The magic number now is supposedly 88, down from 100 a few years ago. For network, in most cases, if you can get to 66, you're almost guaranteed a 4th season, just to get to syndication, even if the ratings are down a little lower than the network would like.

I wonder if there are any penalties if Anger Management doesn't complete on time.

The run throughs are not taped. The are simply for the producers to see the show on its feet and see what's working and what isn't. They are very loose, especially the first one. The actors have scripts in their hands and usually aren't completely off book, often back up and take lines over, stuff like that. The Wednesday network run through is more polished but still far from anything that could be on TV.

Cool, thanks for the info.

What do you think about the "10,000 hour rule" applied to screen writing?

Not sure what you mean. I guess the point of it is that it applies to all industries and professions. If you subscribe to Gladwell's thesis then I don't see why it shouldn't also apply to screenwriting.

Why do movies so often come out in thematic pairs? I assume the studios are just doing the same types of focus group studies and reaching the same conclusions about what films will sell in a couple years or so. But maybe its people intentionally or accidentally stealing ideas. Or is it common that at any given time there are multiple writers independently writing features with similar subject matter?

I don't think it's so much people stealing each other's ideas as much as it is there are a lot of writers/producers in Hollywood and sometimes they get inspired by the same current event or article they read or maybe just the general zeitgeist leads them to similar ideas. Also, I'm not sure that it happens so often that you couldn't just chalk it up to random coincidence. When you think about it there are A LOT of movies being developed every year. Bound to happen sometimes.

So I'm working on specs for The League and Curb since they're closest to my style of humor, but for the life of me, can't find a shooting (or any) script of either show. Suggestions on formatting either of them?

For one thing, I'd highly recommend writing an original pilot if you can. For whatever reason, they're much more in vogue these days than specs of existing shows.

Re: formatting, both of those shows are formatted to standard single camera sitcom format. Do you know what that is? I can probably post a link to an example or if you have specific questions about the formatting, ask me and I can answer them.

i read somewhere that larry specifically didn't want to get any spec scripts and thats one reason he doesn't write out full shooting scripts just outlines.

preface: no idea if thats accurate or not, tho i believe it was sourced from one of the regular cast members.

OP, could you please make a sitcom about WVUskinsfan and amichelle15?

From what I've read, it seems like you should have two specs and a pilot to show around at all times, with priority going to specs. Is it the other way around now? I do have a single camera pilot, please do post a format of one, though.

As for RiverBoat, I wouldn't send a spec for Curb to Larry David, just to agents to showcase my writing potential. I'd assume most show runners do not want to see specs until you're represented at least and have experience freelancing. The priority for me at this point is to have awesome scripts to enter into contests and fellowships and improving along the way greatly.

I think it more has to do with the loose, improvised style of the show. If he didn't want specs, he just has to not accept specs.

I tried to read that thread and got about two pages in before stopping bc I wanted to kill myself.

Good idea to have both specs and an original but these days all I hear is that people prefer to read originals. Will post a page or two of a single camera script in a sec.

Awesome. I might've seen this too.

F, how often are things funnier on paper than on screen? I assume with a strong staff/cast things just get funnier at very step. But I can think of lots of reasons why the opposite would happen,not even factoring in network and regulatory censorship.

I think i might be a bit writer-bias though. I can see how you write such a good script but if I was the director (producer?) and had to execute that script I would be intimidated and just hope the actors just knock it out of the park.

Personally I think I enjoyed reading the script a bit more than I would enjoy any performance of it, but I'm sure the average person would rather watch what I'm sure was a great pilot or even just if any of us spent a day trying to recreate the scene with our friends ( ie, probably not a home run).

Does anyone else feel this way? Maybe that's a sign I'm supposed to be a writer but maybe that's just how nerds and cerebrals experience.

Things are funnier on the page than they are on the screen all the time. But at the same time, things that didn't seem that funny on the page, suddenly become hilarious on screen. It has a lot to do with the actors and directors, but also could be due to random things like staging or a prop or maybe just something was really funny in the specific context of when it was written or pitched and that context is somehow lost once it is acted out at a later date.

I don't think it's as simple as comedy is lost from page to screen, it's more that comedy is just complex and has a lot of variables and when even one variable changes, a joke can be lost or found. It's unpredictable.

nice stuff, awesome thread and congratulations on your work OP

I've been reading a fair bit of scripts lately. Here's the original (or at least the site claims it's the original) for How I met your mother's pilot episode: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/H...r_--_Pilot.pdf

While I think this is a really great pilot, both as a script and what it turned out to be, I have a noob question that kind of puzzles me. Like, did they just write this pilot, be lucky enough to have the right people to read it, and that was it? I don't really know what else I supposed there would be, but just feels so mindblowing actually looking at these scripts for huge shows thinking like man, it's not *THAT* hard. I know it's just mind playing tricks and writing something like that is infinitely harder than it feels/looks like, but you know, looking at these scripts coming up with a similar one feels...doable.

Writing for tv shows / movies, not comedy tho, is what I've always wanted to do and I was going to go study screenwriting in a university abroad when poker happened (that was 6 years ago). Later I've got more and more thoughts about wanting to do that a bit later in life, and I'm lucky enough to both come from a small country where the circles are smaller and thus easier to break into, and to also know a lot of people in the business so that might actually happen one day.

Thanks so much about this thread, it's been some truly inspiration reading and is one of my favourites on this site. GL in the future with your shows as well.

Do you think there will ever be a rural comedy show again. I don't watch TV any more so I could have missed it if it was on, but it seems like there would be a lot of fresh material for one.

Thanks! Glad you enjoy the thread.

I can't say for sure how the HIMYM pilot got picked up but seeing as how those guys were already established TV writers and had been on a handful of shows, they most likely had some sort of development deal already in place. Meaning, they probably didn't write that pilot on spec. They probably sold it on pitch and then wrote it.

And yes of course it's "doable" and I would encourage you to take a stab at it, especially if you are aiming at a small market that's easier to break into. While I don't have time to read people's scripts you can use this thread as a resource to ask questions along the way if you want. But keep in mind (and I think you are) that while it seems simple when you read a pilot like HIMYM, it's easier said than done to do it well. Even for myself, when we are breaking new stories, it's incredibly hard to get them just right - where each scene makes sense and has a purpose and is funny and the characters' stories and motivations are tracking throughout, etc, etc - even when other shows make it seem so easy. My partner and I spend hours and hours breaking and rebreaking our stories and fine tuning every scene and every characters' attitude and patching logic holes and doing all this stuff that most likely goes completely unnoticed when it's read but might be noticed if we hadn't done it. So, my advice is to be very careful and thoughtful and really hard on yourself when you are writing to make sure it's as perfect as it can be. And then it will read like it's a great pilot you probably dashed off in one afternoon.

I dont' watch it but I believe Raising Hope on FOX is a rural comedy. That's what I came up with off the top of my head. There are probably others.

When (and who knows when) I finish an original sitcom pilot, I had thoughts on doing a fun spec on Millionaire Matchmaker. I'm aware it's a reality show and not speccable in a conventional sense, but if I were to do it well, would that be the sort of thing that gets picked off the top of the pile in your opinion?

You would be using a spec of a reality show as a sample for scripted writing? Outside of the box is good, but I'm afraid that might just be confusing.