Saturday 28 January 2012

Sitcom Trials names word cloud

Writers entering scripts for the Bristol Sitcom Trials on March 30th (script deadline Feb 29th, entry details here) might be interested in this Word Cloud, a graph put together by James Parker, producer of 2009's Autumn season of The Sitcom Trials. It shows the most popular names given to characters, aggregated from the hundreds of scripts entered. Will your names be more original than these? Think on...

Next show March 30, Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol
Script deadline Feb 29 - enter here.

Friday 27 January 2012

Sitcom Trials meeting, Bristol Feb 12, you're invited

Wanted - actors and writers for The Sitcom Trials Bristol.

We're holding a meeting in Bristol on Sunday Feb 12th for anyone interested in taking part in the forthcoming Bristol Sitcom Trials. Actors and comedians are particularly welcome. It takes place at Oxford Inn, Totterdown, Bristol, BS3 4RL, lunchtime.

The Sitcom Trials is the comedy show where sitcoms compete head to head and the audience choose a winner. A hit in London and on the Edinburgh Fringe, it's enjoyed a series on ITV1 and runs regularly in London and Manchester. The last time The Sitcom Trials was in Bristol the team included comedian Jon Richardson and earlier Bristol shows featured Russell Howard and Justin Lee Collins, and writing from Inbetweeners creator Iain Morris (who was a student at Bristol Uni at the time) and local lad made good, Stephen Merchant, so any potential performers are following in illustrious footsteps.



Says Bristol producer Vince Stadon: We'll be discussing the March 30th show; asking people to join the Sitcom Trials Players; discussing scripts (and reading a few things); chatting about sitcoms; and working out the fiddly details involved in our plan to steal two nuclear missiles from a vulcan bomber on a Nato test-flight over the Bahamas, with which we can hold the government to ransom.

- Vince Stadon, producer


RSVP to the Facebook page or email Vince. See you there.

Thursday 26 January 2012

Writers, the big deadline is Jan 31st

If you're a comedy writer, it would seem the big deadline day for entering a slew of competitions is January 31st. Courtesy of Hayley McKenzies' Script Angel blog, I've found the following deadlines that budding writers might care to note:

NYTV & Fox Television Studios Scripted Comedy Pilot competition for UK Independents.
Deadline: 27 January 2012.

Late Deadline: 9 March 2012. Ten Minute Play Competition from New Venture Theatre and Sussex Playwrights .
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

Drama Assocation of Wales One Act Playwriting Competition
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

The Sitcom Mission 2012 (with which fans of the Sitcom Trials will be more than familiar)
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

Digital Comedy Lab is an incubation programme for film projects in the comedy mockumentary genre.
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

Tobacco Factory Theatre Script Space is looking for new one-acts plays.
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

Dream Up from New Perspectives Theatre - looking for new writers from the East Midlands. Plays must be 10-15min for 3 characters.
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

Drip Action Theatre Trail Writers Competition - have your play performed at the Arundel Festival Threatre Trail.
Deadline: 31 January 2012.

BBC Writersroom Future Talent Award - for north-based recent graduate drama writers.
Deadline: 1 February 2012.

Love Bites are looking for new pieces for their Anti-Valentine's Night. Max length 15'.
Deadline: 8 February 2012.

So, what are you all waiting for?

Oh, and of course there's The Sitcom Trials. Deadline for the Bristol show is Feb 29 and it's free to enter. Other deadlines still to be announced.


UPDATE: Hayley has added The Sitcom Trials to her Script Angel Big Page Of Deadlines, for which many thanks.




... and thanks to the Writers Guild and others

Following BBC Writers Rooms spreading the word about the new Sitcom Trials deadline, various members of the Writers Guild have joined in the retweeting which has meant more people getting on board and becoming aware of The Trials. We look forward to seeing the scripts that come in (the first entry has already been uploaded to the Files if anyone wants to read it, voting begins after the deadline. And can I remind everyone that the next meeting of the Bristol Sitcom Trials group, where actors and comedians in particular are welcomed, as well as any potential writers who want to become part of the group and get hands-on in the making of comedy, is on Sunday Feb 12th. Stay tuned here for venue details.

And breaking news, it looks like the next Manchester Sitcom Trials is just around the corner. We are looking at dates in July, keep an ear out, you'll be the first to know.

There's also talk of the return of the Trials to London, but isn't there always? As a jog to the memory, and an exciter to the pulse, let's cast our minds back to the start of the last London season. And enjoy again the words of wisdom from Sitcom Trials Judge David "TV Burp" Quantick...



The next Sitcom Trials is on March 30th at The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol. Details of what The Sitcom Trials wants and how to enter are here. Any questions ask here, there, or anywhere, and we'll try and answer.


Wednesday 25 January 2012

Thanks BBC Writers Room

Thanks to BBC Writers Room who just retweeted the call for scripts for the Bristol Sitcom Trials. As a result, viewings of this blog just went up considerably, I gained a heap of extra Twitter followers, and poor old Vince is about to be deluged with more scripts than he possibly dreamed of. (Details of what The Sitcom Trials wants and how to enter are here). In tribute I've just retweaked the Sitcom Trials poster (because it just wasn't complete without Mrs Browns Boys) and made a Bristol version. Enjoy...



PS: I'm not saying this blog wasn't getting a lot of readers before, but this graph shows the spike in our readership immediately after the retweet by BBC Writers Room:




Script call for Welsh writers - deadline Feb 3rd

It's My Shout productions

The ‘It’s My Shout’ Television Trainee Scheme has opened its script call out for the 2012 summer production period in association with BBC Wales Cymru. Any budding writer who was born in, or currently lives in, Wales can send in 10-minute television scripts and have the chance to get them produced up to broadcast standard and transmitted on BBC Wales Cymru later this year.



Writers can send in as many scripts as they like, but entries must be sent saved either as a pdf or Microsoft Word file as well as posting 3 hard copies.

Full guidelines for entries and an application form can be found on the It’s My Shout website. Please check these before writing your script.

Deadline: 12 noon on 3rd February 2011

(retweeted from BBC Writers Room)

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Situation Murder - comedy to die for

Here's a treat from the bottom drawer that I'd totally forgotten about - Situation Murder.



In 2004, after The Sitcom Trials had done its last Edinburgh Fringe run and was noticeably failing to get a second series, I devised a different show, a series of murder mystery comedies where the audience would interrogate the cast and try and solve a crime. It has two regular characters hosting the story every episode, and a new cast of characters every time.

Now collected up in a book, available on Amazon Kindle (or iPod, iPad etc), are 5 full scripts, complete with the briefing notes given to all the cast members so the reader could, if they wished, stage these murder mysteries for fun or profit.

Of course what I'd really "invented" was the 1970s ITV series Whodunnit, which had itself been reimagined in the 80s as Cleudo. All I'd done was make it funny. And rereading these scripts they really are jolly good fun.

• A celebrity chef on a reality TV show is murdered by a fellow celebrity – but who?
• A death metal rocker is found hung on the back of the dressing room door – by whom?
• Three strangers meet in the airport car park, which one has blood on their hands?
• A body in the car park of a truck stop, but whose?
• The audience of a comedy show join in a seance to solve a murder, but why?

If you're in the slightest bit intrigued, dear reader, you can download a free sample. And by all means upload a review, or how about buying the book. By golly it's worth it.

Sunday 22 January 2012

M&S Wine for TV Time

For a lot of people, sitting down to watch a little bit of TV is one of the very best ways to relax at the end of a long day. You can simply unwind in front of the screen and lose yourself in your favourite shows, with nothing required of you except for a little bit of attention. If this is a common activity for you, and you cherish your TV time at home at the end of the day, why not take steps to make it an even more enjoyable time? You can enhance your relaxation in any number of ways, and one of the very best is to stock up on some good wine to enjoy as you watch TV. This can add just a little bit of extra pleasantness to the end of your day. Just head to Marks & Spencer, and you can find a wide selection of wines to enjoy at your leisure.



Many are surprised to find just how large and thorough a selection of fine wines Marks & Spencer has. Whether you visit a store or browse online, however, you will quickly discover that this selection is indeed well worth exploring. Specifically, the store includes wine from a wide variety of different countries from around the world, all renowned for their wine production. Examples include Chile, France, Italy, South Africa, the USA, and several others, which gives you many different wine regions to try and enjoy.



Another great aspect of these stores and their wine sections is that there are plenty of ways to ease into fine wine shopping if you are not familiar with details and differences between types of wine. For example, there are numerous expert ratings and rankings that can help to give you an idea of which wines are recommended by people whose opinions on such things are trustworthy. You may also want to take advantage of the Marks & Spencer wine club, which allows you to purchase certain quantities of wine each month, allowing you to sample different bottles with ease.



These are of course just a few simple suggestions of how to go about purchasing interesting wine if you’d like to enhance your evening relaxation. None of this is to say that it’s necessary to start drinking too much wine, or to abandon other means of relaxation – but a nice bottle of wine at the end of the day can go a long way toward helping you relieve yourself of stress and enjoy your company, TV time, or whatever else you may be into. Go ahead and indulge!


Advertorial content.

Saturday 21 January 2012

Sitcom Trials March 30th - scripts wanted now, deadline Feb 29

Attention writers, the new Bristol Sitcom Trials are on their way and your script entries are invited now. Here, let Vince Stadon, the new Bristol producer, tell you what's what...



The Sitcom Trials will take place on Friday March 30th,
2012, at the Wardrobe Theatre, St Michael's Hill, Bristol. This will be a rehearsed-reading/script-in-hand/radio-style affair. These sitcoms will be in competiton with each other, the winner to be decided an audience vote.

Deadline for entries - midnight Weds 29th Feb, 2012
Deadline for voting - midnight Weds 7th March, 2012

LATEST NEWS: There's a Sitcom Trials meeting in Bristol on Sunday Feb 12th to which writers, actors and willing helpers and invited.

THE BRIEF for submission to The Bristol Sitcom Trials.

The Sitcom Trials wants situation comedy scripts that a small group of actors can perform in a live environment with minimal stage in front of an audience, who will hopefully laugh. Ideally these sitcoms will be so marvellous that the TV & radio industry representatives in the audience will snap them up immediately.

THE FORMAT:

Your script must have a first 'half' of less than 8 minutes
This first half should end in a cliffhanger, or something that leaves the audience wanting more.

It must then have a final scene of 2 or 3 minutes long. This will be performed only if your sitcom is the winner on the night

Your script must have NO MORE THAN 4 CHARACTERS. Ideally 2 boys 2 girls. If you can write a script with just 2 or 3 characters, all the better.

The sitcoms we are to test out in our regular pub theatre shows with an eye to them being developed for TV must be
PERFORMABLE LIVE (ie no filmed or location inserts)
&
ON ONE MINIMAL SET.

Think in terms of a radio script.


WRITER-PERFORMERS - INCLUDE YOUTUBE DEMO

We are particularly interested to hear from writer-performers, especially those with an on-stage track record (eg Edinburgh) who would present their own sitcom as a self contained package. To demonstrate your live potential we would need to see a video, ideally a link to a YouTube video, which we can judge alongside the script. Please include the video link as part of the script.

UPLOAD SCRIPTS TO THE FILES:

Upload your entries to the appropriate folder in the files section of the egroup. You will need to join the free egroup to do so:
Sits Vac egroup

Deadline for entries - midnight Weds 29th Feb, 2012
Deadline for voting - midnight Weds 7th March, 2012


VOTING:

All members of the SitsVac egroup/British Comedy Guide Sitcom Trials thread, you included, will be invited to read, review, and vote on all scripts in contention. Vote YES, MAYBE or NO as to each one's potential and add a short one paragraph review. Your votes will not be counted unless you include a review.

Send reviews to the Sits Vac TV group message board, or to the Sitcom Trials thread at the British Comedy Guide Forum

Writers are welcome to vote on their own scripts.

Votes are then totalled thus; Yes = 2 points, Maybe = 1 point, No = minus -1 point. This way we draw up a shortlist for a script reading, from which we select the items to go into the stage show.

PERFORMANCE:

The top five enties (as voted by you) will be performed on Friday March 30th, 2012, at the Wardrobe Theatre, St Michael's Hill, Bristol. This will be a rehearsed-reading/script-in-hand/radio-style affair. These sitcoms will be in competiton with each other, the winner to be decided an audience vote.


PRIZE:

We aim to stage the winning sitcom as a full 30-40 minute one act play sometime later in the year.

Any questions?

Happy scribbling

Vince Stadon
Producer, Spring Season, Bristol Sitcom Trials




The Trials on UK Gameshows

It's nice to see yourselves as others see you, and here's a treat I've stumbled across online, the listing for The Sitcom Trials on UKGameshows.comI don't know who wrote the listing, but it has the feel of an insider (NB it wasn't me, for a change) especially the reference to HTV's Television Workshop (an episode of the series I have yet to upload, brace yourselves for that one).If anyone spots any other interesting appearances of The Sitcom Trials online, do let me know. They're fun to collect. And let's hope we add to them in the coming year.


Thursday 19 January 2012

Didn't You Used To Be + Lavender Millbank Mob on Amazon

More scripts from the archives of The Sitcom Trials have found their way onto Amazon. Check out Didn't You Used To Be..? The Complete Scripts and The Lavender Millbank Mob.



Didn't You Used To Be..? is the sitcom written by myself and Geoff Whiting for actor Tony Robinson (Baldrick) who performed two of the three episodes on stage in London and Bristol (by the time of the third script he'd got busy with Time Team); and The Lavender Millbank Mob is the spin doctor sitcom created by Rich Johnston for which The Sitcom Trials team produced half a dozen episodes, three of the best of which are in this volume.

You can download a free sample to your iPod, IPhone, Kindle, iPad etc, and why don't you post up a nice review while you're at it? And if you want to see the version of this script that ended up on TV, here it is.

There are now quite a few Sitcom Trials scripts out there on Amazon, check out the latest in the Sitcom Trials Bookshop.

Monday 16 January 2012

Go Wild In The Country - Sitcom Trials script on Amazon

We've only gone and been and published another book on Amazon. It's Jane Simon's Go Wild In The Country, a romantic comedy produced as part of The Sitcom Trials. Check it out.



You can download a free sample to your iPod, IPhone, Kindle, iPad etc, and why don't you post up a nice review while you're at it? And if you want to see the version of this script that ended up on TV, here it is.

There are now quite a few Sitcom Trials scripts out there on Amazon, check out the latest in the Sitcom Trials Bookshop.

Sunday 15 January 2012

Dead Air - Sitcom Trials scripts on Amazon

Now available to read on Kindle are a pair of Sitcom Trials scripts by Jonathan Kirby, Dead Air and Clarice.



Dead Air is dead cheap, go on treat yourself. And if any other Sitcom Trials writers would like to publish their works like this, get in touch and I'll happily show you how.

See a range of Sitcom Trials books available for download from Amazon here in the Sitcom Trials Bookshop.

Next Sitcom Trials March 30, Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol
Script deadline Feb 29 - enter here.

UPDATE: I wake up this morning and this blog has had a satisfying dozen readers. How disappointed they all must be.

Saturday 14 January 2012

Blink & you'll miss him...

Blink and you'll miss Inbetweeners co-creator Iain Morris in this very early clip from The Sitcom Trials, when Iain was still a student at Bristol University. He went on to contribute to (then later de-contribute from) the first Sitcom Trials script to get picked up by the BBC, of which more anon (do ask if you want to know faster).The Sitcom Trials returns soon, writers and performers are welcomed. See here for details.


Announcing Sitcom Trials Bristol 2012

Good news everyone, The Sitcom Trials is returning to Bristol, under the reins of a new Master of Ceremonies - Vince Stadon (writer of Sitcom Trials Manchester's recent winning sitcom Checkpoint Dave). He writes...

Hello!

Apologies for not getting in touch sooner - I moved home over Christmas and I've only just had broadband installed in my new home. If I haven't replied to you individually, please forgive me - I've had a delightful deluge of emails about the Trials, which I did try to respond to, but it's entirely possible that I missed someone. I am now back online and ready to devote time to the Sitcom Trials.

The Sitcom Trials began life in Bristol back in 1999, and we'd like to bring it back home for 2012. Kev F Sutherland, creator and compere (and the man behind the Scottish Falsetto Sock Theatre - on tour in Australia this year!) will remain as Exec. Producer, and ensure that things don't get too out of hand. Initially, there will be a one-night show, in the traditional competition format, which will be staged at the Wardrobe Theatre, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, on Friday March 30th.



Wardrobe Theatre


If we can get through that without any casualties, the plan is to be a bit more ambitious and do other sitcom things throughout the year. The idea is to get a team in place, and the March show seems like a good place to start and test the waters. I've been in touch with the editor of "Venue", Bristol and Bath's long-running listings magazine, and he's very keen to give us lots of publicity.

I'd like to ask any actors/directors if they'd be able to attend a meeting in Bristol, in a central pub, on Friday 20th January, between 8:00pm and 9:00pm. This will be a sort of meet and greet event, where actors can put their names forward to be part of a Sitcom Trials team, and we can thrash out a few details of the March show. Email Vince to RSVP

Please note that this is not a paying gig (though actors will get a share of the ticket sales), but more a chance to have a bit of fun and join a long and esteemed list of performers.

A call out for scripts will be posted around the same time (Jan 20th). This will be a competition, judged by peer review, as is normal for the Sitcom Trials. The deadline will be March 1st, and the votes will be collected over the following week. This will then give us about three weeks until the performance. I'll go into a lot more detail about scripts (and the voting process) when I post the competition rules to various websites.

Speaking of which, please do join the Yahoo Group (it's free and easy!) and check out the Sitcom Trials thread on the British Comedy Guide forum. All voting will take place on these two sites, and the scripts will be uploaded to a folder on the Yahoo Group.

SitsVac Forum

Comedy Guide Forum

Thanks again for your interest in the Trials, and I hope you'll consider either performing in, or writing for, the March show and beyond.

With kind regards and very best wishes,

--Vince Stadon, Producer Bristol Sitcom Trials 2012.

Format copyright ©2012 Kev F Sutherland http://sitcomtrials.co.uk Wikipedia entry


Thursday 12 January 2012

Comedy Store Players do Improv Sitcom Trials

Neil Mullarkey, Suki Webster, Niall Ashdown and Richard Vranch of The Comedy Store Players star in The Sitcom Trials TV series 1, episode 4. This improv sitcom is The Crew:



Two Improvised Sitcoms go head-to-head, who wins? You decide (assuming you were viewing when this went out live. Phone lines are now closed). The Sitcom Trials first TV series was broadcast live at around 11.30 on Friday nights, with the actors only learning which sitcom's ending they'd be performing during the ad break. Live skin-of-the-teeth television at its best.


The Sitcom Trials is the comedy show where brand new sitcoms compete and the audience vote for the winner.Have we found the new Gary Shandling? The new Sean's Show? The new Life's Too Short? Only you can decide.


Format copyright ©2012 Kev F Sutherland http://sitcomtrials.co.uk
Wikipedia entry




Wednesday 11 January 2012

The Comedy Store Players in The Sitcom Trials

Neil Mullarkey, Suki Webster, Niall Ashdown and Richard Vranch of The Comedy Store Players star in The Sitcom Trials TV series 1, episode 4. This improv sitcom is Re-enactment: Two Improvised Sitcoms go head-to-head, who wins? You decide (assuming you were viewing when this went out live. Phone lines are now closed). The Sitcom Trials first TV series was broadcast live at around 11.30 on Friday nights, with the actors only learning which sitcom's ending they'd be performing during the ad break. Live skin-of-the-teeth television at its best.The Sitcom Trials is the comedy show where brand new sitcoms compete and the audience vote for the winner.Have we found the new Office? The new Outnumbered? The new Open All Hours? Only you can decide. Format copyright ©2012 Kev F Sutherland http://sitcomtrials.co.uk Wikipedia entry


Sunday 8 January 2012

Sitcom Mission deadline Jan 25th - only £10



The Sitcom Mission
, the comedy writing competition run by former Sitcom Trials producers Declan Hill & Simon Wright, is looking for your sitcoms.

If you get your script in by Jan 25th it will cost you only £10 to enter (or if you wait until Jan 31st it costs £15). Here are the details.

Sitcom Mission entry details

With an emphasis firmly on script development, The Sitcom Mission is an international sitcom writing competition, 'the X-Factor for sitcoms'. It showcases 15-minute sitcom scripts at The New Diorama Theatre in London in front of the comedy commissioners from British TV and radio.

Now in its third year, The Sitcom Mission is in partnership with Hat Trick Productions, the award-winning independent production company behind such programmes as Outnumbered, Have I Got News For You, Father Ted and Episodes. The prize is a £5000 script commission from Hat Trick.

Over 1,200 scripts were entered into the 2011 contest. The competition was won by What Next? , written by Abigail Dooley and Emma Edwards. The writers have been given a £5,000 half hour script commission by Hat Trick, as well as an opportunity to work with the agency The Writers' Company who have an impressive roster of writers for TV and film.

But it's not just the winners who get picked up, one of the runners-up, In The Meantime by Ciaran Murtagh and Andrew Jones, has also been optioned by Hat Trick. Andrew adds, "it's not just about the grand prize, this is a great opportunity to have your work read and assessed by lots of very useful people!"

Declan & Simon produced The Sitcom Trials London seasons in 2007 & 2009, and together with Kev F Sutherland were given the Fringe Report Award for Best Encouragers of Talent in 2008. They went on to produce the first Sitcom Mission season in 2010.

The Sitcom Trials itself should be holding a call for script entries for shows in Bristol, Manchester and London in 2012 (entry will be free), keep watching this space for news.


Saturday 7 January 2012

The Hollywood Sitcom Trials

Thanks to the BBC website, here's a blast from the past, remembering the first Hollywood Sitcom Trials.


Bristol's Sitcom Trials Cross the Pond to Hollywood

By guest contributor Theresa Roche

It all began in Bristol for "The Sitcom Trials" a forum for writers and actors who wanted to test new drama scripts in front of a voting audience.

Created and presented by Kev F Sutherland the "Trials" grew from strength to strength with the best scripts being taken to a central London venue for further whittling down to select the winning scripts which were then made into a comedy show.

Not only has this proved a cracking opportunity for Bristol actors and playwrights but Kev has now taken the concept to Hollywood.

At the London show, a lady called Carmen Lynne from Los Angeles was sitting in the audience. She also happened to have a theatre built into her home in California.

She loved the show and thought that the concept would work in America where it hasn't been tried yet and so she invited Kev to come to Los Angeles to work with professional actors in staging a "Hollywood Sitcom Trials".

So Kev flew to Hollywood at the end of March. It was to prove a very different experience from directing in Britain. Hollywood, as the ultimate magnet for actors, naturally boasts some dauntingly impressive CVs and Kev was staggered by the high calibre of the actors.

Tinseltown dreams

Hollywood is also, of course, the city of broken dreams and, as Kev got to talk to the actors, he realised that in his own words:"There were about the same number of actors there as there are in Britain who had had to play 'Santa' last Christmas for a job".

So how did American humour accommodate itself to British scriptwriting? Kev found that, surprisingly, it was not the difference in humour itself which proved challenging but rather the deceptive similarity of "English" and "American English".

He took with him only the top winning scripts which had provoked hilarity on stage and screen in Britain. Even so, certain phrases such as "job lot" were incomprehensible to the Americans who would call it "ship load" instead. "We had to do some translation," Kev explained.

American interpretation of characterisation was also very different from the Bristol actors' interpretation. Kev found that it still worked as comedy and the comic timing for laughs from the audience worked the same way it had in Bristol.

The dedication and enthusiasm of the American actors leads Kev to comment: "I had more satisfaction in the space of a week than I have had for ages."

The final show was a great success. Sitting in the audience who should there be but yes, you've guessed it, in true fairy tale tradition, a Hollywood television producer who expressed an interest in televising "The Sitcom Trials" in America. Negotiatons for this project are currently taking place with Kev.



last updated: 22/04/05


Friday 6 January 2012

Lee from Steps in The Sitcom Trials

Steps have re-united, hooray! What's this got to do with The Sitcom Trials? Check out this, a report from The Sitcom Trials back in 2009. As is my wont, I doodled on my notes, little cartoons of most of the actors...

Last night I had the pleasure and privelege of being a judge at the Sitcom Trials, the show that I invented ten years ago, stopped doing three years ago, and Declan Hill & Simon Wright now keep themselves very busy running. It was the first show of this season I've been able to make and I was delighted with what I saw.

They run two shows every Wednesday. A 5pm showcase where industry representatives cast their votes on the 4 sitcoms in competition, then a 7pm re-performance where the public vote. I was in the 5pm session with fellow judges Jaqui Sinclair from RDF's Comedy Unit, George Poles writer from Mock The week & HIGNFY, Steve Keyworth of Eastenders and this afternoon's Radio 4 Play fame, and Carole Smith Radio 4 comedy producer of legend.

We watched 4 sitcoms, all of which are produced and staged to the highest standard. In my day we used to stand, radio-style, with scripts in hands, but these guys are totally off-book and well directed, all for just two performances. And, not to say anything nasty about anyone or anything, two of the scripts were brilliant. And as for the casts, tonight's show had John Le Mesurier's grand-daughter and Lee off of Steps in, how's that for impressive?

The winning scripts were The House on Cedar Street by Julie Bower, a flat share comedy which had a level of exciting new writing that made you want to see anything that writer comes up with, and The Boot Room by John Gradwell which is a consistently funny and well constructed sitcom set in a football club, crossing Hi De Hi with The Damned United to very promising effect.


The Sitcom Trials returns in 2012, writers and performers are welcomed. See here for details.

See the Best of The Sitcom Trials videos, here.


Tuesday 3 January 2012

Football vs Perfect 10 - and the winner is also...

The Sitcom Trials first TV series was broadcast live at around 11.30 on Friday nights, with the actors only learning which sitcom's ending they'd be performing during the ad break. Live skin-of-the-teeth television at its best.

In episode 7 of The Sitcom Trials series 1 we saw two sitcoms in competition, Perfect 10 by Rich Johnston and Football by Bowdler and Manning.During the ad break the viewers have voted. Yesterday we saw the winner as voted for and performed on the night. Then, after the live broadcast had finished, we kept the cameras rolling and, for the benefit of posterity (or, as it turned out, YouTube) performed and recorded the ending of the runner-up. Here it is...



Perfect 10 by Rich Johnston
Football by Bowdler & Manning
Winner
Alternative winner

The Sitcom Trials returns in 2012, writers and performers are welcomed. See here for details.

See the Best of The Sitcom Trials videos, here.

Monday 2 January 2012

Football vs Perfect 10 - and the winner is...

So, in episode 7 of The Sitcom Trials series 1 we saw two sitcoms in competition, Perfect 10 by Rich Johnston and Football by Bowdler and Manning.During the ad break the viewers have voted, the votes have been counted and the winner is...The Sitcom Trials first TV series was broadcast live at around 11.30 on Friday nights, with the actors only learning which sitcom's ending they'd be performing during the ad break. Live skin-of-the-teeth television at its best.

Perfect 10 by Rich Johnston
Football by Bowdler & Manning
Winner
Alternative winner

The Sitcom Trials returns in 2012, writers and performers are welcomed. See here for details.

Sunday 1 January 2012

The Same Paige on screen

Here's a delightful little find, from the website of film maker Anna Bennetts. Her sitcom, The Same Paige, was staged in The Sitcom Trials a few years ago, and now she's made a film version of it which is in a competition for which you, dear reader, can watch it online and cast a vote.



Check out her blog here and follow the instructions.

And if you fancy yourself as the creator of the Next Paige, the Sitcom Trials is returning in 2012. Watch this space for details.

Kev F

PS: And in a further trawl through the archives I find this interview with Julie Bower, finalist in The Sitcom Trials 2009, whose entry, 49 Cedar Street, has gone onto success on Radio 4.

Football by Bowdler & Manning in The Sitcom Trials

Episode 7 of series 1 of of The Sitcom Trials saw two wildly different sitcoms in competition, one deals with the world of politics, one with the world of football. Here is the second in the head to head battle, Football by Bowdler & Manning...And the winner is..?

Perfect 10 by Rich Johnston
Football by Bowdler & Manning
Winner
Alternative winner




The Sitcom Trials returns in 2012, writers and performers are welcomed. See here for details.
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