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