Film Courage: From your Park on the Lot website you have a [blog] post that you wrote in 2015
Six Things Your TV Spec Script Needs To Stand Out and we'd love to hear more about that. Carole Kirschner: Do
I remember all six of them? That's a year ago but I can't give you some
generals. Your spec script has to be profoundly memorable what I like to call
blazing hot Greg is not good enough so the first thing is it has to be
incredibly memorable you have to choose a concept that is something that people
will be talking about the next day it also has to be really really really
really good I just finished reading fifty spec scripts for my CBS program
just good isn't good enough there there were plenty that we're good but it has
to be blazing hot has to be exceptional and one of the things that makes it
exceptional is a concept where you're taking a risk you're just taking a risk
you're going outside of just a typical kind of show typical kind of television
series and you're really trying to go deeper deeper on the concept level
deeper with your characters and I just read a script last night that we end
that didn't make it into the into the next round
it was well-written but it was a procedural that was just a typical
procedural with a well-written but typical protagonist and it was a
different sort of environment than we different workplace than we normally see
and it was fine but it didn't make it wasn't exceptional it didn't get you
excited when you read it tell me what is typical that's that's fascinating to me
what about it wasn't Walter White mmm okay what wasn't Walter White the
character wasn't that interesting it was a female it was a young woman who was
going against what her family wanted to do this thing in a man's world
we've only seen that a hundred thousand times and she she she had something that
she was passionate about but it didn't reveal enough about her it wasn't a
character you know Walter White had layers and layers and layers this
character had a lid number to make sure the show you've selected to speck on is
going to be on the air for a few years yes I don't want it to be too new you
don't want it to be too old around you want it just right as a as in a show
that's the second or third season yes it's important that you don't put all
this work and energy into a spec script that you can only use for 30 minutes
because a show gets canceled it shouldn't be so new that we don't know
whether or not it's going to come back it shouldn't be so old that people have
read it have read every single possible configuration of that show I saw for my
CBS project I saw somebody write a Criminal Minds that shows been on the
air for more than ten years don't do that don't I hate to see people who put
so much time and energy and effort in blood and sweat and tears into doing a
spec and then only being able to use it for 30 minutes because the show went off
the air and so really the sweet spot is a show that's been on the air for two
seasons we know it's kind of a hit and going into the third season now there's
some exceptions for that when a show comes out of the gate as a huge hit like
Empire you can pretty much be assured that it's going to be on the air for a
while which it is and will be but just to be safe
second year third year second season third season that's what I recommend in
addition to how long it's been on the air you want to make sure that the
numbers are strong the other reason to wait for the second season is so that
people in the business will have had a chance to have seen the show sometimes
people write shows that are so obscure that our BBC shows that nobody's
watching that it's hard to appreciate the spec because we don't know the show
just to go off-topic for a second Carole where could someone go to look at the
ratings for a show there's a couple of places you can go to TV by the numbers
comm you can go to actually if you just google it if you do a search TV ratings
there will be four or five websites that will come up that will tell you what the
ratings are you can also just google the name of the television show and then
picked up renewed or cancelled and there's a whole website that just deals
with renewed or cancelled okay interesting I did not know that number
four so show runners and executives need to have actually seen the show how do
you know which ones hint if it's a critically acclaimed or getting good
reviews it's most likely being watched any show with buzz okay any show that
has buzz that's getting good numbers or even if it's not getting good numbers
but it's getting a lot of critical acclaim like Jane the virgin has not
gotten good numbers but is sort of a critical darling then you know that
executives and showrunners have read it know the show you want them as I said to
know the show so that they can evaluate your material here's here's another sort
of inside tip don't write a spec for a show that's not very good there's
certain shows that have been on the air a long time but they don't have depth
they aren't interesting they're just crowd pleasers that will not show off
your writing ability you want to show that is textured and layered and
interesting and has depth to show your writing ability can you can you name a
few shows sure you have texture sure well there was Breaking Bad which
doesn't help anybody now because if you have a Breaking Bad I'm sad for you
there is certainly the Americans but the Americans is going off the air mr. robot
is really good and interesting and Laird masters of sex
I think veep is funny as a comedy Silicon Valley as funny as a comedy I
think that shows like I'm just I'm going by the Network show too
shameless although shameless has been on too long but it's that kind of a show
where there's there's more to it than just what's on the surface number 5 your
script can't be too soft make it edgy edgy edgy ok so you don't want you want
to swing for the fences you want to take a big risk you want to do something that
that is really edgy that is really sort of on the per if the parameter of
everyday and is moving into the extraordinary
that is pretty that's pretty vague I know but take a risk do something that
is unexpected that's what edgy is - it's unexpected it
goes to a dark place when you don't expect it to go to a dark place it goes
to a funny place when you don't expect it to go to a funny place it's what you
want is to surprise somebody when they're reading the script where they go
here's the bottom line let me read something that I didn't see
it coming that will get you that will get you
noticed a strong memorable concept and somewhere at least once in your script
where wow I didn't see that coming but again not so but still keeping within
the world of that show and the reality of that show so again I think we were
talking about Silicon Valley you're not going to have aliens land that is risky
that is too risky don't go outside of what what is the reality of the world
the other thing and I might not have mentioned it is if you have a show
that's called the Carmichael show let's say which is on NBC if the stars name is
in the title then you need to make your spec about the star you aren't going to
get very far if you pick a character that is rarely seen to do the whole
episode about as somebody said a long time ago
it's called Roseanne because it's about Roseanne so that's just a thing to keep
in mind it's interesting to explore in some way the the B characters but you've
got to pay attention to your a character so if the whole show becomes about Becky
and all the things going on in her life and Roseanne just in the background it's
a problem yes it's a big problem exactly edgy though I see now that stuff's
really pushing the boundaries that get used to especially 80s television for
all this yes 80s kids out there but when is it still too edgy for the world that
we're in now which it seems like pretty much anything we'll go these days but
how do you know you've kind of not not even just aliens landing but I mean just
something like yucky that's a little sick that's taking it too far
I think that I I read a script where I went ooh
yeah because somebody was describing something that was so sexual and and
weirdly special I went whoa no no no no no no and being sexual is fine to me you
know I that is I don't have a problem with that but this went way over the
edge and then it was like anything that makes you go you or it if you write
something like that and the people that are reading it for you before you send
it out go ooh then check it out okay because as soon as
somebody has that reaction it's over right and I think people have different
levels it's true they do yeah they do but so if you get someone else who maybe
is more squeamish because there's some people I could see just go any which way
and yeah I think it's fine but yeah so maybe have I would show it to a couple
of different people with different levels of as you say squeamishness and
see what kind of reaction you get if all three of them go Jim it's just over the
edge it's over the top make sure it's
something you can write the hell out of yes it has to be a show you love that
you love that you can't wait to write it people often have agents or managers or
friends tell them this is a show it's the best show that's on right now you
should write it you should only write it if you love it
and you can write the hell out of it you have the voices of the characters in
your head you have a great idea for it now that doesn't mean that you should
write something that it's in its first year or that's in its tenth year or that
is not very well made but it doesn't have to be what everybody else is
writing write something that you cannot wait to write and then write the hell
out of it