Steve Hely, writer for Veep, The Office, 30 Rock and American Dad! presents some observations on formal and informal protocols in the creating, pitching, and producing of TV comedy shows, as well as some ideas on how protocol thinking could inform and drive comedy.
Highly recommend Steveâs really funny novel too. How I became a famous novelist. The plot is very protocolish â about a protagonist who helps students write essays to apply to US universities. Amazon.com
Space operas seem rich with protocols. Every other episode of Doctor Who has the word âprotocolâ (often on a computer screen)
âNo adjectives, use anecdotesâ principle is really âdescribe the protagonist in terms of their characteristic protocolsâ (the âtype of guy who does xxxxâ)
Cf: âtype of guyâ memes
âProtocols to mitigate embarrassmentâ for failed pitches reminds me of Erving Goffmanâs âOn cooling the mark outâ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00332747.1952.11022896
Protocol literacy as a way of building agency. If you know the protocol, you can skip steps / beat traffic⌠Ideal Chief Protocol Officer is a charismatic, procedure-hacking gremlin
Chief Protocol Officer (CPO) is really close to C3P0 as an acronym
Writerâs room protocol is similar to a lot of collaboration zones (software team meetings, business strategy)
Fan of Abbott Elementary here, a precarious balance of cringe and funny
Brunson is also the creator of âAbbott,â one of its executive producers and showrunners, and the leader of its writersâ room, all of which means that she has the final word on everything from costumes to punch lines.
From the beginning, the show had a distinctive mix: it was idiosyncratic but accessible, familiar but fresh, warm but not sweaty.
