Cinematical

Kenny asks:

How do writers get jobs on TV writing staffs? Do they have to write spec scripts? And what about talk shows? (The Daily Show, Conan) Are they recruited? How does it work? Thanks.

That's my goal right now, Kenny. I worked on the upcoming season of MTV's Rob & Big, I'm in a writing program at NBC, and I'm looking to use those credits and the connections I've made to get staffed on a network television program this year. It's a big process, so I'm dividing it into two parts. This week and next week's editions of The Write Stuff will tackle the television business.

Basically, to get a job on a television writing staff, you need to have at least one piece of original material and one or more spec scripts. A spec script is a sample script for a show that is currently on the air. You're not writing it in the hopes that the program will purchase your script. They won't, and it likely won't get to the show you wrote it for anyway. You're writing your spec to show that you can capture the feel of the writing and the character voices of any show. Every program has a show runner, and every show runner will want to read something different, so it's good to give him or her a lot of choices.

How to go about choosing which show to spec?

1) Pick a show that you watch and enjoy.

If you don't like the show you're spec-ing, you'll dread the writing process, and lose motivation. It's best if you've seen every episode, so you don't write a story that's been done already. It couldn't be easier to research the history of the show you're tackling in this day and age. You can watch every episode of several successful shows on DVD or online, and you can read episode guides and summaries as well.

2) Pick a show that others watch and enjoy.

It is also important to choose a show that is reasonably popular. You may love the show, but make sure others do too. For example, I love Brotherhood on Showtime, but nobody watches the damn thing. I wouldn't write a spec for Brotherhood, because if a show runner gets my script and has never seen the show, he or she won't be able to follow the story and characters. Worse, he or she might not even read my script!

3) Pick a show that will be on the air next season.

I adore Friday Night Lights, but when my writing partner and I wanted to write a spec for it last year, we were advised to try something else. Why? Because Friday Night Light's ratings were/are so low. Had we put in all that time crafting a perfect episode, and then the show got canceled, we would have been left with a spec we couldn't do anything with. I imagine a lot of writers are sitting on unusable Arrested Developments right now...

My writing partner and I have lucked out so far with the shows we've chosen. We have an original pilot, as well as spec scripts for How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Entourage, Rescue Me, Ugly Betty, and 30 Rock -- all shows we enjoy, all shows others enjoy, all shows that are going to be on the air next season (except Scrubs, which is in its home stretch).

If you want to write comedy, it's good to have a spec script for a multi-camera sitcom and one for a single-camera sitcom. A multi-camera sitcom is a traditional sitcom that tends to be staged like a play, using very few sets. These shows also tend to be filmed in front of live studio audiences, or utilize laugh tracks. Two and a Half Men and Back to You are multi-camera sitcoms.

A single-camera sitcom is a program shot more like a film, using a variety of locations, and often hand-held technology. They tend to be considered more "hip" these days, and generally do not use laugh tracks. The Office and 30 Rock are single-camera sitcoms. All sitcoms tend to fall into one category or the other. How I Met Your Mother is considered a hybrid.

Dramas are generally divided into looser categories -- serialized dramas, procedural dramas, and light hours are the three biggies. Serialized dramas are shows like 24, shows that tell continuing stories throughout the season. These can be difficult to write spec scripts for, because unless you're writing during the show's hiatus, the story is changing all the time. You could write your entire episode about a character who winds up being killed off. Now it looks like you haven't been following the show! It's tricky, and I would recommend writing a stand-alone episode if you're tackling a serialized drama.

Procedurals are usually crime-based and tend to focus on one case per show. All your CSI's and Law & Order's are procedurals. These types of dramas are much easier to write specs for because each episode starts fresh, and doesn't necessarily tie in to the others. The one drawback is that not everyone knows the ins and outs of police work. If you don't, it will show in your work. A procedural will likely require some research.

Light hours are shows like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. Any program that runs sixty minutes is generally considered a drama. But Ugly Betty uses a lot of humor, and rarely gets too heavy. Light hours are good specs to write if you're a comedy writer who wants to include a drama in your portfolio -- a great idea considering every two weeks there's a magazine article declaring the sitcom "dead."

Your original sample should be something in your "voice," something that announces to the world "This is what I can do." Show off and play to your strengths. Writing an original pilot can be daunting, because you're not only creating a story, you're creating a world and the characters within that world. You have to know how these people talk, how they interact. Those decisions are yours and yours alone, and you don't have samples to work off of. This is exciting, but can also be mighty daunting. I've been hearing lately that writers are getting staffed from one-act plays and short stories. This is another avenue to try, but it doesn't hurt to have a pilot script in your arsenal.

Questions? Comments? Something not clear? Want to make sure I cover a certain aspect of the TV business in next week's column? Hit me up in the comments or on my personal site. See you next Wednesday!