Andrew Leeds and Dave Lampson are turning their dream into reality—on reality TV. After keeping a script they co-wrote tucked away for years, the former freshman roommates have brought their show to life on Bravo’s series Situation: Comedy. The duo’s storyline about an 11-year-old boy who runs his life like a corporation was one of two chosen for production from more than 10,000 scripts submitted to the show. Viewers of Situation: Comedy can vote online for their favorite of the two 15-minute productions after the show’s August 26 episode. The winner gets $25,000 and one-year representation from a Hollywood talent agency.
Cameras followed Leeds and Lampson, both ’00, through casting, set design, rewrites, rehearsals, taping and postproduction. The process had its dramatic moments—such as when Leeds’s sister, who had been cast in the show, almost got fired.
The two found themselves imagining how their successes and squabbles would play on TV. “You’re always very self-conscious, and we found ourselves mentally editing things together,” says Lampson, who cut his teeth writing humor pieces for the Chaparral.
Leeds and Lampson are confident that “Stephen’s Life”—directed by Fred Savage, ’98—can win over audiences. Regardless of the final outcome, though, they already consider their experience a success. “Networks hear thousands of pitches each year,” Leeds says. “We essentially won the lottery.”
