Page Length For Television Pilots

Bergerac

Reading & Writing
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Okay, there's been some false information floating around that I would like to correct.

If you are writing a USA-based dramatic one-hour television pilot for either Network or Premium Cable you need to get it as close to 60 pages as possible.

58-60 is best, but allowances are made for initial character description and location description IF the pilot is an assignment. These generally run 65-68 pages.

Yes, Network run time is only about 50 minutes, but that doesn't change the length of a pilot. And, yes, this includes the 4 to 5 act breaks required.

Premium cable pilots don't need act breaks.

No 42 pages -- that would mean you don't understand the medium. No 70 pages -- that would mean you don't understand the medium.

Do your best to hit 60 pages on the nose, no more, no less, no cheating margins.

I know this not just because I currently has a cable series on the air AND a network series and have written for television for 20 years but because I read pilots. Lots of pilots.

Here's some relatively recent PILOT page lengths:

THE BORGIAS - 58

DRACULA - 60

BOSCH - 60

BOARDWALK EMPIRE - 66

FARGO - 66

CAPTAIN COOK'S EXTRAORDINARY ATLAS - 66

Look it up for yourself -- there are lots of pilots floating around. You won't find many/any exceptions.

Okay, the TRUE DETECTIVE pilot clocked in at 52 pages but that's Nic Pizzolatto and he 's special.

So one said in this forum that BBC dramas are different -- great, I'll defer to them but I know USA TV.