The literary era since 1979

"sitcom?"

It was the first time for most people present to hear of such a genre in a TV series.

Fang Yan explained it briefly, then glanced at Liang Zuo who was lost in thought:

"Situation comedy is the best fit for Zheng Xiaolong and his team. How about you also participate in writing the script?"

"Ah I?"

Liang Zuo was startled, "But Teacher Fang, I don't know how to write."

"Why worry if you can't write? No one can write a sitcom anyway. No one in China has ever written one. How can you know if you don't try?"

The dialect disagrees.

"But I haven't even written a TV series. I have only written novels and crosstalk."

Liang Zuo said hesitantly.

Fang Yan said: "Don't worry so much. If you have never written a script before, just learn it slowly. No one here can write a movie or TV script at the beginning."

Wang Shuo winked and said, "Yeah, it's not like you can do this from birth."

Fang Yan said, "Do you know why I specifically asked you to participate? Because no matter whether you are writing crosstalk or skits, there is one advantage, that is, you can write quickly. From the beginning of writing "Tiger's Mouth Reverie" to its broadcast on the Spring Festival Gala, it took about three weeks in total. And when it comes to sitcoms, sometimes you are too busy to handle it, so you have to write, revise and shoot at the same time, so you need to find some quick hands."

Then he smiled playfully, "I heard from your brother Liang Tian that when you were writing the script for 'Tiger's Mouth Reverie', you squatted and pooped like you were going to the toilet. After a while, you were done and stood up and left."

"This this……"

Under the gaze of everyone, Liang Zuo's face turned red with shame, and he swore in his heart that he would teach Liang Tian a lesson after returning home!

"Teacher Fang is right!"

Wang Shuo applauded, "But right now we don't have any themes or novels suitable for sitcoms. What should we do?"

"The sitcom is different from all our previous original or adapted scripts. One of its biggest features is realism."

Fangyan held up a finger.

When they heard the word "realism", Shi Tiesheng, Wang Shuo, Liang Zuo and others looked at each other, not understanding the deep meaning of it.

Fangyan smiled. Whether in China or abroad, most sitcoms are about people's daily life, family ethics, workplace stories, etc. For example, "Stories of the Kitchen Team", "A Northeastern Family", "Home with Kids"...

"Teacher Fang, you mean that this sitcom should be written with human touch, with the flavor of fireworks, and with the flavor of life, right?"

Wang Shuo understood everything immediately and was even able to draw inferences about other cases.

"Yes, and based on this concept, we can classify this category as 'new realistic TV series'."

Fang Yan said: "If we put it in the context of literature, it would be called 'new realism novel'."

Shi Tiesheng, Liang Zuo and others became more and more interested as they listened, and asked questions one after another about the concept of "new realism novel".

"In new realist novels, there is no thrilling or lingering love. All characters are struggling in the daily trivialities of the original ecology. In terms of personality, they are neither noble nor vulgar, in terms of morality, they are neither great good nor great evil, in terms of behavior, they are neither mean nor outstanding. They are a group of ordinary people who are between good and evil. Even if they want to explain some great truths, they are not crammed in a sermon..."

If we explain it in dialect, we will find that many writers of new realist novels are screenwriters of family ethics TV series and sitcoms, such as "A Pile of Chicken Feathers", "Golden Wedding", "Double-Sided Adhesive Tape", "Wang Gui and Anna", "Desire" and so on.

Even series like "Marshal Ma" and "Liu Laogen" are "new realist TV series" with the flavor of Northeastern life.

One of the reasons why urban dramas in the past have become more and more unrealistic is the scarcity of new realist novels, and there are not many suitable for adaptation.

"Teacher Fang, is this 'new realism' you mentioned also a type of realistic literature?"

Zhong Acheng touched his chin.

Fangyan nodded and said that new realism novels are a brand-new branch of realistic literature, on par with illusion realism, magical realism and other genres. Based on traditional realism, it retains the focus on real-life issues and social phenomena, but reduces ideological preaching.

The minds of Liang Zuo, Wang Shuo and others were suddenly opened up, as if they had been enlightened, and they gradually came to their senses.

"Yanzi, since you've said this, I'm sure you've already made up your mind."

Shi Tiesheng smiled knowingly, "You have already thought of how to combine 'new realism' and 'situation comedy', right?"

"This is what I want. I can have a courtyard like this, or an alley like this, or even a home like this..."

Fangyan plans to use "I Love My Family" as the backbone, and mix in sitcoms such as "The Happy Life of Poor Mouth Zhang Damin", "Idle Ma Dajie", and "The Story of the Editorial Department" to create a "Hutong Universe" to connect all the TV dramas together.

The beginning of this universe starts with "I Love My Family", which then gives a general background framework and character relationships.

For example, Jia Zhiguo, who worked in a certain agency in the original version, changed himself to be the former editor of "The Guide to Human Life". He was a former colleague of Li Dongbao, Ge Ling, and Yu Deli. Fu Ming, Heping, Jia Yuanyuan, Jia Zhixin and others also have close ties with the characters in other TV dramas.

"As for the story, let me give you an analogy."

Fangyan takes an episode of the TV series "I Love My Family", namely "Old Fu is Sick", as an example. In order to make his presence felt at home, old man Fu Ming pretended to be sick and sought attention. As a result, he was misdiagnosed with cancer by the hospital. He was terrified and left a will, which made the whole family laugh and cry.

Everyone present listened with great interest, especially Liang Zuo.

Liang Zuo felt that this script was tailor-made for him. His younger brother Jia Zhixin, who was not doing his job, corresponded to his younger brother Liang Tian. Liang Tian had a "non-working" temperament from the inside out, and the composition of the other members of the Jia family gave a feeling of a projection of the Liang family.

The intellectual brother Jia Zhiguo corresponds to Liang Zuo himself, and Jia Yuanyuan is the appearance of his sister when she was a child.

The soul of the whole play, the old cadre Fu Ming, is like Liang Zuo's father.

"We wrote this sitcom so that we could capture all the popular topics of the 80s in one place."

Fangyan said confidently, "At the very least, we should make people feel sad through wit, reflect on history through humor, and make people pay attention to and analyze social issues through ridicule. We should use enough jokes to make many truths clear, rather than just talking about values."

"Snapped!"

Liang Zuo clapped his hands excitedly.

This action instantly attracted the attention of Wang Shuo, Shi Tiesheng and others, and each of them had a faint smile on their face.

"It seems like you like this script very much." Fang Yan grinned, "You need to put in more effort in the next creation!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole room burst into laughter, and the laughter soon filled every corner of the room. (End of this chapter)