Writing Television Sitcoms

Rating:
Summary: Writers Win with Writing Television Sitcoms!
Review: As a young writer who always reads and looks for books on TV and film writing, I found the best and most thorough information in Smith's book. He gives you much more than the title suggests--valuable tips on how to pitch, what to wear, playing the agent game, etc. As far as the creative process, Smith articulates his points and methods in an organized and concise manner. Above all, he gives insightful opinions on behind the scenes politics, which most producers will not do. And when I had a specific question, I sent an e-mail to Smith (his address is given in the back of the book) and he replied. To me that says it all--an outstanding book by a great author, teacher and person.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring to all students of writing.
Review: Evan Smith introduces Writing Television Sitcoms as the all-in-one writer's guide to sitcoms. It sounds heavy, but honestly true. There is no aspect of TV sitcom writing a student, or otherwise, could dream up a question for which Smith doesn't have an answer. He covers how to create a sitcom, write it, and sell it. And in the first chapters he even details how anyone can make a career in writing. You will find yourself beaming with childlike enthusiasm as your eyes run through Writing Television Sitcoms.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring to all students of writing.
Review: Evan Smith introduces Writing Television Sitcoms as the all-in-one writer's guide to sitcoms. It sounds heavy, but honestly true. There is no aspect of TV sitcom writing a student, or otherwise, could dream up a question for which Smith doesn't have an answer. He covers how to create a sitcom, write it, and sell it. And in the first chapters he even details how anyone can make a career in writing. You will find yourself beaming with childlike enthusiasm as your eyes run through Writing Television Sitcoms.

Rating:
Summary: A Remarkably Comprehensive Guide for the Sitcom Writer
Review: Evan Smith's "Writing Television Sitcoms" is at turns both a practical handbook on building a career as a sticom scribe and a somewhat academic inquiry into the nature of comedy itself, developing a complete, independent school of thought. But what is ultimately most remarkable about Smith's work is its beguilingly logical approach. The book develops an entire theory of comedy writing to help the reader write their specs and then clearly delineates the process of turning those specs into a workable career. Especially cogent were the passages on building a script from the ground up and finding an agent in the sometimes labyrinthine Hollywood system. Like the fictional shopper in the Total cereal commercials, you might well have to read a half dozen other books on the craft to get the comedic nutrition contained in just one of Evan Smith's "Writing Television Sitcoms" Truly a must read for any current or aspiring sitcom writers.

Rating:
Summary: A Remarkably Comprehensive Guide for the Sitcom Writer
Review: Evan Smith's "Writing Television Sitcoms" is at turns both a practical handbook on building a career as a sticom scribe and a somewhat academic inquiry into the nature of comedy itself, developing a complete, independent school of thought. But what is ultimately most remarkable about Smith's work is its beguilingly logical approach. The book develops an entire theory of comedy writing to help the reader write their specs and then clearly delineates the process of turning those specs into a workable career. Especially cogent were the passages on building a script from the ground up and finding an agent in the sometimes labyrinthine Hollywood system. Like the fictional shopper in the Total cereal commercials, you might well have to read a half dozen other books on the craft to get the comedic nutrition contained in just one of Evan Smith's "Writing Television Sitcoms" Truly a must read for any current or aspiring sitcom writers.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful, Insightful, and Fun
Review: Evan Smith's book is one of the most helpful, practical guides to writing for television that I've ever read. As someone who's new to the business, I found it invaluable and expect to keep it around as a resource for the rest of my (hopefully long) career. Not only does he walk you through the entire process of sitcom writing-from vague story idea to script to getting an agent to making a career of it-Smith even offers up his e-mail address (!) and is super nice about answering any additional questions the reader might have. There are lots of TV writer guides out there, but maybe because he's also a professor, this one is easy to follow, insightful, and actually fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: Everybody asks, "What does the book cover?" So . . .
Review: Greetings, fellow earthlings!

Thank you for helping to make WRITING TELEVISION SITCOMS such a success. Look, I was going to blabber about myself for 30 or 40 pages but, in truth, everbody's biggest question always seems to be, "What does the book cover?" Well, everything, it covers everything, naturally. But just to be a little more specific--and to save you from that 30 or 40 pages--here is the book's TOC:

CONTENTS

PART ONE: WRITING PREMISE-DRIVEN COMEDY

CHAPTER 1: THE GAME PLAN: CAREER PATHS.... GETTING STARTED

CHAPTER 2: FIRST, SOME THEORY: THE MECHANICS OF LAUGHTER... CHARACTERISTICS OF COMEDY... THE IMPORTANCE OF TENSION

CHAPTER 3: PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE: SEAMLESS HUMOR.... CONSISTENCY.... COMEDY OUTPUT.... THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO SITCOM WRITING.... A DIFFERENT APPROACH - PREMISE-DRIVEN COMEDY

CHAPTER 4: LEVEL ONE - COMEDY IN THE STORY PREMISE: PREDICAMENTS.... CHARACTER MIX.... STYLE OF COMEDY.... CASTING

CHAPTER 5: LEVEL TWO - COMEDY IN SEQUENCES AND SCENES: COMPOUND STORY PREDICAMENTS.... STIR UP THE CHARACTER MIX.... MIX AND MATCH.... THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER

CHAPTER 6: LEVEL THREE - COMEDY IN DIALOGUE AND ACTIONS: BUILDING JOKES.... SETUPS.... PUNCH LINES.... FUNNY ACTIONS.... MISCELLANEOUS COMEDY TIPS.... ABOUT ALL OF THESE LABELS.... DEVELOPING YOUR COMEDIC VOICE

PART TWO: WRITING A PROFESSIONAL SCRIPT

CHAPTER 7: DOING YOUR HOMEWORK: WHY WRITE SPEC SCRIPTS....

WHICH SERIES TO PICK.... RESEARCHING THE SERIES.... STUDYING THE PREMISE

CHAPTER 8: DEVELOPING AN EPISODE PREMISE: ADVICE FROM OUR PRODUCERS.... DREAMING UP STORIES.... TURNING IDEAS INTO SPRINGBOARDS

CHAPTER 9: DEVELOPING THE STORY: THE IMPORTANCE OF STORY.... CREATING A BEAT SHEET.... STORY STRUCTURE - LINEAR VS. THREAD.... STORY THREADS VS. SUBPLOTS VS. ENSEMBLE STORIES.... STORIES WITHOUT ENDINGS, AND SERIALIZED STORIES.... CHARACTER ARCS.... STORY TIPS.... COMEDY'S IMPACT ON STORY.... DRAMATIC STRUCTURE VS. BROADCAST FORMAT.... CREATING FUNNY CHARACTERS.... REMEMBER THE MIX.... CHARACTER TYPES.... VISITING CHARACTERS.... HOW THE PRODUCTION PROCESS AFFECTS YOUR SCRIPT.... NAIL THE STORY, THE REST IS EASY

CHAPTER 10: WRITING AN OUTLINE: WRITING TO SELL, NOT EDUCATE.... BUILDING AN OUTLINE.... HOW IT SHOULD LOOK ON PAPER.... STYLISTIC TIPS.... REWRITING AN OUTLINE.... ADVICE FROM OUR PRODUCERS.... A SAMPLE OUTLINE FROM "HOME IMPROVEMENT"

CHAPTER 11: WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT: JUST DO IT.... WRITING SCENES.... HARVESTING COMEDY BUILT INTO THE PREMISE AND SCENE LEVELS.... PROFESSIONAL SCRIPT FORMAT.... WRITING SCENE DESCRIPTIONS.... WRITING DIALOGUE.... MISCELLANEOUS TIPS.... PLANTING EXPOSITION.... ADVICE FROM OUR PRODUCERS.... WHEN THAT FIRST DRAFT IS FINISHED.... REWRITING THE SCRIPT.... WHEN REWRITING BY YOURSELF.... ADVICE FROM OUR PRODUCERS.... ONCE THE SCRIPT IS FINISHED

PART THREE: A BATTLE PLAN FOR LAUNCHING YOUR CAREER

CHAPTER 12: STEP ONE - DEVELOPING A STRATEGY: THE JOB MARKET - IT'S NOT 1995 ANYMORE.... HOW THE WRITER FITS IN.... A WRITER'S WORK WEEK.... WRITING IS A BUSINESS.... AGEISM.... PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE.... MUST YOU LIVE IN LOS ANGELES?

CHAPTER 13: STEP TWO - LANDING AN AGENT: DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE AN AGENT?.... DEVELOPING AN AGENT HIT LIST.... BEFORE PICKING UP THE PHONE.... MAKING THE CALL.... SUBMITTING YOUR MATERIAL.... TESTING THE WATERS IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN L.A.... FOLLOWING UP.... IF YOU FAIL TO LAND AN AGENT.... YOU GET AN OFFER!.... SIGNING THE CONTRACT.... ONCE YOU HAVE THE AGENT

CHAPTER 14: STEP THREE - GETTING YOUR WORK OUT THERE: SCOUTING THE MARKET.... HIRING WINDOWS.... WORKING WITH YOUR AGENT.... WHICH SCRIPTS TO SEND.... BEING PICKY ABOUT JOBS.... COLD-CALLING PRODUCERS.... KEEP WRITING.... WRITING IN TEAMS.... REJECTION.... DEALING WITH WRITER'S BLOCK.... PROTECTING YOUR WORK.... WHO KEEPS THE COPYRIGHT?.... JOINING THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA

CHAPTER 15: STEP FOUR - PITCHING FOR ASSIGNMENTS: THE CALL COMES IN!.... PREPARING FOR THE PITCH.... THE PITCH.... ADVICE FROM OUR PRODUCERS.... WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN.... THE CONTRACT.... THE MONEY

CHAPTER 16: STEP FIVE - LANDING A STAFF JOB: LANDING A STAFF WRITING JOB.... OFFICE POLITICS.... ROUNDTABLE WRITING.... ADVICE FROM OUR PRODUCERS.... CONTRACTS AND COMPENSATION

CHAPTER 17: STEP SIX - CLIMBING THE LADDER: MOVING UP.... THE CARE AND FEEDING OF AGENTS.... TAKING A DEVELOPMENT DEAL.... HOW DO YOU SELL A NEW SERIES?

IN CLOSING

APPENDIX A: SCRIPT FORMAT GUIDELINES (FOR FILM, TAPE, AND ANIMATION)

APPENDIX B: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

NOTES

INDEX

There! See? I said "everything."

Thanks for coming, and good luck with your writing,

Evan Smith

Rating:
Summary: I scanned it straight to the money
Review: I scanned right throught the pages like I needed the cool breeze and stopped on the "how much will I make" page and well, it looks good to me. I also looked in other areas of the book and before I even read it I know it's exactly what I was looking for. A must for even a dream sitcom writer like me. This is a real shortcut, it covers all the information you will ever need.

Rating:
Summary: I scanned it straight to the money
Review: I scanned right throught the pages like I needed the cool breeze and stopped on the "how much will I make" page and well, it looks good to me. I also looked in other areas of the book and before I even read it I know it's exactly what I was looking for. A must for even a dream sitcom writer like me. This is a real shortcut, it covers all the information you will ever need.

Rating:
Summary: I scanned it straight to the money
Review: I scanned right throught the pages like I needed the cool breeze and stopped on the "how much will I make" page and well, it looks good to me. I also looked in other areas of the book and before I even read it I know it's exactly what I was looking for. A must for even a dream sitcom writer like me. This is a real shortcut, it covers all the information you will ever need.