TV Writing On Demand

Introduction - Peak TV vs. Pique TV: The Streaming Smorgasbord - Author's Note on How to Read This Book (hint: on demand)

PART I SATISFYING THE BINGE VIEWER: NEW GENRES, FORMATS AND TRENDS

1. Blurring the Lines: Redefining Genre and Tone in the Dramedy - How Did We Get Here? - What Differentiates a Dramedy from a Comedy? - Good Rules of Thumb... - Dramedies and Life on the Cringe - Female-Driven Dramedies - Louis C.K. and the Disruptive Force of Comedy - Baskets and Lives in Disarray - Satire as the Weapon of Reason in Dear White People - I Love Dick: Exploring the "Female Gaze" - Master of the Observational: Master of None - Better Things: Philosophical Vignettes - Love and Death in Atlanta - Bonus Content: Further analysis on dramedies, including the rise of the genre, You're the Worst, Casual

2. The Slow-Burn, Season-Long Procedural: From Murder One and Twin Peaks to The Night Of, Fargo, Search Party and More - The Season-Long Mystery - The Mystery Underlying the Crime: The Night Of - The Good Fight: The Procedural within a Procedural - Search Party: Something from Nothing - Fargo Is a State of Mind - The Season-to-Season Pivot: Broadchurch - Truth and Consequences - Bonus Content: American Crime, True Detective Season 1, Riverdale, Medici: Masters of Florence, Happy Valley, The Fall, Bloodline, The Expanse

3. Trust Me: The Long Con On-Demand-From The Riches to Sneaky Pete, Patriot, The Americans and More - The Put Up, The Play, The Rope, The Touch, The Blow Off - The Masquerade: Sneaky Pete - The Period Political Masquerade: The Americans - Entrapment and Reversals: The Night Manager - All Is Not What It Seems: The Good Place - The Farce Thriller: Patriot Bonus Content: The Path, Younger, Mr. Robot

4. Dystopias, Multiverses and Magic Realism - The Constructive/Destructive Power of Ideas: The Handmaid's Tale - Our World with a Cautionary Twist - Crafting the Supernatural/Dystopian Pilot - Microcosmic Dystopias and the Monster Mash: American Gods - Portals and Multiverses: Childlike Wonder in Stranger Things The OA on Netflix: Surprise and Shifting POV Adjoining Realms in The Man in the High Castle - Bonus Content: Atlanta, Man Seeking Woman, The Good Place, Game of Thrones, The Young Pope, plus "The Neurotic Superhero"

5. Story Tentacles: Making Surprising Choices That Yield More Story - Inevitable Yet Unpredictable - Keep Your Frenemies Close: Orange Is the New Black - You Can't Always Get What You Want...Mozart in the Jungle - A Window onto a New World: Switched at Birth - Taboo Relationships in Comedies - Points of View: The Affair - Ensembles and Backstories - When a Flaw Becomes an Asset: Girls - The Macro/Micro Approach: The Young Pope - Game of Thrones: The Ultimate Story Tentacle Show? - The Unreliable Narrator: Mr. Robot - Bonus Content: Breaking Bad, Scandal, Mad Men, Taxi, plus the Switched at Birth pilot teaser script

6. Spotlight on a Rebel: Ryan Murphy Reinvents the Mini-series by Embracing His Inner Outsider - Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn? - In Television, Tone is Everything - Reinvigorating a Genre - The More Specific You Make Something, The More Universal It Becomes ã - "No" = A Rest Stop on the Road to "Yes"ã - Limitation as an Opportunity and Differentiator - The Pop Culture Junkie - The Limited Anthology Series - Impossible = Possible - Marcia, Marcia, Marcia - If You Can Dream Within a Structure, You Can Do Better Things PART II DEVELOPING ICONIC CHARACTERS: RELATABILITY AND AUTHENTICITY

7. Character Empathy vs. Sympathy: How and Why We Align with Characters'ã Wants and Needs ã - Touching the Void - Nobody's Perfect - Examples of Coping Powers - The Dance - Reverting to Type - Judgment, Morality and Perception - The Insatiable Appetite of the Ego - Insecure: Authentic as F**k - Big Little Lies, Guilt and Shame - Sympathy for the Robot: Westworld - Hannah, Clay and the Razor's Edge: 13 Reasons Why - Alignment and Allegiance - Bonus Content: Mr. Robot, Getting On, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Young Pope, Better Things, Animal Kingdom, plus "Empathy and the Female Gaze"

8. Choosing Between Two Wrongs: Characters Trapped by Limitation - Creating the Dilemma - Homeland and the Lasting Effects of Devastating Decisions - A "What If?" Exercise - Dilemma and Perspectives - Politics, Power and Internal Logic: House of Cards, The Handmaid's Tale - Transparent and Being True to Yourself - Guilt, Maturity and Aspirations: This Is Us - The Cleanse and Crossing the Line - Bonus Content: Bates Motel, Breaking Bad, Orange Is the New Black

9. The Wild Card Character: Power Dynamics and Motivations - The Wild Card with a Twist: Mr. Robot - The Wild Card's Wild Card: Mr. Robot, Mozart in the Jungle - The Roommate Soulmate: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - The Pushy Roommate/Friend/Business Partner/Mentor: Silicon Valley - Disrupting an Institution: The Young Pope - The Role of Destabilizing Characters: Better Call Saul, The Crown, Goliath - Bonus Content: Luther, Big Little Lies, Stranger Things, Bloodline, plus script excerpts from Mr. Robot, The Crown, Goliath

10. Writing Dialogue in the Digital Era - Writing the Oblique - Idiosyncratic Voices: Empire, Silicon Valley - Get in Late, Get Out Early - Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication - Point of View and Subtext: The Last Man on Earth, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Shop Talk - Naturalistic Dialogue: Profanity in The Wire - Backstory and What They Don't Say: The Handmaid's Tale - Actions-and Triangulation - Overlapping Dialogue: Stranger Things - Economy with Words - E-Communication - Listening to Our Characters - Bonus Content: Bones, Orphan Black, The Americans, Scandal

PART III CAREER STRATEGIES IN THE EVOLVING TV MARKETPLACE

11. To I.P. or Not To I.P.? That Is the Question: The Value of Intellectual Property in the Scripted TV Ecosystem - Intellectual Property Glossary - Breaking (through the Noise) and Entering (the Zeitgeist) - The Literary Approach - Adapting Autobiographical Material - Bonus Content: A deeper dive into putting a new spin on forms of I.P., from comics to musicals

12. The Show Bible as an Essential Sales Tool - That Was Then. This Is Now. - From Closed-Ended, Stand-Alone Procedurals to Open-Ended, Slower-Burn Serials: The Need for Reassurance - If There's a Central Mystery, There Needs to Be a Series Bible - Networks That Circumvent the Pilot Process (Tend To) Commission Series Bibles: - Half-Hour Sitcoms Rarely, if Ever, Require a Series Bible... - Bonus Content: Two examples/templates of one-hour drama and half-hour dramedy series mini-bibles, plus how to create a story area document

13. Trips, Traps, Tropes: Avoiding Rookie Mistakes - Become Experts in the Genre - "Great Pilot, But What's the Series?" - "It's Too Wrapped Up" - "What's the Franchise?" - "Who Are We Rooting For?" - "There's No Sense of Place or Time" - "It's Confusing" - "The Premise Is Weak" - "It Doesn't Feel Authentic" - "The Dialogue/Style/Tone Are Uninspired" - "It's Too Long" - "The Plotting is Tepid" - "The Stakes Are Not High Enough" - "It's Just Talking Heads" - "It's Too Superficial" - "There Are Too Many Characters" - "The Good Stuff Appears Too Late" - Know the Industry-Yet Be Innovative - The Temptation to Rush - Bonus Content: "The War Against the Kitchen Sink Pilot," a/k/a "The Premise Pilot Blues"

14. The Creative Entrepreneur: From Kickstarting a Web Series to Hitting the Big Time - "Call My Agent" - How to Hook an Agent - Agents v. Managers - Advice from the (Staff Writer) Trenches - Bonus Content: Partial list of the top contests and fellowships - More Opportunities Than Ever-Yet It's Never Been More Competitive - Show Them Your Proof of Concept - Think Locally, Act Globally - What I Really Want To Do Is Direct (A Web Series)-Broad City, Key & Peele, High Maintenance, Awkward Black Girl, The Skinny, 37 Problems, EastSiders - Work Begets Work

Acknowledgments About the Author About the Editors Index