Screenwriting : Writing for TV - in how many acts? My example is 'The Streets of San Francisco' by Elisabeth Meier

It's still on cable. I've seen it. I'll check to see if it ran that way, but I think it did. I think people spend too much time worrying about what's normal. do what feels right to you. look at what's normal in movies, and then watch Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. there are so many ways to do things. find your own voice, and project it. it really has more to do with the story and how you want to tell it, than what people think is normal. some shows use narration, some characters talk to the camera. what would ER be if they did what was normal. what would SCRUBS be if they did what was normal. do what seems right for the story.

Well, through my digging and reading other television scripts, there are four to five sections. The first tends to be labeled as the "Teaser" -- meaning it's 5-6 pages of an opener that introduces what the episode is going to be focused on. Then it goes to Acts One - Four. (This is for one hour television). Situational Comedies usually have Act One, Two, Three, and Tag (something funny they put after the story's over but relates to what occurred in the show usually the end of a joke). I don't know if you have Final Draft, but television section has a ton of templates based on the television show you want to write or write in a similar style. They list whether the show has a Teaser, Acts, and Tags. I used this guide when I wrote mine: https://blcklst.com/help/tv_script_standards.pdf

Wow, this took me down memory lane. I can remember being allowed to watch early repeats of this as a child Saturday nights. There was definitely more than just the actors performing , the added voice over of the "commentator" (for want of a better word) used to trigger a feeling in me that I was somehow part of the show. The splitting up of the acts would cause more anticipation and excitement in what was to follow, and I would open pop and crisps between sections of story. As to why they did four acts, maybe they wanted to create more curiosity and tension, before the final sting/ending. I'm speaking above from a child's point of view, but now I'm very interested how I would feel watching now. So Liz, over the weekend I will have time to sit through the above 52 mins, and I will get back later folks!

@ Joe - Yes, I also doubt that this was usual as the average viewer would be irritated, I think. And thanks for encouraging to follow my inner voice and do what feels right for the story. @ Emi - Yes, I'm working with FinalDraft9, but it has so many tools I still have to discover that I am grateful for your hint. :) Also, thank you for the link!

@ Debbie - what? A voice over? There is no voice over in the episodes I watched on YouTube. I was too young and not allowed to watch it when it ran on German TV. Was too late for me. The more I enjoy it now. Nice, that you too - like Joe - will watch it again to discuss it later. Hope you will enjoy it!

btw... the next act is always announced by text - not by VO - which looks very much like the original title text and as if it belongs to the original version.

For 1-hour drama, 4 or 5 acts works (i.e. Breaking Bad, The Blacklist). For sic-fi one could even do a 6 act teleplay. The first few acts are generally longer than the last 1-2 acts. Some like Breaking Bad stick to about 13-14 pages per act. sitcoms 2-3 acts. The teaser in a 1 hour drama is included in the first act page count. So a teaser might be 3-4 pages with Act One being 11-12 pages. Tag at the end about one page. It all comes down to what is best to tell the story.

Thanks, David! I wonder why it works for one hour TV pilots or episodes with more than 3 acts, but not for features. Most features have the 3 act structure as we already discussed here. In Sitcoms like Mike and Molly I actually really can't see the structure yet, I have to watch and analyze them more.

sitcomes usually have 2-3 acts but 2-3 diffent stories going on at once. There is always a main arc but there are also B and sometimes C arcs in sitcoms. Sitcoms and dramas have 4 parts: A-Introduce conflict B-Heighten conflict C-Move to resolve D-Resolve. Sitcoms usually do A&B in act 1 and C&D in Act 2-3. 1 hour drama it is easier to spread out An act may play out between commercial breaks or need one commercial break to cut it. Usually 7-9 pages/,minutes between breaks.

If they're still using the same formula 40 years later, why not? I have final draft, but have used it for films, not for TV. Never even thought of that feature. I'll have to take a look at that.

Laura, it is not meant as a template, but an example, because we were always discussing about 3 acts and I found these episodes on YouTube announcing each act - which shows it is divided in 4 acts. I never said I'm taking this as a template and use or copy it. I only wanted to discuss what is usual, what is wise, what is possible, what doesn't work at all etc.

Then, I think it is old enough so it could be fun to try writing something in the same formula. Why not? Kind of a revival. Why not try it, because it was a cult tv show - and actually still is, because it is still running on any channel worldwide obviously.

It's been a while since I've really studied this but... don't conflate the technical four acts of TV formatting (designed to fit around commercial breaks) with the three-act story structure. IIRC, when you analyze the episode's story without regards for commercial breaks, the three-act storytelling structure still holds. Often the first acts dovetail, and the technical first act button provides the impetus to the second storytelling act. The storytelling act 2 spans the technical acts 2-3 (or 2-4 these days), and ends in the storytelling nadir. The last part of the show brings us to resolution. TV "acts" are there because network tv has to fit in commercials. Pay-for services don't have commercial breaks because their income streams come from subscribers (Game of Thrones, Spartacus, House of Cards, Daredevil, etc.). Every once in a while, a network show will air a "commercial free" episode as a stunt, but I believe they've garnered sponsorship from a company for that event. In order to make enough money, they've added more commercials. Rather than make the old style of four acts work, they make the drama shorter, and broke it into more acts to fit more commercials without making the commercial breaks so long that you walk away from the show.

I don't know why on Earth you'd use this show as an example. Are you not watching current television?

Fiona, I know. You will know why I chose it when you read the introduction to this thread. :))

TV show structure has not changed in 40 years. I wouldn't write a 70s show, unless I was writing That 70s Show, or writing for the 70s audience on purpose. But we were discussing the break down. this many pages, then a break, then this many pages, then a break... The idea is to write within the confines of the TV format to fit around the ads, as Shelley pointed out. The story, that's another story.

Thank you Joe. It was about these breaks, yes, but they call it 'Act so and so' in these videos. Just check the minutes I listed to see what I mean. They announce the next act by text during the show. I don't think that this was in the original version already then in the 70s. And only by this text I started thinking about why 4 acts and not 3 or 5 - and are they really acts or only commercial breaks. But again, they call it 'Act 1-4' within the episode. I listed the minutes above to make it easier for you to understand what I mean. Have seen this before or after.

@Liz Hi My memory may have played a trick, the voice over I mentioned earlier, might have been limited to the opening. "The Streets of San Francisco, starring ....etc". I've not watched since 80s and for some reason remembered the narrator being involved whole duration. This goes to show the separation of the acts stuck in my mind, albeit it was actually text on screen, and not spoken word i thought I heard. I thought at the time the opening visuals, the steep cascading street, was exciting and nearly gave me vertigo. Thanks for posting anyway, I will be watching it weekend. @In general comments. Regards comments about 40 year old template, fashions come and go, and come back again. I think it would be great to see this show re invented for 2015. One of the reasons I was allowed to watch as a kid was the show always had some sort of concluding moral in the epilogue, good wins over bad, crime doesn't pay, protagonist always usually got comeuppance etc, etc. Old fashioned, yes, but I think there is a shortage now of TV series suitable for family viewing. Not everyones cup of tea, but I'm sure would have a built in audience.

@Steven - Yes, this is always funny to see the stars in their early years. I once watched an interview with James Woods who had a small role in 'The Way We Were' starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. James only had a dancing scene with Barbra, if I remember it right. They danced and had two or three sentences. James told in this interview how serious he took it - a little too much, because he really called Barbra before they filmed their scene to discuss how he thinks they should handle it best. She was of course keen on getting advice by him, but handled it nicely.

@Debbie True, there is an announcer in the beginning. I like watching old TV series as well as the new ones. It's only the old are more relaxing and I like as Steven mentioned to see nowadays film stars in their first roles like in 'The Rockford Files' and 'The Streets of San Francisco'. Actually I think you can learn a lot about dialogues by watching these. 'Murder, She Wrote' for example has incredible boring dialogues in many episodes - not in all and only for my taste, but is yet fun to watch sometimes. Concerning nowadays... maybe we both should talk? I like this idea of a remake or using the template. Then, these endings are like in an old Western and from my point of view endings are very important as the viewer can relax again after all the excitement he watched and go to bed in peace or leave the cinema with a good feeling. The Cowboys have done their work and now ride home until the next adventure appears. In other words: The Lucky Luke principle as I call it. In the end Lucky Luke is always riding on Jolly Jumper into the evening sun and singing 'I'm a poor and lonesome cowboy and I'm far away from home...'

I haven't read the entire thread, so forgive me if I'm repeating previous comments. Different networks/shows have different act structures. Maybe that's why you're confused. There is certainly a difference between, for example, ABC and HBO. Check out for some general advice: http://www.writersstore.com/the-rules-of-series-tv/

REGINA, thank you for sharing that

No worries, Joe. I think if you're writing speculatively for the TV one-hour space, either Teaser + 4 acts or 5 acts is a safe general structure. You can tailor your pilot to a specific network later on down the road when you're in the door with the network, or when your producer or your agent/manager is starting to set pitch meetings for you.

My two cents: Shelly has it exactly right, It's all about the commercials, and the basic 4-act structure applies, whether it's a one-hour or 1/2 hour show. The teasers and epilogues just provide more opportunities for commercials. The Streets of San Francisco was a Quinn-Martin production, and if memory serves, most of their shows labeled the acts in the same way (which I always found a tad pretentious). By the way, I think it's a misconception that movies use the 3-act structure. Considering that the "2nd act" is often twice as long as acts 1 and 3, it's really two acts. Chris Soth explains this very well, noting that movie structure actually originated in the old system of film on reels. Eight 15-minute reels equal one 2-hour movie.

@Regina, Thanks for that link, I simply didn't know whether this was an old structure only used in the 1970s or what rule they have. Additionally I found it unusual to announce the next act with a text in the show. The structure for TV shows are different from country to country is what I discovered immediately, but if you say it even depends on the network and of course length of the show then I understand it now. Thank you again!

@Michael, I agree. I also have difficulties to see the mid 60 minutes as one act. There mostly is a twist in the middle of these 60 minutes and often a commercial break when these films are shown on TV which seems to be a sign for the end of an act - but on the other hand you never know how the writer really meant it.

@Elisabeth, I skimmed the Writers Store article I posted again. I can see that it's not entirely current nor entirely accurate (it was posted a few years ago), but it still gives a really good general landscape/intro. Just don't want to mislead you into thinking it's 100% up-to-date.

Let me help clear up the confusion. Commercial television uses Act Breaks not for story or artistic reasons, but for commercials. In the 70's four Act Breaks sufficed for the amount of commercials they would insert. These days an hour show might have 5 or 6 act breaks -- probram content time has gone down from roughly 48 minutes an hour to today when it's roughly 42 minutes of program content. The rest goes to commercials, promos, etc. As a writer you write to the Act Breaks. It's as simple as that. You know roughly where an Act Break has to come by page count and build to a cliff-hangar at that point to keep the audience not changing channels during the commercials. Premium cable is different. They do not have commercials. And so you will see program running times vary from episode to episode depending upon creative necessity. The 70's are a pre-historic world. It was driven by business back then and it's driven by business today. Hope that helps.

@Bill Taub, can we avoid the word "prehistoric" when describing the 70s to assuage the pain for those of us born in the 70s? Gulp.

@Regina Lee - not people years. Like dog years, in t.v./technology/media years - ten years ago was pre-historic. In fact, every time I go down to YouTube studios for a seminar or something they say, 'remember what we're telling you today in a year's time will be obsolete'!

@Bill, yeah I went to EFILM to see their digital color timing demo approx 12 years ago, when it was the newest thing...

Hi I've returned to this thread again late, due to the fact I've only just found the time to watch the above trailer in full. Wow, seeing Steve Keller in episode Albatross made me realise that most of these 70s templates, for me at least, are a bit like comfort food. Agreeing with early comments, the endings were usually always satisfying....the antagonists would get comeuppance, no loose ends would be left in the plot, and the story ended with a rosy glow. Viewing time invested in batting for the good guys always paid off, making ideal early evening "family" viewing, as opposed to more modern cop shows where endings are sometimes left open to guesswork, or the Antagonists escape the law altogether. Another stark difference, is the Protagonists themselves, 70s cops were squeaky clean, eg Columbo, Kojak, Steve Keller, then in the 90s and 00s we got shades of grey cops. In series like The Shield, Detective Mackie might decide to shoot a suspect before arrest, keep the villains haul for himself and sleep with suspects/witnesses. Gradually in some police shows, cops would commit heinous acts themselves, almost "mirroring" the antagonist bad guys. Now we have Full Turn Protagonists in Detective/Forensic series. "Hi, my name is Dexter, Im a serial killer."

It was all about the selling of commercial time for the act breaks - as it is today. 100 min running time movies use to take 120 min to air - now they take anywhere from 150 to 180 mins of air time... more room to make money.

Good insight Debbie. We have the anti-hero. Our stories used to have morals, now writers claim they want things to be more "real". I like the idea of a hero you can look up to and emulate. Not one you hope you don't ever run into, and certainly don't want your kids to become. Different outlets leave different amounts of time per half hour for commercials. Networks are giving more time to commercials now than in the past. Everyone's always looking for ways to make more money. The link is gone. There are plenty of shows available online. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+streets+of+san+francisc...