BBC Comedy Boss Tells Producers To Stop Pitching Dramedies & Locate Their “Funny Bones”
Ghosts BBC/Monumental/Guido Mandozzi
Comedy producers have been told to locate their “funny bones” when pitching shows to the BBC by the most powerful person in British comedy commissioning.
Jon Petrie, who runs BBC comedy, set out his “firmly sitcoms first” stall in a speech this morning in Glasgow.
He urged producers to “send us less shows that are ‘an exploration’ of something and more that know where their funny bones are,” citing the likes of Ghosts, Motherland and Two Doors Down as examples of the “comedy first proposals” he is after.
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Petrie has not held back on his desire for sitcoms since taking on the job a couple of years ago and announced a raft of new and returning shows this morning at the BBC Comedy Festival.
But he said his team is “not getting pitched enough of the comedy we need to keep people happy” and is instead over-stocked with dramedies, which some producers deem an “easier sell” financially in a market beset by budget woes. “Comedy drama will always have its place, and we’re really proud of our slate,” added Petrie. “But we are over supplied with them. We need to protect the comedy space for shows that really go for the joke jugular.”
Petrie, who used to work for Stath Lets Flats producer Roughcut, posited that comedy producers, writers and commissioners have a “fear of failure, perception and bad reviews” when choosing what to pitch and commission, and this steers them away from sitcoms.
“We know nothing can get hammered like a new sitcom – even shows that have gone on to become massive hits,” he added. “We think it’s worth facing those fears because mainstream comedy is what audiences love best.”
Speaking to Deadline earlier this week, The Outlaws co-creator Stephen Merchant urged networks in both the UK and U.S. to give this new era of sitcoms time to develop.
To counter the lack of sitcoms, Petrie revealed his team will fund six writers rooms “with show ideas originated and led by an experienced showrunner to create the next big UK sitcom with broad appeal.” The writers rooms will be tasked with coming up with a pilot script, episode outlines and a writing team ready to go.
Eco-system “much smaller than any of us would like”
Petrie, who used last year’s speech to call for a comedy tax credit, said the Hollywood labor strikes, market inflation and recession have led to a “comedy eco-system that is much smaller than any of us would like.”
He criticized the streamers for “not commissioning enough culturally relevant comedy for UK audiences” and said eight of the top 10 biggest scripted comedies of the last year were on the BBC, topped by the Ghosts Christmas special.
“Times are tough, laughs are in short supply, so my challenge to all of you today is to bring us the jokes,” he urged the comedy community.