Tips on Writing TV shows; What TV shows really are

There are many types and series of TV shows. Each is unique based on the form, method and manner by which its content is shown on TV screen.
Examples of TV shows include:
Reality TV shows, Talk shows, TV documentaries, Soap operas, Music shows, Cooking shows, Music shows, Game shows, Crime shows, Police shows, Sit-Com, Science fiction shows, Family shows, award shows, entertainment shows, and so many others.



Now let's see how to write some of the TV shows, below;
(1) TV documentary:
This is a TV show that throws more light on a societal issue, topic or concept, thus letting the audience know more about it.
Nobody can claim to know it all; and that's because many things in life existed even before we were born. So we need to read up certain things in order to understand them.
Apart from reading those things up, we can watch them on TV, through TV documentaries.
A TV documentary is a script produced into film. The script serves as a document about the topic being treated. It contains everything we need to know about the topic. Once the film is made, we can now see it on TV instead of reading it on the paper script.

How to write and produce a TV documentary
To the TV documentary producer or writer, you need to take note of some steps to get your work done.

1st step: Get the full knowledge about whatever topic, issue or concept you want to treat on your documentary.

2nd step: Write a good script. Even if you are the one who will narrate the script or produce the film yourself, you still need to write a standard script.
Everything about the topic which the script will contain is all the things the narrator will say. The narrator's speeches will precede all the videos about the topic.

3rd step: Draft questions, analysis and comments from the script.

4th step: Hand over the script to your already selected narrator. The narrator will now go and study it.

5th step: With your video camera and other recording systems, record everything about the topic.
For those questions, analysis and comments you have drafted, deal with them by asking some questions to people and also getting their comments and analysis as you do your recordings.
After a successful recording, you need to edit the film to make it match the number of minutes relative to the time you want your show to run.

6th step: Go back to your selected narrator; video and record him/her as they recite the script they had studied.
After a successful recording, you need to again edit the film to make it match the number of minutes relative to the time you want your show to run.

7th step: Now you get to production; and with the two films recorded, you produce your show.


(2) Reality TV shows:
This is a show that reflects one's real life. All their past real life activities and experiences are gathered, written as a screenplay and acted. They are the main characters, and all the other characters act as the people these main characters ever associated with in real life. Sometimes these other characters are the real people the main characters associated with.
These main characters are usually real life celebrities, and popular icons.
After the screenplay has been produced into film, these main characters still narrate the story in the film.


(3) TV Drama:
It is a TV show that's broken down into an hour per TV show time.
It is just like a feature film but each episode lasts for one hour.
There is usually no presenter or narrator. It is just the characters and the theme they explore.


(4) TV Sitcom (situation comedy):
It contains comic short stories.
It is structured in a way to produce intermediate comedic moments which make the audience laugh.


Features of TV shows
Just like I wrote earlier, each TV show is unique based on the form, method and manner by which its content is shown on the TV screen.
But apart from this, they still have some things in common.
Now let's compare them, below;

(1) All TV shows have characters
The characters can be;
(i) Non-living (furniture, clothing, electronics, buildings, cars, phones, e.t.c.)
(ii) Living (Non Human - all forms of trees and animals)
(iii) Living (Human beings)

(2) All TV shows have themes, issues, concepts or topics they talk about
This corresponds with the type of characters that will be in the show.
When we have a topic or an issue thus;
''latest cars and their makes'', we would have cars as the characters in the show. Here they may the show would showcase the different types of latest cars on the TV screen.

When we have another topic; ''sounds produced by different people whenever they laugh'', we would have human beings as the characters.

When we have another topic; ''deadliest fishes'' we would have fishes as the characters.

Again, a topic chosen can result to having two types of characters in the show at the same time.
A topic thus; ''Chicago rich men and their million dollars mansions'' we would have two types of characters - human beings and buildings.

So, the themes, issues and topics you choose will depend on the characters that would be in the show, and vice versa.

(3) But not all the TV shows have a presenter, an anchor or a narrator.
Some TV shows do use voice over (V.O) for the presenter, anchor, or the narrator.
Some of the shows can also use an interviewer in place of the presenter, the anchor, or the narrator.
The shows that do not have the narrator only show the pictures or videos of whatever topics and characters contained in them.

So, from all the above, one can easily state that three components make up a TV show;
(1) The characters
(2) The topics
(3) The presenters
The different varieties of these three results in the different types of TV shows we have.


Written by: Winston 'Winny Greazy' Oge

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