An Improvised Sitcom

A long-form we build in front of the audience, then shoot.
Created by
Eric Weiss — Artistic Director @ Santa Fe Improv
First performed by
After School Special — House Team @ Santa Fe Improv
Running time
~45 minutes
Beats
9

This log post is a living document for reference and posterity, it will continue to grow and evolve as our team continues to rehearse, perform, and refine/discover the form’s true nature. 😁

The Shape of It

We make a sitcom in front of the audience, then we shoot its first episode. Eight beats of building the thing, then the thing itself. The audience watches the show get invented, so by the time the episode airs they already know the premise, the characters, the theme song, and the catchphrases — every laugh in the episode is a payoff for something they watched us make.

1Title
2Monologue
3Pitch Meeting
4Audition
5Theme Song
6Rehearsal
7Focus Group
8Theme Song (reprise)
Building the show — about 25 minutes.
9Pilot
The episode — about 20 minutes.

Emcee: opens the set and later runs the focus group in beat 7. They sit outside the show’s fiction — not a writer, exec, or actor.

Format

1
TitleEmcee + audience
  • Emcee asks the audience for a made-up sitcom name — ideally someone just shouts one out.
  • Previously we’ve done…
2
MonologueWriter
  • ~90-second writer’s internal monologue.
  • Establish the main character, place, name, and basic premise.
  • Set the vibe of the show.
  • Establish the character’s backstory, traits, and sitcom archetype.
3
Pitch MeetingWriter + 2 network execs
  • The one hard requirement: this has to play as a meeting where they buy the script.
  • Execs ask questions and hone in on:
    • Location
    • Three main characters
    • Character connections
    • Important/repeatable details
    • Product placement
    • Catchphrases
  • Execs make dumb suggestions; writer remains the voice of reason and keeps the premise on track.
  • End with the execs agreeing to take the show: handshake / “We’ll take it.”
4
AuditionWriter + director + actors
  • No rigid rules here. Don’t over-plan or force information out — set the tone, then let the personalities take it from there.
  • Actors are auditioning for the roles the pitch just established.
  • Walk-ins are always good. Anyone can enter — an assistant, a fireman, whoever. If it doesn’t derail the scene, let it happen.
  • Roles can change during the audition.
  • Director closes with: “Thank you, we’ll be in touch.”
5
Theme SongEveryone
  • Write the song, in a studio. This is working — keep doing what we’re doing.
  • One person guides and everyone else joins in, Harold-style group game.
  • Whatever lands here is the show’s musical identity, and it comes back in beat 8.
6
RehearsalDirector + writer + actors
  • Cut and disrupt much more than we have been — scenes are running too long. Aim for just enough to land the gesture, not a full runtime.
  • Anyone can call the cut — director, lighting person, craft services. Anything on-site can interrupt.
  • Writer introduces the scene: “We’re going to do the scene where…”
  • Director gives acting notes and creates tension.
  • Rehearse a scene that will be repeated in the pilot — same roles both times, so the rehearsed material pays off.
7
Focus GroupEmcee + everyone + 1 audience member
  • The conceit: these people have already seen the first episode. We haven’t performed it yet — that’s the joke, and the emcee running it doesn’t know.
  • Play it as a parade of weirdos — a group game where people fixate on unrelated personal tangents (the random stepdad confession, etc.). The logic to reach for is useless comment-section logic: “I don’t like beans, so this recipe is bad.”
  • Include one genuinely insightful, TV-loving member as a contrast to the weirdos.
  • Discuss things we’ve “already seen”: a line, an emotional moment, a scene, book-club style.
  • This is where we plant the episode. Whatever the group reacts to becomes setup for beat 9 — find at least one change or new angle to a scene we’ve already played.
  • Bring up an audience member. Expect either someone who needs to be pulled in, or a wise-cracker who needs reining in. The leader clarifies confused input: “Okay, I see what you’re saying…”
  • Give them a “gift card” / discount code to a future show.
  • Leader closes the focus group and opens up the next section.
8
Theme Song (reprise)Everyone
  • Lights go down.
  • Play the theme song from beat 5 — this is the curtain-raiser, not a new song.
  • Lights come up just after, and we’re in the episode.
9
PilotEveryone / assigned characters
  • This is the show — roughly 20 minutes. Everything before it was setup.
  • Cash in what was planted: the catchphrases, product placement, and details from the pitch, and whatever the focus group set up.
  • Callbacks should come naturally out of that material, not be forced in.
  • Call “cut to…” to transition between scenes. Tag to flashbacks when useful.
  • Commercials: someone has to step forward and address it directly to start one. A voice-over presence can play into it without being in it visually — audio only — and once it’s running, the on-scene actors and the voice-over can give-and-take.

Playing It Well

Cross-cutting craft that applies through the audition, rehearsal, and episode.

Playing the director
  • Directors get more freedom to be freewheeling than writers — the writer’s job is keeping things on the story track, so the director doesn’t have to.
  • Lean into director tropes: cryptic notes (“you’ve got a secret,” “lose the heels”), contradictory feedback, arbitrary scale notes (“you’re at a 10, now give me an 11”).
  • Never make it clear what you want. Give no warning when a take is good or bad.
Set language
  • Three commands are all we need: Cut, Rolling, Action.
  • “Keep it rolling” means don’t cut — but be aware you’re dicking around on camera.
  • Don’t confuse the two cuts: “Cut” stops a take on set. “Cut to…” is a scene transition inside the episode. Different tools, different beats.
Actors adding surprises
  • Big-character actors will throw out unplanned bits — the Sharon Stonehenge move, e.g. “I didn’t think that was gonna be sexy.”
  • When a surprise lands and gets acknowledged in-scene, build on it: the new element becomes an established game for the rest of the piece.
  • This isn’t about forcing a theme into everything. Only build on what genuinely happens in the scene.
Extra bodies in the room
  • Optional background characters are encouraged: a camera operator, or a reader — someone who reads lines flatly and doesn’t help you, often a working actor picking up a gig.
  • Random people can sit in for a scene or two.
  • Doubling up is encouraged. The camera guy can drop the camera and step in as an actor — nobody’s tracking whether he’s technically in the scene.

Pacing & House Rules

  • Pacing is everything. Dig into the funny moments rather than rushing through them.
  • No strict time limits on individual sections — the shape matters more than the clock.
  • Overall target: ~45 minutes — roughly 25 to build the show, 20 for the episode.
  • Characters have to be clear before we reach the episode. If the audience can’t tell who’s who, beat 9 won’t land.
  • Everything planted early is a promise. Catchphrases, product placement, and details from the pitch should pay off in the episode.
  • If we get stuck, move the characters somewhere else.

Sitcom Character Archetypes

Useful in beat 2 for building the main character, and in beat 4 for picking something clear to audition with. From Scott Sedita’s The Eight Characters of Comedy:

Logical / Smart One
The voice of reason in the group.
Lovable Loser
Fails often, but wins our hearts.
Neurotic
Anxious, high-strung, and overthinks everything.
Dumb One
Innocent and naive; says funny, foolish things.
Bitch / Bastard
Cynical, sarcastic, and sharp-tongued.
Materialistic One
Focused on money, status, and high fashion.
Womanizer / Manizer
Obsessed with sex and romance.
In Their Own Universe
Lives in a strange, skewed reality of their own.

Reference

Pilot Episodes to Watch

Watch the first episode specifically — pilots do the same job we’re doing in beats 1–8, establishing a world from nothing.

  • Cheers
  • Friends
  • Derry Girls
  • Frasier
  • Dharma & Greg
  • Mad About You
  • The Golden Girls
  • The Nanny
  • Roseanne
  • Married… with Children

Book

Scott Sedita, The Eight Characters of Comedy — a guide for actors and writers to identify and develop sitcom archetypes.