How to Develop Characters for Television Sitcoms

Many of us, whether we want to admit it or not, are glued to the television during prime time hours, waiting for our favorite programs to come on to see what comedic situations will impact our favorite characters. Regardless of whether your sitcom characters are living or animated, fans respond to well-developed ones to whom they can relate while laughing at their antics, almost feeling like they're laughing at themselves.

Instructions

1. Create exceptionally well thought out main characters. A sitcom usually only uses about five or six main characters with occasional reoccurring supporting characters. Minor characters drop in as needed, but the main characters need to be very diverse.

2. Place the characters in an environment that is diverse as well. Sitcoms are usually in one or maybe two places for the entire show and everything happens in those places. The characters need to fit the place you choose, such as in Scrubs, where the characters started as medical residents and have progressed into greater responsibilities at the hospital.

3. Understand that in sitcoms, the characters are always learning and progressing as the show continues. Therefore, at the beginning of the sitcom, the characters need to be a little naive and then as the show continues, the characters will grow with the audience.

4. Include a tough, rather out of place character to be among the group. This character will balance the other main characters. There is always one that is almost entirely different from the rest of the group. There always needs to be balance. If you have many characters, you could also have more than one "out there" character to balance the rest.