It wasn't always that way. Up until recently, writers would write spec episodes for a series similar to the one they were submitting for. You never submit your spec episode to the show you've spec'd - for two basic reasons. First, they know their show WAY better than you do, so they'll be far more harsh on things that feel wrong for the show, whether it's getting a character's voice slightly wrong, getting something minute wrong about their house style or episode format, or just telling the kinds of story they have reasons for not telling. The second reason is perhaps even more obvious - if they never read a spec of their own show, they can't be accused of stealing it should the show do something similar to this spec episode.
What this means is there are several generations of TV writers who came up by writing spec episodes, perhaps of shows vastly different from the ones they are famous for. With that in mind, I tweeted out a call for writers to tell us the specs that got them hired or repped. The result was one of the more amusing threads I've been a part of.
I'm sure this'll provoke a unanimous chorus of "Nah Bitter, we're good" but if any of the writers in this post - or any other working writers for that matter - are interested in putting their spec episodes out there for people to read, I'll gladly host them. Just email me at the address you can find on the side of this webpage.
Joe Henderson (Lucifer, 11.22.63, White Collar, Almost Human)
My Smallville got me some attention. My Joan of Arcadia elevated my craft. My OC was my favorite. My Entourage got me into the WB workshop. My My Name Is Earl was lots of fun. My Dexter got me a lot of meetings. Shit I wrote a lot of specs— Joe Henderson (@Henderson_Joe) February 16, 2018
Taylor Elmore (Blood & Treasure, Limitless, Justified)
ER, Dawson’s Creek, then Shield. I think I peaked careerwise on the Dawson’s spec— Taylor Elmore (@TaylorElmost) February 16, 2018
Justin Marks (THE JUNGLE BOOK, Counterpart)
This isn’t the same, but once I wrote fan fiction set on the prison planet in Alien 3. It detailed the prisoners’ lives before Sigourney Weaver arrived. Unbelievably, seventeen years later someone married me.— Justin Marks (@Justin_Marks_) February 16, 2018
Mike Royce (One Day at a Time, Men of a Certain Age, Enlisted)
Frasier. @jonlovett would be proud— Mike Royce (@MikeRoyce) February 16, 2018
Amy Berg (Counterpart, Da Vinci's Demons, Caper, Person of Interest, Eureka)
For the Lost spec, it was during the show's first season when the episodes were told from specific character POVs. I chose the dog. People still talk about that script.— Amy Berg (@bergopolis) February 16, 2018
Jordon Nardino (Star Trek: Discovery, Quantico, Smash, Desperate Housewives)
Oh also I got rejected from the WB writers program with the samples that got me staffed on Gilmore Girls a few months later so fuck everyone.— Jordon Nardino (@jnardino) February 16, 2018
Benjamin Raab (Arrow, Scream, The Flash, Beauty & The Beast)
A Smallville got me & @dblackanese our 1st manager. An Alias got us our 1st agent. A CSI & a Nip/Tuck got us our 2nd agent. A Rescue Me got us into the @nbc Writers On The Verge Program, as well as our 1st staffing job on #Warehouse13.— Benjamin Raab (@Wondermasons) February 16, 2018
Bo Yeon Kim (Star Trek: Discovery, Reign)
I also wrote a really shitty Supernatural spec which will never see the light of day.— Bo Yeon Kim (@extspace) February 16, 2018
Robert Hewitt Wolfe, (Elementary, Andromeda, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) who probably made enemies of several people in this thread with this disclosure.
Umm... I've never written a spec. I got my invitation to pitch to #StarTrek #TNG off a feature script. But that never happens anymore either. So yeah, I'm useless.— Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) February 16, 2018
Bryan Q. Miller (Shadowhunters, Sleepy Hollow, Defiance, Smallville)
A Smallville in grad school— Bryan Q. Miller (@bryanQmiller) February 16, 2018
A Boston Legal in grad school
A Dexter got me into the WB workshop
A House during the workshop
Latter two (plus staffing up through the workshop) helped get me repped
Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Containment, Legacies)
Buffy.— Julie Plec (@julieplec) February 16, 2018
Who else wants to read a Buffy spec from the co-creator of The Vampire Diaries?
Chris Luccy (Undateable, Melissa & Joey, Better With You)
The readers will be happy not to have to read their 50th Modern Family or whatever that years popular spec is and it’ll make you stand out from the beginning.— Chris Luccy (@boynamedluccy) February 16, 2018
Dan Steele (Faking It, Hart of Dixie, Gossip Girl)
I like this game. My LOST taught me structure & won my first contest. My How I Met Your Mother won a trophy & opened the door to @WBTVWorkshop. My Dexter got me hired on Gossip Girl. Specs were a great training ground.— Dan Steele (@dansteele) February 16, 2018
Lynn Renee Maxcy (The Handmaid's Tale, Covert Affairs)
Eli Stone taught me how to format scripts, Modern Family let me try comedy (once), and Chuck & Castle made me fall in love with TV writing - but I’ve only used original pilots for reps/staffing. The writing practice was invaluable for me, though.— Lynn Renee Maxcy (@lynnreneemaxcy) February 16, 2018
Daniel Thomsen (Westworld, Time After Time, Once Upon a Time,
My first spec was a Malcolm in the Middle, but then I learned more about comedy rooms... and my second spec was The Shield. Got me an agent at Endeavor.— Daniel Thomsen (@danielthomsen) February 16, 2018
Jorge A. Reyes (Kevin Hill, Queen of the South)
Ally McBeal.— The Coolest (@jorgereyes) February 16, 2018
Quite an interesting mix of writers and shows, no?
Related posts:
Writing a spec episode - a 10 part series.
Anatomy of a TV spec - Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23
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