FEATURE: 26 MAY 2009

Finding comedy amidst drama can be a challenge even for the most experienced television writer. The light side and the dark are two elements integral to the human experience and bringing both to the small screen requires a keen sense of balance and skill of craft, not only from the writer but also from the director and actors.

Writers James Griffin (Sione’s Wedding, Outrageous Fortune, Diplomatic Immunity) and Paula Boock (The Insiders Guide, Until Proven Innocent, Time Trackers) and director Jonathan Brough (The Insiders Guide, Outrageous Fortune, Legend of the Seeker) spoke to writer and current Shortland Street producer Steven Zanoski about achieving comedy and irony in dramatic work from both a writing and directing perspective.

Steven began the evening by describing the origins of the term ‘dramedy’, a word that entered the lexicon of television in the early 90s with the show thirtysomething. ‘I remember reading a review of thirtysomething which wasn’t too favourable,’ said Steven. ‘They used this new word ‘dramedy’ and said if there was any word left over to describe the show it would be ‘coma’.’

As a television viewer, Steven observed that prime time slots are full of ‘dramadies’. ‘There are very few pure drama series out there – most have a comedy element.’ He felt that feature films show a clear delineation between comedy and drama whereas the new dramedy television displays an amalgamation of the two. Perhaps one of the best examples of a locally produced dramedy is Outrageous Fortune.

James spoke to a clip from Outrageous Fortune and said that comedy provides the baseline for each hour-long episode but infusing drama heightens both the comic aspect and the emotional content. When asked how the series became a dramedy, James said a conscious decision was never made. ‘It just was. When I came into Gloss after episode six as a brash 23-year old, there was a decision. I said it had to be funnier and that’s how it went. Comedy and drama – it’s the essential nature of humanity, the style of life. We tried to bring it in with Mercy Peak and went further with Outrageous Fortune. It’s important to write characters that will always be funny – but they can be human too. That’s the beauty of this new breed of television.’

From a writer and producing director standpoint, Jonathon said it is always hoped that actors will carry the spirit of the script and often, when coming into a long-running series, the actors know far more about this than the director. ‘The director must give actors permission to play around and some actors will take this as far as they can! It’s all about embracing the idea of ‘play’ – let’s have fun with this ourselves. Sometimes a gag can be funny on one take but not in the next. We have to let actors have some rein – not full rein! – to add to scenes in comedic terms because sometimes other people will have better ideas than you.’ Jonathon says he is always guided by the script but felt that by allowing people to add in at every stage during television production, ‘… things generally get better.’

Paula said she has worked in the development process where there have been discussions about style and tone and she has written accordingly. ‘Then there’s the production process and the input a writer has in that.’ Her first in-house work was on The Strip where she was involved in 40 one-hour episodes. ‘Sometimes actors sold lines and scenes that were not at all funny on the page – they did such brilliant work. But other times some scenes were totally overcooked where the director just overdoes what the writer has written. The whole area of comedy drama is very delicate and can go horribly wrong. The writer should not call the shots but there must be a respectful relationship between the writer and the director. This is the ideal model requiring everyone to be experienced enough to know when to pull back and trust when necessary.’

Steven asked the panel if they felt there was so much comedy coming out because it is such a natural part of life, a part that we have not admitted to previously? ‘Are we in this new liberal environment where we talk about everything and laugh at the most dreadful situations?’ He raised the example of the ground-breaking Mary Tyler Moore Show – specifically the episode where she irreverently laughs at the funeral of Chuckles the Clown – which was deemed very funny in the late 60’s but is not so far removed from what we see in today’s comedy.

Jonathon felt that television has become more experimental over the last ten years. ‘People are exploring and pushing it further.’ James raised the example of TV series Boston Legal. ‘This is an hour long show with dramatic storylines so it should be a drama – but it’s very funny.’ James continued using Two and a Half Men as an example of a half hour comedy and Steven wondered if there is a greater expectation amongst viewers that the half hour should deliver comedy and the hour deliver drama.

‘The expectations are phenomenal when it comes to a half hour comedy show,’ said James. ‘A hallmark of Shortland Street is that it highlights drama and comedy in each episode and this is integral to its success.’ Steven commented that this aspect is generated more by the characters than the situation and the mixing of the two is designed to appeal to a wide audience.

The panel discussed where comedy comes from – is it generated by the situation or the characters? ‘We delight in shocking,’ said Paula. ‘The networks drive this too because we need to see something shocking to keep audiences there. How did this evolve? The Strip was meant to be light and entertaining and as we worked on it we developed characters who lent themselves to this more than others. A number of the stories became somewhat formulaic and contrived but there was a definite push to shock audiences in a comic way. Irony can be a clever tool for getting away with things that are gratuitous and shocking.’

James said it is possible to have comedy and then hit audiences with drama at the end. ‘The drama is always there – you know what it is building up to and the writer uses their craft to hide that drama and build the expectation of it through comedy.’

In conclusion, Steven asked the panel if they felt a writer wanting to pitch an idea for a television series should bring comedy into their situations or is there space nowadays to write pure drama?

‘I’d hate to think the networks are closed to pure drama,’ said Paula. ‘If a straight heavy drama is bloody good then you should write it. You have to follow your heart on that one. In a long-running series over 20 or 30 episodes you’ll have real characters developing and, in real life, nobody lasts that long without something being funny. These moments arise naturally so don’t be too prescriptive.’

‘If you’re pitching a long running series about a suicide hotline then you’d better find the comedy in there otherwise a network will wonder why anyone would want to watch that every week,’ said James. ‘Be prepared to front up with both sides of the equation.’ Steven asked if a writer was unable to do that, what then? James replied that it’s important for a writer to acknowledge what kind of writer he or she is and if they have the ability to bring both comedy and drama into their work. ‘All human beings have this capacity for humour and drama. It must be incorporated into the work.’

‘It would be the death knell if a writer wrote what they thought someone wanted to read,’ said Jonathon. ‘You must write what you want to read. In television, the writer is always the leader in what that show will be about so don’t write what you think they want.’

The panel responded to some questions from the audience and the first asked for comments on whether the dramedy worked better in the realm of television or film.

‘Dramedy exists more in TV than films,’ said Steven and Paula felt it was all about marketing. ‘There are examples in film – take Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself - an uncomfortable mix of drama and comedy. It’s very hard to pitch a film like this and the pressure is really on when it comes to deciding how to market such a film – who will want to see it?’

James felt Four Weddings and a Funeral was a good example of dramedy in film and added that even action films had elements of comedy in them. ‘Take the horror/thriller genre,’ said Paula. ‘There’s often a campness that allows you to throw humour around a bit.’

The question of reality TV was raised and whether the growing popularity of this was affecting the writing of dramedies. ‘The number of ‘mockumentary’ series has increased,’ said James. ‘People are writing these more as comedy drama.’ Steven felt it was all about a desire to shock. ‘This is in direct relation to reality TV,’ he said. ‘Reality can show us things that are dramatically unexpected.’

The panel was asked how their own personal stories informed their writing and creative decisions. ‘I was known around the table as the ‘heart writer’,’ said Paula. ‘We would have multiple scripts being passed around and each of us had a speciality and mine was finding the heart of the script. We all had our strengths and weaknesses.’

The panel was then asked to discuss how far they would take audiences into the realm of ‘shock value’ and James said he was occasionally astonished at what offended people. ‘They’ll go most places,’ he said. ‘The biggest network problem we had on Outrageous Fortune was over Pascal sleeping with her half brother. Incest was not a good subject and the level of shock from the network surprised us. But we did it anyway, because it was funny and we got away with it.’ Paula felt the subject of God was ‘… getting touchy but sex and violence is fine.’

When asked the difference between black comedy and drama comedy James replied, ‘Levels of pain and suffering! There’s a wonderful darkness to black comedy!’ Jonathon noted there was a good tradition of black comedy in New Zealand ‘… and it’s all about body count.’

Generally speaking, we are treading more firmly into the realm of drama comedy but have some distance to travel yet. ‘The most courageous television is being made somewhere else,’ said Paula. ‘We do our best here. Sometimes the networks ask us for something edgy and different – and sometimes it gets on, but not usually. But it’s worth noting that most of the drama being made here now is centred around female characters so if there’s one thing we can say, it’s that our comedy/drama is not male driven!’