In almost any Hollywood pitch meeting, some executive will inevitably ask you something like 'But what are the stakes'? Or 'Can we raise the stakes'?

Maybe that's why so many plots turn to someone having to save the world - or the whole universe! Those stakes are high enough, right?

In this illuminating clip from The Other Network Writers Room, 30 Rock Co-Exec Producer and Writer John Riggi talks about times when the stakes are too high and plot overshadows character. Many successful current comedies like 30 Rock and The Office, focus on microscopic plots, and great characters, and 30 Rock earned 22 Emmy nominations this year.

With comedy, I think the important thing to remember is that the stakes that are important to the character aren't necessarily global. And in fact, a character's out of proportion caring about their often-miniscule goal, is part of what makes it funny.