Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by clarkjohnsen (R) on July 26, 2005 at 08:16:32

Sitcom originality: lost and found

By Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe Staff | July 26, 2005

Early in Bravo's ''Situation: Comedy," a sitcom-making reality contest, a plastic-fantastic duo sums up their pilot idea: ''It's 'Cheers' meets 'Northern Exposure,' " one of them gushes. Later, another writer proudly describes his script as a mix of ''Cheers," ''Northern Exposure," and ''Green Acres." Because as everyone knows, it's just not funny without a cricket-playing pig.

And these are the illustrious finalists chosen from among the 10,000 creators who submitted scripts to ''Situation: Comedy," which premieres tonight at 8. Their concepts -- most of them resoundingly simplistic and old school -- are supposedly the nation's finest, and two of them will ultimately be chosen by the comedy geniuses at NBC (Bravo's corporate cousin). At the end of the season, viewers will vote on which pilot will air on Bravo.

''Situation: Comedy" is an unintentionally damning portrait of how today's originality-starved, demographic-pandering sitcoms actually make it to air. It's quite entertaining...

• http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/07/26/sitcom_originality_lost_and_found/   (Open in New Window)