Can a Show Work without Writers?

The show doesn’t actually air live, but it does have the audience sounds (mainly laughter) retained in the edited version. Dramas, for various reasons, are audience-free. Once the pilot is shot and edited, it goes back to the network execs for review and any final edits or changes are made. The percentage of shows that get picked up for the fall lineup varies from network to network. On the next page, we’ll find out what happens to the show after filming is done. Now the network must decide which shows to air, which to shelve for possible later use and which to dump altogether. Talk shows — think “Oprah,” “The Daily Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman” — also shoot in front of an audience.

Jackpot! The network has green-lighted (said yes to) the show concept we followed in How Writing a TV Show Works and How Getting Your Show on TV Works. First, the showrunner and producers are hired. If the network likes the pilot, it will pick up the show for the season and make it a series. The showrunner is the person in charge. He or she works with the writers and script, casts the actors, is responsible for creative direction and usually oversees the project from start to finish. A pilot is the first episode of a show — they’re shot, fittingly, during pilot season, between January and May. When the network approves a pilot for filming, several things must occur. Now it’s time to shoot the pilot episode.

Ultimately, if a show fails, it doesn’t mean the show is necessarily over, so to speak. In most cases, a writer or show creator will turn to plan B and start the process all over again. A fine example of this is film director Barry Sonnenfeld. Can a show work without writers? In a word, no. In November 2007, the Writers Guild of America — more than 10,000 TV and film writers — went on strike for the first time in 20 years. Most observers are expecting the strike to be a long one, so the studios have been operating in crisis mode for months, amassing scripts to avoid a total disruption of production.

If it was an hour-long show, each episode ran for 50 minutes, buying a condo in bangkok (bangkok.thaibounty.com) with 10 minutes of advertising. Every network hopes the show will be a multiple-season hit. The success of a new show can be measured in several ways — placement in the lineup, advertising, buzz, critical review — but it is really the Nielsen ratings that make or break it. If the Nielsen ratings are good, the season can be extended and/or a second season set. If the ratings are bad, the network will often pull the show and substitute a midseason replacement. Today, hour-long episodes are only 44 minutes long. Any TV show that reaches 100 episodes is eligible for syndication.

In syndication, the rights to the show are sold to another network or, in some cases, retooled for the same network, allowing the series to be shown outside of the current or regularly scheduled time slot. For this week in May, all episodes are new, full of hooks, twists and big plotlines in an effort to get ratings up. One way to assure a continuation is to do well during sweeps week.