A good sitcom needs to have the right ingredients blended together so that the public can related to it, get that right and you may end up with a show that has that something special to make it a hit comedy.

You need a strong story line and then the comedy will evolve from it, conflict problems, and characters bouncing of each other with some good visual comedy thrown in.

The story line or plot and characters must be believable with just slight exaggeration to make it funny.

What do I mean well take Open All Hours with Ronnie Barker and David Jason both played by good actors who became Arkwright and Granville and with Ronnie Barker as Fletcher in Porridge and David Jason in Fools and Horses good actors becoming characters in a sitcom.

The same for a sit com family say Jim Royle and the Royle family again characterisation.

For a more modern day example look at the characters Peter Kay played in Phoenix Nights. The characterising of the people Brian Potter (owner) Max (doorman) and the safety fire Inspector, he becomes them and the show makes you forget he is Peter Kay and you see them as different people. The better you can create a new character is in his own right with his own quirks the easier it is for the viewers to warm to him or her.

Steptoe, Dads Army, Likely Lads, Fawlty Towers, On The Buses, Are You being Served, Hi De Hi, I could go on but they are all about working class folk getting by one day at a time dreaming and hoping for a better future. "This time next year we'll be millionaires"

It is hard to write good comedy but provided you get the formula right, and have a bit of talent it can be done. You must write about something you know or have lived through so it has a ring of truth for it to be successful. What makes me think that well watching and studying comedy for over 30 years. Some people say analysing comedy but the minute you start analysing it then it isn't funny.

Well, there you have it, some of my thoughts on comedy and if you have read this far THANKYOU!

Regards
Steve Luxton (pen)
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