Reading 2. How a TV Show is Made

Write the Show

The first step in making a television show is to write the script. If it is a brand new show, this script is called a pilot. Scripts can be written by individual writers or a whole team.

Pitch It

Once the script is written, the story idea is pitched to a team of executives, who will decide whether or not to make the show. If it is a script for a show already in production, the pitch becomes about story approval.

Shoot It

Once the script is finalized, the show is shot. Sitcoms, with a live audience, will rehearse during the week and then perform the episode one night for an audience. Scenes are often shot multiple times to get variety. Shows that have no audience are often shot over the span of a few days.

Edit It

The footage from the filming is edited, and any special effects are added in. Sound is touched up, and the credits are added in. Now you have a completed episode.

Test It and Show It

If it is a new show, the pilot will be shown to a small test audience. If the audience likes what they see, the network is more likely to put the show on the air. If it is a show already in production, the final episode will be screened, approved and aired at its scheduled time.

About “This American Life”

For two seasons on Showtime, we tried to make a television show that would feel exactly like the radio show. We didn't go out looking to make TV. But then Showtime called. It took five more years before we ended up on television.

We agreed to try to make a pilot for a few reasons. First and foremost – we thought it would be fun. It seemed like a challenge to try to tell stories with pictures as well as words. We had been doing the radio show for more than a decade; who knew if this chance would ever come around again?

Also, television is the medium of our age (well, frankly speaking, the Internet is the medium of our age, but we've always been one technological revolution behind). And Showtime turned out to be surprisingly easy to work with. Showtime never asked us to do anything we thought was a bad idea. We made the show we wanted to make.

Some things about the radio show were easy to duplicate on TV. Each week there are a bunch of stories organized around a theme. The stories are the same sorts we do on the radio, true stories about real people.

The hard part was everything else. First of all, there are lots of shows on television that tell true stories about real people: newsmagazines like 20/20, reality shows like Intervention and The Bachelorette, hard news documentaries like Frontline, and just about every single program on MTV. How could we make our show stand out from this crowd?

Also, and more importantly, how could we make the TV show feel the same as the radio show?

The answer ended up dictating a lot of the look of the television show.

It's shot in widescreen, carefully composed. The cameras are almost always on tripods so that it doesn't have that shaky documentary or reality show feeling. The goal is to make the show look, as much as possible, like a movie, and to have instances where the images themselves carry the story forward.

Finally, director Chris Wilcha declared that we should stop running away from TV host clichés and start running towards them. And what's the granddaddy of all TV host clichés? "The desk!" he proclaimed. "We're gonna get one of those desks, the kind of desk you never see except on TV. But the thing is, we're gonna put the desk out in the world!" One week the desk is on the salt flats in Utah, one week in a garage, one week by nuclear cooling towers. It embraces TV conventions, while kind of winking at them.

After two seasons we asked the network to take us off the air. It was too much work doing both the radio and television shows. We hope to return to TV someday, maybe with specials, maybe in some other form.

Exercise 1. Match the words in Column A with their definitions in Column B. Make up your own sentences with these words.

A	B
To pitch	To record on film using camera
To shoot	A tree-legged stand for supporting a camera
Episode	A film or videotape scene or scenes
Scheduled	Purpose, target
Sitcom	To broadcast, show on television
To screen	Planned, fixed in a timetable or program
To stand out	A trivial or overused expression or idea
Tripod	To promote or sell, often in a high-pressure manner
Goal	A separate part of a serialized work
Footage	A humorous drama based on day-to-day situations
Cliché	A telecast or theatrical film that is not part of ordinary TV schedule
A special	To be unusual or different

 

Exercise 2. Mark the statements as T (True) or F (False)

1. The first presentation of a script for a brand new show that needs the green light from broadcasting executives is called pilot.

2. Sitcoms with a live audience can be shot without rehearsing.

3. The decision about the future of a new show is made only on the base of executives’ judgement.

4. Special effects are added at the stage of editing the footage.

5. “This American Life” had been a successful radio show before it appeared on TV.

6. The team of Showtime was not very easy to work with – they made too much stress.

7. The creative idea was not to avoid old TV host clichés, but to play with them.

8. The new format of the show wasn’t very successful, so the network decided to put it off air with no hope of return.

 

Exercise 3. Find words and expressions whose meaning is opposite to the following:

To put on air

A very old show

Innovative idea or expression

Serialized tragedy

To be or look like everybody else

A rerun

Out of production

A single person or company without any connections

Random, occasional

One snapshot

Disapprove

Activities

Exercise 1. Read the dialogue paying attention to the words in bold.

Nicola: 'Do you watch a lot of television?'

Jason: 'I used to watch a lot of television, but now I don't watch a lot. I work a lot now, so I don't have a lot of time to watch it. Also, for me there are too many commercials on TV than there used to be. The advertisements on television when companies try to sell your their products.'

Nicola: 'I don't like commercials either, but what type of shows/programs do you like to watch? Do you prefer factual shows/programs like the news, chat shows, documentaries, or fictional shows/programs like films, dramas, comedies etc...'

Jason: 'I like both. I watch the news and I watch fictional shows as well.'

Nicola: 'What type of fictional shows/programs do you prefer to watch, dramas or comedies?'

Jason: 'I know that comedies are a type of TV shows that make people laugh, but what does dramas mean?'

Nicola: ' Dramas are fictional television shows whose stories are about serious subjects/issues like love, conflict, emotions etc... Dramas are basically any type of fictional shows/programs that aren't written/created to make people laugh (like comedies).'

Jason: 'So programs like House or Downton Abbey are dramas and programs like the Simpsons or Friends are comedies?'

Nicola: 'Yes.'

Jason: 'But I've heard people call House a medical drama and Downton Abbey a period drama. What's the difference?'

Nicola: 'Medical dramas and period dramas are two different types or genres of dramas. Television shows are normally described by what type of story they are. For example, TV shows which are fictional and their main/principal story is about hospitals or medicine are called 'medical dramas' and a 'period dramas' is where the story of the TV show is in the distant past. This is what genres are. Genres are used to help people find and watch TV shows/programs which they are interested in.'

Jason: 'I like medical dramas, like Grey's Anatomy and House. I remember one episode of House where they travel to England and have to save a woman with the plague.'

Nicola: 'So, what is your favorite TV series? Is it House?'

Jason: 'What's the difference between a TV series and a TV show?'

Nicola: 'A TV series is a type of TV show/program which has different episodes/parts where each of the episodes continues with the same or similar story as the episode before it.'

Jason: 'So, is the news a TV series?'

Nicola: 'No, it's a type of TV show/program, but it's not a TV series. Normally, a TV series only has between 6 to 25 episodes/parts in a year and one episode is shown/broadcast once a week. A television series can be either fictional or factual. Some TV series only last for one year, while others can continue and make new episodes for many years. If a TV series lasts for many years, all the episodes it shows in a year is called a season. For example, House is a TV series that has 7 seasons. And each season has about 20 episodes.

The last episode in a fictional TV season is normally called the season finale. Some TV series also have extra episodes which are shown at special times of the year or the episode is very different to other normal episodes. These extra episodes are called specials. These specials are sometimes made to be shown at Christmas or Halloween (e.g. the Simpsons' Halloween specials) and sometimes when they do something special in the episode (like doing a tour, going on holiday, e.g. Top Gear specials).'

Jason: 'So, what is a mini-series then?'

Nicola: 'A mini-series is a type of series which only lasts for one season, no more. Normally, a mini-series only has between 3 to 10 episodes and in the final episode, the story ends. Band of Brothers and Planet Earth are both examples of mini-series.'

Jason: 'I watched Band of Brothers this year, it was broadcast on channel 5. I like channel 5, but for me, my favorite channel or station is BBC1. It broadcasts/shows some of my favorite television shows.'

Nicola: 'This year channel 5 showed a rerun of Band of Brothers, it was the second time they had broadcast the mini-series. They broadcast the mini-series last year as well.'

Exercise 2. Find words or expressions meaning:

1.A word that is used to say when or where a TV program is 'shown' or 'transmitted' on TV, is_____________.

2. A type of TV show/program where the story has been invented by somebody and is not real, is called _____________.

3. When a television show/program has different parts and one part is shown once a _____________.

4. The advertisements that are shown on television where businesses try to sell their products/services, are called _____________.

5. Each single/separate part of a television series, is called an _____________.

6. Fictional TV shows/programs which are funny and try to make people laugh, are called _____________.

7. A type of TV show/program which shows real stories and situations and doesn't invent what is said or done, is called _____________.

8. When a TV series or show continues/lasts for many years, all its episodes/parts in each year are called a _____________.

9. When a TV show/program is shown for a second or third time on television, it is called a_____________.

10. The name for the 'last episode' in a season/year of a TV series, is_____________.

11. A type of TV series which has been made to last/run for only one season/year and the story ends in the last episode, is called a_____________.

12. The name for the place on television like BBC 1, CBS or CNN that show/broadcast TV show/programs, is_____________.

13. The name for the extra episodes which TV series have for Christmas or Halloween, are called_____________.

14. Fictional TV shows/programs which aren't funny and don't try to make people laugh, are called_____________.

15. A different way to say 'types' when talking about a TV show/program, is_____________.

Exercise 3. Describe your favorite TV program/ show. Use the following expressions:

1. My family receives/ subscribes to....

2. I cannot say I am fond of watching TV, because I don’t have much time to spare, but there is a program that attracts/ appeals to/ inspires/ entertains me/ gives much food for thought/ gives best coverage of…/ provides most accurate account of…

3. It is a popular/ mainstream/ general interest/ special interest/ human interest/ minority audience … show

4. It belongs to the genre of …, but stands out from the crowd because of its….

5. The audience mainly consists of young/ elderly/ educated/ intellectual/ smart/ better-off/ fashion-conscious/ ambitious/ career-conscious/ fun-loving… viewers

6. It's a morning/ evening / primetime/ daily /weekly/ program broadcast at … on Channel …

7. I think... is most interesting/ exciting/ gripping/ thought-provoking/ in-depth/ unbiased/objective/ fair/ entertaining/ humorous/ funny/ best analytical/ innovative/ relaxing/ witty/ true- to- life show/ program/ drama/ series…

8. I prefer it because of the personality of the host/ anchorman/ newscaster/ main star... who is attractive/ great personality/ cute/ witty/ smart/ good-looking/ sexy/ charismatic/ thorn in his guest’s side, …

9. The content of the program follows the script/ is based on live events/ involves live audience/ is not rehearsed before shooting

10. I watched it last …. It was the episode where …

11. The thing that I liked most about the episode, was …

12. I would recommend watching this show to viewers who are … and value ….

 

Exercise 4. Translate the sentences from Russian into English:

1. Моих любимых телеведущих сейчас показывают очень редко.

2. Дебаты в Думе показывали в прямом эфире.

3. На днях меня пригласили поучаствовать в игровом шоу.

4. Он несколько раз пытался дозвониться в телешоу с участием зрителей, но так и не смог пробиться к ведущей.

5. Эту экранизацию знаменитого романа будут показывать два канала одновременно.

6. Что сегодня по телику? Опять мыльные оперы для особо одаренных?

7. Поскольку рекламные ролики на ТВ очень дорогие, все больше компаний размещают рекламу в Интернете.

8. Сразу же после событий 11 сентября 2001 года в США на экраны вышло несколько хороших документальных фильмов, в которых все детально анализировалось.

9. О нем писали все газеты и говорили все каналы.

10. По мотивам детективных романов часто снимают сериалы.

11. Западные фильмы отличаются от снятых в России наличием и качеством спецэффектов.

12. Ведущий ток-шоу должен быть яркой личностью и обладать гибкостью, чтобы в случае какой-нибудь накладки изобразить «счастливую болтовню».

13. Обычное телевидение, как правило, смотрят люди старшего поколения, молодежь перешла на кабель, спутниковое телевидение или Интернет.

14. Чтобы оценить перспективы абсолютно нового шоу, нужно написать сценарий, «продать» его руководству телеканала, снять пилотную серию и показать ее небольшой аудитории.

Grammar

Future Simple Tense

We use the Future Simple tense to say that something will happen in the future: express spontaneous decision, predict future events, male a promise or a threat, and ask for help. Adverbs of time that indicate this tense include: tomorrow, today, later today, in five minutes, in two hours, on Monday, on Saturday afternoon, next week/month, this year, etc.

But when we talk about prior plans, strong intentions or fixed arrangements we do not normally use 'will', we use 'am/ is/ are going to + main verb': I’m going to have a meeting with my business partners in a few days.

 

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE TABLE POSITIVE NEGATIVE QUESTIONS I will (I’ll) go. I will not (won’t) go. Will I go? You will (you’ll) go. You will not (won’t) go. Will you go? We will (we’ll) go. We will not (won’t) go. Will we go? He/she/it will (he’ll/ she’ll/ it’ll) go. He/she/it will not(won’t) go. Will he/she/it go? They will (they’ll) go. They will not (won’t) go. Will they go?