4. MAKE YOUR SCRIPT LOOK LIKE A SITCOM

You may have written a great script that looks super-professional, but you have to make sure that it's compatible for TV fare. Remember how we talked about acts and scenes earlier? It's time to talk about them again.

The first act sets up the main story, the problem for the main character. After the climax, there is a commercial. The second act explores the problem, and it is the longest act. The problem usually has a second climax right at the end, and is resolved after the commercial, when the third act begins. The third act is the shortest. While you should never believe anyone who talks about how many pages everything should be, we're going to give you a quick quick guideline here:

  1. Act 1 - 6-7 pages. The entire situation should be crystal clear by this point.
  2. Act 2 - 10-11 pages.
  3. Act 3 - 5-8 pages.

You also have to make sure that your structure fits the show you're writing for. For instance, if every episode of Home Improvement involves Tim meeting the faceless Wilson toward the end of the episode to receive some moral guidance, then you must remember to have this element in your script.