ABSTRACT
Students of TV development must understand the building blocks of TV development: format, genre and concept. This chapter explores popular scripted series formats including the one-hour drama, one-hour dramedy, half-hour single camera comedy, half-hour multi-camera comedy, half-hour dramedy and the limited series. Genre in TV is a subset of format. Historically popular one-hour drama genres include cop shows, medical shows, legal shows and primetime soaps. The most popular half-hour comedy genre, present as well as past, is the family or “domestic” comedy. Television concepts are the elemental facts of a show that make it unique, make it go and make it distinct from other shows in its genre. The chapter also explores how the trajectory of TV format, genre and concept over the 70-year history of American television is one of increasing complexity and sophistication. Many shows today consciously eschew traditional genre rules and conventions or combine elements of multiple TV genres.
