I know this is a blog about writing sitcoms and that I’m rather undermining this by writing about why sitcoms have vanished and why no-one is making sitcoms. That is changing. According to Broadcast, “BBC comedy chief Jon Petrie is targeting ‘at least 20’ new and returning shows per year for the broadcaster.” That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
But these shows will not just appear out of thin air. Last time I wrote about how broadcasters typically do not want to cover the full cost of production, and how everything is now co-funded. This makes it harder to finance original British comedy. Period drama plays well. Quirky comedy? Not so much. After all, sitcoms can go horribly wrong.
Kitchen Table Pictures
However, there is one more change to the ecosystem that I didn’t mention last time. And it’s this: at least once a fortnight, Broadcast puts out a story that reads like this:
Harriet Cooper-Wells and Ben Grandison, formerly commissioners and controllers, have set up Kitchen Table Pictures.
“We are very excited about working with writers, producers and talent to develop our slate of ideas that will be too tempting for channels and streamers to turn down!” said one of them.
“I’m so experienced about working with my former colleague who has always found fascinating and timely stories which are innovative, but also resonate with modern audiences,” said the other one.
Yada, yada, yada. You get the idea.
This production company probably doesn’t have an office. It is essentially run from a kitchen table, a really nice one, which is why I gave this fictional company that name. Meetings are taken in private members’ clubs or cafes, and script sessions in rented managed offices.
Smart Move
I’m not criticising this way of doing things. It’s a very sensible way to run a company. Why waste precious capital on commercial property in Soho or Camden if you don’t need to? Besides, the assets of Kitchen Table Pictures are the contacts, the experience and the network. Harriet and Ben have been working in television for at least twenty years. They know producers and writers who will bring them shows. And they won’t struggle to get meetings with former colleagues at channels or streamers to pitch them. They just need the right idea at the right time and they’re away.
There are now many such small production companies that have been formed over the last ten years, especially when it seemed like there was an endless demand for content. It’s understandable. Not only is the money better and shows can be resold to other territories, making TV shows is fun. It’s certainly more fun than being a TV commissioner who spend most of their time saying ‘no’ to ideas they like pitched by people they like, and occasionally ‘yes’ to other ideas, some of which they dislike for people they can’t stand.
Here's the question: will Kitchen Table Pictures be developing mainstream British sitcoms?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: The rewards are there for successful long-running sitcoms that the nation takes to its heart. But these successes are outliers. Sitcoms have fallen out of favour and confidence is low.
Even if you get a series commission, what if the sitcom doesn’t work? A failing sitcom doesn’t crash and burn. It sets fire to everything around it. TV critics go out of their way to pour a special kind of scorn on comedy that misfires.
A bad sitcom is cringingly embarrassingly awful and hangs around like a bad smell for years. Sitcom is risky in so many ways. Failure isn’t just possible, but likely. Comedy dramas, police procedurals, reality shows and documentaries are a much safer bet.
And development money is very limited because at a small new indie, there’s no backlog of profitable shows funding the next lot. And that kitchen table wasn’t cheap. Are Harriet and Ben going to spend £12k of their own money and hours of their own valuable time developing a sitcom script that could blow up in their faces? You’re just not going to invest in sitcoms unless you’re one of those people (like me) who loved sitcoms as a kid, still loves them and wants to make them more than anything else.
You’re also going to hope that sitcom writers will just write pilot scripts for free. That’s at least a month’s work. I can’t afford to do that very often. (Although I just have co-written a mainstream sitcom script with my writing partner Richard Hurst (with whom I worked on Miranda and Bluestone 42). If you’re interested, contact my agent.)
As a sitcom writer – as well as sitcom lover and viewer - I’m hoping that some of these smaller companies bet the farm (or that lovely kitchen table) on a few sitcoms. And I’m hoping that Petrie’s plans come to fruition and that he will able to kickstart a sitcom economy. After all, we could always use a laugh.
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Your post is enlightening. Thank you.
Like you, I grew up watching brilliantly funny, often inspiring comedy. I want to be part of that tradition of making people laugh rather than cry. Well maybe cry at the very end of the series. But my experience so far has shown me this industry is not for the fainthearted. I really thought that of all genres, comedy would be embraced. But it is a hard sell. Even to get people to look at it, never mind tout it around.
Thank you for your insight. It’s valuable for us “emerging” or maybe wannabe comedy writers to have an insider view.
I look forward to reading more of your posts.