EMMYS: Q&A Big Bang Theory Bill Prady

Bill Prady is showrunner for CBS other Chuck Lorre show that is, The Big Bang Theory, first-time Emmy nominated for OutstandingComedy Series in the same year that TwoAnd A Half Men was pulled out of the running.Big Bang wascreated by Lorre and Prady. And sinceLorres not talkingto any media, Deadline TV contributor Diane Haithman sought out Prady: DEADLINE: Congratulationson your nomination. Ill ask the clichquestion first: how does it feel? BILL PRADY: Boy, whats a non-clich answer to thatquestion?Im going to go with a clichd answer and say its really fun. If I knew exactly what you had to do to make a show Emmy-worthy, it is absolutely something that we would do. Im going to assume that the process is people look at the shows that are out there and mark the ones they enjoy most, and we were one of those shows this year. DEADLINE: Big Bang Theory is a livestudio audience multi-camera show, and the last to win the Comedy Seriesaward was Everybody Loves Raymond in2005. PRADY:Im personally a big fan of four-camera TV comedy. Theres been a shift over the years in thenumber of multi-camera and single-camera comedies produced.I think that probablyhas something to do with it.Is there a presupposition on the part of theEmmy voter to choose only one four-camera show?I genuinely dont think that people makechoices like that. DEADLINE: Does that say anything about todays TV comedy world? PRADY: I wish I could soundsmarter.I grew up on the TV classics anybody my age of 51 grew up on. I love a show that has moments that really makes you laugh out loud.People will say, ‘Did you know this show was going to be ahit?’ And fundamentally you say no. I approach this as everything Ive ever donewhich is: you get in in the morning, have a cup of coffee, and then you say, ‘Whatsthe best thing that we could do?’And youdo it until youre tired and you come home. The only thing you ever have controlover is, ‘Are you trying hard?’ We always try. One of the great things for the employment of writers, andone of the challenges for panels of Academies and critics,is the size of themarketplace for TV programs has increased.How do you come up with the half adozen best? Andis the appetite for awards showsgenerated by an audience looking for sign posts to quality in a huge market ofentertainment? DEADLINE: Big Bang is broad humor, butits broad humor about really smart people. PRADY:People talk about the show being a smart show.Its about smart characters. But one of the points of the show is that beingsmart doesnt necessarily give you a leg up when it comes to dealing with otherpeople. I think we here among the geekyand the nerdish draw on our own experiences. DEADLINE: Are TV writersnerds? PRADY: Arewriters nerds? My God. When you are walking on the lot and you see a group ofwriters, even if you dont know who they are, you say, ‘God, those are writers.’Its really sad. You know that your group looks the same to them. But to allthe women out there, speaking on behalf of the single members of the group,they are smart, they arefunny, they are caring, andtheyll reallylisten. DEADLINE: With MelissaRauch and Mayim Bialik,you have introduced girl geeks on your show. PRADY: Actually,I want to commend society for the creation and emergence of the femalegeek.As a male geek, we welcomeher.One of the great things about goingto Comic-Con these days, it is most assuredly a coed event now. I think therehave always been women who have had childhoods as sad and lonely as some malegeeks, but now theyre coming out.We are depicting a particular culture, and whenever you aredepicting a particular culture, there is an instant judgment made whether youare celebrating or mocking the culture. We knew we were celebrating it becauseit is our culture, but its through the prism of a four-camera comedy. DEADLINE: Is there a sense that Comic-Con is not justfor geeks and comic book fanatics but the young hip TV audience? PRADY: Our first year at Comic-Con, I remember Chuck Lorre giving the cast a little pep talk. ‘Go out there into that room, and its probably going to be mostly empty. Buteven if its four people, letsspend a nice hour with them.’ And we walked into the room and it was packed to the rafters. I think that shows that have at least anaspect of something that is being celebratedat Comic-Con have a bettertimethere. But theres a sort of Comic-Con-style fandom that builds uparound some shows.Look at a showlike Bones, which I know hasa big fandom thats there because you have nerdish characters. DEADLINE: What TV do you watch? PRADY: I loved Treme; Imconvinced its being made just for me, because food and jazz are two of myfavorite things. I loved The Wire, Iloved The Shield.I nerdishly loved Game of Thrones. Friday Night LightsI love when somebodys got a great aggressive bit of imagination, likeBattlestar Galactica. I think watching comedy for a comedy writer is a bit of abusmans holiday. I lovewhat they do over at Modern Family, but I dont find myself turning on a comedy.I findmyself turning on a drama. Becausethen Im notthinking about, ‘Heres another way to do that joke,’ or, in the case of Modern Family, ‘What a brilliant way todo that joke.’ But to watch something that shakes you and moves you and drawsyou in, and takes you into another world — thats real fun.