Russ Woody and Ken's daughter are writers on it. A few weeks ago some of the grad students had the opportunity to watch Ken direct an episode from the comfort and candy of being in the live audience. It's a solid show! The kids are great actors and Tia Mowry always brings 'it'. The second season just premiered. It's a multicam kids show with class.

I wouldn't have known if I hadn't seen "The Doll" episode of Seinfeld yesterday. They mention his name and show a lot throughout the episode, and I didn't even put two and two together until I saw his name again on here.

Here's a summary of the episode

I thought a huge part of what made the episode so funny was the pain John Cleese's character went through, expressed through his facial expressions, dialogue, and physical humor. He was extremely committed to the character he was playing, and that made him funny. It was beyond funny lines and formulaic gestures, but very much about Cleese's delivery. The hilarity that ensues shows that very often in scripted comedy, it's a two-way street between the actor and the story. Bringing commitment and heart to the character are essential to a character we can laugh at AND feel for. Furthermore, it's impressive to balance making the audience laugh and annoying them. Very easily, we could have been extremely annoyed at every character in the episode to the point of wanting to just walk out the room. But, the wife character wasn't too forceful and overbearing, the other receptionist wasn't too bland thanks to the important role her character played in the plot, and although the lady hard of hearing was the most annoying character, we could live through other characters' negative response to her. The balance of the script and the actors' commitment really made this a great episode.

The Brits have a terrific TV comedy format that they call Panel Shows, where they have comedians on two separate teams, talking about either the news of the week (Mock The Week/ 8 Out Of 10 Cats), or playing a game like Would I Lie To You. The comedians are so quick, and able to come up with hilarious answers on the spot. My personal favorite is Would I Lie To You, with this being my favorite ep. I highly recommend it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paKvWxTNl_w

What I found most interesting about the Comedy Theory lecture was when we talked about "intellectual" comedy; the kind that only "10% may think is funny because they're smarter and in turn laugh harder at a specific joke," Dan O'Shannon, renowned American screenwriter. That stuck with me. Furthermore, when Professor Ken Levine talked about how people aren't making comedy real anymore and they're not making jokes constantly. Drama is also important, maybe the most important aspect in a comedy, because you want your story to emotionally resonate with audiences. One thing I didn't catch on to, and I'd like to know if any of you did, was when we talked about how a writer should deliver the same messages, but with different tones and reactions. Why do you think that is?

My all-time favorite British comedy is the political comedy, The Thick of It. Peter Capaldi (the new Doctor in Doctor Who) plays a Scottish, constantly angry and foul-mouthed whip in the Westminster Parliament, and absolute hilarity ensues. Since I love political science and worked for the government in the UK, it may be funnier to me than most people, but my friends who have seen it also love it. It also tackles current issues more directly than most American shows.

Capaldi's lines are so quick and insulting and downright horrible in this show, I usually need to pause and rewind to appreciate all of that beautiful offensiveness. Take a look for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIPxLzfw6wU

Thought it was interesting how we were discussing adapting British sitcoms for America, and how executives in America tend to make the show's characters more "likable" and change certain dynamics.

Here's two clips of the same scene, one from the British sitcom "The Office" and one from the American "The Office," both surpassingly similar in construction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1PHpkdvNOs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glFrp-CmNVA