Sometimes there’s just too much information to cram into one episode, so you end up with a two-part pilot. Such is the way with this blog.
Previously on Television Topics, we established that good pilots need to set up the People, Premise, and Plot of a show.
So, you’ve got interesting characters, a somewhat attention-grabbing premise, and an established plot. Now all you need to do is throw them all in a bowl, stir vigorously, bake at 350, and voila: a perfect pilot? Not exactly.
The last thing to talk about when it comes to television pilots is structure. And the best way to do that is via the titan of visual media: the movie.
Experts have been analyzing movies for decades, and the structure of your average film is, by now, pretty well-agreed upon. For those who don’t know, I’ll sum it up in a hopefully quick manner.
Film are roughly divided into three acts: Act I is the first quarter of the movie, Act II is the middle half (quarters two and three), and Act III is the fourth quarter. Yes, this makes Act II twice as long as Acts I and III, but we never claimed this was an equitable business.
Also, there are five points in a film that really matter. The Inciting Event takes place about ten minutes in, Plot Point 1 is at the end of Act I, the Midpoint is (you guessed it) halfway through the movie, Plot Point II is the end of Act II, and the Climax is somewhere in Act III.
On your movie time line, it looks something like this:
Act I | Act II | Act III
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inciting Event PP1 | Midpoint PP2 | Climax
For television, we’re going to be focusing on the Inciting Event and Plot Point I. In a movie, the Inciting Event is “the thing that happens that causes everything else to happen,” or “what changes things for the protagonist.” Plot Point I is when the protagonist starts on his or her journey, metaphorically or otherwise. Star Wars is the general go-to for describing movie structure; the Inciting Event is Luke getting the message from Leia, and Plot Point I is him leaving Tatooine with Obi-Wan.
And that’s all great for movies, which wrap everything up in the next hour and a half or so. But we’re talking about television, where pretty much every showrunner would love for their show to be on for many seasons of 22 episodes. So what does the whole movie structure have to do with a TV show?
When it comes to pilots, the answer is surprisingly “a lot.” Almost every pilot follows the structure of Act I of a movie. The only difference is timing. The Inciting Event will still happen in the first ten minutes, but generally it will tend toward the earlier side. (Very occasionally, the Inciting Event happens prior to the beginning of the pilot.) And Plot Point I—the starting of the journey, the choice that establishes the Premise of the show—will happen at the very end of the pilot.
Glee had the Inciting Event of Will taking over Glee Club, and its Plot Point I was Will deciding to stay and coach them rather than quit his job. Buffy had the Inciting Event of starting school in Sunnydale, and Plot Point I was when she, Willow, and Xander formed the beginning of the Scooby gang at the end of the pilot. Even sitcoms fall prey to the structure. Friends, one of the quintessential 90’s sitcoms, has an Inciting Event—Rachel running into Central Perk after running out on her wedding—and, at the end of the episode, Plot Point I—Rachel moving in with Monica and becoming a part of the group.
You’re definitely going to be able to find exceptions. Straight procedurals like Law and Order and a lot of animated shows tend to be the most unlikely to match the pattern. In those cases, the pilot often establishes the status quo rather than upsetting it. Still, most pilots will, as a rule, adhere to the first-act structure.
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