So, you think you want to write a Sit-com

​I think there’s one genre of writing that remains harder than any other. I am referring, of course, to the sitcom. There’s a reason that a situation comedy writer’s room contains more bodies than an Osmond Family Thanksgiving. Each chair at the table’s occupied with a writer who specializes. Some excel with a story. Others are comedians adept at adding spot-on jokes that can punch up any script. And, there’s the head-writer, wrangling all these talents and making sure that he delivers a fully realized script each week.
 
Above him, the showrunner. Usually, the creator (or creators) overseeing it all and attempting to make sure that it does not come as a three-episode only train-wreck. I imagine it is the most stressful, aggravating, and exasperating job in all show business. And I say all that, realizing fully that it is one job that I would like to try on for size.
 
I have written three pilots in my long career. The first, Lucky 7, was an original idea by comedian Dave Anderson and me that concerned two hapless roommates who somehow inherit a down-and-out casino. It featured a close-up magician, who housed an endless community of dead and dying doves under his tuxedo, a gangster who was always attempting to buy the place, and the world’s oldest Keno runner. We knew nothing about sitcoms but went ahead and wrote it anyway. It was a lot of fun but never went anywhere. I’ll call that the Intro to Sitcom 101.
 
The second was a comedy pilot script titled Timber. The bottom-line pitch, Barney Miller in a Ranger Station. It featured a PTSD LA Cop who’s forced to take the job to get away from the mean streets of Burbank. Trouble is, any loud, unexpected noises set the poor guy off, hopefully into fits of improv hilarity. Amongst his fellow Forest Service employees, a low-level gangster sequestered away in witness protection, a clueless supervisor, and a long-suffering female partner. The script was written by me, Jerry Lambert, and Tom McComb and made it to a table read that featured the talents of the great Jerry Lambert and a couple of well-known others. Again, we went remarkably far for people who not only had no representation but did not always know exactly what the hell we were doing.
 
There have been other attempts that were never shown to anyone until…
 
CUT TO:
 
Tuesday, August 24, 2021.
 
What can I tell you? Not much. But this is a company that has experience producing television and desperately needs content. I sent them a story bible and an outline of the first ten episodes. The fact that they immediately responded to the idea and asked to see the pilot script is excellent. And, just maybe, it brings me one step closer to my dream.  
 
I guess the lesson here is this. You want to do something, keep trying.