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Posts tagged as “CSI”

TV Procedurals (PT40)

Alex and Nick discuss television procedural shows and how they work, from writing them to reinventing the genre itself.

What kind of procedurals are there on TV? How do you juggle between the characters, the overall story, and the case-of-the-week? What are some common tips for writing a procedural? How does the structure evolve between episodic and serialized procedurals?

The Paper Team solves the case…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – Defining TV procedurals (00:46)
2 – Writing TV procedurals: structure, case of the week, and reinventing the genre (03:22)
Takeaways and Resources (28:29)

Links

Carol Mendelsohn
“How Joss Whedon and the Buffy writers’ room broke episodes” – TV Calling
“My Overkill” (2×01 – Scrubs)
Colin Hay
“The Art of the TV Episode” (PT20)
“Subway” (6×07 – Homicide: Life on the Street)
Andre Braugher
Dancing Baby
“Tracking the long career of half-forgotten TV auteur David E. Kelley” – Stephen Bowie/The A.V. Club
Ann Donahue
Steven Bochco
Century City (TV Series)
“When every Fox show becomes a procedural, it gets very boring” – Daniel Fienberg/THR
Michelle King
Robert King
“Common Descent” (2×17 – Stargate Universe)
“Should You Pay for TV Writing Education?” (PT19)

Resources

“How The Good Wife broke the rules for legal dramas, and then broke itself” – Noel Murray/The A.V. Club

This episode brought to you by Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Writing Competitions

Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition

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]

Exposition in TV Writing (PT24)

Alex and Nick take a look at exposition in television writing, from dialogue to prose, action, and meta information.

What should be revealed to the audience? How can you give exposition in an organic and entertaining way? What differentiates good exposition from bad exposition?

The Paper Team shows and tells…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – What is exposition and what information should you reveal (00:29)
2 – How to do exposition in TV: bad versus good exposition, dialogue, prose, and meta (06:52)
Takeaways and Resources (30:29)

Links

Mr. Exposition (TVTropes)
“Why Fall TV is Choking on Its Own Voice-Over” – IndieWire
“And Maggie Makes Three” (6×13 – The Simpsons)
“Lizard” (1×01 – Man Seeking Woman)
“Pilot” (1×01 – Breaking Bad)
“Top Banana” (1×02 – Arrested Development)
Fringe’s location chyrons
“Through the Looking Glass” (3×22-23 – Lost)
Lost’s flash-fowards
“Premiere” (1×01 – Farscape)

Resources

“Dialogue Secrets” – William Martell
“Escape From (Dull) Exposition” (Video)

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]

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]