My Hollywood System-Chapter 160:

Conference Room, OP Studios.

“So, as I said, the entire premise of the show, [Friends], is about six friends, who live in New York in the 90s and go about everyday life. That includes romance, friendship, marriages, jobs, etc. The idea is to make the whole thing relatable, and funny at the same time.” Will said as he ended the pitch he presented to the gathered executives from OP Studios and ICM.

Amanda had been crucial in making the meeting happen.

He had to brainstorm the contract details for the temporary collaboration between their firms, and her expertise in navigating the corporate side of the pitch was essential if he wanted to remain crucial to the success of the show after the idea was presented to the people in the conference room.

“The idea certainly has merit, but are you sure about this sitcom? Is it? Since it needs a live audience, what about the action scenes? Won’t it have any of that? Performing action sequences live in front of an audience will be difficult.” Michael Williams interjected.

Will looked at him incredulously for a second, and replied “Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? There is no action throughout the show. It is not meant to have any action at all. It is meant to be funny and relatable. It’s a situational comedy, a sitcom. And the live audience is, essentially, to gauge the reactions of the people to certain jokes, and their responses. We can then tweak the script or situations based on their feedback.”

He could understand why Michael Williams had asked about action sequences in the show, as this world did not have the concept of a TV show that didn’t operate on some direct conflict or mystery, or action.

The entire idea of a relatable sitcom was new, and just like how [Friends] had introduced the idea, in his previous reality, Will wanted it to retain the honour of doing so here as well.

Richard Persons nodded, looking a little excited over the prospects of the idea that Will was proposing, and as he asked.

“To be frank with you, Will. The idea of a live audience is certainly lucrative, could you give me a brief example of the kind of scenarios that the show is going to portray. I will have to agree with my company’s CEO, that the lack of direct conflict or an overarching plot seems a bit difficult to grasp.

How the show is supposed to hold the audience’s attention after a certain number of episodes in the show, it could eventually seem that we’re trying to sell the audience on the boring lives of six people, why would they care about the lives of these people?”

Will thought over the question and replied.

“That’s the charm of the show. I want to portray the life of six friends in New York while making it comedic, witty, and funny. I want to tackle everyday problems that people face and reel them in with familiarity, rather than conflict. The main conflict in the story isn’t some giant labelled ‘enemy’, rather it’s their own feelings and emotions. 𝐟𝐫𝗲𝙚ｗ𝚎𝐛𝙣𝐨𝙫𝘦𝗹.c૦m

The audience, over a period of time, will see the development of each of my characters, as they learn, adapt, and tackle problems that Hollywood, in general, hasn’t tackled yet. We don’t need a big ‘enemy’ to make a good show, or tell a good story.”

Will could see that he had convinced the shareholder of OP Studios with that. But for some reason, Michael Williams seemed annoyed. He didn’t