Comedy by committee

The online sitcom viewers can alter

Steve Coogan's production company, Baby Cow, is working on an online sitcom in which viewers can change the storyline.

The comedy, called Where are the Joneses?, features a five-minute episode every day, over a 12-week run.

Viewers can then suggest scripts, plots or new characters for the show, which Baby Cow writers will incorporate into the story.

The plot concerns a brother and sister – played by comics Neil Edmond and Emma Fryer - who discover that their father was a prolific sperm donor and travel through Europe in search of their many siblings.

The idea came from an advertising agency working with Ford, which is sponsoring the show, and providing the car the Joneses use.

Henry Normal, Coogan’s partner in Baby Cow, said: ‘We’re doing this purely from a comedy angle.

‘There’s not overt advertising in the entire thing. It’s paid for by Ford and they get product placement, but we don’t linger on the car or say how great it is. It’s quite a brave move from Ford to explore this new media.

‘We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved so far. Comedically, it’s very good. And it’s great to get more people involved in how the story unfolds.’

Only a very few viewers have so far collaborated on the script ideas, which are published as a so-called ‘wiki’, which means anyone can edit them. Online encylopaedia Wikipedia uses the same principle.

But the producers – and Ford – will be hoping this, and the number of YouTube viewers (which is currently still in the hundreds) will increase as the story unfolds over the coming weeks.

Today’s episode is below. Click here to watch the rest of the episodes – or to learn how to contribute.