The Proposal

‘Rhys Released’

1x10minute pilot episode of a sitcom, for Channel 4.

My idea for a sitcom is to follow a young man’s journey through university. However, while this young man is perfectly ordinary in everyway, he has a way of expressing himself that very few have. YouTube.

In the evenings and in his spare time, rather than studying for his course, Rhys Turner, the main character, sits at his desk, talking to his camera. He creates ‘vlogs’ or video-blogs, telling the Internet of his life, through anecdotes, sketches, and sometimes, even music.

To get the best out of this idea, I propose filming around half of the episode on a web-cam, breaking the fourth wall style, and the other half as a normal sitcom would be shot, following the main character.

The setting would mostly be within the four walls of Rhys’ bedroom, in his university halls, but some scenes may venture out into other parts of the flat, such as the kitchen, living room, or maybe outside, or to his university itself. In later episodes, I have no doubt that the narrative will take the characters beyond their surroundings, to YouTube gathering, or anywhere.

The feel of the series will be a relaxed, informal sense of having the characters invite you into their world. The idea is to have the style emulate the styles of vlogs that already exist on YouTube. Therefore, the will be low production costs, and minimal fancy camerawork. The series would be best suited to simplicity and a similar styling to the countless apartment-based American sitcoms.

The episode will open with character introduction in the form of a conversation between Rhys and another roommate, while Rhys is trying to make his first YouTube video. This way, it is as though you have been dropped straight into his life, and you want to know what’s going on.

The roommate in question will be ‘Erin’, who is a bossy, mother-like figure that just wished Rhys would get on with his university coursework, when all Rhys wants to do is make this video. This immediately gives the audience a common ‘enemy’ with Rhys, and therefore makes the viewer want to know how Rhys handles the situation throughout the episode.

In a later scene, Rhys’ best friend ‘Oliver’ is introduced as a loud, opinionated, smart arse character to oppose Rhys in manner and personality. However, whereas Erin opposes him in interests, and they don’t get along, Oliver opposes him in mannerisms and manners alone, and they can get along relatively well – with banter being the main form of communication.

Later still, the final main character will be introduced – ‘Sky’. Sky is feisty, sarcastic and colourful. She acts as the mediator between Rhys and Oliver when needed, but gives as good as she gets in terms of banter. She is playful and brings a funny edge to what could be an otherwise tense friendship.

She may also turn into a love interest for one of the boys later in the series, if it were to continue, but for the first episode, it is left open for the watcher to decide what is going on between the three.

I believe that this idea has multiple possibilities and a hook that no other sitcom, or television show has, in the way that it gives an insight into a new kind of young adult – the internet teen.