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Posts published in “TV Writing”

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]

Writing Adult Comedy Animation ft. Alison Tafel (BoJack Horseman) (PT39)

Update: PT39 transcript now available

Alex and Nick welcome Alison Tafel, staff writer on Netflix’s BoJack Horseman, to discuss writing on an adult comedy animation TV show.

What is the BoJack Horseman writers’ room like? How different is writing for animation from live-action? How do writers interact with animators? How much is planned in advance of the season? How are episodes broken in the room?

The Paper Team horses around…

SHOWNOTES

Content

Starting out in Hollywood, getting staffed on BoJack Horseman, and the writing process on the Netflix TV show (00:46)
Resources and Next Time On (48:53)

Links

Alison Tafel on Twitter
BoJack Horseman on Netflix
Kenneth Parcell
Raising Hope
Bunk’d
NBC’s Late Night Writers Worshop
Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Project Greenlight
“Fish Out of Water” (3×04 – BoJack Horseman)
“Downer Ending” (1×11 – BoJack Horseman)
“Stop the Presses” (3×07 – BoJack Horseman)
Greg Kinnear
Margo Martindale
Jessica Biel
Charming Cheetah Comedy on YouTube
John Myers on Twitter
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
David Hill on Twitter
Superstore
Rachel Bloom
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Sheet Music

Resources

“Truth in Comedy: The Manual for Improvisation” – Charna Halpern, Del Close, Kim Howard Johnson
“Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV” – Joe Toplyn

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 Alex Switzky 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]

Visual TV Storytelling in Buffy’s “Hush” & “Restless” ft. Evan Schmitt (PT37)

Alex and Nick are joined by Buffy the Vampire Slayer expert Evan Schmitt to discuss visual storytelling in television writing through the prism of two episodes, “Hush” and “Restless”.

How do you convey information visually? How can you use imagery to illustrate story and character? What does exposition look like without dialogue? How creepy are the Gentlemen? What was the Cheese Man all about?

The Paper Team invokes the First Slayer…

SHOWNOTES

Content

1 – About “Hush” and “Restless” (01:39)
2 – Narrative structures of “Hush” and “Restless” (11:08)
3 – Visual storytelling in “Hush” (18:33)
4 – Visual storytelling in “Restless” (40:53)
Takeaways and Resources (56:37)

Announcement

Paper Team is going to WonderCon 2017! Join our panel “Writer Versus Fandom: TV Writer’s Rooms and Fan Interaction” on Sunday, April 2 at 4:00PM in Room 209.

Links

Evan Schmitt on Instagram
Paper Team panel at WonderCon 2017
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD
“Hush” (4×10 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“Restless” (4×22 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Shooting script for “Hush” (dated November 3, 1999)
Shooting script for “Restless” (dated April 8, 2000)
The Ascension
“Primeval” (4×21 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“How Joss Whedon and the Buffy writers’ room broke episodes” – TV Calling
The Gentlemen
Cheese Man
“Beer Bad” (4×05 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“Ozymandias” (5×14 – Breaking Bad)
Christophe Beck
Saint-Saëns’ “Danse macabre”
“The Zeppo” (3×13 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Ethan Rayne
“Band Candy” (3×06 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Ripper
Maggie Walsh
“Graduation Day” (3×21-22 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“This Year’s Girl” (4×15 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Dawn Summers
Joyce Summers
Mr. Pointy
“The Gift” (5×22 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Resources

Buffy World’s episode index with shooting scripts
“Tough Enough: Female Friendship and Heroism in Xena and Buffy” – Dr. Sharon Ross
Dr. Sharon Ross (Columbia College Chicago)

Special thanks to Alex Switzky 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]