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Writing the Half-Hour TV Drama

August 21, 2017 by Amy Suto Leave a Comment

I hate the phrase “dramedy.”

Every half-hour TV show that isn’t quite a comedy has been given that title. NURSE JACKIE? WEEDS? TRANSPARENT? GIRLS? Dramedies, despite the fact that the spine of these shows are unequivocally dramatic. If you added a meaty B and C storyline to NURSE JACKIE, the show would become HOUSE, something that has never been called a dramedy despite its moments of humor and lightness. Classics like GUNSMOKE and THE TWILIGHT ZONE were half-hours, so by the definition of run-time shouldn’t it be classified as a comedy, or worse, a dramedy? (The correct answer, as I hope you know, is definitely not.)

We’re in an era where dramatic storytelling no longer needs to be relegated to an hour, and the streamlined, nimble storytelling of the half-hour format can be just as dramatic as its 60-minute companion.

So what makes a show a drama? 

  • Tone.
  • Subject matter.
  • Approach to subject matter.
  • Scene composition.

Let’s compare VEEP and HOUSE OF CARDS. Both are about Washington D.C. and politics, sure, but more specifically VEEP is about the powerlessness of the Vice Presidency and the incompetence of Selena and her staff, whereas HOUSE OF CARDS is about the power struggles in D.C. and the viciously cunning Frank Underwood and his power maneuvers.

The tone of these two shows are continents apart: HOUSE OF CARDS is brooding and stylishly dark, and VEEP is a cynical farce. Their approach to subjects like power (and lack thereof) are what sets them apart on genre lines.

In a typical VEEP scene, you can expect sharp witticism and barb-filled dialog, with an undercurrent of comedic suspense as we watch something fall apart thanks to the incompetencies of the characters.

In a typical HOUSE OF CARDS scene, we expect chilling hints at Frank Underwood’s latest scheme for power, and an undercurrent of suspense as we wait for dark dealings to bubble to the surface.

Structure of a Half-Hour Drama

The nimble, fluid structure of a half-hour drama gives writers a lot of room for flexibility. However, even as these half-hours seem to be able to buck the norms of structure, they still do follow patterns of structure similar to their hour companions.

  • Half-hours have one or two major plot movements. Whereas hours have several big movements that culminate in end-of-act cliffhangers four or five times an episodes, half-hours usually only have two major plot movements at most, one of which turns the story to the other.
  • Three acts and a teaser is the structure, but there’s room to mix it up. Hours usually fall along the lines of four or five acts plus a teaser. Half hours can fall along three acts and a teaser, but you’ll rarely see act breaks in the script. Struture is more fluid in half-hours.
  • Scenes often run shorter because they no longer have to service multiple plotlines, with scene lengths running on average 1.77 pages. There are also a scarcity of exterior shots, and exteriors are mostly only used for establishing. In terms of scene length, if a scene is longer than two pages, it’s usually a central plot point (usually a pivotal dinner or party scene.)
  • Rather than juggling A, B, C storylines with a D runner that hours have the time to tackle, most half hours focus on an A-Story (like NURSE JACKIE, ENLIGHTENED, I LOVE DICK), or have equally-weighted A and B and C storylines that track an ensemble cast that have a culminating plot movement that ties them together (TRANSPARENT, TOGETHERNESS). Overall, there’s more flexibility with the form, as long as the focus of each individual episode is made clear (in thematic or character terms.)
  • Dinner is the most dramatic meal. In almost every half hour I read, the major plot points revolved around a dinner (or two dinners, like GIRLS and CATASTROPHE). If you want to break the form, have a set piece revolve around brunch which never has any drama. 

The Stats

I broke down a handful of half-hour dramas to make the below infographic to give you an idea of what the average half-hour drama looks like:

Now go, reinvent short form television and make some great dramatic television!

Filed Under: All Posts, Most Popular Posts, Screenwriting, Writing, Writing for TV Tagged With: drama, half hour, television

Playing Pretend: On Set of CON and the Television Experience

May 12, 2015 by Amy Suto 1 Comment

wrapcastandcrewCON TV Miniseries: Check us out on Facebook!

back row, left to right: Ashley (actress), Allison Kelly (equipment manager), Jon Pham (cinematographer), Joey Livingston (actor: Jonah), Sandy Valles (actress: Faye), Amy Suto (me, the co-creator), Eric Casalini (actor: Jonathan), Irina (supervising producer). Front Row, left: Avi Kaye (director) and Noah Suarez-Sikes (producer)

ON SET OF CON

Every week we have a quote of the day on our call sheet. My favorite was written by Irina, our Russian supervising producer: “We wrap by 5pm or else I’m sending you all to Siberia.”

On set today, we’re shooting in the TV station on campus — Trojan Vision — and we’re pretending it’s a radio station. Our Assistant Director/Associate Producer Noah walks with me through the double doors and into master control, talking about the poster he made for set design with the name of the fictional radio show “THE MILES HOUR” and how he designed it like a Russian propaganda poster as a joke, and how he can’t wait for Irina to see it. I anticipate her sending him to Siberia. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Adventures, All Posts, Behind the Scenes of CON, Screenwriting, Who is Amy Suto?, Writing for TV Tagged With: producing, showrunner, showrunning, television, writing

The “Will They Won’t They” Plot Device: Is it Overused?

June 4, 2011 by Amy Suto Leave a Comment

The “Will They Won’t They Get Together Romance” is possibly one of the most annoying– yet extremely addicting if used effectively- plot device on television today.

You know what I’m talking about. There’s two characters with a history, introduced from the beginning. They flirt, allude to their complicated past, and quickly establish that even if they did still have feeling for each other (they obviously do), there’s nothing they can do about it because some aspect of their lives makes their relationship ‘forbidden’. And so, us viewers have to endure 2-6 seasons of these two characters longing for each other. Those stolen glances. Those distracting new love interests that you and I grow to hate. The forbidden romance that is not quite pursued but is oh-so-idealized.

And then, finally, the two get together after some tragic, near-death experience that makes them realize that nothing in the world matters but each other.

So, the audiences are happy, and then, inexplicably, the ratings drop, and the network pulls the show off the air. Is this model archaic? To give shows a longer lifespan, do we have to abandon this plot tactic?

WHY THE MODEL IS BROKEN [Read more…]

Filed Under: Screenwriting, Writing for TV Tagged With: Chuck, nikita, plot analysis, plot device, ratings, relationships, spy shows, television, viewers

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