Fri Dec 05, 2003 7:55 am
@Indy11, okay. Americoms, generally referred to simply as sitcoms, are not really situational despite having the shortened genre name from "situational comedy." They are more physical comedies or derogatory as opposed to thoughtful or situational. As a writer, I just know how those writers think. They think of a joke or gag then they work out the action to meet that joke.
Britcoms are more situational and usually rely on more thoughtful humour as opposed to durogatory humour. It appears to me the writers usually have a story or situation planned out then add as many jokes to it as possible. The order of how the jokes are created is different and has a different effect on me the viewer.
I'll use two movies as a comparison as most people will have seen these, or will at least know what they are about. (TV shows have the same dynamic in my opinion)
Monty Python & the Holy Grail vs. Austin Powers International Man of Mystery ("British" character written by a Canadian-American team)
In my opinion, MP&THG has a far fetched story, but they are always sticking to it. Whatever is done is either their attempts or failures toward their primary goal.
APIMOM and its sequels lag at certain points because the jokes become more important than the plot. They actually stop what they are doing or do something out of step of the movie to get a joke off. It's funny, but it isn't necessarily as intelligent.
When I write my plays, I make every effort to include as many jokes as possible, but I won't stop the progression of a story and go down another tangent to deliver a funny.
All sorts of American movies go off on these tangents and it annoys me. From mellow-dramatic swill that keeps a man shot in the heart alive long enough to give a dying speech to an unnecessary skin scene to distract from a horrible action plot.
Britcoms (movie & tele) to me seem to have interwoven jokes & story together quite well.
Sitcoms (movie & TV) to me seem to have merely added story as an accessory after the fact.
This isn't always the case, but more often than not it does work out like this.
Sir Spectre
Edited by - Sir Spectre on 05-12-2003 08:05:54
Britcoms are more situational and usually rely on more thoughtful humour as opposed to durogatory humour. It appears to me the writers usually have a story or situation planned out then add as many jokes to it as possible. The order of how the jokes are created is different and has a different effect on me the viewer.
I'll use two movies as a comparison as most people will have seen these, or will at least know what they are about. (TV shows have the same dynamic in my opinion)
Monty Python & the Holy Grail vs. Austin Powers International Man of Mystery ("British" character written by a Canadian-American team)
In my opinion, MP&THG has a far fetched story, but they are always sticking to it. Whatever is done is either their attempts or failures toward their primary goal.
APIMOM and its sequels lag at certain points because the jokes become more important than the plot. They actually stop what they are doing or do something out of step of the movie to get a joke off. It's funny, but it isn't necessarily as intelligent.
When I write my plays, I make every effort to include as many jokes as possible, but I won't stop the progression of a story and go down another tangent to deliver a funny.
All sorts of American movies go off on these tangents and it annoys me. From mellow-dramatic swill that keeps a man shot in the heart alive long enough to give a dying speech to an unnecessary skin scene to distract from a horrible action plot.
Britcoms (movie & tele) to me seem to have interwoven jokes & story together quite well.
Sitcoms (movie & TV) to me seem to have merely added story as an accessory after the fact.
This isn't always the case, but more often than not it does work out like this.
Sir Spectre
Edited by - Sir Spectre on 05-12-2003 08:05:54