Where Did All the Multi-Camera Pilots Go? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

benjamoon · 05-16-2010, 11:05 AM

http://www.deadline.com/2010/05/wher...series-orders/

How ironic to be writing about NBC, ABC, & Fox trending overwhelmingly single-camera in their comedy series orders on a day when the syndication sale of a multi-camera sitcom, CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, broke the record for off-network coin held by another muticamera sitcom, Seinfeld. But multi-camera sitcoms suffered another seasonal setback in their attempt to regain ground on broadcast television outside of CBS. With NBC, ABC and Fox done with their new series orders, only one multicamera sitcom, ABC’s Better Together, found its way to the schedule among those three nets for next season. That’s down from 3 last year.

It’s not that NBC, ABC and Fox are retreating from comedy altogether -- their combined new comedy series order tally was 10 this year vs. 9 at the same point last year. But 9 of the 10 went to single-camera half-hours.

Over the past couple of years, especially in the context of the economic downturn that hit the TV industry hard, NBC, Fox and ABC executives have stressed that they are looking to diversify their comedy offering with less-expensive multi-camera sitcoms. And they have done it the development stage, buying multi-camera scripts and picking up multi-camera pilots. But when it came down to series orders this year, they went almost exclusively with single-camera shows.

Look at NBC. The network ordered 10 pilots evenly split between the two formats: five single-camera and five multi-camera. It picked up four of the single-camera pilots to series, Perfect Couples, Outsourced, Friends With Benefits and Next, while going 0-5 on the multi-camera side, not picking up a single traditional sitcom.

ABC also had a balanced pilot portfolio, ordering 12 comedy pilots, six of them single-camera, five multi-camera and one hybrid (Awkward Situations for Men). It picked up two single-camera ones to series, Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings, and one multi-cam, Better Together. Of the two projects the network is keeping in contention for midseason with orders for new pilots, neither is multi-cam: Wright Vs. Wrong is single-camera and Awkward Situations is a hybrid.

Meanwhile, Fox showed a clear preference in the pilot stage, picking up 6 single-camera and three multi-camera pilots. It ended up ordering three new half-hour series, the single-camera Keep Hope Alive, Traffic Light and Running Wilde, and no multi-cam sitcoms. The network even converted one of its comedy pilots originally written as a multi-cam, Strange Brew, to single-camera.

Why is that the three networks’ series choices skewed so heavily single-camera this year despite the fact that multi-cams in general repeat better and sell for more in syndication? I think it has to do with the fact that the breakout new comedy series of this season, ABC’s Modern Family, was single-camera, while the three new multi-camera comedies, ABC’s Hank, Fox’s Brothers and NBC’s 100 Questions all faced a quick demise. (100 Questions is actually yet to air as a summer burn-off). Even CBS, the king of multi-camera sitcoms, struck out in the genre this season with Accidentally On Purpose.

But the eye network is looking good to restore some of the balance between single- and multi-camera series with several buzzed-about new sitcoms, including the already picked up Mike & Molly, from Big Bang and Two and a Half Men mastermind Chuck Lorre, and the almost-picked up William Shatner starrer Bleep My Dad Said. CBS stayed true to its multi-camera comedy identity in its pilot orders. All 8 of its pilots were multi-camera. (The Ant Hines single-camera project was a low-budget presentation)

Still, even with the success of Two and a Half Men, Big Bang and How I Met Your Mother on CBS, the genre seems to be retreating big time almost everywhere else, including non-kids cable channels. TBS is moving from multi-cam sitcoms to hourlong filmed comedies with Glory Daze and Lifetime recently canceled its multi-camera effort Rita Rocks. It seems like there are only two main choices for new original sitcoms on TV these days – CBS and TV Land.

ekkostar · 05-16-2010, 11:31 AM

I have to place the blame on hipsters that think they're so cool for hating sitcoms. They also come up with very cultivated excuses as to why they hate them, too. Now come on, you don't go watching a sitcom without expecting it to be filmed in front of a live audience so don't whine about the "laugh track", which isn't a track at all. I swear these people need to be forcefully shipped to actual sitcom filmings and be in the audience.

benjamoon · 05-16-2010, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekkostar

I have to place the blame on hipsters that think they're so cool for hating sitcoms. They also come up with very cultivated excuses as to why they hate them, too. Now come on, you don't go watching a sitcom without expecting it to be filmed in front of a live audience so don't whine about the "laugh track", which isn't a track at all. I swear these people need to be forcefully shipped to actual sitcom filmings and be in the audience.

I agree to an extent than some people think the live audience, multi-camera approach is outdated but I'm not sure that's it because the two highest rated sitcoms on TV (Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory) are traditional. I think part of the problem is there's a lot of creative juices flowing into single camera shows - ever since "The Office" really and this year we had a slew of terrible multi-camera shows - "Accidentally on Purpose," "Hank," and "Romantically Challenged" were all terrible and I never saw "Brothers" but I can't imagine that was any good.

I want to see traditional sitcoms do well alongside single camera shows, but we need some better material! I'm guessing this year's pilot crop was just as poor and the networks aren't going to pay more money for just another crop of wannabes. We need a big hit to come through and revitalize the multi camera sitcom

Mr. Television · 05-16-2010, 06:31 PM

Hopefully some of CBS' new comedies will hit it big. Another big hit and it might pursuade the other networks to go back to multi-cam comedies. I just like them better. They make me laugh more. I'm not against all single-cam sitcoms. I like the Middle and Modern Family but overall, they just don't make me laugh like multi-cam comedies do.

*Pleasant Tomorrow* · 05-16-2010, 10:10 PM

I think the draw of multi-camera sitcoms really has a lot to do with the live feel of it. You feel like you're actually a part of the live audience. Maybe it's because they've been around for so long that the laughter we hear comforts us. At least, that's how I feel. But I have nothing against single camera shows, either. 30 Rock is my favorite current sitcom. And to go off of what benajmoon was saying, it all comes down to writing. It doesn't matter to me how a show is filmed as long as it is well-written with good acting. I've tried to watch new sitcoms and so many of them just end up being so stupid. It's extremely disappointing.

jehobden · 05-16-2010, 11:16 PM

Can someone please define what a "hybrid" sitcom is in this context. If you're describing sitcoms where a lot of scenes are prefilmed and then shown to the audience along w/ the scenes performed in front of the audience, you're describing most every multicam sitcom now. Of five sitcoms that I've seen filmed in person in multicam format, only one, Becker, was entirely filmed in front of the audience, and even that show, I remember, had occasional outdoor scenes that had to be prefilmed. From the shows that I saw, even w/ so many prefilmed scenes where we had to "watch the monitor" to see what was happening, they still took hours of my time and multiple takes of each scene.

05-16-2010, 11:05 AM	#1
benjamoon Bewitched Senior Member Join Date: Jun 15, 2000 Location: New York Posts: 1,450	Where Did All the Multi-Camera Pilots Go? http://www.deadline.com/2010/05/wher...series-orders/ How ironic to be writing about NBC, ABC, & Fox trending overwhelmingly single-camera in their comedy series orders on a day when the syndication sale of a multi-camera sitcom, CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, broke the record for off-network coin held by another muticamera sitcom, Seinfeld. But multi-camera sitcoms suffered another seasonal setback in their attempt to regain ground on broadcast television outside of CBS. With NBC, ABC and Fox done with their new series orders, only one multicamera sitcom, ABC’s Better Together, found its way to the schedule among those three nets for next season. That’s down from 3 last year. It’s not that NBC, ABC and Fox are retreating from comedy altogether -- their combined new comedy series order tally was 10 this year vs. 9 at the same point last year. But 9 of the 10 went to single-camera half-hours. Over the past couple of years, especially in the context of the economic downturn that hit the TV industry hard, NBC, Fox and ABC executives have stressed that they are looking to diversify their comedy offering with less-expensive multi-camera sitcoms. And they have done it the development stage, buying multi-camera scripts and picking up multi-camera pilots. But when it came down to series orders this year, they went almost exclusively with single-camera shows. Look at NBC. The network ordered 10 pilots evenly split between the two formats: five single-camera and five multi-camera. It picked up four of the single-camera pilots to series, Perfect Couples, Outsourced, Friends With Benefits and Next, while going 0-5 on the multi-camera side, not picking up a single traditional sitcom. ABC also had a balanced pilot portfolio, ordering 12 comedy pilots, six of them single-camera, five multi-camera and one hybrid (Awkward Situations for Men). It picked up two single-camera ones to series, Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings, and one multi-cam, Better Together. Of the two projects the network is keeping in contention for midseason with orders for new pilots, neither is multi-cam: Wright Vs. Wrong is single-camera and Awkward Situations is a hybrid. Meanwhile, Fox showed a clear preference in the pilot stage, picking up 6 single-camera and three multi-camera pilots. It ended up ordering three new half-hour series, the single-camera Keep Hope Alive, Traffic Light and Running Wilde, and no multi-cam sitcoms. The network even converted one of its comedy pilots originally written as a multi-cam, Strange Brew, to single-camera. Why is that the three networks’ series choices skewed so heavily single-camera this year despite the fact that multi-cams in general repeat better and sell for more in syndication? I think it has to do with the fact that the breakout new comedy series of this season, ABC’s Modern Family, was single-camera, while the three new multi-camera comedies, ABC’s Hank, Fox’s Brothers and NBC’s 100 Questions all faced a quick demise. (100 Questions is actually yet to air as a summer burn-off). Even CBS, the king of multi-camera sitcoms, struck out in the genre this season with Accidentally On Purpose. But the eye network is looking good to restore some of the balance between single- and multi-camera series with several buzzed-about new sitcoms, including the already picked up Mike & Molly, from Big Bang and Two and a Half Men mastermind Chuck Lorre, and the almost-picked up William Shatner starrer Bleep My Dad Said. CBS stayed true to its multi-camera comedy identity in its pilot orders. All 8 of its pilots were multi-camera. (The Ant Hines single-camera project was a low-budget presentation) Still, even with the success of Two and a Half Men, Big Bang and How I Met Your Mother on CBS, the genre seems to be retreating big time almost everywhere else, including non-kids cable channels. TBS is moving from multi-cam sitcoms to hourlong filmed comedies with Glory Daze and Lifetime recently canceled its multi-camera effort Rita Rocks. It seems like there are only two main choices for new original sitcoms on TV these days – CBS and TV Land.
	__________________ My Blog: http://benjamonsterstv.blogspot.com/ My Site: peaktvdatabase.weebly.com My favorite TV shows: Bewitched, I Love Lucy, American Dreams, Mary Tyler Moore, The Office, Happy Days, The West Wing, Modern Family, Friday Night Lights, Friends, Mad Men, Parks and Recreation, and Parenthood

05-16-2010, 11:31 AM	#2
ekkostar Coffee, Tea & Larroquette! Senior Member Join Date: Apr 16, 2005 Posts: 1,077	I have to place the blame on hipsters that think they're so cool for hating sitcoms. They also come up with very cultivated excuses as to why they hate them, too. Now come on, you don't go watching a sitcom without expecting it to be filmed in front of a live audience so don't whine about the "laugh track", which isn't a track at all. I swear these people need to be forcefully shipped to actual sitcom filmings and be in the audience.
	__________________ "All my sitcoms had an audience, with four or five cameras, so working this way has always been appealing to me." - John Larroquette A living legend, five Emmys and a Tony award! Your favorites could never...

05-16-2010, 06:31 PM	#4
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,132	Hopefully some of CBS' new comedies will hit it big. Another big hit and it might pursuade the other networks to go back to multi-cam comedies. I just like them better. They make me laugh more. I'm not against all single-cam sitcoms. I like the Middle and Modern Family but overall, they just don't make me laugh like multi-cam comedies do.
	__________________ Sonny

05-16-2010, 10:10 PM	#5
Pleasant Tomorrow Member Forum Addict Join Date: Feb 19, 2003 Location: New York Posts: 69,525	I think the draw of multi-camera sitcoms really has a lot to do with the live feel of it. You feel like you're actually a part of the live audience. Maybe it's because they've been around for so long that the laughter we hear comforts us. At least, that's how I feel. But I have nothing against single camera shows, either. 30 Rock is my favorite current sitcom. And to go off of what benajmoon was saying, it all comes down to writing. It doesn't matter to me how a show is filmed as long as it is well-written with good acting. I've tried to watch new sitcoms and so many of them just end up being so stupid. It's extremely disappointing.
	__________________ my name is ashlee Welcome! Everything is fine.

05-16-2010, 11:16 PM	#6
jehobden Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 06, 2002 Location: DFW Area, TX Posts: 2,004	Can someone please define what a "hybrid" sitcom is in this context. If you're describing sitcoms where a lot of scenes are prefilmed and then shown to the audience along w/ the scenes performed in front of the audience, you're describing most every multicam sitcom now. Of five sitcoms that I've seen filmed in person in multicam format, only one, Becker, was entirely filmed in front of the audience, and even that show, I remember, had occasional outdoor scenes that had to be prefilmed. From the shows that I saw, even w/ so many prefilmed scenes where we had to "watch the monitor" to see what was happening, they still took hours of my time and multiple takes of each scene.