TV: Pilot question

Pilots are very unusual creatures. I wish someone would release a DVD with just pilot episodes on it because they're so fascinating to study. My own take on what a pilot is and what it has to achieve (and what it means when it's said it has to "stand on its own") is that a producer has to be able to tell from reading the pilot what your show will be like (in terms of tone, drama, character etc) both in the pilot and in the tenth or the twelfth or the hundredth episode down the line. It's about establishing a unique world with working characters and the working mechanics of an hourly show that can sustain itself for years to come. A tv series is hardly ever green-lit from the pilot script alone; there will always be some discussion as to how the series could work as a show for ten years but that discussion won't happen unless your producer recognises that potential in the script.

So although the pilot for 24 leaves things unanswered, that's not bending the rules or leaving anything out, it's really just a demonstration of how that particular technique will work in each episode - cliffhangers make up a huge part of what the show is all about so that mechanic has to be in place in the pilot to prove it can work sustainably over the course of every hour.

The script does read quite differently to the aired pilot in terms of humour, interplay, some character names and some small structural details but the things that the show is really about; pace, characters, tone and drama are all evident and working largely as they do in the finished product. All scripts go through a development process from the draft the writer hands in to what ends up on screen and the changes here seem organic enough. They obviously decided to 86 the humour, keep things moving even quicker and heighten the tension/stakes that were already there.

I can't imagine a tougher sell to a producer than 24 - an hour an episode for 24 hours?! I can imagine the smoke rising from the ears but thankfully someone had the vision to recognise its strengths and to help shape the pilot into what was ultimately broadcast.

It's commonly accepted that a Pilot will suck. Network execs, producers, even the writers know this. Trust me. It doesn't always turn out that they do, but you go in with that expectation.

The purpose of a pilot is to show that the show you so passionately pitched in your meeting, the outline and show ideas your agent had you hurriedly throw together for submission after interest was shown, can actually come together as a functional 22 or 43minute script.

Believe it or not, many series don't write the "pilot" until after the show as been ordered. You can write a first script without it being a pilot (especially with the half hours). It can actually help, freeing the writer from the ABC's of a pilot (who are these people? why should I care about them? what's the set up?) On the last two shows I worked on, the pilot was written as episodes 104 and 103, respectively. By that time, the staff had a feel for the characters, relationships, and expectations of the EP.

I feel like I've seen several pilots that end in a cliffhanger. But I think what's important there is that the episode tells a complete story then ends in a cliffhanger. It's doesn't leave you on a cliffhanger relating to the 'A' story of the episode which it ties up.

For instance, if two detectives are trying to find who killed a dead girl. By the end of the episode they catch the killer. 'A' story complete. Satisfaction felt on the part of the viewer. But then in the last two minutes -- one of their witnesses is found dead.

But that's just my take on it.

Season long and series long arcs are VERY out at the moment.

Self-contained episodes are what is wanted. This is from the horses mouth.

I think pilots tend to suck because they have too much time spent on them by too many people. Once a show gets passed that, and the writers can take over, a decent team can pick up speed. Everything moves faster (it has to) so there is less chance that execs can get involved.

Several execs have been involved with commissioning this new series and they wanna make sure their reputation comes out intact, so they will meddle.

You as a writer can do nothing about that. All you can do is craft your script... then take notes.

However, unless you have a producer on the hook, you might not wanna bother. Those same execs are more interested in buying an idea than they are a finished script. Should the show bomb and they bought a script, questions will be asked as to why they couldn't see from the script this show sucked? If they buy an idea and it tanks, they can walk away with a cheery, "Well, the concept was solid, I bought a sweet show. It just died in execution and that was down to the writer/actors/director/etc."

You best way into TV is write a couple of episodes for shows you like that are current and popular. Samples that can maybe get you a freelance script. And just pick shows that you enjoy and feel something for, it will come through in the writing.

Beyond that, selling a movie screenplay is never gonna hurt, even breaking into TV.

clockwork said:

Pilots are very unusual creatures. I wish someone would release a DVD with just pilot episodes on it because they're so fascinating to study.

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Lee Goldberg published a few books that covered pilots. Now that they [pilots] can be found online, he's moved on to writing the tie-books for the series "Monk".