INTRODUCTION

If you're like me, then you'll think there's so much rubbish on TV. This is particularly true in modern comedy and drama.

People recommend me stuff all the time, and I get a feeling of dread when they tell me with conviction:

"You need to watch this! It's hilarious."

And, more often than not, this is usually followed by:

"Give it an hour or two, so it can really get going.'

Then...

"Well, you've got to at least give it a couple of episodes."

The bar is very low. I'm sick of it.

A COMMENTARY ON MODERN MEDIA IN 2025.

I've seen better, and I know that we can do better for future generations. Are we supposed to sit there with a straight face and pretend all this CGI-heavy rubbish can hold up to a good story? And then you may then think:

"Well, I could do better."

And if you're that way inclined, you may just give it a go.

INFLUENCAL FACTORS

I'm a graduate of great comedy. Like Tarentino, I didn't go to movie school; I went to the movies, or watched TV. I love anything produced by HBO like; Flight of the Conchords, Eastbound and Down, The Righteous Gemstones, Bored to Death, to genius English comedy (The Royle Family, The Office). I'll watch anything that makes me laugh.

But most of this crap nowadays does not make me laugh. For the majority of people, the new comedies produced are enough for them. But I sit there thinking to myself:

"Why are they so absorbed in this rubbish?"

I am not elitist in my tastes for thinking this way, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that the older films and TV shows did it better.

A NEW PROJECT IS BORN

So, I set out to give people something that fills the spaces where I found lacking that bit of something... something that would make them really laugh.

I quickly got to work, and started to put in pracrice some of my new ideas. Everything I needed to and my co-writer Andrew Grierson-Jones jumped on board and provided a great sounding board, ideas man and drove the whole thing forward.

We finished writing the whole first series (a 6 part, half hour episode series, firmly in the English tradition). Now, how to get it made? Well as with all good comedy, sometimes the funny part of a line is a gesture, a look, how is delivered, how people react to the line. So my next idea was to make a demo pilot episode as reading a script, a lot of jokes might go AWOL. So we cast it, rehearsed it, for nearly a year, hired a train and a station, filmed, directed, edited, fed the cast, produced the whole thing. What came out the other end, we're really proud of. It's funny. The whole series, being character driven (like hbo) and dealing with the every day (like The Royle Family) is funny, awkward, real (like the office). As good as pilots are it's up there.

Next on the list was to get it out there and get it commissioned. It's funny how the effort of writing, casting, filming, editing, producing, hiring, catering, directing had become the easy bit. I'm sure if we could get a foot in the door anywhere we'd get it commissioned. But sadly, as an outsider, every door is firmly locked. No production companies accept unsolicited scripts/ shows. No channels accept submissions. Producers don't respond. Directors won't answer any calls or emails. Every door is shut. Online help like- to try to get in, do something in the same vein, like stand up comedy (which I tried and discovered even though everyone at work finds me hilarious... Or at least a bit funny) that's not my thing. Other suggestions like join groups, go to events only end up in a room full of hopefuls with no one there who can help.

As it stands I'm still banging on doors, looking for a way, any way, to get a foot in the door. Pat of me thinks forget it. But the other day I heard it took Ricky Gervais two years to get the Office made after he'd finished writing it. So I've taken heart, taken up the mantle again and am ploughing forward. Given the chance, would I do it all again? Knowing how hard it is to get something made? Absolutely. Because you know what? Art matters. Comedy matters. Making people laugh matters.

All that's left now to ask is, why is it so hard to get heard? Especially our project- we've made it easy. No one has to read anything, they can just watch it. But maybe in an ocean of information it's difficult to be heard? But on the other hand, surely if it's job to commission, you're on the look out for the best, funniest projects. And if that's the case, why is there so much unfunny, awful comedy out there that gets commissioned? Surely the commissioners need to cast their net out wider and catch something that people will talk about. Training demo pilot episode is here

If you fancy a laugh. Written by Dominic Nesmejanow