PTA and the New American Screenwriting

[cjr533]

As a new convert to the joys of PTA, I am still astounded at just how enjoyable my first game was. I cated as Producer, and while I made loads of elementary mistakes on the rules, I managed to participate in a gripping and highly entertaining game under very difficult circumstances.

While reading PTA tonight I read with interest the lines "Episodic - up until recently, most TV series followed an episodic storyline.  Episodes of this type focus most of their attention on a single story, and little on events that have happened in previous episodes. You can play them in any order with little impact".

I don't watch a lot of TV though I do work in the industry, albeit mainly in other areas to Prime Time TV - documentary and light entertainment mainly.  I had heard references to the "New American Screenwriting", and loosely associate the phrase with the kind of series which PTA draws inspiration from. 

Episodic show are ones like The Simpsons, where each episodes resets the situation to that as it was before, the British comedy Black Books, or Classic Trek as far as I can see?  All explore character - the human condition seems pretty central to all drama, but they do not take the characters anywhere - we see depth analysis, not evolution?

Yet I was immediately made to think of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, the 1970's comedy by David Nobbs, and the subsequent two series.  This was an entirely character driven exploration which makes no sense if you watch the episodes without seeing them in the right order, for example.  The evolution of the central character, and the other protagonists drives the storyline, to its gripping and hilarious conclusion.

Then I though again of TV soaps - which obviously rely on viewer affection for the characters as we see them evolve over time, and through conflict.  I thought Coronation Street, Crossroads, Eastenders, The archers, Emmerdale, Brookside, Neighbours and Home and Away.  I do ot have enough experience of American soaps to know if the same concept holds true in those, but in British and Australian soaps the plots are often little more than an evolutionary study of how he protagonists come in to conflict, and resolve those issues.  Yet all future episodes refer back to and build upon the soaps history, reintroducing old antagonists or concepts, placing new twists on themes.

What makes something like Buffy, Battlestar Galactica or Desperate Housewives differ from a soap?  Could PTA handle soap opera? I honestly don't know what distinguishes the soap genre from the Primetime genre?  My  best guess sis that soap is open ended, and continuous, whereas Primetime seems to have discrete plots and storylines which resolve over a season?

I was amazed to find US seasons run for 24 shows. Six to Twelve is far more normal for the UK, as I understand it.  A popular paranormal investigation show I worked on recently did a season of twelve shows, and even our die hard fans complained it was too long, though it a non-fiction light entertainment format.  24 shows  a season is going some!  I like the idea of a 6 show PTA game, with a pilot and 5 episodes, and long to try  it.

Anyway, last thought.  Traditionally rpgs have been closer to soap in my mind.  They are ongoing, the characters develop over time, and they explore character evolution not depth focussing on individual character concerns and issues.  In some ways I see PTA as closer to say the Simpsons or Black Books than to a soap opera, and therefore actually episodic.  I want my individual episodes of PTA to stand out as fascinating discrete story lines, not merge in to the greater ongoing saga as happens in my HeroQuest game.  Sure, I want ongoing plot development, and i think that is one of the reasons why PTA is so hard to get a series of going - one needs consistency in  a playing group, and all too often one or the other of my players has real world issues which would prevent them attending a session, which is not going to work well in PTA without doing violence to the Series.  I figure I might be damned to endlessly run Pilots!

Anyway absolutely fascinating, brilliant and revolutionary game, and a huge vote of thanks to the author, and the the Forge bookshelf for making it easy for me to purchase!

[John Harper]

Hello, cj.23! Welcome. What's your real name, by the way?

I think your analysis is spot on. American TV shows like Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and Desperate Housewives are definitely soap operas in many ways. They build on past story elements just as you describe. They can keep a long season interesting (even 22 episodes) because they usually have 9 or 10 "main" characters, which means they have plenty of character material to use for the whole season length. A British-style 6-episode season (like Spooks, for instance) has 2 or 3 main characters, so it can cover the character detail in a shorter run.

Similarly, most PTA groups will probably have 3-4 protagonists, rather than 9. So a short season like 5 or 9 episodes makes sense.

I'm very glad to hear that another television industry person has read PTA. I think it's a wonderful book for television writers and producers, even if they never manage to play. All of the concepts in PTA make for good TV writing.

[spikexan]

Howdy,

I recently kicked off a PTA game for seven people with the intention of running it as a short five Episode Season.  The logistics became a bit of a problem when it came to spotlight Episodes, which I think are a strong feature in Primetime Adventures.  The next time I run a game for that many people, It'll totally have to fall into the nine Episode structure.  On the side, I'm running a second game with PTA as a secondary mechanic for another system.  It's two players and myself for another short five Episode Season.  Works much nicer.

The American Season of 13-25 Episodes is daunting for thirtysomething who can only game once a week, which is one reason I picked up Matt's book.  It's quick to jump into and quite clear.  I've watched a few foreign television shows and I think the number of cast members does relate directly to how long a season needs to be.  I'm thinking the math should be one protagonist warrents three Episodes because the beforementioned group of seven worked beautifully for 22 Episode season I ran before finding PTA.  The two friends who run my second game work well with five Episodes and their pilot. 

Hmmmm.  I guess the math is 1 player equals 2.5 Episodes.  Something like that.  Something to consider for PTA 3rd Edition.  :)

SpikeXander