There is not much to laugh about in local sitcoms

By Antariksawan Jusuf

JAKARTA (JP): Ask what local television programs viewers are dying to see, and the pat answer would be the situation comedy, or sitcom.

But it does not take much soul-searching to recognize that so-called local sitcoms do not live up to their billing.

Unlike their American counterparts, where viewers enjoy a good laugh at the punch lines, local sitcoms show characters laughing at each other, leaving everyone else wondering what all the guffawing is about.

For there is no humor in the characters' personalities and no depiction of a realistic situation in which character interplay develops.

Sitcoms here neatly fit the description of those which "do not show excellent use of humor stemming from interpersonal relationship of the characters, and a situation with which viewers can identify", noted by author Robert Hilliard in Writing for Television and Radio.

In the cynical view of an editor of the entertainment tabloid Citra, Veven Wardhana, these are s**tcoms, or bulls*it comedies. He said sitcom was a term unilaterally introduced by producers and TV stations to enhance the image of the series.

Take a peek at any of the following: Gara-Gara and Mama on RCTI; Kantin Kencan, Cepot Copet Kepepet (SCTV); Warisan Bu Broto, Neo Pepesan Kosong (TPI), Satu Atap, Tetangga Oh Tetangga (ANteve), and Flamboyan 108, Pondok Pak Djon and Bolak-Balik Sip (Indosiar).

They have in common their 30-minute duration and performances by famous comedians or popular actors.

But it is clear that they are neither well written nor well acted. Most of the laughs are expected from characters' improvisational gestures, which are considered funny by the actors, not by the viewers.

An hour-long comedy series, Mat Angin -- mistakenly labeled by TPI's director Ishadi as a sitcom -- develops through this form of improvisation.

Character

A sitcom should be a 30-minute comedy series with a storyline made up of contrived episodes, building its humor and puns from the interaction of each character.

One observer, Ken Sanes, stressed the importance of character-building.

Sanes said characters are not only "differentiated according to how crazy they are and the degree of insight they have into themselves. They can also be distinguished by which aspect of their personality is affected".

He wrote: "... each represents one or a few forms of dysfunctionality we know from ourselves and other people ... (including) addicts, avoiders, self-saboteurs, airheads, overgrown adolescents, macho men, seductresses, persecutors, troublemakers, matchmakers, nagging parents, braggarts et al."

What makes local shows different from their American counterparts is the lack of strong character interaction in creating the humor and puns.

According to the head of the selection committee of the recent Indonesian Sinetron Festival (FSI), RM Soenarto, several episodes of Mat Angin deviated from the original script.

Parts of this series, which -- this is no joke -- swept 10 out of 11 awards in the FSI comedy category, are even produced without a full script, Soenarto said.

Although he added that the FSI did not consider whether a series was developed according to a script in making its judging decisions, this would seem necessary in ensuring the awards were more respected in the future.

Mat Angin was not a ratings success, and many believed its simple set, plots and a cast commanding modest fees were its strong points in the effort of local TV programming to fight the enormous influence of Latin American soap operas.

Unsurprisingly, most locally produced rating winners serve up glamorous celebrities in spinoffs of the Latin shows.

Learn

Local sitcom producers have a lot to learn from their American counterparts about how humor starts from a strong script.

Unlike Americans with years of experience, Indonesian producers became acquainted with the industry only recently when private television came into its own in the early 1990s.

Several important characters in successful American sitcoms here were not familiar faces to local viewers. Yet universal humor starts from an intelligently written script prepared by a strong team of scriptwriters.

A popular American sitcom, Murphy Brown, has 10 scriptwriters who hold thrice weekly meetings to evaluate each episode.

Rehearsals also play an important part. In a documentary on sitcoms, Laughing Matters, a standard Monday morning for the Murphy Brown production team found the crew sitting around a square table.

Everybody -- creator Diane English, scriptwriters, director and crew -- held a copy of the script in their hands.

Before shooting in the studio, the cast rehearsed and went through their lines. All shared a good laugh when the punch lines were read.

The reason for the rehearsal, according to the Murphy Brown writer who also made the documentary, Steve Peterman, was to give thought to dynamics of relationships between the characters and allow for a good understanding of parts by cast members.

Peterman said it also provided an opportunity for the writers to fine tune the scripts. About 10 percent to 20 percent of the script is changed during rehearsals to make it punchier.

The writers can also carefully evaluate every episode, Peterman said.

During taping, the studio audience reactions are recorded, so there is not sole reliance on canned laughter.

A TV insider who asked to remain anonymous said the quality of local sitcoms should be put in context.

"Indonesian producers are still adapting themselves to the fledgling television industry in the country. Of course, it will take some time for the Indonesian sitcom before it can rule the airwaves of the television industry here.

"America has had a sitcom tradition for more than 50 years (Mary Kay and Johnny premiered in 1947). Commercial television production in Indonesia started only six or seven years ago."

He said a good sitcom was also the product of interaction between producers and viewers.

"If our viewers give a good response, reflected in high ratings, to a bad sitcom, producers will never be able to produce good ones. Their standard will stay there -- no improvement."

The writer works for a private television station here.