Screenwriting : Closed end procedural pilot? by Jason Lawrence Bell

Happy to help on this Jason! A "procedural" is basically like a case of the week type show. Think Law & Order, CSI: [Insert City], Criminal Minds (when that was still a thing), any medical series, or basically anything on CBS etc. Each episode sets up a case of the week with a mystery or problem that the main characters try and solve . There are usually guest characters that will only be in those single episodes who the protagonists interact with.

So a 'closed ended procedural pilot" is one where someone does not need to watch a future episode for a resolution. It is all resolved in the last act of the episode. So someone is looking for the first episode of a series where there is a mystery or something to solve in 27 pages (more or less).

I hope that helps!

Can someone please extend this OWA's till tomorrow??? I'm just not good with deadlines.

Jason Mirch thank you. Excellent explanation

Jason Mirch: Isn't your explanation of a close-end procedural pilot the same as an episodic series?

Maria Soriano - similar but not the same. A procedural is episodic but an episodic is not necessarily procedural.

Jason Mirch: Thanks for the explanation.