“The 13 Rules for Creating a Prestige TV Drama”

With tongue planted in cheek, Vulture provides this:

Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Breaking Bad, Dexter, Homeland, The Wire, The Sopranos, House of Cards, The Walking Dead, The Americans, Justified, Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, True Blood, Lost, and Game of Thrones.

Here’s the list:

Rule 1: Start with an anti-hero.
Rule 2: Give him a family.
Rule 3: Set your show at the end of an era.
Rule 4: Give the hero a mentor or a protégé.
Rule 5: Add a nemesis with problems of his own.
Rule 6: Then write a bottle episode.
Rule 7: Put a drug at the center.
Rule 8: Sex.
Rule 9: Parcel out the violence.
Rule 10: Every serious drama pilot must have at least two of these things: Health Scare, Explosion, Corpse Disposal, Superpower, Party Scene.
Rule 11: Hit the books.
Rule 12: Let nobody be safe.
Rule 13: Don’t forget the comedy.

For Vulture’s extensive analysis and examples, go here.

See how easy it is to create a “prestige TV drama”?

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