Lesson 3

[Jodie Randisi]

What I learned: Fleshing out characters in this fashion will definitely lead me to a bunch of comedic situations. Doing this as a preliminary exercise is now a prerequisite and a tool in my scriptwriting tool belt.
Genre: Female buddy comedy
Title: Pamperus Island
Concept: Two rival real estate agents join forces despite being women of opposite personalities and backgrounds based on the advice of a scheming industrial psychologist.
Lead Character: Real estate agent Elizabeth Rutherford Jones,
Role: Lead character who is paired with her exact opposite for a staged partnership
Traits: Self-absorbed, dramatic, and excessively demanding, she lives and breathes high society
Motivation: Elizabeth struggles with the pressures of maintaining her image, which makes her life feel more like a full-time performance rather than a fulfilling career, and that includes selling more than her partner to maintain appearances
Wound: Ignored by family, so she spends her way to happiness and into debt
What makes Elizabeth funny: Outrageous expectations lead to bizarre requests, dramatic outbursts and sarcastic quips, revealing just how clueless she is about “common” folk
Lead Character: Real estate agent Lovie (not the coach) Smith
Role: Lead character partnered with her exact opposite for a staged partnership
Traits: down-to-earth and refreshingly candid, street-smart realtor comes from humble beginnings, has a knack for understanding the “regular folks” because of her deep connection with the community. Her casual, laid-back demeanor makes her approachable.
Motivation: Inventive, humorous, with a penchant for street slang, comes across as brash, but her heart is in the right place and she genuinely cares for clients. Can’t stand pretentious people, especially her partner.
Wound: Married too young to an abusive man that led to her arrest for domestic abuse when it should have been him
What makes Lovie funny: Her antics clash with Elizabeth’s high standards, her creative, sometimes dubious tactic make sales that lead to hilarious misunderstandings.
Straight Guy: Mrs. Murray (Wild Card)
Role: Self-appointed office manager at Pamerus Island Realty and accomplice to Dr. Deller’s psychological experiments
Traits: Feisty, brash, shameless, sharp-tongued, organized
Motivation: Elizabeth’s longtime housekeeper seeking to elevate her status as well as her income
Wound: Severely underappreciated and over managed by Elizabeth
What makes Mrs. Murray funny: Caustic humor appreciated and celebrated by everyone except Elizabeth now that she manages the real estate office, has a knack for observational humor, especially regarding ridiculous demands made by obnoxious or weirdo clients
Conflict Character: Dr. Kirk Deller
Role: Industrial psychologist, pairs two opposite professionals so he can observe human behavior
Traits: Eccentric, scheming, overly confident, exudes an Indian Jones metrosexual persona, fiercely competitve
Motivation: He’s writing a book about his unconventional experiments, is delirious for fame, he has to orchestrate ridiculous stunts to outshine his competition
Wound: His rival’s book has turned into a reality television show, he lives to prove he’s the best although he’s clearly not
What makes Dr. Deller funny: He twists situations, purposely creating awkward situations disguised as unconventional experiments resulting in comedic chaos

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by  Jodie Randisi.

[Ian Patrick Williams]

What I learned doing this assignment is to make all the characters three dimensional, all the better to play off of each other.
Genre: comedy
Title: Unaccountable
Concept: A mild-mannered accountant must navigate a corrupt hip hop world when a gangsta rapper/ music mogul forcibly recruits him to cook the books of his criminal empire before an upcoming audit.
Straight guy: Jerry Wheeler
Lead comedy character: MC Slaughter
Supporting comedy characters: Klamidia; Emily
Conflict characters: Pretty Boi & Busta Nutt
JERRY
Role in the story: An accountant strong-armed into cooking the books for a music mogul
Traits: Law abiding, naïve, nervous, would-be poet
Motivation: to somehow please MC without being convicted of a crime
Wound: self-doubt; ignored most of his life; believes standing up for himself leads to conflict or rejection
What makes them funny: his misunderstanding of everything in MC’s world; overly formal way of speaking; physical awkwardness.
MC SLAUGHTER
Role in the story: A rapper turned entrepreneur who has built a small empire on shady deals
Traits: boisterous, intimidating, impatient, amoral.
Motivation: to keep his empire; fear of losing street cred; avoid jail time by failing an IRS audit
Wound: paranoid about losing his rappers to better labels
What makes them funny: his brashness and obliviousness to any sense of ethics; can’t understand why accounting can’t be done like the music business
KLAMIDIA (Claudia)
Role in the story: she runs MC’s private club
Traits: street smart, failed singer, presents tough but has a heart
Motivation: stay on MC’s good side while secretly cutting people a break
Wound: a life of mistreatment; uses sexuality to hide vulnerability
What makes them funny: behind MC’s back, she’s constantly dissing him
EMILY
Role in the story: a member of Jerry’s writing group
Traits: smart, shy; has a crush on Jerry
Motivation: to get Jerry to ask her out; to get published
Wound: lack of self-esteem
What makes them funny: she inadvertently keeps intruding on Jerry’s interactions with Slaughter
PRETTY BOI & BUSTA NUT
Role in the story: bodyguards/gofers for MC
Traits: not terribly bright; act tougher than they really are
Motivation: to keep MC happy and not wind up back on the street
Wound: they know they have nowhere else to go
What makes them funny: they’ll act like pit-bulls or lap dogs depending on MC’s mood; language filled with malaprops and misunderstanding

[Melanie Berlier]

“What I learned doing this assignment is…?” How to develop characters by digging deep into their motivations and wounds which help them play off each other and advance the story.

1. Tell us your genre, title, and concept: Rom Com, Surf & Turf Wars, A grumpy Maine lobsterman is roped into helping his sister’s eccentric, shellfish-allergic city friend save the island’s worst seafood restaurant — but between quinoa specials, a vengeful health inspector, and a barefoot mystery chef, falling in love might be the least predictable thing on the menu

2. Identify your characters by name: Eli, Gemma, Toonie, Vanessa and Fin.
1. Straight guy: Eli Dunbar
2. Lead comedy character: Gemma Palomares
3. Supporting comedy character: Toonie Blanchard and Fin
4. Conflict character: Vanessa Crown
5. Write a short profile for each, including:

Straight Guy: Eli Dunbar
Role: A down-on-his-luck Maine lobsterman
Personality Traits: Stoic, practical, deeply rooted in tradition, slightly grumpy but with a good heart
Motivation: Regain respect of his sister, island and himself by finding a way to be useful thus be in control of his life again.
Wound: Deeply ashamed by how things ended with Vanessa, spiraling into a loss of identity and self-worth as he helpless watched all facets of his life unravel..
What Makes Him Funny:
Eli's humor comes from his dry, deadpan reactions to the absurdity around him. He’s baffled by quinoa, terrified of Yelp, and allergic to change. He says what everyone’s thinking but is too polite to say. His only modern tech skill? Fixing a lobster trap GPS with duct tape and anger.
Purpose: Eli grounds the chaos. He’s the audience’s anchor, making the madness feel even more absurd by contrast.

Over the top Foodie: Gemma Palomares
Role: The eccentric new owner of the failing island restaurant
Personality Traits: Optimistic, naive, high-energy, addicted to food trends, allergic to seafood
Motivation: To prove she can build something real — on her own terms.
Wound: She believes she’s a fraud — and if people look too closely, they’ll see she’s in over her head.
What Makes Her Funny:
Gemma bought the restaurant because she “loved the vibes,” not realizing it's actually a seafood joint and she’s severely allergic to shellfish. She’s constantly trying to introduce absurd vegan fusion dishes (like "kelp-wrapped air tacos") and thinks lobsters are "emotionally manipulative." Her enthusiasm is unmatched—and misplaced.
Purpose: Drives much of the fish-out-of-water comedy, forcing Eli into new situations while being hilariously out of her depth herself.

Bizarre local: Name: Toonie Blanchard
Role: Eccentric lifelong island resident and self-appointed “restaurant consultant”
Personality Traits: Paranoid, overly confident, speaks in lobster-related metaphors
Motivation: To preserve the island’s old ways — and prove he still matters in a world that’s forgotten how things used to be done.
Wound: He fears he's already been left behind — by the town, the sea, and time itself.
What Makes Him Funny:
Toonie lives in a shack shaped like a buoy, believes the government is poisoning the sea with “liberal fish,” and insists every meal needs to involve a “sacred crab dance.” He often misquotes health codes and says things like, “You can’t trust a man who salts his chowder before tasting it.”
Purpose: Adds local color and unpredictability; constantly derails progress with folk wisdom and conspiracies.

Conflict Character: Vanessa Crown
Role: Ruthless island health inspector and Eli’s ex
Personality Traits: Smart, sarcastic, vindictive, impeccably dressed
Motivation: To maintain control, earn respect, and never be made a fool again.
Wound: She was made to feel disposable, mocked, and powerless — and she swore she’d never feel that way again.
What Makes Her Funny:
Vanessa is overly intense about regulations, showing up unannounced with a ruler to measure sneeze guard heights. She weaponizes the health code to exact revenge on Eli for breaking up with her in high school via a Post-it note. Her inspections come with cryptic threats and Shakespearean insults.
Purpose: She creates obstacles for the team while revealing Eli’s messy romantic past, fueling tension and dark humor.

Agent of Chaos: Finn (no last name—“Just Finn”)
Role: Mysterious drifter who shows up as head chef… despite no one hiring him
Personality Traits: Charismatic, unpredictable, possibly high, always cooking barefoot
Motivation: He wants to live carefree, hidden from responsibility and accountability while also needing to fit in with a chosen family. To be free — creatively, emotionally, and existentially.
Wound: Imagined or real, he’s been rejected by authority and structure at an early age, leaving him lacking in reliable social structure and surviving on improvised imagination. He was once pinned down, defined, and broken by it — so now he runs from structure like it’s a trap.
What Makes Him Funny:
Finn cooks like a savant but might be a fugitive. He claims to have been Gordon Ramsay’s "shadow" and talks to lobsters like they’re old friends. He creates insane specials (e.g., Lobster Gelato with balsamic Pop Rocks) that somehow go viral. He vanishes mid-shift and reappears playing harmonica on the roof.
Purpose: Finn forces the team to adapt on the fly, igniting wild plot turns and creating unintentional breakthroughs

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by  Melanie Berlier. Reason: formatting

[Renee Miller]

What I learned doing this assignment how to think about the different characters in a comedy. While most of the information I’m deciding on would be things I’d put in any character profile, coming up with ways to make the character funny was a challenge but an enjoyable one.
Title: Diary of a Teenage Zombie
Genre: Horror Comedy
Concept: When a popular high school cheerleader is bitten by a zombie, she struggles to keep her rotting condition secret long enough to win Homecoming Queen, before losing her humanity altogether.
Characters:
Straight guy: Nate Bishop
Role in the story: Hailey’s childhood best friend, quiet AV club tech, the only person she confides in. Becomes her zombie-wrangler and moral compass.
Traits: grounded, loyal, dry-witted, observant, easily embarrassed.
Motivation: to keep Hailey from hurting herself or anyone else, even if it means hiding dead body parts in his backpack. Secretly hopes she’ll notice he’s always been there.
Wound: Has spent years feeling invisible and overshadowed by Hailey’s popularity, quietly resenting how easily she’s overlooked him.
What makes them funny: His understated sarcasm, anxious practicality, and resigned acceptance of the insane (he keeps superglue and duct tape “for emergencies” meaning Hailey’s limbs). Watching him calmly mop up after Hailey’s decomposing mishaps delivers great deadpan laughs.
Lead comedy character: Hailey Harper
Role in the story: The protagonist. Once flawless, type-A cheer captain, now a decaying zombie trying to keep up her social reign long enough to win Homecoming Queen.
Traits: Vain, fiercely ambitious, stubborn, oddly optimistic, occasionally shallow, but also secretly vulnerable.
Motivation: to preserve her perfect senior year dream, popularity, crown, scholarship, despite her literally falling apart. Underneath, to avoid facing how much of her identity is wrapped in superficial approval.
Wound: a lifetime of tying her worth to how perfectly she performs and looks; terrified of rejection if people see who she really is (zombie or otherwise)
What makes them funny: Her high-maintenance approach to being undead. She treats zombie issues like skin-care problems (is there a concealer for exposed bones?), delivers motivational speeches with her jaw slightly off, and tries to keep it normal, which only makes the horror situations absurdly comical.
Supporting comedy character: Pepper Martinez & Travis Kane
(Pepper) Role in the story: Hailey’s semi-friend and biology partner turned enthusiastic zombie researcher. An astrology junkie and conspiracy nut who treats Hailey like her personal science project.
Traits: Hyperactive, superstitious, fiercely curious, chaotic-good energy.
Motivation: to prove her “the government is hiding zombies!” theory, write the ultimate expose, and maybe get into NYU with a viral thesis.
Wound: always the school weirdo and dismissed by her eccentricities, she’s desperate to prove she’s right about something big.
What makes them funny: her wild experiments (try this turmeric-taser cleanse!), overexcited reactions to gross anatomy (your maggot colony is Thriving!) and total lack of normal social boundaries. Her scenes crackle with manic energy and bizarre pseudo-science logic.
(Travis) Role in the story: Hailey’s sweet but clueless quarterback boyfriend. He’s the school’s golden boy, always smiling, always slightly confused, and utterly devoted to Hailey, even when she’s literally falling apart.
Traits: good-natured, charmingly dumb, earnest, oblivious, affectionately possessive.
Motivation: to keep Hailey as his girlfriends, support her winning Homecoming Queen (even if he doesn’t totally get why it matters), and live out his dream of being the picture-perfect couple in every Instagram post.
Wound: he’s always coasted on looks and football talent, deep down fears there’s nothing more to him, so clings to superficial romance to prove he’s “enough.”
What makes them funny: he constantly misinterprets Hailey’s obvious zombie issues. Thinks her gray complexion is a “new skincare trend.” Writes a ukulele song called “You’ve got that Corpse Glow.” Is so supportive it borders on surreal, like offering to “try eating raw steaks with you if that’s your thing, babe.”
Conflict character: Madison Sharp
Role in the story: Hailey’s biggest rival for Homecoming Queen, student council president, perfectionist with a side hobby of rumor-mongering, determined to expose Hailey’s rotting secret.
Traits: Polished, cunning, ruthlessly ambitious, passive-aggressive with a practiced sweet smile.
Motivation: to secure the Homecoming crown and her pristine reputation by tearing down Hailey, who’s always overshadowed her.
Wound: grew up constantly compared to older sisters who were more accomplished and beautiful; determined to be the girl no one can top.
What makes them funny: her underhanded “mean girl” campaigns taken to absurd extremes, she does a smear video accusing Hailey of wearing illegal hair extensions after Hailey’s scalp slides off. Her slick composure contrasts hysterically with the gory reality she’s trying to uncover.