I want to create a sitcom called “Hilarity Ensues!”.
This will be a sitcom about a group of actors who all work on the same sit-com.
Cast: I don’t have many particular actors in mind, but they would play, well, actors, as well as cameramen, stunt people, etc. One of the characters should be the stereotypical big-headed walking ego. This character should, in the show-in-the-show, portray the stereotypical big-headed walking ego. On second though, I do have a particular actor in mind. This character should be played by Bill Shatner.
Setting: Most of the show would take place on the sets of the show-in-the-show. Some would take place at the actors houses, to more fully flesh out what they do in their spare time. Perhaps there could be a favorite bar where many of the cast meet after hours to gripe about other members of the cast.
Humor: Much (thought certainly not all) of the humor of the show would come from the contrast between the show and the show-in-a-show. For example, two characters on the show are angry with each other for some reason. But on the show-in-a-show, they have to have a naughty sex scene. What happens next? Just look at the title - Hilarity Ensues! Also, the show could be played for laughs during dramatic parts in the show-in-a-show (mocking a Very Special Anti-Drug episode with a cast pot party) but also be played for drama during the funny parts of the show-in-a-show. Has a character just found out he has cancer? Then make him have to act out a comic hospital scene set in the cancer ward in the show-in-a-show. Can he actually make it funny while deep down fear gnaws away at him?
There would be moments of drama, and I’d want the characters to be well fleshed out, in stark contrast with their show-in-a-show characters. However, it could largely be played for laughs with at least a couple characters being just as shallow as the characters they portray.
Plot: The plot of the show should correspond chronologically with the show-in-a-show. That is, when the show is in its first season, so is the show-in-a-show. The first season would focus much of its attention on what it takes to make a sit-com in the first place, and how many people do how many things behind the scenes. The characters would constantly be worrying that the show would be canceled - or worse, get great reviews, get picked up by FOX, then given a shitty time slot so it could slowly die and then be canceled.
Later seasons would address things like recycled plots, characters that suddenly disappear or reappear, changing an actor after the first season, that sort of thing. They’d also have fourth-wall-breaking commentary on the ratings. If the show was a hit, then the show-in-a-show could be second place behind a hated unnamed show on whatever network actually shows the show. (Themselves!)
Even later seasons would address shark-jumping.