New EW Cover "Are Sitcoms Dead?"
 

Entertainment Weekly has a cover story about how Friends, SatC, and Fraiser are signing off this season, sitcoms are in a crisis and they sit down with the brains behind Friends, Dharma & Greg, Murphy Brown, Bernie Mac, Everybody Loves Raymond and Sex and the City to find out how to brainstorm solutions.

The solutions they give to improve sitcoms are:

1. Don't write off traditional shows (family sitcoms).
2. Keep it believable (audience needs to be able to identify with characters).
3. Honor a writer's vision (including casting the show which doesn't happen often).
4. Cast with care (Stars don't make TV - TV makes stars).
5. Better training for scribes (New writers aren't getting exposed to great writing and character development anymore).
6. Treat writers as talent (There should be more attention paid to what people are passionate about and let people run with it).

I posted this in the Charisma Carpenter forum, because she is auditioning for sitcoms right now and this story brings up a lot of concerns about casting and the smaller number of sitcoms on the air right now, particularly good sitcoms. Also, she should have a leg up, because there are not a lot of actresses that are great at comedy and there are few comedians who are even adequate at acting and you need both for a show to be successful, in my opinion. This is why Friends, SatC, and Murphy Brown were such great hits. I can't explain Raymond, I truly can't.

I thought we could write some letters in touching on items 3 and 4 about casting and #2 about identifable characters. Personally, I think Charisma is one of the top 3 female comedic actresses on television. And how part of her charm is that she can do more than just the comedy shtick. And identifiable characters are created when we see a fully developed character such as a bitch with layers who is vulnerable who can care about other people, etc. I am sure EW gets thousands of e-mails a week. But, if we made an effort to include CC's name out there it might help.

Also, there was a question in the article, "Would you prefer to develop a comedy around a superfamous but merely adequately funny person or a drop-dead hilarious nobody?" All of them answered the nobody. The difference with CC is that she is drop-dead funny and gorgeous (which the suits would love) and she is not a complete unknown. She has a loyal fanbase which is going to follow her wherever. Not many actresses fit that into that category. CC is a very safe bet, in my opinion.

So, does this sound like a good idea? And if so, should we maybe consider posting something on charisma-carpenter.com or another site?

I personally think this is a good idea. Maybe we could email a copy of this to ABC and then write about Charisma as well? Explain why she fits into all the relevant categories...

Hmm, sending something to ABC might be a good idea also.
 

I will shoot an e-mail off to EW today about this article mentioning Charisma. I just have to remember to keep it short and to the point.

This sounds like an interesting idea. I know many of us wrote to ABC in support of a weekly SJD series after the movie came out on ABC Family -- maybe we could suggest it again. That's a nice, organic way to broach the subject with the network, I think.

By the way, their e-mail address is

netaudr@abc.com

Here is the letter I sent to EW regarding Charisma and sitcoms (please note that is very cheesy):

Why are sitcoms dying? Poor casting decisions that focus on building shows around stand-up comedians who can't act, actors/actresses who have no comedic timing or pretty faces who can't do either. Without proper casting there is no chemistry between the characters unlike the characters had in the great sitcoms like Cheers and Murphy Brown. Also, you end up with one-dimensional characters that the audience doesn't relate to, because the cast isn't capable of layered performances.

What's the solution? Look at some lesser known actresses/actors who have solid fan bases who have shown they can act and have great comedic timing such as Charisma Carpenter. Charisma Carpenter turned a one-dimensional bitch, Cordelia Chase, on Buffy into the heart of Buffy's spin-off Angel, while still making us laugh. She also managed to make MissMatch funny, without becoming an over-the-top shrill bitch in her two guest appearances. She turned her ABC Family movie, See Jane Date, in a fun, sweet two hours. And she is drop-dead gorgeous, so that should make the executives happy.

Ok, i've sent an email...

To whom it may concern,

First off, I must admit something, I am English and I live in England, so you may not find my view point relevant to your channel and any casting decisions.

I do however surf the internet a lot and I have many American friends. As I'm sure you're aware, the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has an article on how to save the 'American sitcom'.

These are;

1. Don't write off traditional shows (family sitcoms).
2. Keep it believable (audience needs to be able to identify with characters).
3. Honor a writer's vision (including casting the show which doesn't happen often).
4. Cast with care (Stars don't make TV - TV makes stars).
5. Better training for scribes (New writers aren't getting exposed to great writing and character development anymore).
6. Treat writers as talent (There should be more attention paid to what people are passionate about and let people run with it).

While some of these, I might not be able to help with, I'd like to draw your attention to numbers 2 and 4.

The audience needs to be able to invest in the characters, to do this, the actor or actress must be able to act, deliver their comedy and emotional storylines well and - I'm sorry to say - must look someway decent. While it is hard to find someone like this I would like to point out to you that someone just like that was recently auditioning for an ABC sitcom. Charisma Carpenter.

You may now be rolling your eyes and dismissing this email as a begging letter from a mad sci-fi fan, but this isn't the case. You just need to watch a small sampling of episodes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to see that she can do all of these things. A good sampling of episodes to watch would be Buffy's 'Homecoming' & 'The Wish' and Angel's 'To Shanshu In LA' & 'Birthday'

I'm sure, however you won't have time to watch these, but find someone who has, they'll be able to confirm to you what David Greenwalt said is true; 'She can play every colour of the rainbow.'

Point 4 says cast with care, don't create a comedy for a big star, create a big comedy for someone who can become a star. While I completely agree with this, it wouldn't be good business sense to cast complete unknowns in the shows, you have to guarantee some viewers, right? Here's where Charisma comes in again. She's not a big television star, but she has a legion of loyal fans who will follow her to the ends of the Earth.

My last reason why you should at least consider Charisma Carpenter is 'See Jane Date' You've seen for yourselves how talented she is and you recognised it, by casting her in this movie. Maybe now it's time to see what she can do with a half hour sitcom?

Yours faithfully,

Alex Call on behalf of Charisma Carpenter's fans