British TV comedy is preparing for an American invasion, with Stateside comedy kings David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and Arrested Development star David Cross crossing shores to make shows for UK broadcasters.As the article mentions, this model of an American-led British writing team, has experienced considerable ratings success with My Family (created by Fred Barron)
Unfazed by the lukewarm reaction to Friends producer Adam Chase’s BBC3 comedy Clone, the writers hope to bring the verve and high gag ratio of the best US sitcoms to shows with strong British appeal.
Their solution? Fish-out-of-water situations involving Brits in the US and vice versa, and strong back-up from British writers.
Monday, November 16, 2009
American sitcom writers come to UK
In Broadcast, Robin Parker speaks to American sitcom writers who are working on commissions from UK broadcasters.
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That's promising, since a) I'm American b) I like to write, and c) I'd love to write over there.... Now if I can just get someone from 'c' to think 'b' is any good then maybe I can stop living in 'a'.
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This maybe because of the way it is EMPHASISED to writers at BBC training sessions that regardless of whatever work of commercial genius they have produced, they will merely be asked, “What else have you done?”
ReplyDeleteWould it not be more helpful to struggling pro writers in the UK if the USA were restricted much more to just having their output screen on UK schedules? Or maybe we can assume that budgetary considerations are not as paramount as claimed?
With comedies like “My Family” written the American way and “Moving Wallpaper” depicting the same mode albeit in fiction, the writing on the wall of the White Cliffs, surely now spells a dismal future for paying household bills here.
We have the best comedy writers in Britain... but try letting them write, as opposed to being rewritten, watered down and second-guessed by all the hordes and the "process."
ReplyDeleteNot about comedy, but about why our best writing will never make it to the small screen..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/10/why-britain-cant-do-the-wire/