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TV Calling

The Art of the TV Episode (PT20)

Alex and Nick explore the differences in what an episode looks like between episodic or procedural TV and serialized shows.

How has the TV episode evolved over the years? What does an episode mean in the age of binge-watching? What are some memorable stand-alone and serialized episodes?

The Paper Team offers a self-contained narrative…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – The Stand-Alone Episode (00:34)
2 – The Serialized Episode (13:23)
3 – What is a TV episode today? (35:34)
4 – Critical reception of Episodic vs. Serialized TV (42:45)
Next Week On (50:03)

Links

Masters of Horror
“22 Short Films About Springfield” (7×21 – The Simpsons)
“Window of Opportunity” (4×06 – Stargate SG-1)
“The Farnsworth Parabox” (4×15 – Futurama)
“Hush” (4×10 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Donald Trump “Law & Order: SVU” Episode Gets Post-Election Airdate
6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park
“Restless” (4×22 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“Grave Danger” (5×24-25 – CSI)
Monte-Carlo Television Festival
MIPTV Media Market
Coupling (US)
Law & Order: UK
Paris enquêtes criminelles
Babylon 5
The Cuckoo Hour
Dream On
“A Mother’s Work” (6×13 – Sons of Anarchy)
“Phase One” (2×13 – Alias)
“Other Things You Could Be Doing” (2×12 – You’re the Worst)
“Development Arrested” (3×13 – Arrested Development)
Why mythological shows are often idolized
NY Times Reviews Amazon’s Goliath Out of Order
“Two Boats and a Helicopter” (1×03 – The Leftovers)
“Guest” (1×06 – The Leftovers)
In Praise of Midbrow TV

Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Should You Pay for TV Writing Education? (PT19)

Alex and Nick discuss the value of paying for screenwriting education.
From graduate school to extension classes and books, we take a look at whether or not they’re worth your time or money to learn about TV writing.

What is the point of film school for television? Which extra classes are worth paying for? What are some of the best books on the subject?

The Paper Team opens their textbook…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – A special e-mail and our own TV writing education (0:32)
2 – Is film school worth it for TV? (10:08)
3 – TV writing extension classes and books (14:53)
Takeaways & Resources (25:03)

Links

UCLA’s TFT mysterious “showrunner program”
UCLA’s Writing Extension Classes
Richard Hatem
The TV Writer’s Workbook by Ellen Sandler
Elephant Bucks by Sheldon Bull
The Cheeky Monkey by Tim Ferguson
The Coffee Break Screenwriter by Pilar Alessandra
Writing the TV Drama Series by Pamela Douglas
Small Screen, Big Picture by Chad Gervich
Desperate Networks by Bill Carter

Resources

BAFTA Guru
BBC Writers Room

Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn for helping us edit this episode.

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]

Australian TV ft. Chris Corbett (PT18)

Alex and Nick invite Chris Corbett (writer on Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) to discuss the current state of Australian television and the differences in their writers’ room.

How can new writers make it in the Australian TV industry? How do Australian writers break their episodes? How does Australian experience translate to America? What are some underrated Australian shows to watch?

The Paper Team goes down under…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – Introduction (00:20)
2 – Everything you wanted to know about Australian TV writing, production and writers rooms (00:43)
3 – Advice for new writers and shows to watch (50:40)

Links

Chris Corbett on IMDb
Film Victoria
Blue Heelers
Crawford Productions
Shane Brennan
ScriptedInk
Australian Writers’ Guild
Prime Time AWG Competition
Stan
Marseille
Foxtel
No Activity
Australian Survivor
Alexa Junge
Tall poppy syndrome
McLeod’s Daughters
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Wanted
Rake
Wilfred
Animal Kingdom
The Moodys
Barracuda
Jack Irish
Love My Way
Tangle

If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :)

You can find Paper Team on Twitter:
Alex@TVCalling
Nick@_njwatson
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: [email protected]