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Usenet Posted 19 years ago
Screenwriting

Spec script question: technobabble

I am working on two spec scripts. One will be an original show idea and the other an episode of a currently popular show. The "currently popular show" spec script I want to do is a "House" episode. It is my most favorite show right now so I thought it would be a good idea to write an episode for it. Perhaps my enjoyment of the show will make the spec script better. Anyway..."House" is a medical show. Highly technical. The what-dun-it is usually some little known virus/ailment/cancer and all the nasty stuff it does, how to detect it, how to cure it, and so forth as well as what other nasty stuff is just like it thus making it hard to detect and thus where the A plot drama comes from. Dr. House and his team trying to nail the culprit. However, I am not a doctor. I know what I would like the what-dun-it to do for the script's plots (A, B, and C) but haven't a clue what could do the job.

What do screenwriters for shows like "House" do? Am I correct that they're not also doctors? If they're not doctors and use doctors as consultants to put in the technobabble, just how much technobabble is the writer to put into their scripts? Or am I to consult doctors myself to find the virus/ailment/whatever that can fit what I need the what-dun-it to do for my script? Just what is expected of me as the script's writer?

Scott
  

Top answer

[nq:1]I am working on two spec scripts. One will be an original show idea and the other an episode of ... what I need the what-dun-it to do for my script?

  • [nq:1]I am working on two spec scripts.
  • One will be an original show idea and the other an episode of ...
  • what I need the what-dun-it to do for my script?
  • [/nq] I don't know what they do on "House" but to the best of my knowledge it is standard practice to have an MD or two working on medical series.
  • I once intereviewed a doctor named Walter Dishell who was on the staff of *******.
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9 Answers
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[nq:1]I am working on two spec scripts. One will be an original show idea and the other an episode of ... what I need the what-dun-it to do for my script? Just what is expected of me as the script's writer?[/nq]
I don't know what they do on "House" but to the best of my knowledge it is standard practice to have an MD or two working on medical series. I once intereviewed a doctor named Walter D
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What I would do:
Some serious research. If that meant buying a doctor lunch, hours on google, or what have you ...
I heard a rumor (don't know if it's true or not) that on various "Star Trek" shows, the writers would substitute for anything technical. So an exchange of dialog on the page could run:

CAPTAIN
I need more power to the .
ENGINEER
Captain, if I do that, the
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[nq:1]Yes, they have medical consultants. You don't. You need one. Make friends with a doctor.[/nq]
I wrote a Sopranos spec and got a lot of help from a Psychiatry prof who loves the show and said shrinks often discuss the therapy Tony gets from Melfi. He has a rather low opinion of her as a shrink, by the way.

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
Alfred Hitchcock
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[nq:1]"House" is a medical show. Highly technical. The what-dun-it is usually some little known virus/ailment/cancer and all the nasty stuff ... could do the job. What do screenwriters for shows like "House" do? Am I correct that they're not also doctors?[/nq]
"HOUSE" has at least one doctor on staff solely to answer medical questions, and one (fantastic) writer who is also a physician.
[n
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I don't write TV, I write features... but I do a lot of research. HOUSE is always about some freak disease, and I'll bet there are a dozen books on freak diseases.What I usually do is a bunch of book research and then talk to people who do it for a living. When I wrote (either CRASH DIVE or STEEL SHARKS - I forget which) I had a chance to interview the crew of a US Nuclear Submarine and tak
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[nq:1]I don't write TV, I write features... but I do a lot of research. HOUSE is always about some freak disease, and I'll bet there are a dozen books on freak diseases.[/nq]
The thing with HOUSE, though and what makes it work as Actually Good Television and a popular fave is that while each plotline revolves around a freak disease, it's never truly about some freak disease. It's about
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[nq:1]That's the kind of thing that this guy needs to focus on. Not that it'd be bad to do the ... the list he should spend his time on in a spec HOUSE script and that's including proper semicolon usage.[/nq]
But at the very least he should get the details of a semicolonoscopy right.

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
Alfred Hitchcock
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[nq:1]I am working on two spec scripts. One will be an original show idea and the other an episode of ... I need the what-dun-it to do for my script? Just what is expected of me as the script's writer? Scott[/nq]
Medical reviews of House episodes, from a doc:
http://www.politedissent.com/house pd.html
What
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[nq:1]I am working on two spec scripts. One will be an original show idea and the other an episode of ... I need the what-dun-it to do for my script? Just what is expected of me as the script's writer? Scott[/nq]
One more thing. Before you do anything else, read Alex Epstein's FAQ on TV writing.

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