Forrester contributed to The Iron Giant, a film whose comedy is essential to its structure: the humour establishes a warm small town world so that the Cold War paranoia arriving from outside has something to threaten. The balance between comic register and genuine dread is precisely the craft his television work depends on.
He wrote for several of the most influential American animated and live action comedies, including a long running yellow family sitcom, a Texan animated series and an adaptation of a British workplace comedy where he became a central writer and producer. His background is in comedy structure rather than in genre.
Recurring subjects: ordinary life observed closely, characters whose absurdity comes from being recognisable, and jokes built from behaviour rather than from wordplay. He writes ensemble comedy where every character has a consistent internal logic, which is why his episodes hold together when the plots become ridiculous.
The series he has written for are among the most quoted American comedies of the past thirty years, and his workplace comedy episodes are frequently named among that show's best. His involvement in an animated science fiction film sits oddly on the list and is exactly why that film's tone works.
For viewers interested in how comedy writing supports drama. Suited to anyone who knows the sitcoms and not the animated film, and to those curious about the crossover between the two disciplines.
