You watch a sitcom on TV, and it seems so easy.   You come up with some silly situation.   You dream up a bunch of funny characters.   How hard can it be?  And then you try to do it yourself, and it seems rather daunting.   What situation should I create?  What characters should I include?  Where do I begin?

In a previous post, I suggested that you start with the main ...

You are writing your spec sitcom pilot not with the hope that it will sell.   It won’t.   You are writing a spec sitcom pilot because the gate keepers of the sitcom universe are too arrogant and lazy to carefully read and evaluate spec episodes of current series.   You are writing your spec sitcom pilot script as a tool of seduction for agents, executives, and, eventually, egomaniacal writer/producers.   For the agents and executives, the premise ...

I lied.   Premise will be the next blog.   I’m already working on it.   First, this quick rant about why you have to endure the agony of writing a spec pilot in the first place.

Let’s get real about writing a spec pilot.   Let’s think about the person who is potentially going to read your spec pilot and might actually be in a position to help advance your career as a sitcom writer in Hollywood.   That person is ...

I received an e-mail recently from a reader asking if I was going to do a book about how to write sitcom pilots.   The answer is, no.   I’m not going to do a book about pilots.   The reason is simple.   My publisher hasn’t asked me for a book about pilots.   Elephant Bucks hasn’t been a big seller like Save the Cat, which spawned two sequels.   Many more people are interested in ...

When I started writing for sitcoms in the 1970’s, a female writer seldom, if ever, ran her own show.   Writer/producers Susan Harris (Soap, Golden Girls), Linda Bloodworth (Designing Women), and Diane English (Murphy Brown) had their husbands for partners.   It was unspoken general knowledge in Hollywood that male studio and network executives were uncomfortable with a female writer running a series by herself.

Elizabeth Meriwether has a famous male producing partner, Jake Kasdan, for her hit series, New Girl.   ...

I’ve been reading a new book called Quiet by Susan Cain.   The subtitle is: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.   Cain’s premise is that introverts have a lot to offer, but their voices get drowned out in a world dominated by extroverts.

Many writers tend to be introverts.   Hollywood, like almost every other place in America, is a mecca for extroverts.    Actors, directors, producers, studio executives, and agents are almost all extroverts.   ...

There’s an episode of Seinfeld in which Kramer buys a computer-generated painting.   It’s one of those trick paintings where, if a person looks at the painting just right, he or she can see a space ship.   Otherwise, the painting is just a series of confusing dots and lines.   Elaine offers to include Kramer’s painting with some other works of art that she is having framed for ...

There are important lessons to be learned from the John Carter belly flop over the weekend.   One lesson is about who gets to make movies in Hollywood and who doesn’t.   Another lesson is about how a movie that seems so misguided got made in the first place.   A third lesson is about how Hollywood does not always say yes to the best scripts or the best ideas.   These lessons are especially instructive, I think, to aspiring writers hoping to see ...

If you’re looking for a fresh sitcom upon which to base a spec script, I recommend New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel.   I don’t imagine the market is flooded yet with New Girl specs, so there’s still a chance to get your script written before everyone else catches on.   I feel confident the series will be renewed for a second season.   New Girl has a hip, ironic style that many of you may enjoy emulating.   New Girl also does ...

Who will win the Oscars this year?  Who should win?  And will anyone care? 

This is one of those rare years when I have actually seen every one of the seventy-three movies nominated for Best Picture.   God, I had a lot of time on my hands around Christmas.   I also sat through most of the American-made feature films that are up for the big awards at the end of the Oscar show.  I hope I can stay awake to see who wins.