TV Format

The only thing that differs between 1 Hour Drama Format and 30 Minute Comedy Format is the page count and the act structure. Multi-camera sitcoms are a whole other ballgame and are also a dying breed, which is why I'm sticking to the drama and comedy format here.

1 Hour Drama - Act Structure: Teaser and 4 Acts (Be sure to indicate where the teaser and act breaks begin and end). Page Count: 60 pages for a spec script. Produced scripts may take commercial break time into account and have a lower page count.

30 Minute Comedy - Act Structure: Teaser and 2 Acts (Be sure to indicate where the teaser and act breaks begin and end). Page Count: 30 pages for a spec script. Produced scripts will take commercial break time into account and may have a slightly higher or lower page count.

 

TV Standard Page Counts

60 Pages for One-Hour Dramas

30 Pages for Half-Hour Comedy 

Bending the Rules

Notice I wrote 'bend' and not 'break'. You cannot break the rules, but don't let them take over...

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Writing Down the Page

Writing down the pages is sometimes referred to vertical writing, but it's all the same thing...

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Camera Angles?

To use or not to use camera angles in your script is a subject of debate...

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Parentheticals

Be careful when using parentheticals.  You don't want to upset an actor by telling them how to read a line...

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