I would like to know what some of the humor writers here think of these two series and the writing styles in general.
Basically this is "Friends" (tv series) vs. "The Office" (tv series).
When writing comedy usually it doesn't matter as long as you get a laugh. Most of your elements of story can be thrown out the window as long as you get the laugh. Character traits can be suspended if it serves the joke. Characters can be flat as long as for this joke it serves the purpose. The objective is achieved in any means necessary.
"Friends" usually sacrifices character and character development to deliver jokes. IE: all the cast members will act like kids, or a character will deliver a line in an uncharacteristic way (usually bold or loud) or even do something out of character as long as it is ironic. One of the Thanksgiving dinners had all of the friends heads stuck in a door and they all acted like "talking heads."
This is a classic example of "shouting." The jokes are over the top and story is a series of jokes strung together ("Friends" does a very clever job of making this rather seamless -"Family Guy" doesn't even try to create transitions from joke to joke).
The advantage to this style is that most people get the jokes. The downside is that it can be really cheesy.
"The Office:" often times the punchlines are delivered in camera shots and 2 second reactions with no dialogue delivered. The stories are much more complex and delivered in subtle ways to the point where the audience barely realizes that there is a B story going on at the same time as the A story.
One character had his stapler put into a jello mold. When he and the boss confronted another coworker to ask if he did it -the accused denied it but at the time the accused was eating a jello cup. You see the jello cup for like 5 seconds, but it is hilarious IF you catch it.
The advantage to this style is that jokes are way more complex and thus don't ask to sacrifice character development. The downside is that a portion of the audience is not quick enough to grasp the humor.
What are your opinions on these style choices. I'm currently working on a project and I'm trying to find what my target audience needs stylistically. I want to reach as many people as possible with my humor, but I don't necessarily want to sacrifice my character development.
Basically this is "Friends" (tv series) vs. "The Office" (tv series).
When writing comedy usually it doesn't matter as long as you get a laugh. Most of your elements of story can be thrown out the window as long as you get the laugh. Character traits can be suspended if it serves the joke. Characters can be flat as long as for this joke it serves the purpose. The objective is achieved in any means necessary.
"Friends" usually sacrifices character and character development to deliver jokes. IE: all the cast members will act like kids, or a character will deliver a line in an uncharacteristic way (usually bold or loud) or even do something out of character as long as it is ironic. One of the Thanksgiving dinners had all of the friends heads stuck in a door and they all acted like "talking heads."
This is a classic example of "shouting." The jokes are over the top and story is a series of jokes strung together ("Friends" does a very clever job of making this rather seamless -"Family Guy" doesn't even try to create transitions from joke to joke).
The advantage to this style is that most people get the jokes. The downside is that it can be really cheesy.
"The Office:" often times the punchlines are delivered in camera shots and 2 second reactions with no dialogue delivered. The stories are much more complex and delivered in subtle ways to the point where the audience barely realizes that there is a B story going on at the same time as the A story.
One character had his stapler put into a jello mold. When he and the boss confronted another coworker to ask if he did it -the accused denied it but at the time the accused was eating a jello cup. You see the jello cup for like 5 seconds, but it is hilarious IF you catch it.
The advantage to this style is that jokes are way more complex and thus don't ask to sacrifice character development. The downside is that a portion of the audience is not quick enough to grasp the humor.
What are your opinions on these style choices. I'm currently working on a project and I'm trying to find what my target audience needs stylistically. I want to reach as many people as possible with my humor, but I don't necessarily want to sacrifice my character development.
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