Structure vs. Warmth

I listen to network and studio execs give a lot of notes to TV writers, and I've come to one conclusion - they love structure. When given a chance between a poorly structured show full of warm human moments and flawed but loveable characters and a show full of intellectuals who quote Proust that is perfectly structured... they go for Proust and structure every time.

They want stories resolved. They want characters to arc and come back home again. They want to understand every step of the story all the way, and then sigh contentedly when a full-bodied conclusion ends it the show. So what if it's a tad mechanical? So what if it's predictable? They like that. They crave it. It trumps nearly everything else.

(All of which makes a show like The Sopranos so much more remarkable. Only a network like HBO, with its piles of money, would ever let an iconoclast who loves ambiguity like David Chase be in charge. The result? One of the most brilliant shows ever made. The ending, typical of the show, however, pissed off a lot of people. Why? It didn't fit the structure TV shows normally fit into. People wants clear cut resolution. Heaven forbid that a show be like life and come to no obvious conclusion.)

So when writing for TV, err on the side of structure. Learn it. Imprint it on your psyche. If you can give them a perfectly structured episode that also has warmth and complex characters, so much the better. But if you've got to ditch one or the other, you now know who to push overboard.