Well to give an idea of how difficult it is to write a good teleplay for tv, lets look at an example.
Most shows don't have an open submission policy, in otherwards you must already have an agent to get your work submitted.
For the run of Star Trek: TNG, DS9 and most of VOY, paramount had an open submission policy and usually had hundreds to a thousand scripts submitted each month.
Yet out of those literally thousands of scripts only about 40(out of 18 seasons of tv) were purchased and then either developed in house (usually meaning that the writer had a good concept, but wasn't a good writer) or given an ititial order to develop a teleplay (very rare). And even the stronger efforts had to have major rewritess to get the correct tone, adjustments for style of the show and to get it into a workable budget concious producable work.
Of course, they did manage to snap a couple very good writers. The most famous would be Ron Moore who is the exec know of Battlestar Galactica.
Okay, I have to say that being a substitute writer on a tv show is probably not that easy of a thing to do. I mean, yeah, on the surface ... just writing isn't that difficult of a thing to do, but we aren't just talking about just writing. It really is about a whole lot more than that.
1) They need to create plotlines that stay true to the show and to the characters involved in those plotlines.
2) They need to write the characters in a way consistent to how they have been written in the past ... if they don't then I'm quite sure replacement writers would catch ALOT (and I emphasize ALOT) of flack.
These are just two things (I'm sure there are lots more, so if any of you have anything to add, please feel free) that come to my mind with regards to what it takes to write a tv show and to do so successfully, so I just don't believe that it is as easy as it looks.
I also wanted to ask, does anyone remember ... I think at one point when they had a writer's strike before they used replacement writers for a period of time and it didn't turn out well.
And another issue that even most professional writers (non tv) have is that most of them do not understand the financial side of the business.
In other words you can have the best writer in the world, but if they can't understand the financial and production limitations of tv, then their work is useless in this type of environment.
Afterall, rewrites, aren't allowed, and most producers for television are currently or previous writers who are SAG members.
Originally posted by Shannon: I also wanted to ask, does anyone remember ... I think at one point when they had a writer's strike before they used replacement writers for a period of time and it didn't turn out well.
Well in 88, the Soaps used their none SAG member producers to write scripts (and that according to fans) was terrible.
And thats bad considering that Soaps are poorly written in the first place.
I don't think it is easy either, but that is the nature of the beast isn't? I would think that all writers, for either TV or features, know what they are getting into. Being a writer in the business is no different than being an actor, producer, or director. It is a tough industry and some it may take a while for their first break to come, which might be here and gone before they know it.
I realize there wouldn't be any tv shows or movies made without the writers, but come on. I also understand that not all the writers want this strike to happen, but now, they have no choice. It is a shame. It really is.
Originally posted by Shannon: I also wanted to ask, does anyone remember ... I think at one point when they had a writer's strike before they used replacement writers for a period of time and it didn't turn out well.
Well in 88, the Soaps used their none SAG member producers to write scripts (and that according to fans) was terrible.
And thats bad considering that Soaps are poorly written in the first place.
Thanks! I was thinking it had do with soaps, but I couldn't recall.
Anybody who took advantage of the strike to get into television or film would probably be frozen out once the strike was over.
I don't see any indication the networks are looking to hire scabs to work on scripted shows. Nobody thinks that's feasible. They'll work with the people on the shows to get as many episodes ready to be aired as possible.
Nobody wants this strike, best as I can tell. But that's true of most strikes, isn't it?
If there had never been any strikes, because people felt inconvenienced, most of us couldn't even afford TV's.
Originally posted by wenart25: I don't think it is easy either, but that is the nature of the beast isn't? I would think that all writers, for either TV or features, know what they are getting into. Being a writer in the business is no different than being an actor, producer, or director. It is a tough industry and some it may take a while for their first break to come, which might be here and gone before they know it.
I realize there wouldn't be any tv shows or movies made without the writers, but come on. I also understand that not all the writers want this strike to happen, but now, they have no choice. It is a shame. It really is.
Peace!
It is a shame ... I'm just hoping they can straighten out their issues rather quickly. I believe that with the 1988 strike that it occured just as tv shows were wrapping up their seasons and therefore the majority of the strike occured over the summer months and no real damage was done although the start of the fall tv season had to be pushed back a few weeks or so.
Originally posted by Charmqn: I do know that Lost is probably the only show not affected by the strike, since the creators stockedpiled scripts for 14 out of 16 episodes.
Well then it looks like "Lost" may be my saving grace come the new year when everything else goes into re-runs. Thanks for that bit of news!
Originally posted by Charmqn: I do know that Lost is probably the only show not affected by the strike, since the creators stockedpiled scripts for 14 out of 16 episodes.
As mentioned earlier, Everybody Hates Chris already has a full season of episodes in hand, likely the only live-action, scripted show so fortunate.
The worst scenario could be for Scrubs, in its final season but still some episodes short of its finale. Long-time fans of that program could be royally rooked.
Posts: 198 | Location: Fort Washington, MD | Registered: 15 May 2007
Originally posted by Charmqn: Right now, their also decided whether to air Lost earlier in Jan. or keep it on Feb.
Those creators were smart and knew what was happening. Looks like the shorter season and starting later was the best move.
I think they may be best to hold it off until February. It's only a months difference (or less ... depending on the actual timing) and January is usually a pretty dead month for tv anyways and hopefully maybe some shows may still be airing some fresh episodes then as well.
