Judd Apatow on adding stakes

In this A.V. Club interview, Judd Apatow says:

The higher the stakes, the bigger the laughs can be, and the more emotional the scenes can be.

And in this NY Magazine profile of "Girls," Lena Dunham praises Apatow’s “add stakes” notes.

Dunham tells me that Girls is her least overtly autobiographical production. It’s more collaborative, with a far greater focus on the ensemble, male as well as female. Dunham praises Apatow’s “add stakes” notes, which she says emphasized the characters’ emotional lives. “He gives the note you don’t expect—not ‘What’s the funniest hand-job scene in the world?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t understand what this has to do with love.’”

Laughs matter most, but stakes are what make people give a shit.