Comedy Pilot Season - ask the audience

How often do you watch a new comedy show on TV and wonder "Who picked that?" Well shortly the answer might be "You did"... TV3 is about to offer 5 possible new shows, and invite the audience to pick the one they like the look of. Usually, pilot episodes of comedy shows and sitcoms are only seen by bigwigs at the channels, who are meant to pick the ones that audiences will like. But why not cut out the middle-men and ask the audiences themselves? That at any rate is the idea behind TV3's Comedy Pilot Week - five opening episodes of, potentially, five successful series. So what are they, how were they picked and can Comedy Democracy possibly work? Lynn Freeman talks with John McDonald, TV3 Head of In-House Production and the prime mover of the Comedy Pilot Week, and also to the Listener's long time TV reviewer Diana Wichtel. What makes a good, successful comedy - and are they even the same thing?