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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
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]
Paper Team is a podcast about television writing and becoming a TV writer.
Hi,
I just discovered your podcast, and really love it. You present great wealth of information in each episode.
You covered TV Writing Education in Ep 19, but I was wondering if you guys had taken Master Class in TV Writing with Shonda Rhimes? Could you perhaps cover her class in upcoming episodes, and see if the class is worth taking.
Craig Mazin and John August of Scriptnotes had a fellow screenwriter take Aaron Sorkin’s Master Class and give a review on the podcast.
I’m curious about your view on her class, and if you have taken it.
Thanks for a invaluable podcast to all emerging TV writers.
Saevar Halldorsson
Saevar :
Thanks for the suggestion!
I’m “taking” Shonda’s Masterclass this week and will be commenting on it on an upcoming episode.