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'SITUATION: COMEDY' - TUESDAY, 8 P.M., BRAVO Hollywood, glamorous? You might think twice once you see how the show-biz sausage gets made. Bravo's new reality hour, "Situation: Comedy," gets into the nitty-gritty of series-making, and it ain't always pretty. The deal is this. Wannabe writers from around the country submit thousands of scripts to "Situation" executive producers including "Will & Grace" co-star Sean Hayes. The finalists are flown to L.A. to pitch to Bravo's hired show-runners. Five scripts actually progress to have their creators meet with the NBC executives who'd be taking the winning concepts to pilot. Then the two most-promising get to produce a pilot presentation with name actors, professional directors and all the network input the pros get. All the input. Allllll of it. Here's where dreams crash into practicality, art crashes into commerce and egos collide big time. Not that this isn't happening from the get-go. It becomes clear from the first night's first moments that glib is good, that L.A. trumps heartland, that familiar is hotter than fresh. It's not hard to spot early on which of the scripters or script-writing teams are likely to impress the decision-makers. And people wonder why prime-time TV so often feels like the same-old same-old. Then in subsequent weeks, things get really nasty. It isn't that the TV pros look down on the first-timers. They're actually trying to help, at least to get the show up and running and give it a shot at success. Experienced writer-producers Maxine Lapiduss ("Roseanne") and Stan Zimmerman ("Gilmore Girls") patiently guide the "lucky" newcomers through the gauntlet that is rewriting, casting and dealing with network "notes," making sometimes unwelcome suggestions. "Situation: Comedy" condenses the process in unusually sharp and enlightening fashion as the competing writers struggle to navigate these choppy waters. Think of their shows as a jigsaw puzzle, where you're trying to piece together the elements by shape, color and compatibility. Do the actors they're considering look like they could be related? Do they have chemistry? What about comedic contrast among the cast, in terms of looks and personality? Does an auditioning actor seem too nice? Too dangerous? Too plastic? The actors themselves get hauled into a cold, quick, one-shot chance to impress that leaves you feeling sorry for anybody subjected to it. Once the cast and crew do get assembled, there's a fast, facile sense of "family" built around "appreciation" for each other that can evaporate in a heartbeat. Speaking of heart, lots of it is being invested in a process that's destined to dash dreams the great majority of the time. The script-contest winners have their visions, which may or may not be coherent or realistic. The network "suits" come across at least as sympathetic in their own goals and expertise. In between are caught the directors - Amanda Bearse ("Married With Children") on one project, Fred Savage ("The Wonder Years") on the other - laboring to make the scripts take life. Even more in a vise are the producers, who fill a sort of artistic middle management, balancing the competing interests through casting, table reads, rehearsals, behind-the-back maneuvering and such vague suggestions as "It lacks that extra something." Which "Situation: Comedy" doesn't. There's more here than meets the eye, thanks to the show-runners' candid observations and the scriptwriters' sometimes ill-advised outspokenness. Before long, viewers have a rooting interest, and in this show, that means something. These are real stakes in the prospective professional lives of participants who've been handed a lucky break for which they may or may not be ready. And who says Hollywood is fair, anyway? The
two concepts will get voted on by viewers once they are produced
and aired, and the winner earns a cash prize and a year's representation
by a Hollywood agency. If we don't get the next great sitcom out
of it, at least we'll know better why such classics are so tough
to come by.
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