Sunday, March 19, 2006

COMEDY IS SOMEONE ELSE'S NIGHTMARE

I was trying to come up with a comedy pitch based on a certain living situation I think will provide comedy. It just wasn't singing to me.

Then, just now walking the dog, I realized that the main character had to be someone for whom that living situation is the essence of nightmare. (In a comic way, of course.) And there's my story engine.

In any pitch there needs to be an essential conflict that will drive the show as a whole. Without it, you're going to be doing heavy lifting just to come up with story pitches. Cops v. robbers, docs v. illness and injury, lawyers vs. crooks, lawyers vs. lawyers, doctors vs. The War, Sam vs. Diane, Dave vs. Maddy ... what is the essential conflict that drives your pitch?

Boy, I've been off my feed all day. And now I feel muuuch better.

1 comment:

Andrew said...

That makes sense. I mused a little on a similar topic last year in this post. There's a power in nightmares that we sometimes shy away from, perhaps because we think of payoff, wish fulfillment, rather than the journey, struggling through wishes.