The way I see it, the media presents things to please three main parts of our brain: our sense of humor (for sitcoms and cartoons), our sadness for bad things that happen (a documentary of a family in the war), or our fears of what will happen (the news telling you why you should be terrified to go out of your house). These are probably good things to remember when making up a story with one or all of these element. A good story is, to me, either a Crowning Moment of Funny, a Tear Jerker, or good old-fashioned Nightmare Fuel. Food for thought.