How many times have you and your spouse, you and your friends, or just you, alone – so sorry – watched a TV show and thought, ‘Even I could do better than that!” What if you’re right? MARTIE COOK podcast excerpt: "Dialogue on TV today is much faster. Take a script for a show such as 'Bob's Burgers' -- these run about 64 pages, which is a lot longer than used to be acceptable in comedy or animation. Those would probably be 40 to 50 pages. But the scripts today are longer because they are dialogue-driven because dialogue comes from character and character is what everybody tunes in to watch." Seriously, what if someone came along and said, “Here are easy-to-follow steps that could give anyone with a sense of scene the ability to write for TV?” It’s not, as they say, rocket science, folks. Now, that’s not to say it’s easy or that anyone can do it. MARTIE COOK podcast excerpt: "Max Mutchnick was the creator and executive producer of Will & Grace. He came to Emerson College -- he's an Emerson alum -- and he said you could write a spec script for an old show if you had such an original, original take on it. He said, 'I would love to see someone write an episode of 'I Love Lucy' only set in modern times. Think of all the trouble Lucy and Ethel could get into if they had cell phones and YouTube!' That would stand out for an agent or producer." But in the second edition of her book, Write to TV: Out of your Head and onto the Screen, Martie Cook certainly makes it seem doable. Of course, there are caveats, starting with this one: You can’t succeed in her business, writing TV scripts, from where I am, in St. Petersburg, Florida, of wherever the eff you are – if it’s not Hollywood. Can’t deny you’re not intrigued though, right? Martie Coo • • • • • • •