to read read this at least two more times to fully comprehend everything. Very good book, I suggested this book to anyone who's thinking about writing TV scripts. Give it a shot you have nothing to lose.
April 23, 2020
Tremendously helpful for aspiring sitcom writers. I was looking for a text that broke down the various types of sitcom stories, identified core ingredients, and presented key questions the writer should ask themselves; this book does all that and much more.
December 9, 2013
Evan is a great writer and shares sensational advice for trying to get into the world of sitcom writing. A true treasure of a book.
April 9, 2014
I was looking for something less casually written to cite for developing characters in a television program. This was more for actually writing a show, than for reference. Just not what I needed.
September 19, 2014
Great Core Information!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews