Sitcom Creation: Center and Eccentrics

One way of creating a sitcom that works is to have a "Center & Eccentrics" show. The first example of this I can think of is the ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. Small-town sheriff Andy Taylor was the anchor character. He was the normal / eyes of the audience character and we entered the show through him. Griffith told home spun stories and the writers faced the problem that he's just not that funny a guy. By the way, folks that worked with him said, "Don't confuse Andy Griffith with Andy Taylor." His FACE IN THE CROWD character may have been more accurate than his fans would like to admit.

Back to the series creation, facing a fairly dull lead they surrounded Andy Taylor with a list of oddballs. Each of them had a defining characteristic. Don Knotts at the deputy was overeager. Otis was the town drunk. Jim Nabors played the dense mechanic. Floyd the barber was.... deliberate. Think of Andy in the center of this solar system of characters with the loons orbiting. And Aunt Bee was the sun.

Mary Tyler Moore was a talented comedic actress but she likewise was a "normie." So for the MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW they surrounded her with very sharply defined characters. The dense Ted Baxter was one of the all-time great sitcom characters, played wonderfully by Ted Knight, and again the formula worked. Lou Grant was the gruff boss. Murray the friend who loved to insult Ted. Rhoda the perpetually single. Phyllis provided a mirror character to Mary as she was married to a dentist and miserable.

TAXI had Alex Reiger in the anchor role surrounded by not one but two of the all-time great eccentric characters: Andy Kaufman at Latka and Christopher Lloyd as Reverand Jim. The crazies basically took over that series and account for the best episodes of the series.

CHEERS had Sam Malone as the center character. Around him were the "dumb guy" characters of Coach and later Woody. Cliff Claven was Mr. Factoid, most of which were inaccurate. Norm was the bar guy everyone liked. Frasier the intellectual. Diane the love interest who aspired to be an intellectual but found herself attracted to Sam in a HIS GIRL FRIDAY-style romance. Great series.

This is one approach if you're creating series pilot. Create a layered main character and then toss in the supporting characters to provide the laughs.