Pictured: Will Luera (center) surrounded by the cast of FST Improv. Photo by Matthew Holler.

A sitcom premieres in Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab this Saturday only to be followed promptly by its series finale in the latest show, Thank You For Being A Friend, from FST Director of Improv Will Luera. Supplanting regular Saturday programming for one night only, a cast of performers including Christine Alexander and Chris Friday will improvise two full-length episodes of an original sitcom created by suggestions from the audience, complete with theme song and commercial breaks.

In preparation, the cast has been boning up on the tropes and conventions that defined the sitcom from the early ‘80s through the late ‘90s—“anything from Three’s Company to Friends,” said Luera. But beyond format and style, room for preparation is scarce, as none of the performers will have any inkling of their characters, the location or the situation, all of which will be provided by the audience before the show. “In my opinion, it becomes a more pure improv than a game,” said Luera, “because we have to create a full-length story.” With an intermission in the middle, the cast will take more cues from the audience before returning to the stage for the final episode to wrap up the story.

Broken into distinct scenes on the fly, commercial breaks will be improvised as well, generated seemingly Mad Libs-style from words and phrases submitted by the audience and drawn by the performers. And no sitcom would be complete without a catchy theme song to kick it off. “Musical improv is frightening and challenging but a lot of fun,” said Luera. “Thankfully, we have a few very gifted musical improvisers.”

In addition to being a good time, Luera wonders whether Thank You For Being A Friend can usher in renewed interest in longform improvisation at FST. “In Boston, this [show] was the first time we were doing longform and showing the audience that you could improvise for more than three minutes,” he said. The show was a hit and ran for three years. “We don’t do it often [at FST],” Luera added, “but I’m hoping we do it at least once a month.” This summer, Luera already has planned two one-night shows featuring longform improvisation—June’s We’re Doomed, based off summer blockbusters, and July’s When X Meets Y, an improvised musical.

Thank You For Being A Friend premieres in Sarasota Saturday at 7:30pm in FST’s Bowne’s Lab. Tickets range $12-15.

Pictured: Will Luera (center) surrounded by the cast of FST Improv. Photo by Matthew Holler.