I love inside baseball stuff on comedy like this!!! There are a lot of great comedies from the last few years that only got a single season and it breaks my heart. There are so many talented writers and actors working today that, if it were the 90s or early 2000s, would be household names by now.
I like this. I think a lot about how entertainment has shifted over the last decade or two, and have been conducting interviews with folks who still build in the "vision-first" model, and others who are "data-first" or "ephemeral and algorithmic." The latter group just doesn't know how to make vision-first products, they're actually opaque to how great products get made (because it's been so easy to copy and paste over the last decade or two -- that's where a lot of value has been). To some extent, this is okay because it makes some amount of sense just to optimize returns -- but decoupling these instincts from how great products actually get made -- and the people who have experience making them -- has put us in a really odd time & place from a creative investment perspective. I suspect this may shift in the coming years. Better off to build things that stand, than to build a world that expires by default.
There were a number of animated shows from the 80's/90's that followed a similar release schedule; debut with a short first season and then have a massive second season built for syndication. GI Joe, Transformers and TMNT all started with 5 episode miniseries and then ramped up production for subsequent seasons.
So many classic shows were given time to find their footing AND their audience because somebody believed in them and was willing to take a chance. Seinfeld took a minute to click and find its rhythm. Most shows do.
I will disagree with you a little here and say that the first appearance of Señor Chang in Community (the second episode?) was all it took to hook me on that show. That was probably the best character introduction ever in a comedy series.
I read somewhere that The Dick Van Dyke Show and All in the Family were both nearly cancelled after their first seasons. The former ended up running for 158 episodes and the latter for 205!
Then, you have great shows that were jerked around by networks/network execs because they either didn’t believe in them or think they were funny. Or maybe they just didn’t have the courage or patience to give the shows the time they needed to succeed.
Shows like Better Off Ted, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and Happy Endings deserved much better treatment than they got. These shows were abused first and then cancelled. The networks did things like playing the episodes out of order (Happy Endings - ran for 57 episodes), constantly moving the show to different nights and/or time-slots (Better Off Ted - ran for 26 episodes), or just plain not giving the show enough time (Andy Richter Controls the Universe - ran for 19 episodes).
Since we’re grinding our axes for this column (which I really enjoyed, BTW), there’s one more show that deserved much better from the network. That show was, of course, Norm MacDonald’s tragically underrated A Minute With Stan Hooper. I don’t care what anyone says, it was quirky and hilarious! The geniuses at Fox only ran 8 of 13 episodes before cancelling it. Man, I miss Norm.
Back to your proposal. I have the outline for a great (and hilarious) comedy show (and a bunch of episodes), but I would have to demand the “Paul Scheer 6/50 Guarantee” (you should trademark that!) signed and notarized with whichever studio or streaming service I’d be working with before I would agree to do it.
What type of background are you looking for? Armando was a comedy legend and had created a very distinctive style and I think you can see the origins of Veep with IN THE LOOP
Great concept, and I feel like animated streaming shows accidentally did this. You had a long layoff between seasons 1+2 of invincible because they wanted to make sure season 1 hit before they committed. When it did they committed to like 3 or more seasons immediately because of the lag in getting animation up and running.
I love it, Paul, this would alleviate so much frustration on the part of fans and everyone involved in making these shows alike. Great examples you provided with your knowledge of how making a show works. I cannot agree more about how the first few episodes in, a comedy takes a while to find its footing. On my rewatches of many comfort shows, I notice this more and more. I hope someone out there is listening to your 6/50 idea and gives it a go!
To your point about comfort watched and number of episodes, more evidence to support your point from my list of these shows: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Frasier, 3rd Rock From the Sun. and Parks and Rec.
I love inside baseball stuff on comedy like this!!! There are a lot of great comedies from the last few years that only got a single season and it breaks my heart. There are so many talented writers and actors working today that, if it were the 90s or early 2000s, would be household names by now.
I wrote the next schitts creek. It’s called fudge river.
it's always sunny is my comfort show
Agreed. Let’s do it.
I like this. I think a lot about how entertainment has shifted over the last decade or two, and have been conducting interviews with folks who still build in the "vision-first" model, and others who are "data-first" or "ephemeral and algorithmic." The latter group just doesn't know how to make vision-first products, they're actually opaque to how great products get made (because it's been so easy to copy and paste over the last decade or two -- that's where a lot of value has been). To some extent, this is okay because it makes some amount of sense just to optimize returns -- but decoupling these instincts from how great products actually get made -- and the people who have experience making them -- has put us in a really odd time & place from a creative investment perspective. I suspect this may shift in the coming years. Better off to build things that stand, than to build a world that expires by default.
Shout out to Grace and Frankie getting 94 episodes!
Put Paul in charge! I just started Sean Conroy's new podcast, (Punching Up) & he brought up some of the same issues
There were a number of animated shows from the 80's/90's that followed a similar release schedule; debut with a short first season and then have a massive second season built for syndication. GI Joe, Transformers and TMNT all started with 5 episode miniseries and then ramped up production for subsequent seasons.
So many classic shows were given time to find their footing AND their audience because somebody believed in them and was willing to take a chance. Seinfeld took a minute to click and find its rhythm. Most shows do.
I will disagree with you a little here and say that the first appearance of Señor Chang in Community (the second episode?) was all it took to hook me on that show. That was probably the best character introduction ever in a comedy series.
I read somewhere that The Dick Van Dyke Show and All in the Family were both nearly cancelled after their first seasons. The former ended up running for 158 episodes and the latter for 205!
Then, you have great shows that were jerked around by networks/network execs because they either didn’t believe in them or think they were funny. Or maybe they just didn’t have the courage or patience to give the shows the time they needed to succeed.
Shows like Better Off Ted, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and Happy Endings deserved much better treatment than they got. These shows were abused first and then cancelled. The networks did things like playing the episodes out of order (Happy Endings - ran for 57 episodes), constantly moving the show to different nights and/or time-slots (Better Off Ted - ran for 26 episodes), or just plain not giving the show enough time (Andy Richter Controls the Universe - ran for 19 episodes).
Since we’re grinding our axes for this column (which I really enjoyed, BTW), there’s one more show that deserved much better from the network. That show was, of course, Norm MacDonald’s tragically underrated A Minute With Stan Hooper. I don’t care what anyone says, it was quirky and hilarious! The geniuses at Fox only ran 8 of 13 episodes before cancelling it. Man, I miss Norm.
Back to your proposal. I have the outline for a great (and hilarious) comedy show (and a bunch of episodes), but I would have to demand the “Paul Scheer 6/50 Guarantee” (you should trademark that!) signed and notarized with whichever studio or streaming service I’d be working with before I would agree to do it.
By any chance, do you know the background of Veep? An HBO show, very funny (also very knowledgeable about politics), and several seasons.
What type of background are you looking for? Armando was a comedy legend and had created a very distinctive style and I think you can see the origins of Veep with IN THE LOOP
I actively look for the new It's Always Sunny season every year
Great concept, and I feel like animated streaming shows accidentally did this. You had a long layoff between seasons 1+2 of invincible because they wanted to make sure season 1 hit before they committed. When it did they committed to like 3 or more seasons immediately because of the lag in getting animation up and running.
I believe!!! 🙌
Do I got a pitch for you!
I love it, Paul, this would alleviate so much frustration on the part of fans and everyone involved in making these shows alike. Great examples you provided with your knowledge of how making a show works. I cannot agree more about how the first few episodes in, a comedy takes a while to find its footing. On my rewatches of many comfort shows, I notice this more and more. I hope someone out there is listening to your 6/50 idea and gives it a go!
To your point about comfort watched and number of episodes, more evidence to support your point from my list of these shows: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Frasier, 3rd Rock From the Sun. and Parks and Rec.