The concept was that sitcoms, like languages and computer programs, have a grammar, or basic framework, on which all new iterations of the form are built. Then there are the conflicts, how different people respond. Third, there are the actions, how the conflicts play out, and finally the resolution that restores everything to the way it was before the show started. Goldstein fed a computer the plot elements from many sitcoms and had it to analyze them for common structural elements. Then he designed a program that could apply that structure to any set of circumstances.
Artificial intelligence meets artificial stupidity.
Goldstein's program soon went from lab to stage. On a car trip down to Memphis, he and fellow improviser John Bourdeaux got to talking about the program, and Bourdeaux suggested they form a troupe and try it live. Back in Chicago they assembled a group of actors, drilling them in the grammar of the sitcom and in how to stay within the form's half-hour time constraint. Using a collection of 56 cubes, the actors construct sets as they go, creating tables, loveseats, and kitchens on demand. Two musicians spin jaunty new theme music to punctuate the action.