Emers gets ‘Socially Awkward’ with new comedy pilot

FRESH from her television acting debut in BBC comedy ‘How’s She Cuttin’ back in March, Strabane comedian Emer Maguire has taken the plunge behind the scenes, resulting in her comedy pilot script being commissioned by Channel 4.

Entitled ‘Socially Awkward,’ the Miranda-esque semi-autobiographical story centres on Emer – who will play the title character – as she navigates life following her autism diagnosis.

Asked how the project came about, Emer explained, “I’d been in touch with a few producers about ideas for a possible sitcom and a few had come to see my shows, approaching me to see if we could do anything together. I met with two producers Chris Martin and Chris Jones, and we came up with the idea for the sitcom, based around my own life and experiences.

“From there an opportunity arose to enter into a commissioning round with Channel 4 who, in their own words, ‘we’re looking for the next Derry Girls’. At that stage, I only had a few scenes written but it was enough for a pitch. We received very positive feedback on the scenes and from a total of 60 applications, three were chosen and I’m lucky mine was one of them.”

Now armed with a commission, Emer is moving ahead to write a full script – and she’s grateful for some expert help in the form of fellow comedian and ‘How’s She Cuttin’ creator Claire Corrigan.

“Of course I have the two Chris’s at hand to help me, and the Channel 4 people are also at hand through aspects of it but I’ll be reaching out to Claire for guidance as well. She knows what it takes to get a pilot from idea to script to screen and has worked in the industry for a good few years now so is someone who I can talk to about developing the idea and the trials and tribulations which may arise along the way; there might even be a part for her in it.”

With the characters in ‘Socially Awkward’ based on Emer and her family, casting is already proving to be a unique challenge.

“As soon as the announcement was made I had been commissioned, I’ve been getting loads of messages from people saying ‘if you’re looking for an actor for a certain part, keep me in mind’. At the moment, I do have some people tentatively in mind, and it’s funny to think who would be a right fit to play a caricatured member of your own family, it can be hard to match them in all honesty.”

With comparisons already being made to ‘Derry Girls’ and the acclaim it brought to the city, could ‘Socially Awkward’ do the same for Strabane?

“To be honest, I would love to have it set in Strabane. ‘Derry Girls’ has made it possible to set a sitcom somewhere that isn’t a big city like Belfast, London or Dublin, to make places like Strabane accessible for filming. That said, I’ve lived in Belfast since I was 18, almost as long as I lived in Strabane so I know Belfast probably better than I do my own home town at this stage.

“I’ll be making the argument for filming in Strabane, although it’s a fight I’ll probably lose, but if we can’t film it all in Strabane I would love it if something could be done to incorporate the town into the sitcom, if it gets to a full series.”