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" (2x01 - Scrubs)
Colin Hay
"The Art of the TV Episode" (PT20)
"Subway" (6x07 - 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" (2x17 - 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

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Special thanks to Jason J. Cohn for helping us edit this episode.

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Nick - @_njwatson
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