Writers from 'Young Sheldon,' 'Hacks' and More Reveal Why Comedies Also Make the Best Dramas at Variety's A Night in the Writers' Room Panel

“Palm Royale” showrunner Abe Sylvia relied on his “guru” Joni Mitchell (via her song “People’s Parties”) to find the tone of his comedy on Apple TV+: “Laughing and crying are the same version . »

“Our show took itself very seriously even though it became absurd,” Sylvia said. “It’s a gay ‘Fantasia,’ isn’t it?” His tone is gay maximalist. It was a drag show with an episode budget of $12 million.

Sylvia joined “Hacks” co-creator Jen Statsky, “Krapopolis” creator Dan Harmon, “Young Sheldon” executive producer Steve Holland, “What We Do in the Shadows” writer Jake Bender, “Diarra From Detroit” creator/star Diarra Kilpatrick and “Loot” co-creator Alan Yang on a panel exploring comedy writing Thursday night during Varietyis A Night in the Writers Room. Variety Television editor Michael Schneider led the discussion.

In the writers’ room for “What We Do in the Shadows,” Bender said he and his colleagues viewed the series as a normal sitcom about roommates, inspired by shows like “Frasier” and other classics.

“It’s incredibly liberating to write characters who have no idea what year it is or who the president is,” Bender said. “I think it makes writing a lot of fun.”

“Loot,” which stars Maya Rudolph as a wealthy divorcee trying to figure out what to do with her $87 billion settlement, is “99 percent stupid jokes about stupid people, but 1 percent about the housing crisis in Los Angeles,” according to Yang.

Yang says he and co-creator Matt Hubbard wanted to touch on the housing crisis, but turned to experts for ideas on what they would do with unlimited funds to help people experiencing homelessness.

“‘Loot’ was a very conscious decision on my part and Matt Hubbard’s part to bring a little joy to the world,” Yang said. “It’s a traditionally structured workplace comedy at a time when we had gone through COVID, we were going through the strike and we were like, ‘Let’s make a fun, funny show with great comedic actors and have a little message behind it.’ . Also.’ It was sort of a conscious decision to return to classicism.

Kilpatrick said she found the balance between drama and comedy for “Diarra in Detroit” through her own upbringing, citing her parents as inspiration for the tone. She said the balance was intuitive, as she draws inspiration from her father’s goofy personality and her mother’s more serious tone.

“I like to start with the drama to be honest,” Kilpatrick said. “And then, because I grew up with so many idiots, I just have a sense of humor. For me, it’s never too early to make a joke. It’s never inappropriate to make a joke… I would say it’s mostly a drama about people who are inherently funny.

Harmon, who created “Community,” said he thinks it’s great progress that comedy writers have escaped the constant punchline machine.

“Now what you have is people saying, ‘Hey, I’m funny.’ It’s a funny situation,” Harmon said. “And if you can’t expect the next line to be a set-up or a punchline, you can work towards a bigger laugh.”

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