Thursday, August 25, 2016

screenwriting - Do episodes of the show House follow a constant structural pattern?


I've seen a few episodes of House M.D., and I wonder, are the episodes written according to a fixed structural pattern? If so, what are the details, and why does such a structure make the show popular?


The series is clearly compelling and has a large following. I would like to study the technical details of its structure, and see if I can take advantage of them in my own writing.



Answer



Yes, they do.




  • They open with a problem occurring -- an unknown disease that no one can figure out.

  • House has to be conned into taking the case.

  • They sit around a room and throw ideas at each other.

  • All of the ideas are wrong.

  • Patient nears death and no ideas are working.

  • House has a magical epiphany and solves the case.

  • The End.


(Also, don't forget the sexual jokes thrown in at various times.)


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