TV comedy formulas.

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 Choss 19 Feb 2014
Currently reading a book about Porridge, by the writers of Porridge, with bits by the Actors and crew in there..

They are Talking about what makes comedy tv Series gold. They Point out you need a closed Situation, and 4 contrasting characters is about the best amount of Principle characters for things to revolve around.

The more i think about it the more i see the rule of 4 in UK Sitcoms. Yes, i Know there are exceptions, but...

Porridge - Fletcher, Godber, Mckay, Barrowclough.

rising damp - rigsby, miss Jones, Alan, Phillip.

Fawlty Towers - basil, Sybil, Polly, Manuel.

Young ones - Rick, Vivyan, Neil, mike.

Father Ted - Ted, Dougal, jack, Mrs Doyle.

It crowd - Jen, moss, Roy, Mr renholme.

Obvious exceptions - dads army, Steptoe and son, outnumbered, are you being served.

Just wondering what Others fit the rule of 4?

And what Other tv Sitcom conventions/formulas seem Pretty consistent through the genre?
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Curb - Larry, Sheryl, Jeff, Susie
Seinfeld - Jerry, George, Elaine, Cosmo
Frasier - Frasier, Niles, Dad, Daphne

Friends is the odd one out here
 Tom Valentine 19 Feb 2014
In reply to felt:

Likely Lads -3
Big Bang Theory -5
Cheers -6?
 FactorXXX 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Open All Hours: Arkwright, Granville, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel and the customers.
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Good Life - Briers, Phwoar, Posh and Eddington
Reggie Perrin - Reggie, Hippo, CJ, the road sign
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

blackadder - blackadder, baldrick, Fry, and Laurie.
 Richard Baynes 19 Feb 2014
In reply to FactorXXX:

Red Dwarf... But the rule of four isn't the key, it's the ill-matched usually male characters in a closed situation. Steptoe and son does it with just two, and brilliantly; Dad's Army with a much bigger cast, except for the rather good one when Arthur Lowe plays Captain Mainwaring and his drunken wide-boy brother, when it's just one. Or two. Or one as two.
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to felt:

Funny id never noticed this 4 main characters who everything revolves around thing before.

It does seem quite a Standard thing.
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Doesn't it?
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Othello, Cassius, Desdemona, Iago
Lear, Cordelia, Edmund, the Fool
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Richard Baynes:

Dad's Army does have a big four

Mainwaring, Wilson, Jones and Pike
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:
Duty Free - 2 couples.

They also say that the Audience has to either Like the 4 main characters, or However bad one of them is, the audience must at Least have sympathy with them. You must Connect with them all on an emotional Level. This involves 2 things, good writing, and good Casting.

Get these sitcom conventions down then sitcom in a climbing wall anyone?

It would be a bit Brittas Empirey, but the closed situation and chances for Jeopardy and Physical comedy are there.

what 4 characters? Mix of Staff and regular customers?
Post edited at 10:54
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

I've thought of setting a sitcom in a campsite where the campsite owner is Billy No Mates who tries to befriend every camper. With hilarious consequences!!!
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Spaced -Tim, daisy, Mike, and the artist downstairs.
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Two more conventions dick Clementt and Ian la Frenais Point to in the book are:

The away day Episode where you Take the characters out of their usual Environment. In Porridge the ditch digging episode.

The Bonding episode where the characters may be stuck somewhere and have nothing to do but Talk to each Other, and give the audience a Deeper Understanding of them. Easily done in porridge with the a night in episode.

what examples of these episodes in Other Sitcoms?
 Richard Baynes 19 Feb 2014
In reply to felt:

Nah, Mainwaring, Wison, Jones; then Pike and Frazer; then Walker, Godfrey; then the irritating fools from the church.
And Mainwaring is the lead: a man we should all be contemptuous of but we secretly root for.
 Tom Valentine 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

In spite of the fact that The Likely Lads and its even better offspring is IMO Clement and Frenais' best sitcom, it does not stick to their rule of four.
However, as a good example of the awayday episode you only need to watch the bike race to Berwick.
 deepsoup 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:
> Spaced -Tim, daisy, Mike, and the artist downstairs.

And Marsha, the landlady.
 Blue Straggler 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

> blackadder - blackadder, baldrick, Fry, and Laurie.

Poor example. It changed from series to series e.g. in II it was Edmund, Baldrick, Queenie and Percy mostly.
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Richard Baynes:

I'm afraid Pike is a big fish. Warden Hodges is on the Vicar level.

I have a five-tier system.

Mainwaring, Wilson, Jones, Pike
Frazer, Walker, Godfrey
Vicar, Hodges
Verger, Mrs Pike
Sponge




 toad 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:
> (In reply to Choss)
>
> Two more conventions dick Clementt and Ian la Frenais Point to in the book are:
>
> The away day Episode where you Take the characters out of their usual Environment. In Porridge the ditch digging episode.


Obviously, it's the largest lingerie department in Europe
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:
Rab Nesbitt.

The big four - Rab, Mary, Jamesie, Ella. Other characters dip in and out.

The bonding with main character episode Mostly a monologue by Rab in a polis cell for a whole episode. In another Series the school reminiscences episode.

Away days - most if not every Series has one. London, Cairngorms, west highland way, Amsterdam, Spain, buckfast, all Take the main cast away From govan for an episode.

Ian Pattison obviously Knows the formula.
Post edited at 13:37
OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to felt:

> I'm afraid Pike is a big fish. Warden Hodges is on the Vicar level.

> I have a five-tier system.

> Mainwaring, Wilson, Jones, Pike

> Frazer, Walker, Godfrey

> Vicar, Hodges

> Verger, Mrs Pike

> Sponge

Agreed.

OP Choss 19 Feb 2014
In reply to deepsoup:
I think Marsha, Although brilliant was more a subsidiary character. More Prominent than say the Fantastic Twist, or Tyres, but not a main character.

That Leaves the 4.

And the big awaydays - the nightclub episode, and the dark star comic episode. Both involving Tyres, Interestingly. Tyres Appearance was like a cue for a Change of scene. He Drags them out of their funk.

bonding episode the initial one.
Post edited at 14:45
 felt 19 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Office - Brent, Gareth, Tim, Dawn
Removed User 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Stan, Reg, Olive, Blakey. On the buses.
In reply to Choss:

Eddie Booth, Joan Booth, Bill Reynolds, Barbie Reynolds.

Kevin O'Grady, Arthur Blenkinsop, Kenny, Norman.

Wally Briggs, Lily Briggs, Benny Briggs, Molly.

Terry Collier, Bob Ferris, Thelma Chambers, Audrey Collier.

Alf Garnett, Else Garnett, Rita, Mike.

 felt 22 Feb 2014
In reply to stroppygob:

Nigel Tufnell, David St Hubbins, Derek Smalls, Ian Faith
OP Choss 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Found this that also Points out the 4 main characters formula

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/sitcom2.htm
In reply to felt:

> Curb - Larry, Sheryl, Jeff, Susie

> Seinfeld - Jerry, George, Elaine, Cosmo

> Frasier - Frasier, Niles, Dad, Daphne

> Friends is the odd one out here

Friends is the odd one out in that exalted company, not really up there with Jerrry, Larry and Frasier. Is Friends actually comedy?
 Marmoteer 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

The Inbetweeners!

There was a good interview with the writers a few years ago (about the time the film was coming out) explaining this same rule of characters.
 felt 22 Feb 2014
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

That's what I used to think. But then I started watching it, and I must say I found its comedy most congenial.
 felt 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Marmoteer:

Perfect example.

Friday Night Dinner has five main characters. What about Green Wing?; God knows!
OP Choss 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

Absolutely fabulous - patsy, Edina, Daughter, mum.

 felt 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

How did we miss that one!

Five Go Mad on Mescaline. Oh.
 Tom Valentine 22 Feb 2014
In reply to stroppygob:

Audrey is not really a player, is she?
 Clarence 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Choss:

I always think of Dad's Army as a series of diametrical pairs, often with Mainwaring as one of the pair. Thus

Proper Army vs Dad's Army - Square vs Mainwaring
Counter-jumper vs gentleman - Mainwaring vs Wilson
Military vs Civil Authority - Mainwaring vs Hodges
Bluster vs quiet stoicism - Mainwaring vs Godfrey/wilson
Misplaced confidence vs naive idiocy - Mainwaring vs Pike

and others

England vs Scotland - Jones vs Frazer
England vs Wales - Jones vs Cheeseman
Naive vs spiv - Pike vs Walker

and so on with virtually every permutation of the cast.

Coupling is a twist on the rule of four. In Coupling you have three male characters vs "the girls" or three female characters vs "the guys". In each point of view the other gender is viewed stereotypically, reducing them to a single characterization. Not sure it counts as comedy though.
 felt 22 Feb 2014
In reply to Clarence:

Interesting.

To continue the theme:

Sexual propriety vs sexual impropriety - Mainwaring vs Wilson
No-nonsense hetero vs camp hetero - Walker vs Wilson

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