Author Jay Moriarty takes us behind the scenes of a long-running sitcom with Honky in the House: Writing & Producing 'The Jeffersons' (Antler Productions).
I haven't watched The Jeffersons in years, and I can't say I was ever a huge fan, though I certainly saw quite a few episodes. My hazy recollection is of a show that leaned heavily on insult humor, and was generally played to the rafters by its cast in a way I sometimes found off-putting. Moriarty considers the show groundbreaking in several aspects, and he makes a pretty good argument for his case.
While I enjoyed his behind-the-scenes anecdotes, which also cover other shows for which he wrote, what I liked most about his book were the sections that serve as a how-to manual for aspiring sitcom writers. One of his more interesting comments explained why a newcomer submitting a sample script to producers should not send one for the show you want to write. He breaks down the structure of a traditional sitcom story in easy-to-understand terms, showing us a form almost as rigid as a haiku. Using practical examples from The Jeffersons, he illustrates the multitudinous challenges and choices that producers have to face in order to drop an episode into the can every week.
Though this is generally a very engaging book, I do question his odd choice to write it in third person, and give himself and his longtime writing partner fictitious names. He explains in the introduction that he thought writing about himself in first-person form "egocentric." For this reader's money, the stylistic quirk was just an irritant that made the book harder to follow.
That quibble aside, Moriarty's book is well worth the read for classic TV buffs and wannabe screenwriters.
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