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The Formula for a Successful Sitcom
indylaw writes "A team of scientists commissioned by British satellite channel UKTV Gold has developed a mathematical expression to predict the success of TV sitcoms. Using the formula [((R x D + V) x F) + S]/A, they determined that "Only Fools and Horses" and "The Office" are the best of British comedy, while "According to Bex" (which is being adapted for CBS in the fall and will star Jenna Elfman) scored in the bottom five."
What's the formula for coming up with the values for the variables that fill in this formula?
Here's mine:
S = intelligence and wit of the script
C = degree of variety and contrast of the characters
W = wise reflection on real life ironies
N = names that you remember
B = budget of producers
And the formula is:
(S + C + W + N) / B
That'll be 5c, please.
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1. Tim wants to make some sort of souped-up home improvement.
2. Tim makes fun of Al.
3. Tim has a hillarious accident on Tool Time.
4. Tim offends someone close to him.
5. Tim seeks advice from Wilson.
6. Tim misquotes Wilson when making ammends.
7. Everyone is happy!
It was totally mindless yet entertaining.
we'd all know what mutual funds to put our money into
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
I have mod points, but I'd prefer to counter that statement. A few months ago, I probably would have agreed. However, my wife, who normally abhors anything with too much T&A, started watching Stacked. She absolutely loves it. The humor is actually witty at times and the acting is acceptable. It's far better than most of the reality shows (Dancing With The Stars?) and better than a good deal of other sitcoms. I was pretty surprised.
:)
The fact that there's a lot of T&A is an added bonus.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
Bah.
Let's apply this "formula" to the recent NBC sitcom, "Friends."
R: 3.
At the time of the show's start, Courney Cox was far and away the most recognizable celebrity on the show, due to her recent stint on the failed CBS drama "China Beach", and the fact that she was the girl who danced with Springsteen in that music video. Almost nobody remembered that Jenifer Aniston was in "Leprechan."
D: Zero. The characters all had rather low opinions of themselves, considering that they lived in the best two apartments in all of New York City.
3 x 0 = 0
V: 8.
It didn't suit everybody's tastes, but love it or hate it, the dialog on that show was its greatest strength. Otherwise dull scenes hinged entirely on the Chandler character just happening to think of the funniest thing you could possibly say at any given moment.
0 + 8 = 8
F: 1
There was an episode where Joey got a hernia from lifting weights, and I think Rachel bumped her head once or twice, but never badly enough to mess up Jenifer Aniston's perfect hair. I believe that was pretty much it.
8 x 1 = 8
S: 1
All six characters began the show as twentysomethings who were just starting out in life, and happened to luck into huge rent-controlled apartments. While wealth varied, class differences were pretty much non-existant. The poorest two character on the show in the first season, Joey, was the richest several years later. It seems that it was originally planned that the story of Rachel's fall and rise (Jewish American Princess - coffee shop girl - fashion-world executive) was to be one of the main story arcs, but it was almost never exploited beyond the first one or two episodes.
8 + 1 = 9
A: 10
The characters on Friends always came out on top. Even the worst disasters which came up were understood by the audience to be temporary setbacks. Just about every crazy scheme in the pursuit of either sex or money tended to pan out.
A good example is the "hernia" episode I mentioned earlier. Joey gets a hernia, but he had let his insurance lapse, and needed a paying acting job to get medical coverage for the surgery. After several failed auditions, he lands a part playing a dying man, because the pain of his injury made him so convincing as somebody who was suffering.
8 / 10 = 0.8
In other words, by this formula, Friends had no chance of ever catching on with TV audiences! What the hell was NBC thinking when they put that show in the slot once occupied by The Cosby Show and Cheers!?!?!?
Since the show ended it's miserable ratings failure of a run, NBC has been showing The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump, in that time slot. By this formula, The Apprentice has a much better chance of success as a sitcom.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Father Ted is third, beating out Fawlty Towers. All is well with the world of algorithmic sitcom ratings.
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