From the Drama of Information to the Entertainment of Drama & Reality
In this unit we will be examining media scripts written for the primary function of entertainment. However, I want to reiterate here that the functions of entertainment, information, and persuasion are not isolated. Media with the primary function to inform, may also entertain, as in the news feature. In the case of the documentary, it may also have an overt point of view and attempt to persuade. Educational media may have a teaching goal, but need to be highly entertaining in order to keep an audience engaged. Understanding and harnessing story help writers craft engaging scripts. I want to begin this unit with a type of entertainment media that does not require full scripts from writers. These are entertainment programs that rely heavily on natural responses of people to interview questions or situations. The writer’s role in this type of media is to help production and on-air talent present a smooth, organized, and interesting program.
Scripting the Talk Show
A talk show is not literally scripted. What writer/producers of talk shows will prepare are rundowns, routine sheet, and semi-scripts. The writer/producer will compile and organize background information on a topic for the show’s hosts, so that these hosts will appear informed and wise. However, too much detail and the show might risk valuable spontaneity. There are small differences in a rundown (or fact sheet) and a semi script. A rundown or fact sheet is a skeletal outline of the show that shows the order and length of each segment in the show. Programs that use rundowns usually have a regimen that the host follows for every show. It is generally up to the host to prepare for the show, becoming familiar with the issue scheduled for discussion and the guests that he or she will interview. However, the writer/producer can help the talent by providing a “cheat sheet” of background information and possible questions. If the writer/producer is responsible for choosing the topics and booking guests on the show, it is important that he or she select subjects that will be of interest to the show’s target audience and topics that the host will be comfortable discussing.
Notice that these non-scripted or partially scripted programs can be either straight news talk or talk shows produced primarily for entertainment.
In a Variety Program such as Saturday Night Live (SNL), some segments may be fully scripted or ad-lib. SNL is an example of one of the few variety programs that remained on the air in contemporary television after many other variety shows closed. SNL is a weekly comedy/variety show that began on NBC October 11, 1975 and remains one of the longest running network programs in American history. Another example of the variety show is Carol Burnett’s sketch comedy and variety show, which aired for more than ten years. In this weekly program taped before a live audience, producers would create an overall rundown sheet for the program and writers would create fully scripted skits, often parodies of well-known programs or movies. However, one of the trademarks of this series was the ability of the regular members of the cast to ad-lib. Staff writers create the detailed script segments for most variety programs. For a series like SNL or the Carol Burnett Show, a staff of five to ten writers will create the material for the entire season. Writing for a variety show is not a solo endeavor and a writer who cannot collaborate may not perform well in this environment. The individual writer on a variety program must conform to a predetermined program structure outlined by the rundown sheet and may be scripting a skit that is an assignment rather than the writer’s independent idea. Staff writers, production personnel, and on screen performers may provide the individual writer with suggestions and creative ideas, which the writer must then turn into a script. Writers need to be aware of the range of talents and skills the performers can bring to a segment and the performer’s preferences as well as any production limitations, which generally derive from the show’s budget and schedule. 
The individual writer on a variety show’s staff needs to provide a segment script the talent will be happy to perform in time to meet the show’s production schedule and within the show’s budget limitations.
Another example of a former variety program was the popular children’s program, The Bozo Show, which originated on WGN in Chicago in 1960 as a live half-hour cartoon showcase and aired until 2001. The show consisted of a combination of cartoons, skits, and interactions with the live audience. In the skit segments, ideas might be worked out ahead of time but might not be formally scripted. The example below is a rundown sheet from the Bozo Show, which shows the order, estimated length and actual length of segments. A game show is also likely to use a similar routine sheet. For example, the American game show Family Feud has a standardized format that pits members of two different families against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to s survey type question. The show premiered in 1976 as a syndicated program and continues well into the new millennium.
Sample rundown sheet:
Producers frequently use a routine sheet for talk shows. It incorporates rundown sheet information but also supplies some exact wording to be used in some segments. Generally the scripted parts of a routine sheet include the show’s 
opening, the show’s closing (both of which might be prerecorded) cues to commercials and other transitions. The routine sheet has more information in it than a rundown or fact sheet, but somewhat less than provided by a semi-script.
A semi script offers full scripting of a show’s opening, the close, transitions between segments, cues to commercials, and fillers (for when the talk slows down or needs a boost). A semi script uses the traditional formatting for news (radio format for radio talk shows and split page format used for television). The introduction to the interview in a semi script has some important functions. It will arouse audience interest in the program, almost like a tease. The introduction will also provide a tight capsule of information about the guest to put the discussion in perspective and will make the guest feel comfortable and at home. The interview’s closing or “outro” also has important functions. It will re-identify the guest and topics, provide a brief summary of the discussion, and promo the next program or segment. For the body of the interview program the writer might prepare some sample questions or talking points for the host. The semi script allows the show to appear spontaneous while keeping the show on target. This format can work for a straight news interview program, but works especially well for programs with a primary entertainment function.
Unscripted Sports Entertainment
Game Coverage in sports requires the ability of an announcer to “call the game.” The talent must know the sport and be able to both report the action and provide commentary to give audiences context and insight that will enhance audience pleasure in the game. This kind of game coverage may require very little from a writer if the announcer knows the game, its history, and its players. As with a game show, the rules of the sport, such elements as half-time and innings, will determined the layout of the rundown sheet.
Sports entertainment also involves talk programming similar to celebrity talk shows. Back in the early 1970s I helped produce a local sports talk show in Knoxville, Tennessee, in which the two hosts interviewed the coaches of high school and college football and basketball teams. Sometimes we ran video packages from coverage of specific games, but generally the hosts and their guests just discussed past games, upcoming games and the challenges 
of the sport. Because the hosts were so knowledgeable, my job was especially easy. New players might require some background information, but for the most part the hosts just needed the writer/producer to book the guests, then give the hosts the freedom to do what they did best: talk about sports.
For a sports talk show, writers prepare a written rundown, routine sheet or a semi-script similar to any talk show. The other type of sports entertainment writing looks like a television news package. These can be compared to short documentaries about a player or a team that might be inserted into a talk show just as news programming inserts news packages.
“Writing” Reality Programming
Reality television is a genre of entertainment programming that documents “unscripted circumstances” and “actual events,” which usually feature ordinary people rather than professional talent or actors. This form of programming is produced rather than scripted, showing real people coping with arranged and sometimes bizarre situations. The writer/producer plays a significant role in creating the situations and “casting” these ordinary people.
One of the earliest reality programs was Allen Funt’s Candid Camera, which debuted on television in 1948. Candid Camera played pranks on people and recorded their reactions. These programs showed average people responding to arranged situations that sometimes involved actors staging wacky circumstances. In this show writers (or Funt) dreamed up the pranks. A similar more contemporary example is the show Punk’d, which plays pranks on celebrities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YF2LbXDoXc
Interestingly ABC News developed a similar “Hidden Camera Experiment, What would You Do,” for the newsmagazine Primetime. The difference between the two programs was that Allen Funt meant to catch unsuspecting people in their reaction to a prank, while the “Primetime Hidden Camera Experiment” intended to expose social issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSkeIdFdifY
There are many subgenres of reality programming, but some of the most popular take on the form of a competition, such as Project Runway (Lifetime) or The Fashion Show (Bravo), where designers compete to see who is gifted enough to premiere their designs at fashion week. This type of show is also called the elimination subgenre because a contestant will be eliminated each week. In a program like American Idol (Fox TV), judges will eliminate contestants in initial rounds but later in the season’s competition viewers will call in to vote for their favorite contestants. In Food Network’s Chopped, celebrity chefs decide which of the competing chefs cooks well enough to continue in the competition. Ted Allen, who got his start in another reality show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and later became a judge on Iron Chef, is the host of this program.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/index.html
Other elimination type competition programs include Top Chef (Food Network), Groomer Has It (Animal Planet), Top Design (Bravo TV), The Amazing Race (CBS), Design Star (HGTV), and Make Me a Supermodel (Bravo TV). However, competition programs are not the only popular subgenre of reality programming.
Some other important subgenres include:
- Ordinary people in odd circumstances or strange environments. Survivor is an example of this type of show. http://www.imdb.com/video/cbs/vi2393375257/
- Celebrity “realty.” This type of programming mimics the cinema verite documentary and follows celebrity families in their “ordinary” lives. Examples would include: Hey Paula!, The Simple Life, The Surreal Life, and The Osbournes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufmH6cZdw_Q
- Similar to Celebrity “reality” is a type of show that makes celebrities of ordinary people who have unusual realities or life challenges. Examples of this type include Little People Big World (The Learning Channel TLC), about a married couple who are dwarves raising normal sized children and one dwarf. Another example of this type of show is Jon and Kate Plus 8
(TLC), about a married couple raising two sets of multiples. - Self-Improvement is a type of show in which ordinary people get a makeover and improve their lives. Examples include: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, The Swan, What Not to Wear, and The Biggest Loser. http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi2604400665/
Nanny 911 (FOX) is another type of self-improvement reality, where American families with unmanageable children learn how to better control their children and better manage their lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lziJWq1VTVk
- Renovation programs deal with renovating homes and apartments, such as Trading Spaces (TLC), Designed to Sell (HGTV) and Clean Sweep (HGTV). Generally, these programs begin with an ugly or ordinary house or room and a designer will make the space more presentable or more “livable” for the owners. In Designed to Sell real estate agents will assess a property that hasn’t sold in a reasonable amount of time, usually recommending that a place just needs de-cluttering, sprucing up, and proper staging to entice a buyer. At that point a designer will arrive and recommend inexpensive “fixes” to get a property sold.
- Dating or Social Experiment programs are a reality subgenre that deals with dating or domestic social experiments and include programs like Wife Swap (ABC), A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila (MTV) and Blind Date (NBC).
Writers (or producers) of reality programming will develop proposals for programs and pitch these to a network or cable station. Then producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the events can play out. With reality programming being relatively less expensive to produce, some media critics suggest that there is little hope for scripted dramatic programs to regain the popularity they once had on television. Writing for the Atlantic, critic Michael Hirschorn called reality television “a kind of visual Hamburger Helper: cheap filler that saves them [producers] money they can use elsewhere for more-worthy programming.” Reality programming costs can be half the price of producing a scripted show. However, Hirschorn suggests these savings might result in bigger budgets for the fewer scripted shows that will get produced. Presumably, lots of visual 
“hamburger Helper” means better cuts of steak and perhaps champagne for the scripted programming.
Other critics suggest that reality programming is more diverse and is better contemporary storytelling because reality “keeps it real” by “casting” more racial minorities and dealing with subjects that most audiences find engaging. Reality shows often borrow the story structure and pacing of scripted television, but don’t have the predictable plots and characters. Reality programming avoids the self-importance and tediousness of documentary reporting by sidestepping the necessity to build a story from hours and hours of material that is “found” or “discovered.” Reality programming assembles real people, puts them in counterfeit surroundings, and manipulates those people for maximum emotional impact. The typical formula that has emerged for reality programming combines documentary style footage of reality participants engaged in a competitive or explosive situation mixed with testimonials (or “on-the-fly” interviews) in which the participants describe what they were thinking as the situation unfolded. Producers specifically select or “cast” the participants and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage conflicts and raw emotional behaviors.
The downside of reality television for writers is fewer opportunities to produce traditional dramatic scripts, less control over programs, and less money or benefits for those writers employed by production companies without Writers Guild Contracts. The downside of reality programming for participants is the likelihood of on-air humiliation. The more outrageous the show’s concept, the more likely contestants are to be ridiculed or even disparaged both on the show and through other media. For some participants, the instant fame of reality programming means they can never return to private, “normal” lives. For example, Jon and Kate Gosselin, the young couple raising eight children on Jon and Kate Plus 8, found the private aspects of their marriage and possible divorce the topic of numerous gossip and celebrity magazines after their show became a hit on TLC. There is no denying that reality television is popular with audiences and with the writer’s strike in 2007-2008, reality became popular with producers as well. Part of the popularity of “reality” programming is the voyeurism of seeing real people act naturally in “performances” that that even the most gifted actors can’t deliver.
Though non-scripted or semi-scripted programming now holds the lion’s share of entertainment television, there is still a significant amount of entertainment media that demands the drama delivered through scripts or screenplays. The next lesson reviews some of the principal elements of drama and the following unit examines how to conceive and script an original short drama.