Andrew Horton, the Jeanne H. Smith Professor of Film and Video Studies at the University of Oklahoma, is author of the popular Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay (California, 1994) and other books. Most recently he coedited Play It Again Sam: Retakes on Remakes (with Stuart McDougal, California, 1998) and wrote the introduction to Three More Screenplays by Preston Sturges (California, 1998).

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART IComic Elements and Exercises1 Elements of Comedy That Writers Should Know2 Exercises to Nurture the Comic MusePART IIA Writer's Overview of the Traditions and Genres of Comedy3 From Stage and Page to Screen: Anarchisticand Romantic Comedy4 Physical Humor: From Commedia dell'Arteand Moliere to Vaudeville and Silent Screen Comedy5 Sound Comedy: American Screwball Romantic Comedy,Then and Now6 Comedy and Television: Stand-up, Sitcom and Everythingin Between7 Comedies from around the World8 Comedy and the Documentary ImpulsePART IIIClose-ups on Comedies9 Feature Film Comedies10 Television Comedy: Seinfeld and The SimpsonsPART IVWriting Comedy11 The Fifteen-Week Feature Comedy Screenplay12 The Seven-Week Half-Hour Television ComedyPilot ScriptBeyond Happy Endings: Toward a Comic ConclusionAppendix 1 A Recommended Viewing Listof American and Foreign Feature ComediesAppendix 2 Networking, Marketing and MakingYour Own ComedyAppendix 3 Food, Recipes and Comic ScreenwritingBibliographyIndex