I heard a great line in a Law and Order re-run yesterday. The detectives go to bust a mob guy in the back room of a shady bar. You know exactly the scene, right? They find the guy, the son of an old-time mobster, with his cronies watching television (financial news). Detective Briscoe hauls the head mobster to his feet. As he cuffs him, he says:
"You know, your old man would've at least had a card game going."
Fantastic. The writer, finding himself faced with a hopelessly familiar scene, found a subtle way to make it new while calling our attention to the one missing classic element. And it's funny.
Got a scene that feels familiar? Try mixing it up a bit, and don't be afraid to have a character comment on it. We did stuff like this on Buffy, too, by having some surprising design or lifestyle choices in the demon world -- and having a character notice and comment on it always yielded funny moments.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment