5 Screenwriting Takeaways: The sharp satire of 'The Premise'
September 28, 2021
Television satire is rare. There’s the eyebrow-raising South Park, the always reliable SNL, and the genre-redefining The Office, but it doesn’t seem that streamers or networks often want to take the risk on new satire, rarely putting the faith in an audience to understand where the creator is coming from. It seems fitting then that Ryan from The Office—aka B.J. Novak—is the one to bring the world a new contemporary satire where hot button issues are front and center. The Premise is an anthology that asks strong questions, and while not every episode works, there is always enough controversy to keep an audience watching. Here are your five screenwriting takeaways fromThe Premise.
1. Embrace the discomfort. This is a show that welcomes discomfort and fosters it, not only with each episode's premise, but also with its acting. It’s manufactured to make characters and audiences alike feel uncomfortable, because when we feel uncomfortable, that's when we often finally question why. Excellent uncomfortable performances stem from Ben Platt's Ethan Streiber in "Social Justice Sex Tape", when his compromising tape is dissected in a trial to set a Black man free (who can be seen committing no crime in the background). Additionally, George Wallace as Principal Wallace has scene-stealing moments of exasperation as his students get riled up when a pop star offers a sex romp as motivation for becoming valedictorian.2. Star power. Novak did an excellent job in his casting choices, skewering pop culture with a cast that has often created it. Lucas Hedges does an excellent turn as a Bieber-like pop star who seems clueless as to what actions are heroic versus what actions are idiotic. Casting Kaitlyn Dever (who is most recognizable from Booksmart) as a student clearly too smart for school as she makes an argument that the sex stunt actually undermines late-stage capitalism and makes a good argument for supporting sex workers is also a lovely nod to a teen film that makes less of a case for the need to party.
3. Questions with no answers. The Premise poses deep questions, like can a victim of gun violence make an unbiased argument against the weapons themselves? How far should one go to do the right thing? When push comes to shove, are you an activist or a woke poser? And even: Does school matter? But Novak does not strive to truly answer any question he poses. Instead, it is clear he’d like his audience to do the work of thinking for themselves when it comes to these issues.
4. The use of social media. The Premise very intentionally feels like a show of now. It may not have the staying power of something like The Office for that reason, but it will recall the turmoil of the 2020s by watching just a few minutes of every episode. Each episode feels like it has the potential to go viral on social media and in "Social Justice Sex Tape" things do indeed go viral, but in a very unexpected way. And as the episodes roll out one by one, a viewer could wonder what will go down social media-wise on the "Butt Plug" episode.
5. An invitation to listen. If there is a unifying theme throughout these episodes it does feel like Novak is asking people to listen more closely to each other; in the series, it is the people who have a higher status or position of authority who have less of a voice than those who are sometimes marginalized or victimized. In a time when everyone wants to be heard, asking people to instead listen does indeed feel like a powerful message.
Final Takeaway: In a time when people are hungry for lighter, more comedic, and possibly lower commitment content (Novak makes this point himself as he talks to the camera and breaks the fourth wall, intro-ing every episode) The Premise has come up with a fun formula to not only deliver a great, short dose of entertainment, but also to incite water cooler conversation—even if that water cooler is now Twitter.
Written by: Lindsay Stidham
Lindsay holds an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. She has overseen two scripts from script to screen as a writer/ producer. SPOONER, starring Matthew Lillard (SLAMDANCE), and DOUCHEBAG (SUNDANCE) both released theatrically. Most recently Lindsay sold PLAY NICE starring Mary Lynn Rajskub. The series was distributed on Hulu. Recent directing endeavors include the Walla Walla premiering (and best screenplay nominated) TIL DEATH DO US PART, and the music video for Bible Belt’s Tomorrow All Today. Lindsay is currently working on an interactive romcom for the production company Effin' Funny, and a feature film script for Smarty Pants Pictures. Lindsay also currently works as an Adjunct Screenwriting Faculty member at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. You can follow her work here: https://lindsaystidham.onfabrik.com/
