Situation comedy, like all drama, thrives on instability. The degree of instability in sitcom is limited, as we have already seen, by the need to maintain the status quo that defines the situation.

Conflict, but not too much

In novels and plays, where the character journey is paramount and the final dismissal of the audience (at the end of all character journeys) is absolute, the instability may be resolved. In situation comedy, by contrast, any too final resolution would not be compatible with the imperative of drawing the audience back to another manifestation of the situation. In short, instability in sitcom is primarily rooted in the characters and/or the situation rather than in plot. There must be unreconciled, if not irreconcilable, conflicts between the characters and within the minds of individual characters.

This is not to suggest that conflict need be a passive force. On the contrary, passive conflict (for example when A hates B but never makes an issue of it) is as feeble a force in situation comedy as in any other form of drama. Conversely, however, conflict in situation comedy cannot be so powerful as to overwhelm the status quo. The situation comedy writer must find a middle way.

Action derived from unattainable goals

Perhaps the best solution is to ensure that situation comedy characters are equipped with motivations that can never be fulfilled. For example, X is determined to make others see him as a sophisticated person, but is greatly hindered by his complete lack of taste and social skills. Such unattainable goals provide not only a rich source of comedy but also valuable reference points for the regular audience, who delight in seeing the same failings played out in each episode.

No less importantly, unattainable goals can offer inspirational starting points for plot development. If the characters are constantly driven by the desire to achieve, the writer cannot fail to create actions for them. If their respective unattainable goals are well worked out, one character's actions will strike an inharmonious note with the motivations of others and there will be comedy in seeing the conflict played out through the filter of the characters' familiar personae.

Extending the possibilities

The plotting potential of even the simplest unattainable goals may be greatly extended by judicious questioning by the writer. Specifically, having identified an unattainable goal for a character, the writer should proceed to probe the goal with questions that aim to:

• Identify subsidiary elements of the unattainable goal
  For example, the would-be sophisticate outlined above might be developed by a detailed exploration of the gap between desired self-image and reality: by probing his "complete lack of taste and social skills" and measuring specific traits against corresponding aspects of the desired self-image. This line of questioning could help to identify closely related yet diverse issues with comic potential. One episode might be concerned with the character's clothing, another with his bad breath, a third with his hackle-raising means of self-expression, and so on.
• Explore diverse actions towards attaining the unattainable
  The deliberate juxtaposition of desire and unattainability ensures that action is inevitable. The character, probably unaware that his/her goal is unattainable, is likely to return to the same issue repeatedly and try different ways of solving it. For example, if the situation dictates that A fancies B and is forever destined to try to get off with her, he can never be allowed to tire of devising new strategies for achieving this elusive aim.
• Cause other characters to complicate the situation
  The comic potential of the unattainable goal is increased further when the other characters' foibles come into play. A single action by one character in pursuit of his unattainable goal will inevitably cause others to react in different ways, perhaps provoking actions and reactions that drive the plot in exciting, unexpected directions. Having identified subsidiary elements of each character's unattainable goal and his/her strategies for attaining the goal, in other words, there is much creative potential in allowing the character's actions to resonate freely with the similarly defined characteristics of the others.