AN INTERVIEW WITH LISA ULLMANN
by Courtney Geigle & Kate Wiswell

Critics and insiders have been predicting the “death of the sitcom” for years, but recent events seem to indicate comedy may be making a comeback. While it is true that the traditional sitcom is still close to becoming an endangered species, the success of less-traditional fare like The Office, Ugly Betty, and 30 Rock brings hope to the genre.

And with more and more cable channels developing original comedies as well as dramatic fare – from Psych on USA to My Boys on TBS and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia  on FX – the tide may in fact be turning. Comedy Cocktail sat down with Lisa Ullman, Director of Original Programming at Spike TV and a producer of Blade the series, to talk about this latest trend on cable television.

COMEDY COCKTAIL: Thanks for sitting down with us Lisa. So where are you from originally and how long have you been in LA?

LISA ULLMANN: Houston, Texas and I guess about twelve years.

CC: And how long have you been with Spike?

LU: Two years.

CC: Where were you before Spike?

LU: I worked at a company called Ricochet Entertainment, which was a film production company based at Sony.

CC: You worked on features over there?

LU: Yeah.

CC: What are you looking to accomplish at Spike? What are you currently working on and looking to develop in the future?

LU: We are developing one-hour dramas and half-hour comedies, with the intent to appeal to men.  Programming with a really specific male-voice.

CC: So on the comedy front, are you looking at half-hour sitcoms, reality hybrids … what exactly?

LU: Well, I work on the scripted side and we are just starting to develop in comedy so I would say single-camera half-hours. You know, definitely sitcoms but not traditional sitcoms … more the kind of cable-oriented, less-traditional kind of sitcoms. Hybrids are definitely a possibility, it just depends on the auspices.

CC: You split development evenly with comedy and drama?

LU: We haven’t picked up a comedy yet so our current development slate is sort of half and half, but probably still skewing a little more towards drama because comedy is a little more of a newer initiative for us. But we’ll see how the process goes.

 

CC: What have you seen that works, specifically during your time at Spike? And what doesn’t in today’s current market?

LU: That’s really difficult to say. I can’t really tell you why something is working and why something is not. You know, Ugly Betty is a successful comedy and that’s not something that would be on Spike, but it seems like audiences are interested in authenticity and originality. Concepts are important. I don’t think you can just do a slice-of-life comedy with a bunch of characters. I think there needs to be a hook.  And for whatever reason, it seems more and more difficult to find a way to do a sketch show. I think they are easy to do in England, but I can’t remember the last successful sketch show in America. I think it is a problem that people, for whatever reason, are not embracing that format. 

CC: That leads into our next question. Have you been out to Comedy Cocktail?

LU: Yes, I have.

CC: What would your advice be for sketch comedy performers in dealing with that difficult scenario of getting a sketch show to translate to television? Do you have any advice as to how they can take what they are doing and try to push it forward?

LU: Well, I think the good news is that there is YouTube, which allows sketches to get recognition in a much broader way. I think there is a lot of value in that. But in terms of turning it into something else, it just depends. YouTube is a platform to get more recognition and parlay that into something else. I don’t know if you can parlay it into an actual show based on a sketch, but it definitely helps to give exposure, and the culture seems to be globbing on with the short attention span and from there it can possibly spin like wildfire.

CC: I don’t want to call it the death of the sitcom, but it is definitely a tough time for the sitcom. Do you think that is going to change and that this is just a natural flux?

LU: I’m interested to see how this show Knights of Prosperity did, but I think that it is starting to change a little bit. They didn’t give up on The Office, they’re hanging in with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I think that the networks are not entirely inclined to save a sitcom, but it seems like they are being a little more patient with things that they think have potential. Again, with the success of The Office, and hopefully Knights will do well, I think there is at least a little more of an appetite for it in the landscape.

CC: Is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia a model for a show that Spike would do?

LU: No. I like the show but it’s too clever. It’s a little young and a little too hip. We’re much more of the mainstream male-voice, like Wedding Crashers and Old School.

CC: Any advice for comedy writers or performers hoping to further their careers?

LU: For writers, just watch what is out there to see what is resonating, and to actually write.  Performers-wise, just the more you do it the better you get. Which is pretty obvious.

CC: At Spike, are you looking to develop projects with writers or actors - how exactly do you handle that?

LU: Primarily writers, but we are doing a project that came to me from a pitch meeting with Amber J. Lawson via Jay Leggett created by Mitch Rouse that is kind of like a hybrid where they had shot a presentation. That is another good way to try to turn what you are working on into something. If you have the means and you can make a ten-minute presentation of a show, that can turn into something. That happened to us with this show The Factory, it happened at Comedy Central with something called American Bodyshop. If you can demonstrate your concept or film ten minutes of something - be it digital video or whatever - it can be very helpful for networks to actually see what the concept is and how the characters interrelate. It’s just a much better way to present an idea, especially if you don’t have a name for yourself yet.

CC: If you weren’t in the Biz, what would you be doing?

LU: Probably … I don’t know. Possibly something non-profit, possibly something to do with psychology, possibly waiting tables.

CC: In that order?

LU: Not sure.