First off, I appreciate the patience with this post. I threw out my back this week and have been doing nothing.
No writing, no editing, not even writing this post.
If anything I’m just trying to not scream my toes off when I lift my foot to put my sock on.
Anyway, posting today (Wednesday) and will have a new post come Tuesday (2/23) that I know you’ll love.
Alright! That said, I’m doing another dive into a genre today since I got some good feedback last week. This genre again comes from the Impact x Skydance competition, which if you’re applying for it, let me know!
Let’s take a look at the other genre they’re after.
Premium Drama
This is how they define it on their site:
“…[a] 60-minute, ongoing drama series that are elevated, commercial, and set within a specific world or lifestyle that provides the series’ engine. Shows like Big Little Lies, Bridgerton, Friday Night Lights, or Empire.
First of all, let’s give thanks that this is an INCREDIBLY broad genre, as opposed to how specific last week was. Like we talked about in the last post, the word “elevated” gives us a feeling of hopefulness, something positive. What I didn’t mention last week was the little note where they said they specifically did not want anything post-apocalyptic. So no Walking Dead’s here!
So what about the other words?
Premium
For all those young readers out there, premium specifically meant shows that were featured on cable, like The Sopranos or The Wire. These were shows broadcast on HBO that required a monthly fee to enjoy. While this is still the case, nowadays premium could simply mean basic cable, like shows on Comedy Central, TNT, USA, Spike and the plethora of other networks out there requiring a subscription fee.
There’s no limit to where you’ll find original programming on cable TV. I was at a bar last week that had the Golf Channel on and I was guffawed when I saw they were playing an original series. I can’t find what it was called online, but it was a period piece. So even the bloody Golf Channel has original programming now.
Commercial
I’m going to put on my high school cap and gown, valedictorian speech when I say Webster’s defines commercial as “involving or relating to the buying and selling of goods.” Further definition research (specifically from Collins) gave me the words I was looking for…ish.
“Commercial is used to describe something such as a movie or a type of music that it is intended to be popular with the public, and is not very original or of high quality.”
Now that last part seems a bit anecdotal, so when someone asks “What is the definition of a commercial tv series” I will say this:
A commercial TV series is one that has a broad appeal that would be popular to the widest demographic possible and would therefore be one where advertisers happily pay to be apart of their breaks.
So give me your Tim Allen shows, your first series that starts at 7:00 pm, your Scrubs, your The Middle, American Housewife, Goldbergs, Blackish, etc. They don’t have to be comedies of course. Give me your Law and Orders, your A Million Little Things, The Rookie. Hell, give me ALL THE NATHAN FILLION MY MIND CAN TAKE!!!
…Also give me your procedurals with little dangling cliffhangers at the end of every act so companies can push their products.
Location, Destination, Observation.
Remember, they want something set within a specific world or lifestyle that provides the series’ engine. So what are they looking for? A world that is rich with story possibilities. I’m going to gush about a show I loved back in the day called Once Upon a Time. The town of Storybrook might’ve been small and trapped under a spell, but that world was filled to the brim with fairytale characters and great locations for drama to occur. A diner, a mine, a pawn shop, the queen/mayor’s castle. All had secrets in and of themselves, but so did the characters inhabiting those shops.
Dangit, I need to rewatch that show.
So there you have it folks! If this article helped you, please leave a comment, share it if you can and have an awesome day. Go after it!
~Nic
