There are those aspiring television writers that think it's better in the mainstream Hollywood writing world. These writers lament the hard scrabble tactics they have to go through just to write and long for a time when they could have a comfy position getting paid to do this thing they now do just for the love. Writing in the big world of television isn't as fun as it may seem. The Hollywood way can be as frustrating as the money writers are paid can be liberating.

Pilot Season

A good TV show has rarely been thus immediately upon appearing on the tube. Still Hollywood judged the quality of a show based on a single written pilot episode of these shows. They don't get to see it fully fleshed out with characters and visuals, it's all depends on how it reads. The audience never reads TV shows, but these people are somehow able to judge a good show simply by reading a script.

Pilot Only

So if the pilot script is determined to be a decent show they will order that episode to be shot. A TV series is not just one show but a bunch, yet they still are going to judge the series based on a single episode. They use the wrong stick to choose which get pilot gets shot and then they use that bad decision to also judge which should go to series based on a single special episode.

Short Order, Midseason

Once a pilot is deemed good enough, they can then go ahead and actually make the real part of the TV series. This is the part they should have made from the beginning, but due to inertia never do. Instead of being given a full season order where they could work out an arc for the whole season, sometimes they are only given authorization to make a few episodes. This immediately brings to the surface a dilemma of what material to use. Either these few episodes are awesome and then there's not much left for the rest of the season or the shows aren't exciting enough and never get beyond those episodes where it really gets good.

Full Season

If you are lucky enough to pass through the pilot process with an order for a full season, you have some advantages over the others. Sadly you only have a short amount of time to write this season. You could have written the whole season before submitting the pilot but that takes work, so nobody does it. You're saved when it comes to what material to use but you don't get to fully write out the season since soon you are already shooting. So even the best shows aren't given a lot of room to make themselves better but just start going and hope for the best.

Hollywood does things the way they always have but it's not the best way. So you have opportunities with the internet, a wealth of time, and an open mind to create a series mainstream TV people never could. Instead of wishing you could write for a network make your own little internet station and write it in a way that helps you to make the best show.