Serious books, articles etc about sitcoms? Page 3

I think they're recording this summer, but it's only a pilot.

Ohhhh.

I really should try to start retaining information.

Quote: Aaron @ June 5 2010, 1:31 PM BST

Apparently the BBC makes almost no money from DVDs. It goes almost exclusively to the writer(s).

Do you have a source for that? I would imagine DVD sales make a small but healthy contribution to BBC profits.

An extremely reliable source, but not a public one, alas.

But it's still good business for the BBC I imagine, they get to sell their brand on millions of products which only leads to more sales of other DVDs, and also the beeb get big kudos for making the best sitcoms - and kudos and that general showbiz backslapping stuff is really what the BBC loves more than money. That and fat 'business' lunches.

Quote: chipolata @ June 5 2010, 12:33 PM BST

Yes, I suspect this is where the big bucks come from if it pays off.

Although personally if I ran a TV company I doubt I'd even bother with sitcoms since the mega money seems to come from Reality TV show/gameshow formats.

The reason they continue to make sitcoms, including the often-pronounced-dead audience sitcom, is because one big hit brings immeasurable gains to the TV company. You're right that in the States it's largely financial - although in the 90s when 'Frasier', 'Friends', 'Seinfeld' and 'The Simpsons' were at their height, the networks built their entire schedules around these shows.

In Britain, there are financial gains but the greatest gain for the TV company is massive brand loyalty. If you were to define the seminal Channel 4 programme of the last decade you would say 'Big Brother', but go back to the 90s and it was definitely 'Father Ted.'

When people say they love the BBC, nine times out of ten it'll be thanks to a big audience sitcom - 'Dad's Army', 'Blackadder', 'Fawlty Towers', 'Likely Lads', 'Hancock', 'Steptoe', 'Only Fools'... take your pick. No wonder the BBC still puts its faith in the audience sitcom, money permitting...

Quote: Anorak @ June 6 2010, 7:28 PM BST

The reason they continue to make sitcoms, including the often-pronounced-dead audience sitcom, is because one big hit brings immeasurable gains to the TV company. You're right that in the States it's largely financial - although in the 90s when 'Frasier', 'Friends', 'Seinfeld' and 'The Simpsons' were at their height, the networks built their entire schedules around these shows.

In Britain, there are financial gains but the greatest gain for the TV company is massive brand loyalty. If you were to define the seminal Channel 4 programme of the last decade you would say 'Big Brother', but go back to the 90s and it was definitely 'Father Ted.'

When people say they love the BBC, nine times out of ten it'll be thanks to a big audience sitcom - 'Dad's Army', 'Blackadder', 'Fawlty Towers', 'Likely Lads', 'Hancock', 'Steptoe', 'Only Fools'... take your pick. No wonder the BBC still puts its faith in the audience sitcom, money permitting...

Good analysis.