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Sometimes it’s hard to tell, when watching a sitcom, that a joke didn’t work. The audience reaction can be sweetened during post-production, or manipulated on the spot by the warm-up comedian. But I have a very specific memory of a joke that fell quite flat on NewsRadio.

The joke was delivered by the red-haired character Beth. It went something like this, “No matter what I do to try to impress my stepfather, he always treats me like a red-headed stepchild!” In my memory, the audience greeted the line with a mild confused pause.

I’ve also heard Mel Brooks talk about a joke in Young Frankenstein that didn’t work with audiences. It’s when Gene Wilder says to bug-eyed Marty Feldman, “Damn your eyes!” and Feldman replies, “Too late.” The audience, although otherwise delighted with the movie, shrugged.

The jokes failed, clearly, because the audience didn’t recognize “red-headed stepchild” and “damn your eyes” as common folksy expressions. Guess they’re not that common.

Now, personally, I love dialogue that is personalized to the actors… referencing their verbal habits or physical appearances. I’ve certainly written a lot of jokes that rely on characters commenting on other characters’ looks. Both of these jokes reference physical traits that happen to fit with ready-made phrases. You can imagine how tempting they must’ve seemed to someone who knew the expressions and assumed they were in wide use.

Of course, the best that could’ve been hoped for, really, was a judgment of “clever.” The jokes don’t delve into character, they just work at the word-level. This makes them extra-expendable. If you’re playing with some word-manipulation clever like this, be very careful. Check it out with some readers, make sure that you’re getting the effect you intend. If some people don’t get it, take note of that and don’t just assume that the person who ultimately reads the script and makes a decision about you based on it is going to fall into the part of the population on which the word-play will work. Better yet, see if you can find a joke that digs a little deeper.

Lunch: proscuitto and red spinach on whole wheat. Fantastic.

I dined with a former colleague last night before the WGA meeting, and she mentioned that she was interested in trying her hand at writing radio plays. Well, guess what I pulled out of the mailbag this evening? A letter from Loyal Reader Branko, directing my attention to this site. Say!

The link is to a BBC writing development program called “Writersroom”. They say “Writersroom is constantly on the lookout for writers of any age and experience who show real potential for the BBC. We accept and read unsolicited scripts for film, TV and radio drama, TV and radio narrative comedy and theatre.

I’ve poked around through the links there for a little while and I don’t see a mention of a UK citizenship requirement. Maybe I’m crazy, but it seems to me that there may be brave souls here in the US, and other Gentle Readers overseas who might want to look into what seems like a prime opportunity. Now, it’s a development program; they’re hoping to create writers who will stay and work for the BBC, not ones who will run off to Hollywood, so keep that in mind, but if you’re looking to write professionally and would find London a desirable destination, well… meet your open door.

I’m charmed by the wide variety of types of scripts that are accepted. Radio drama! Mmm.

Lunch: stuffed jalapenos at Jack in the Box

Strike Update: I’ve just returned from the big general WGA meeting at the Shrine Auditorium here in Los Angeles. I didn’t stay all the way through the question-and-answer portion — in fact, it may still be going on. But I did stay long enough that I felt that MY questions were answered. In my opinion, it looks like a good deal. Not perfect, but with room to grow.

I’ll be checking in with friends, to make sure that I’m not missing anything, to make sure that this is the right deal at the right time, but as of this moment I’m feeling very hopeful that this is a deal I’m ready to take.

Bottom line: if this deal passes membership scrutiny, which I think it will, look for writers to be back at work some time this week. Thank all of you for supporting us, feeding us, joining us, or just thinking of us. We felt it, believe me.

Lunch: Acapulco is getting a lot of my business these days. Put me down for a margarita and my share of one of those Fiesta Platter things.

As you’ve probably already read on the fine blog of my colleague Mark Verheiden, the special “Sci Fi channel” picket day was a huge success. No fewer than four of my former and/or current bosses were there — um, wait, might’ve been five. Thanks to all who came out, including many of you, Gentle Readers — good to meet’cha!

The next strike-related event is the big meeting Saturday night at The Shrine. Should be interesting. By the way — don’t let anyone tell you the strike is already over. Until I hear different, watch me walk!

Only a small nugget of writing advice tonight. During the Super-Tuesday coverage, I heard a pundit ask another pundit to stop talking about the greatest wishes of each campaign and instead give us a little insight into their greatest fears. Hm. That’s not a bad way to approach characters, too. Know what they want AND what they fear. Maybe the fear is just not getting the thing they want, but maybe it’s something else. If you think about it, and find something interesting, you’ll have more to play with in your script. Even if you never make explicit reference to it, the character will probably deepen just from the fact that you know it.

Lunch: Ribs USA. An all-sides lunch: greens and mac-n-cheese and corn and those amazing spicy fries.

Oh my, what a busy picketing day tomorrow will be. In addition to “Sci Fi Channel Day” at NBC from noon to 2, as detailed in my last post, there is also a “Spooky Wednesday” picket at Warner Brothers from 9 to noon. If you want to attend both and don’t want to walk for five hours, may I suggest that like any good screenwriter you get into the scene late and cut out early.

You’ve already seen the Sci Fi Day info. Here is the info on the Spooky Wednesday event as provided by the organizers:

Not sure you’re witty enough to write Sam and Dean Winchester’s dialogue? The writers from “Supernatural” can help! Want to know how to raise the stakes for a Vampire detective? Writers from “Moonlight” know! Worried that your spouse may be a cyborg? The writers from “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” probably won’t be able to help (but they will be on hand for your other brilliant questions!). Yes, writers from these shows (plus a few surprise guests!) will be there to answers these questions and more…

SPOOKY WEDNESDAY: February 6th, 9 AM-12 PM, Warner Bros Gate 2.

Since I’ve already committed to the NBC event, I’m choosing to attend that one, but if you’re an aspiring writer, both events obviously have a lot to offer.

Lunch: leftover veggie fajita

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