As Live Production: Sitcom Research

on

Netflix

One Day At A Time (Netflix)

“Life is too short. We’re gonna have differences, but what does that matter. We’re family.”
(One Day At A Time, 2017).
  • Family, but single mother and grandmother with two children
  • Filmed in front of live studio audience - they react to the jokes and can be heard laughing and applauding throughout scenes
  •  Multi-cam but pre-recorded - fades between scenes and five costume changes - written with no act breaks as no ad breaks
  • Flat lighting to maintain consistent coverage without uneven lighting as the characters move around the set
  • Longer scenes (like a play) to entertain live studio audience
  • No music over scenes, only in the title sequence - less edited, more live
  • Focused on performance - there is a debate during the pilot (see fig. 1)
  • Only two locations - the hospital where the single mother works and the apartment where she lives (we see the living room and three bedrooms during the pilot)
  • Three storylines - one main focused on the single mother and two sides ones focusing on her children
  • Deals with current issues and debates such as feminism and depression
  • Issues make the show light-hearted with serious undertones - the main character falls apart towards the end and has to solve her family problems in the final "act")
  • Positive
Fig. 1 One Day At A Time (2017)

Friends (CBS)


  • Filmed in front of live studio audience but pre-recorded - the studio audience can be heard reacting/laughing
  • Flat consistent lighting
  • Musical stings between scenes during building establishers for the next location, or during a cut as time passes in one location
  • Verbal humour - mainly sarcasm or irony, but also singing and imitation of accents
  • Frequent costume and set changes
  • Set over two days
  • Ensemble of characters, but the main storyline works to introduce Ross and Rachel as the show's focus during the pilot episode
  • Several locations, but the main ones are Monica's apartment and the coffee shop, Central Perk
  • Jokes are referred to again so as to create a circular narrative - Chandler talks about a dream he had at the beginning of the episode and then comes back to this during the tag (the closing scene)

Live studio sitcoms

Will & Grace Live (NBC)

Fig. 2 Will & Grace (2005)
  • Opens with the director counting down to action in the gallery (see fig. 2), and the curtain comes up as the audience cheer - the actors bow at the end of the episode - are like theatre than television
  • Reactionary audience
  • More physical/visual humour - Karen running over Jack’s feet on scooter, Will stepping on them moments after; Jack’s eyebrow; Grace ducking behind the counter when getting a phone call
  • Only title music and music before breaks
  • Actors break character to laugh/delay in lines (see fig. 3)
  • No costume or set changes
  • Set over one evening; not in real time
  • Three acts (breaks)
  • Five characters
  • Three storylines
  • Longer scenes (almost like a play)
  • Comedic tone throughout
  • Characters act morally incorrectly and wrestle with morals/secrets
Fig. 3 Will & Grace (2005)

Not Going Out Live (BBC One)


  • Cutaway shots which act as location establishers are held for longer than usual to give the actors chance to run between sets and make wardrobe changes
  • Wardrobe changes are sometimes evident if an actor hasn't put their new jumper on properly, but the humour is used to reflect this - when mistakes are made the actors make jokes about this
  • Focus on performance - adds to the tension of being live, since the audience are made aware things could go wrong - talent show performance with singing the periodic table song and throwing knives, juggling eggs, etc.
  • Laughter and reactions of the studio audience can be heard

Classic feminist sitcoms

The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS)

  • Filmed in a studio but pre-recorded
  • Audience can be heard laughing and clapping
  • Music over building establishers between scenes
  • Flat, consistent lighting
  • Two main locations - Mary's apartment and the news room where she works
  • Several characters, both main and supporting - extras can be seen in the background of the news room set (see fig. 4)
  • One storyline following the main character, Mary
  • Verbal humour - mainly irony
  • Act breaks
Fig. 4 The Mary Tyler Moore show (1970)

Laverne & Shirley (ABC)

  • Two storylines - one centred around Laverne and Shirley, and one centred around their friends -  both of these stories are started from the same inciting incident (sometimes only one story focused on Laverne and Shirley)
  • Filmed on sets in a studio with a live audience, but pre-recorded - the audience are heard laughing and also applauding between scenes
  • Has act breaks
  • Physical humour - the actors make faces, imitate each other, and rely on props for their performance - for example, in one episode, Laverne and Shirley sell plants to two people who are fighting and we see their reactions to the sound effects as it is implied these two people throw the plants at each other off-screen
  • Flat, consistent lighting
  • Positive - Laverne and Shirley get into messes, but they support each other as they work through them, and find solutions by the end of the episode

The Golden Girls (NBC)

  • Studio-recorded, where audience can be heard reacting, but pre-recorded
  • Two or three storylines per episode - often these merge or come to a similar conclusion
  • Focus on performance - verbal and physical humour - characters often imitate each other, use irony, sarcasm, and props as well as sing and imitate accents
  • Focused on the relationship between the four main characters
  • Flat, consistent lighting

Common elements/themes

Overall, studio sitcoms have more performance based humour, especially if live, in order to provoke an instant reaction from the audience. This is because there is not usually a laugh track, but the studio audience are heard reacting to the jokes or cheering/clapping between scenes.
This gives studio sitcoms more of a feel of theatre, rather than television. This can be seen particularly in live studio sitcoms, since often there are no costume changes, or if there are, they are minor - for example, in Not Going Out Live, although Lee did change costume, it would often only involve him putting on a jumper since he also had to run between sets during the shots which show the building establishers, and therefore did not have as much time as he would have if there had been a cut during the scenes, as there would be if the episode was pre-recorded.
There is also usually no music over the scenes, since the focus is to hear the studio audience laughing at the jokes. Therefore, the energy of being live, even if the episode is pre-recorded, remains.
Since most sitcoms are filmed with multiple cameras all getting coverage at once, they have flat, consistent lighting, so that it is not uneven when the characters move around the set and the cameras follow. This was a method of lighting created by German cinematographer, Karl Fruend, who produced the three camera system - where one camera shoots a wide and the others capture close-ups - so that the lighting didn't suddenly change between shots when filming a multi-camera sitcom (Janney, 2018).

Writing a sitcom

"A sitcom, however, requires a premise that could go on indefinitely. And a constant stream of new ideas. Self-contained stories and long-term evolving arcs. Characters designed for lots of stories while remaining consistently consistent. Themes upon sub-themes to tie it all together. And it’s got to be funny"
(Barnes, 2016).

Whilst single-camera sitcoms are written more like films, multi-camera sitcoms have to be written more like plays for a theatre. This is due to limitations within the studio environment, such as the live audience - who require more physical, performance-based humour since they can see everything as they sit not far from the set, therefore subtle humour may not provoke enough of a reaction from them - as well as only having room within in a studio for a certain number of sets, unlike filming on location with a single camera, thus there are normally less scenes within multi-camera sitcoms, and therefore also less characters (Picone, 2014).
However, regardless of whether a sitcom is filmed with one or multiple cameras, the pilot episode still needs to set up the characters and their relationship, as well as the show's tone, and the character's conflict - which is what normally causes the comedy (Brown, s.d).
Most sitcoms follow a formula, which can be followed, or even subverted in order to challenge audience expectations. The structure of this formula being:
  • Teaser (also known as a 'cold open') - Introduces the audience with a short joke or gag which reveals the show's protagonist and their personality
  • Act One (referred here as 'The Trouble') - Further introduction to the characters, and set up of the main story, Story A. The characters often have a problem to deal with during this story, so they try and come up with a plan or solution. Also introduces a subplot towards the end of the act.
  • Act Two (referred here as 'The Muddle') - the characters face an obstacle within Story A which they plot to overcome. Story B (the subplot) is also faced with an obstacle. The act ends with the characters being unable to overcome Story A's obstacle.
  • Act Three (referred here as 'The Triumph/Failure') - The stakes are heightened due to act two's obstacle(s) and we see the characters struggling with Story A. The subplot is resolved with either success or failure before cutting back to Story A to end the episode with either success or failure in the main story also. These stories can merge or remain separate.
  • The tag - the end scene, usually when the credits roll. This scene can bring back a joke from earlier in the episode and bring it full circle, and/or can show the audience the characters have regained equilibrium and are not too changed by the episode's events
(Charney, 2014).

Influence on my sitcom

The main influence of these sitcoms on my script was the type of humour they use, especially live, since it is more physical than verbal. However, I still included verbal humour, since I think it can help give the audience more indiction of the character's personalities, such as Jackie's sarcasm showing she can be impatient. Yet, this humour is still focused on performance to get an immediate reaction from the audience, with the verbal humour often leading to physical humour.
For example, in a scene where Jackie is trying to concentrate on solving the debt, Adelaide distracts her by singing, therefore Jackie carries her out of the apartment. The singing is a performance, which is more verbal humour, but it leads to the physical action of Jackie carrying Adelaide out.
The humour in the script was also influenced by these other sitcoms. For example, in Laverne & Shirley there is a moment where Laverne imitates Shirley after finding what she has said annoying. I also had Adelaide do this with Jackie, because it was a way to show Adelaide's irritation at Jackie rather than tell it to the audience.
I also looked at live sitcoms to help me structure the script like a play, thus meaning the episode has few costume changes, and longer scenes. Therefore there are not as many scenes, so I also didn't include too many characters.
For this reason, I decided to split the episode into two storylines - one for each main character - with one being the main storyline, Story A, where Jackie is trying to solve the debt, and Adelaide trying to write a crime novel as a subplot, Story B. This was because I wanted to show that the two women are united and each of their actions directly affects the other, therefore their stories merge and are each solved in consequence of the other.
I found that many sitcoms have a positive tone, even though they can deal with serious issues. I decided to try and incorporate this by having Jackie and Adelaide deal with issues, such as crime, debt, and reality, in a light-hearted way to achieve this positive tone.
This is shown by the end of the episode, which acts as the tag since it brings back the joke about Adelaide burying the bills and being surprised by the amount of zeroes on them. This brings the joke full circle, but also shows the characters haven't changed too much - they are still in debt despite Jackie working to solve it, Adelaide may remain jobless and living in her writing, and Jackie will keep trying to be responsible and solve their problems.
The only thing that has changed is that Jackie and Adelaide seem much closer, yet they are still opposites, so there is still the possibility for conflict.

List of illustrations

Figure 1. One Day At A Time (2017) [television programme online] Netflix. At: https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80095532&jbp=9&jbr=3 (Accessed on 28 January 2019)

Figure 2. Will & Grace (2005) [television programme online] Amazon Prime video. At: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B074SFDX8Z/ref=atv_dp_season_select_atf (Accessed on 28 January 2019)

Figure 3. Will & Grace (2005) [television programme online] Amazon Prime video. At: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B074SFDX8Z/ref=atv_dp_season_select_atf (Accessed on 28 January 2019)

Figure 4. The Mary Tyler Moore show (1970) [television programme online] YouTube. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KYbbCpvSPs&t=784s (Accessed on 28 January 2019)

References

Barnes, D. (2016) 'How to Write a Sitcom: Seven Lessons from a Sitcom Writer.' In: Medium. At: https://medium.com/panel-frame/how-to-write-a-sitcom-seven-lessons-from-a-sitcom-writer-57493d55c840 (Accessed on 30 January 2019)
Brown, A. (s.d) 'What makes a great first sitcom episode?' In: Gold. [online] At: 

Charney, N. (2014) 'Cracking the Sitcom Code.' In: The Atlantic.  [online] At: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/12/cracking-the-sitcom-code/384068/  (Accessed on 30 January 2019)

Janney, R. (2018) 'Breakdown: Why All Sitcom Lighting Looks The Same.' In: Rocket Stock [online] At: https://www.rocketstock.com/blog/why-sitcoms-look-the-same/ (Accessed on 28 January 2019)

One Day At A Time (2017) [television programme online] Netflix. At: https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80095532&jbp=9&jbr=3 (Accessed on 28 January 2019)

Picone, J. (2014) 'The Evolution Of The Sitcom: The Age of the Single Camera.' In: New York Film Academy. [online] At: https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/evolution-sitcom-part-2/ (Accessed on 30 January 2019)





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