# make a sit-com into a drama **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606 "2012-11-20T11:45:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/21 "2012-11-20T22:05:03Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > We’re not talking classical and there are more modes of visual storytelling than those developed by the ancient greeks. Certainly neither television sitcoms nor dramas exemplify the artforms indicated by the masks. Yes. But for some reason it annoys me that comedy and drama are considered opposites. I’ll stop mentioning it though. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/22 "2012-11-20T22:15:20Z")
A young advertising executive must surreptitiously study the lunar calendar, lest the social engagements required by his demanding boss fall on the full moon, when his beautiful, blonde wife will be in the backyard of their suburban-Connecticut home, dancing naked and sacrificing a live goat. The resulting stress causes him to drink heavily. > [@salinqmind](#): > > A beautiful and intelligent woman impulsively marries beneath her, to a whining man-child still tied to his mother’s apron strings. To make it worse, the mother-in-law, her father-in-law (a buffoon, a walking embodiment of the ‘id’), and her brother-in-law (a sorry individual consumed with jealousy of his younger brother) live across the street. Husband’s family are overbearing, bossy, and intrusive, butting in constantly, and treating her badly decorated, cluttered house as their own. The woman is further held down by a life of grinding middle-class mediocrity and she finds herself, though married, virtually a single parent to a young girl and twin boys. Things build to a head, and the passive-aggressive mother-in-law is found dead in the kitchen, face down, drowned, in a pot of spaghetti sauce. The woman empties the mini-van of juice boxes, car seats, and packets of Goldfish crackers, throws them out the window onto the lawn, and takes off, driving as fast and far as she can while her schlub of a husband and his hulking brother argue as to what to do. What to do. The father-in-law picks up a bag of crackers and sits down and starts eating them. Not Everybody Loves Raymond. Love is not enough. My idea for the finale of _Married, With Children_ was for Al to kill his family (and the neighbors) with an ax and be acquitted by a jury of twelve shoe salesmen. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/23 "2012-11-20T22:21:52Z")
The patriarch of a family is arrested for shady financial dealings, and one of his sons must struggle to hold the family business together. Meanwhile, one of his brothers is an illusionist, the other is a socially underdeveloped mother’s boy, his son has a crush on his cousin, and his sister is married to a nevernude… No, wait, it’s back to being a comedy again. Damn you, Arrested Development! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/24 "2012-11-20T22:24:46Z")
Well, isn’t Lost just Gilligan’s Island without the yuks? (And 75% more polar bear?) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/25 "2012-11-20T22:32:10Z")
In the high-stakes world of International Intrigue, one man stands between peace, freedom and the American Way of Life…and evil that wants to see it destroyed at any cost. That man is…Sterling Archer! The world’s most _dangerous_ spy! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/26 "2012-11-21T00:50:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > A young advertising executive must surreptitiously study the lunar calendar, lest the social engagements required by his demanding boss fall on the full moon, when his beautiful, blonde wife will be in the backyard of their suburban-Connecticut home, dancing naked and sacrificing a live goat. The resulting stress causes him to drink heavily. Okay, I give up. Which one is this? ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/27 "2012-11-21T00:56:08Z")
[Bewitched](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched#section_1)? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/28 "2012-11-21T00:57:52Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Okay, I give up. Which one is this? I believe that’s “Bewitched.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/29 "2012-11-21T01:01:23Z")
Bewitched? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/30 "2012-11-21T01:04:31Z")
A family from the deep south, newfound millionaires due to recently-discovered mineral wealth, move to California due to intense peer pressure and find themselves completely overwhelmed by the high-society, jet-setting culture in Beverly Hills. Unable to assimilate into urban culture, they insist on dressing like hillbillies, shooting ducks and geese from poolside, and refuse to join mainstream society. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/31 "2012-11-21T01:10:28Z")
Not television shows, but \*Fail Safe \*was pretty much a humor-free version of _Dr. Strangelove._ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/32 "2012-11-21T03:03:28Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Okay, I give up. Which one is this? Yes, _Bewitched_, as others have mentioned. I find the idea of these sorts of re-imaginings to be very interesting. Who thought you could take the original _Battlestar Galactica_, the height of post-_Star_-_Wars_ cheesiness, and turn it into a genuinely tense, dramatic, series? It makes me wonder if you could take even the most outlandish premise and, with the right people working on it, develop it into something truly interesting. There was the recent _Mockingbird Lane_ update of _The Munsters_ that I thought had potential. Could _Bewitched_ or _I Dream of Jeannie_ be a compelling show, without the late-'60s proto-feminism and borderline omnipotence? My theory says that it could, but I know I lack the vision to see exactly how it could be accomplished. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/33 "2012-11-21T03:31:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Could _Bewitched_ or _I Dream of Jeannie_ be a compelling show, without the late-'60s proto-feminism and borderline omnipotence? My theory says that it could, but I know I lack the vision to see exactly how it could be accomplished. Given that _The Dresden Files_ failed, I’d say _Bewitched_ wouldn’t do to well as a serious drama of “magic exists in a world that doesn’t realize it’s there”, although it has been a few years… _I Dream of Jeannie_ would probably have to address or skirt the slavery issue. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/34 "2012-11-21T03:37:05Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > In the high-stakes world of International Intrigue, one man stands between peace, freedom and the American Way of Life…and evil that wants to see it destroyed at any cost. Orphaned when his parents were murdered by criminals, he trained himself to fight crime and save lives in Gotham City and around the world! ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/35 "2012-11-21T18:47:19Z")
You know what would make a pretty great dramatic series? If someone would actually make a series of these, with the original comedic characters playing against type. Seriously, a dark hourlong episode of “Cheers” (and the title would obviously be deeply ironic now) about an alcoholic ex-athlete who finds himself running a bar with all sorts of regulars who obviously have no life themselves, and a ditzy faux-intellectual serving reluctantly as his waitress and potential girlfriend. (I guess hiring Nick Colosanto as his dimwitted former coach is going to be tough.) The next week, a smalltown sheriff finds himself saddled with an incompetent egotist of a deputy who creates ongoing issues by abusing his authority. I’d tune in every week just to see what the twist is and how well they pulled it off. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/36 "2012-11-21T20:00:27Z")
A nerdy guy and his sister form the core of a group of six twenty-somethings in New York City. Sister lives in a rent controlled apartment with her two best friends. One is a vapid narcisist shopaholic that broke up with her fiance for cheating on her. The other is a ditzy modern new age hippy that writes atrocious music. The nerdy guy has a giant crush on the vapid shopaholic, but is too afraid to actually say anything. Meanwhile, his two best friends include a prissy guy everyone mistakenly thinks is gay and a ditzy struggling actor who sleeps with anything that moves. Nah, I wouldn’t watch that show. prr, I’m not sure a 1 hour treatment of each would work - I think we’d hit saturation long before then. I think a 10 min web series would be plenty long to hit the points, a kind of “day in the life” peak that would give the gist. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/37 "2012-11-21T20:06:03Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > A nerdy guy and his sister form the core of a group of six twenty-somethings in New York City. Sister lives in a rent controlled apartment with her two best friends. One is a vapid narcisist shopaholic that broke up with her fiance for cheating on her. The other is a ditzy modern new age hippy that writes atrocious music. The nerdy guy has a giant crush on the vapid shopaholic, but is too afraid to actually say anything. Meanwhile, his two best friends include a prissy guy everyone mistakenly thinks is gay and a ditzy struggling actor who sleeps with anything that moves. The best part would be the slow, downbeat, spoken-word theme song, about how no one told you life was going to be this way: _“Your job’s a joke. You’re broke. Your love life’s DOA. It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear. And it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month – or even your year.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/38 "2012-11-21T20:47:11Z")
Four nerdy & geeky guys in their twenties divide their time between doing research in a university and playing on-line video games. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/39 "2012-11-21T20:50:53Z")
I was trying to write one for _The Cosby Show_ but all I could come up with was the story of an obstetrician addicted to sweaters. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606/40 "2012-11-21T21:49:15Z")
The people who made _Scrubs_ thought _Grey’s Anatomy_ was pretty much a dramatic take-off of their show. Lot’s of similarities including using the term “Bambi” for J.D./George. They even did an in-show gag about this where J.D. does a voice over (note!) talking about how it would be like if someone made a drama based on their lives. They also both aired on Thursdays frequently opposite of each other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-a-sit-com-into-a-drama/641606.md?page=3)