In an exceptionally gentle feature about Fox's sitcom Brothers by TV critic Aaron Barnhart, executive producer Don Reo talks about how glad he is to be doing a traditional multi-camera sitcom:
Everybody Hates Chris was a single-camera comedy. Writers and critics have fallen in love with the form, which allows for more filmic elements -- weird camera angles (as in Malcolm in the Middle), documentary-style realism (The Office and ABC's new Modern Family), outdoor scenes (HBO's Bored to Death) and quick-cut edits (Scrubs).
Right now Reo is delighted not to be working on one.
"That was a lot of work, let me tell you -- and there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," he said. Reruns of a traditional, multi-camera sitcom typically command top dollar in the syndication market, while a single-camera show like Chris makes far less in syndication because none has ever drawn that many viewers.
I wouldn't expect a single-camera sitcom to do poorly in syndication because of the format. Malcolm in the Middle seems like it could run for years and years.
All comments are moderated before publication. These HTML tags are permitted: <p>, <b>, <i>, <a>, and <blockquote>. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA (for which the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply).