blackadder – Considered Words

Can you help discover why some sitcoms are funnier than others?

In a previous post I wrote about my reasons why some sitcoms are funnier than others and developed a theory to test – that the best comedies have more laughs per page and more reversals overall.

Every theory needs a test and I’m testing it on the top five British Sitcoms as voted for in 2004, not to find ‘the best’ comedy but to find which episodes are the greatest.

Yet to test it I need your help. I need you to read the scripts, count the funnies and reversals and enter them into the database below. I’ll let you know the results when they’re in – subscribe and follow me on Twitter to do so.

Quantifying comedy and the science of sitcoms

Comedy, like politics and religion, can be a big joke, or no laughing matter, depending on your point of view. And like political and religious views, it’s near impossible to convert doubters that your chosen path is the true one.

Knowing what makes a comedy ‘good’ is a dark art – you may have seen the Importance of Being Earnest more times than a maiden aunt but your favourite comedy is American Pie.

Likewise you love Monty Python’s Life of Brian as the greatest comedy ever made but find the troupe’sThe Meaning of Life turgid, yet both are rated as four out of five stars on IMDB.

What then makes a comedy great – how can a writer know what they write is funny, how can you argue your favourite comedy is ‘the best’ when another swears that you’re wrong?