Breaking the HOUSE

So part of writing a TV spec script is to break down the show.

This past weekend, I spent the better part of a day watching 3 episodes from Season 3 of HOUSE and creating a list of all the scenes in each, along with associated timing for each scene, and how that scene moved the story forward. A little anal, maybe, but everything I've read suggests that to write a show, you need to know the show.

In addition to getting a deeper sense of timing and movement, part of what I was watching for was how each act ended. See, TV shows have acts like plays or movies. A 1-hr. drama has typically had 4 acts and the teaser at the front (HOUSE has that number); other shows like UGLY BETTY or DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES have 5 or 6.

So every episode of HOUSE has the teaser, in which we meet that week's hapless victim, about to have their world rocked. That sets off the "A" story. Then, coming out of the commercials that pay for the fun, we usually see the "B" story. During the episode, there's often a "C" story. The most fun are when the three storylines converge like a P.G. Wodehouse novel. More often, only two of the lines converge, leaving the third out there orphaned, but tangentially related.

Back to the track: At the end of each Act, we head to commercials on an "up" note. That's usually that big twist that keeps you tuned in through the commercials. Note: if you have a DVR, recent studies show that's OK too:
http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/people-do-watch-commercials/?hp

On the three episodes I broke down, up notes included:
1. A girl with CIPA, suffering from paranoid delusions, has her legs go paralyzed and falls from the 2nd floor railing to the lobby floor below.
2. A boy who thinks aliens are abducting him is found in the front yard, his PJs stained from rectal bleeding, suggesting his fantasies are real.
3. A woman undergoing treatment, suddenly gets worse and goea into a coma.

This last is most common on HOUSE. I'm surprised anyone who watches this show trusts their doctors about anything.

Anyhoo, enough writing here; back to the hard stuff.

Heard in class:
"I've got a quick question"
(thinks for a second)
"Actually, it's not that quick."