TV Writing Workshops and Dramadies

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  • TV Writing Workshops and Dramadies

    I'm curious about the following comments from the WB Workshop FAQ page:

    "We do recommend that if you choose to write a comedy, stay away from dramadies like Nurse Jackie, Hung and Glee. Comedy writers will be judged on the number of jokes within their script."

    What's interesting to note in light of these comments is that last year WB chose writers who authored the following specs, all of which are "dramadies": Enlightened, Girls, Shameless. All 3 of the shows are listed under the "Drama" option on the WB site, but then again so are Nurse Jackie and Glee.

    Shameless appears to be a legitimate drama compared with the others. Sure, there are jokes, but it's far darker than the others and has the drama feel. I can understand that. As far as the others...

    I've watched an episode of Girls, and to me this is far more a comedy than anything, but still has a good bit of Drama. I guess what I'm asking is how does one reconcile the success of a Girls spec with the preemptively unsuccessful spec of a Nurse Jackie or Californication?

  • #2
    Re: TV Writing Workshops and Dramadies

    Remember, WB is trying to nurture writers that they can ideally staff on their upcoming freshman (usually network) shows. That's their endgame. WB doesn't produce very many "dramadies" for network. Thus, they don't choose those writers. It's just tougher to staff a dramedy writer on the shows that WB produces. Since most of WB's half-hour shows are traditional sitcoms, they also have no idea whether or not you can write a 3-7 joke per page comedy script given a Nurse Jackie spec. That's why they shy away from dramedy specs. They are looking for writers they know that they have a chance of staffing.

    That said, it's not impossible to get picked writing a dramedy--it's just far tougher. Those winning workshop participants proved that you could get in with a dramedy--but they likely had written specs that were so great that the WB readers championed them. Great writing trumps everything.

    Now, Girls specs tend to perform well in contests (the AFF sitcom spec winner last year was a Girls spec too) and workshops because they take risks. A Girls spec totally stands out amongst the sea of Modern Family or How I Met Your Mother specs. WB flat out says in their spec "tips" that you have to take risks--typical storylines usually get lost in the THOUSANDS of submissions that they get.

    However, now that everyone has seen that--I'm guessing Girls will quickly become overspecced. So--instead of asking why one things WAS popular, focus on finding the NEXT hit spec. Just make sure that it's a spec that you could actually use as a sample to get staffed on a WB show.

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