SitcomWriter
Los Angeles, CA
Female, 33
For over ten years, I’ve had the extreme pleasure of being staffed on several half-hour network sitcoms, rising in the ranks from Staff Writer to Co-Executive producer. My writing partner and I are now developing our own material.
The final call is the head of the network. You might write the greatest script ever. Everyone loves it. It's a sure thing! Then the network president sees it and he's not a big fan of that joke on page four. So it's dead. Never to see the light of day. Transversely: If the network president gets a chuckle from men in drag then Work It makes it to the your prime time line up.
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If you want to write solo, write dramas or movies. Comedy is a communal effort. Yes, you do get to write alone sometimes, but that just feels like a little break where you get to sleep in and type in your underwear. The majority of your time is being surrounded by very funny people eating snacks.
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I always knew this is what I wanted to do. I assumed it's what everyone wanted to do. And since everyone can't be a sitcom writer they "settle" for being a doctor, lawyer, indian chief whatever. Imagine my surprise when I discovered people actually want to be things like doctors and save lives instead of writing dick jokes. Crazy. How would I reply to being told it was hard to make it as a writer? I guess I'd say I can't imagine doing anything else. This is my dream job. It's worth putting in the effort. Someone has to be the lucky one who gets to do it. Why not me? But I'd also say that I'm not under any illusions of this being a cake walk. I came to Los Angeles knowing that if I didn't find meaningful writing work in five years I'd go back to the East Coast and re-think my career choices. I wanted to be a writer. I didn't want a career as a want-to-be writer.
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Short answer -If not most at least a good chunk. If you're starting from scratch it is the easiest (not easy) way to get on a staff. Most of the shows I've been on the most senior writers' assistant gets to write a script. If it's good you might even get moved up to staff writer. At the least you learn the ins and outs of a writers' room. You meet all the writers and if you have any talent we are all dying to help you out. (that is 100% sarcasm free - we know how hard the assistants work and we want them to succeed) I would say the second most common way to get your foot in the door is through one of the fellowships or writing programs some of the networks and studios offer.
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This is tough. I think Strangers with Candy, an old Amy Sedaris show on Comedy Central should have gotten the audience of a 2 and 1/2 Men. I think Spaced a British show starring Simon Pegg is close to perfect. Actual American Network Sitcoms? Right now not enough people watch Community (perhaps too insider?). And not enough people watch Cougar Town (perhaps they still think it's a show about an old woman humping young boys?) in my humble opinion.
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I have my dream job and I still hate it about half the time. The hours suck. Plus it's very hard when you really love a joke or an idea and your boss says “no.”
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I can't think of any comedy scripts where this happened. I think CSI is an example of it on the drama side. But, and I cannot over emphasize this... It is EXTREMELY hard to do.
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