A little help for my sitcom (not sure if this is in the right place?) - page 1 -

• A little help for my sitcom (not sure if this is in the right place?) by Lol on 21 Jan, 2010 10:56
• Hey guys
  
  I'm going to be starting on a sitcom in the next week or so in which the main character is balding. I'm hoping to send it off to some production companies over here in the UK, but first I wanted some advice.
  
  What would you want to see from a comedy about dealing with baldness? I've plenty of ideas so I'm not looking to steal anything from anbody. I just wondered if, as bald men, there was anything particular you would want to see? Any particular insecurities or reactions, any empathy or apathy?
  
  Any responses would be greatly appreciated
  
  Thanks
  
  
• #1 by ozzie on 21 Jan, 2010 13:33
• You ask: What would you want to see from a comedy about dealing with baldness?
  
  Well let me tell you: Unless your character has an epiphany, mans up and shaves his head, thereby becoming totally empowered by going sly, I see absolutely nothing of value in the concept.
  
  I don't find anything even remotely funny about balding. I am BBC but I really feel for the guys who struggle with all the insecurities, unwarranted and ignorant comments, plus the daily struggle with sprays, comb-overs, rugs and drugs. The last thing balding guys need is another dumbass show that uses this condition as a setup for your puerile one-liners.
  
  
• #2 by hawkeye on 21 Jan, 2010 15:38
• Not sure if you would have enough material to make a sitcom about just balding.  Now, if it is a sitcom, with an actor that is balding, then you can have him do as Ozzie said.  Take the bull by the horns and shave it.  Show it in a positive light.  Hell, nobody really makes fun of those with a bald head unless they are the same people that make fun of someone with a big nose, glasses, etc.  It's that type of person who is insecure about themselves that have to make fun of others.  Besides I think Seinfeld did this already.  Ask Larry David for advice?
  
  Rich
• #3 by Mikekoz13 on 21 Jan, 2010 18:26
• Ozzie nailed it. Many balding men find nothing funny about balding and struggle for years with insecurities because of it.
  
  What stirkes me is that if someone made a comedy about something else that people struggle with..... let's say obese people... and made fun of them the roof would cave in from the uproar. Somehow making fun of a man balding is thought by many to be OK.
  
  You can walk up to a guy that's balding and make fun of him and people will laugh..... do the same to a fat person and you will be called rude, insensitive, etc..
  
  I was never sensitive about losing my hair before I shaved but most men are ...... it's time to leave them the Hell alone.
• #4 by D.A.L.U.I. on 21 Jan, 2010 19:07
• Excuse me for being blunt, but have you been asleep for the past two decades?  There were comments on balding men in old, I mean black & white, no cable, old television programing.  But, at least in the states, many of the presenters are shaved heads, Weather Channel's Jim Cantore, one our local newsmen on the 6 o'clock news.  Even more shave heads are in the movies broadcast and rebroadcast  as well as in current and reruns of broadcast series.  And the bald guys, such as Mitch Pileggi, starred in long running series without a single comment on his baldness.  Baldness, not only is not comic, it's not an issue for society, and that's very much as it should be. 
  In my opinion, your seriers has as much future as a discarded toupee, and as far as humor, about as flat. 
  Finally, in this country, green is an important concept and the writing, transport and printing of your script would consitute a bad level of carbon abuse.  Spare yourself, spare the world.  Get a life.
• #5 by Tyler on 21 Jan, 2010 19:18
• Hey LOL, I remember from your introduction that you faced MPB at 18 years old, so I'm sure you understand the sensitivity around the issue.  My advice would be the same as Ozzie's in saying that you should portray the individual as someone that overcomes the issue by shaving his head.  Maybe the first couple episodes could be him struggling with his hairloss and then making the move to a shaved head. 
  
  I could then see some fun ribbing that occurs with him and some buddies about his shaved head, as much of us get the ribbing form our friends.  I think you have an opportunity to go against the norm and shed some positive light on the subject and not portray the guy like George Costanza on Seinfeld. 
• #6 by Lol on 21 Jan, 2010 19:24
• Wow. Ok. Was not expecting those kind of replies.
  
  I'm bald myself, so for one, the humour would not be predictable, flat one-liners about the main character (let's say me). I am talking about a sensitive issue and making it into something positive, one that shows what 'we' go through, and doesn't make it such a sensitive subject. Secondly, there are programmes about 'obese people'...yes, comedy based shows, there's shows about homosexuality, disability, etc.
  
  I wasn't really expecting such strong opinions back. I wanted to do something cathartic, perhaps help myself, perhaps help other people. Why shouldn't bald be funny? Why can't this be something that people can find a little humour in from time to time.
  
  What did you think? I was going to come up with a script about a guy who is bald or balding, and have the world point their fingers at him and laugh? Man, was really suprised to read some of the comments. Get a life? Thanks.
• #7 by schro on 21 Jan, 2010 19:34
• Lol,
  I can understand the predictably strong comments from the SBG members (agree with Ozzie, 100%). As I read your first post, creating a sitcom about a bald man just conjured up images of a bumbling fool (not because he was bald). That may not have been your intention, but that's how I took it. I'm not certain I can add anything to your request.
  
  Good luck with your endeavors.
• #8 by Lol on 21 Jan, 2010 19:41
• That's ok man. I know it's a touchy subject, but I just thought some people would be a bit more open minded, with it being 2010 and everything.
  
  My professor's at Uni would always go on about writing 'what you know' and something 'you feel strongly about'. Well, I know how it feels to go bald, and I know how great it is when you embrace something and turn that into a positive. I also feel strongly about comedy, about my writing, and I was hoping to do something different with this subject matter.
  
  I'm still going to write it, and if anyone wanted, they would be welcome to read it.
  
  Just feel like I got majorly shot down and nobody really gave me a chance
• #9 by hawkeye on 21 Jan, 2010 20:23
• I dunno.  I didn't think we reacted any different than if you went to a diet forum and asked the same kind of question in the way you asked it.  You should have given more pretext, etc.  Good luck in your show. 
  
  Rich
• #10 by Lol on 21 Jan, 2010 20:25
• Well, over here there is a show about that, called 'Fat Friends'...never seen it myself.
  
  Don't know what was wrong with the way I asked it.
  
  Thanks anyways man
• #11 by ozzie on 21 Jan, 2010 20:35
• Lol,
  
  Your followup posts have made your intentions much more clear, so I will apologize for the harsh tone of my initial response. While I stand firmly behind the sentiments expressed in my post, I know it is indeed possible to find and share the humor and, hopefully, empathy in the examination of all aspects of the human condition. So I do wish you all success in your endeavor.
  
  Maybe for your next project you could do a show about a less touchy subject. I know ... a comedy about Islamic jihadists.   
  
  
• #12 by Lol on 21 Jan, 2010 20:42
• Ozzie, I already worked on a pilot for that. It was rejected, they found it a little too 'safe'. So I went for the jugular with this one.
  
  In no way was I trying to 'make fun' of baldness. I'm not into cheap comedy, the predictability, the laughter track's, etc. I want to write something that, obviously will make people laugh, but will make people think. I think of the greatest things we can do as people is to make people laugh, then think about why they're laughing, and further on, to perhaps make them empathise with situations they may never find themselves in.
  
  I'm not trying to devalue what anybody has been through, or to make fun of that. I've been through it myself, at a very young age, so believe me, if I saw somebody taking a cheap shot at mpb on the tv, I'd be switching off quicker than I lost my hair.
  
  Thanks for the reply man. I didn't mean to offend anyone.
• #13 by hawkeye on 21 Jan, 2010 20:53
• Hey Lol,
  
  As with most comedy, it comes from the strangest places/situations.  I think this "thread" could be used for your show.  You can make the balding main character a writer for Television.  Who goes to a forum such as sly bald guys to ask what they would like to see in a comedy centered around going bald. 
  
  Then wonder why you got such passionate responses... 
  
  Rich
• #14 by Lol on 21 Jan, 2010 20:55
• And show how everyone reacted at their desks: throwing their coffee's, smacking their wives, shining their domes.
  
  Or I could just play safe and rip off Spinal Tap or something?