Joseph DeMartino wrote:
> On Jan 8, 12:06 am, "David E. Powell" 
> wrote:
> 
>> I was thinking air time. It is tricky as some Network TV movies run 3
>> hours with ads.
> 
> Not sure what networks you watch, but the major US TV networks almost
> never go beyond 2 hours for a TV movie.  *Sometimes* they'll go over
> for a hard-to-cut theatrical film.
> 
>> OK. I was sort of used to thinking in terms of four act or five act
>> play formats. I see that one could split the act breaks for commercial
>> within the "acts" thematically.
> 
> ?  Most plays I've done have been three acts, and even things that
> have other structures (or forms, like novels) tend to have what
> amounts to three act structures:  Introductions, rising action, climax
> and denoument.
> 
> All dramatic TV acts tend to run about 12 minutes of action or 15
> minutes of screen time, broadly speaking, because that's how
> frequently the networks want to have commercial breaks.  In an
> episodic series the structure tends to be this:
> 
> Teaster (Short scene to establish the initials situation.  Think of
> the discovery of the body through the arrival of the cops and evidence
> techs on shows like "Law and Order" or "CSI")
> 
> Opening Credits
> 
> Act I
> Act II
> Act III
> Act IV
> 

Remember when hour-long shows actually had title cards at the beginning 
of each act--sometime just as simple as Act I, etc?

Blair
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