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Amateur scriptwriting

Revive!
 
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Many popular shows establish settings and characters that are well liked, but inevitably such shows jump the shark and decline. What can be done to salvage them before their demise?

I propose that when a show has clearly entered its senescence, a contest be set up for people to submit scripts. The condition: writrs would be credited but not paid. Scripts would be buffed or even hybridized with one another, then the final season would be all amateur scripts. Folks would tune in for the variety and novelty. And I bet there are some good scriptwriters out there.

bungston, Nov 28 2003

In case I'm not the only one that didn't know the phrase. http://www.urbandic...=jump+the+shark&f=1
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

It happens... http://kumo.swcp.co...h/tta-faq.html#A4.4
Not that the episode was that fantastic anyway. [darksasami, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

[link]






       You've been watching The Practice lately, huh? I like this idea, but it should only be used for shows that are over 5 years old. Not shows that disappear because they sucked from the outset.
phundug, Nov 28 2003
  

       sp: demise(?), writers   

       [+] Good idea, [bungston], I'd like to see some of my favorite shows with new plots ... Well, the Simpsons could go along as it has, but I hate Friends ... anything to take that show down is alright in my book
Letsbuildafort, Nov 28 2003
  

       You mean shows are written by professionals? Oh. How disappointing.
thumbwax, Nov 28 2003
  

       "The One Where Joey Goes Pop-Gun Mental And Wears Chandler's Scalp as a Hat"
lostdog, Nov 28 2003
  

       [jutta] - the problem with paying the writers, at least for the contest, is the people who will have submitted an idea that is marginally somewhat like the script you accept. They will sue because they claim you stole their idea and they will want to be paid. This is why most shows, ad agencies etc do not accept, or even look at, "over the transom" submissions. Thus the contest.
bungston, Nov 29 2003
  

       I know what the writer's union will have to say about this.
Cedar Park, Nov 29 2003
  

       //I'll bet there aren't many good scriptwriters out there//   

       We'll never know if we don't give people a chance! This could also be a clever strategy for the show to have higher ratings, as those who entered the contest will be checking if their plot was selected for the show.   

       I agree with [jutta]... PAY THE WRITERS!
Pericles, Nov 29 2003
  

       I believe Star Trek did this. May be wrong, though.
RayfordSteele, Nov 30 2003
  

       If the show has jumped the shark, it's probably suffering from amateur writing already, however much they're being paid.   

       Moreover, the various Star Trek spin-offs famously had guest script writers for different episodes, generally quite successfully. And there are a fleet of web sites and even book series where amateurs and others write screen plays or books based on established characters. So the idea of having amateur script writers is not particularly novel.   

       Fishbone.
DrCurry, Dec 01 2003
  

       Hmmm <starts working feverishly on script for Baywatch involving a failed inventor bloke whom the female lifeguards appear to find disturbingly arousing...>
dobtabulous, Dec 01 2003
  

       Amateur scriptwriters should check-out independent films on http://www.imdb.com; if they are looking.
Rodeney, Oct 16 2005
  
      
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