Television Writing: The Ground Rules of Series, Serials and Sitcoms

Title page......Page 1
Contents......Page 3
Preface......Page 5
1 How television series and serials are created......Page 7
What the networks want......Page 8
Components of a series......Page 9
Hour-long drama series......Page 10
Writing to screentime......Page 11
Buttons and tags......Page 12
Drama serials......Page 16
2 Sitcom......Page 19
Comic conflict and comic perspective......Page 20
Structure......Page 21
Comic premise......Page 22
Types of families in sitcom......Page 23
SeaChange......Page 26
Getting the job......Page 27
Preparing for the audition......Page 28
What show are we in?......Page 33
What is hot about the idea?......Page 34
The series template......Page 35
The pilot......Page 40
The head writer......Page 43
Research resources......Page 44
Establishing the world of the series......Page 46
Working with the writers: producer's checklist......Page 49
6 Advice from the experts......Page 53
Roger Simpson, Writer/producer, Simpson Le Mesurier Productions......Page 54
John Edwards, Drama producer, Southern Star......Page 57
A case study of Breakers: a strip serial......Page 59
Sue Masters and Luke Devenish, ABC Drama Department, Melbourne......Page 61
Biographies......Page 65
Index......Page 75