Rob Petrie was an idea man with
great physical comedy. He was the head writer, but only the leader
because the show was about him. (More on that in a bit.) Rob
conceptualized the plot of sketches. He’d begin with “What if…”
statements and pull the other writers in. Rob=Conceptualize.
Sally Rogers was the true leader of
the crew. When the boys couldn’t focus, she’d pull them back.
Although it may seem demeaning that she was the typist, it actually showed her
leadership. Notice what whenever she didn’t like something, she wouldn’t
type and just glance at the person for something better. Sally demanded
their best. If she had an off day, they couldn’t pull their act
together. Sally had some ideas and jokes, but her primary task was
keeping on task. Sally=Focus.
Buddy Sorrell was the one-man joke
machine. He had a ton of one-liners floating in his head and just needed
an outlet. He rarely had an idea for a sketch, but took Rob’s ideas and
expanded them with his special brand of humor. The man fleshed out
outlines with dialogue and comebacks. Buddy had a difficult time staying
on track, yet his input was invaluable to the team. Buddy=Dialogue.
When it comes to writing, each one
of us has talent that leans in one direction or another. I’ll admit it,
I’m like Buddy. Give me any scenario and I’ll give you zingers,
one-liners or a heart wrenching confession, but outline and focus are my weaker
areas. Who do you more identify with—Rob, Sally or Buddy?
Fun post! I think I'm like Sally--focused to an extreme sometimes! Though I do enjoy writing dialogue, as well.
ReplyDeleteSally's get a lot done, that's for sure. When I try to bring out my inner Sally, I usually wind up with Rob in a dress. :P
ReplyDeleteYuck...could have done without that mental image! ;-)
DeleteI'd have to say I identify more with Rob. I'm pretty good at conceptualizing...the big-picture vision.
ReplyDeleteI can do the details (Buddy), but it requires extreme focus (Sally) for me. Which is great...except it's hard to find the dedicated time for the required degree of focus...
...so I procrastinate...or nibble at the edges a while until I'm ready to dive in...