Recaps - for TV shows

[lsk]

Does anyone here do recaps/follow a television show?

I wonder how you go about your process. Do you watch the show and write the entire thing aftewards? Do you do it segment by segment?

[mommyjo2]

I worked for over a year at Reality TV Magazine doing show recaps.

I DVR the show and write while I watch - that way I can make sure the "good quotes" are accurate. Later, I'd go back and edit.

Before I had a DVR, I'd take notes in a notebook writing down quotes and main points to hit and rely on memory.

After you do it for a while, you get to know the rhythm of the show and it gets easier to stay in word count.

[lsk]

Thanks! What shows did you recap?

[mommyjo2]

I had the Gordon Ramsay shows, Supernanny, Wifeswap, and a lot of Bravo - the Million Dollar real estate show, Make Me a Supermodel, a few others I don't remember! But I didn't have enough seniority to get Project Runway.

Bravo was really hard to pull pics for. The other sites had great sites for press to get promo pics but Bravo, you were stuck with screen shots, if you were lucky.

[lsk]

OOo did you enjoy doing the Bravo shows?? Why is it that Bravo is so difficult to pull pictures for.. the press area is restricted?

Did you ever hear from any of the Supernanny or Wifeswap participants through your writing?

[mommyjo2]

Bravo doesn 't provide press pics, generally, and a lot of them are protected. Also, their website isn't very comprehensive - lots of graphics, but not lots of pics of shows/what happens in the shows. Often, at the beginning of the season they'll post bio pics and a brief description and that's all the press for the whole season!

A tip I found useful: do your own bio of the show's participants, then when you mention them in later episodes, link back to your original bio.

Never heard from Supernanny or WS contestants, but a Hell's Kitchen contestant got testy on the site's message board once.