The short answer.
A one-hour drama pilot usually runs about 50 to 65 pages, and a half-hour single-camera comedy pilot about 25 to 40, at roughly a page a minute. Broadcast scripts are written as a teaser or cold open and numbered acts, each starting on a new page, with END OF ACT marking each break. Cable and streaming vary more, and some drop act breaks entirely.
On this page
Page counts
The rule that a page runs about a minute carries over to television, so a pilot’s length in pages follows its running time.
| Format | Usual length | Usual structure |
|---|---|---|
| One-hour drama | 50 to 65 pages | Teaser and four or five acts on broadcast |
| Half-hour single-camera comedy | 25 to 40 pages | Cold open and two or three acts, sometimes a tag |
| Half-hour multi-camera comedy | Set differently | Double-spaced dialogue, so counts run higher |
These are ranges, not rules, and readers use the same ones for any episode of that kind. Screenplay page count explains why a page is a minute and what changes it.
Why practice varies
A network hour is written to a fixed running time with room for commercials, so its scripts cluster in a narrow band. Cable and streaming episodes have no commercial grid and may run 30, 45 or 70 minutes, so their scripts vary with them. A pilot may also be produced a little longer than the episodes that follow it. If you are writing toward a particular network or platform, check the length of its produced scripts.
Teasers, acts and tags
A broadcast script is divided where the commercial breaks fall. The opening scenes before the first break are the teaser in a drama and the cold open in a comedy. The rest is divided into numbered acts, and a short scene at the very end, if there is one, is the tag. Each break wants a turn that makes the viewer stay, which is why act endings are where the story’s biggest moves tend to land.
How to format an act break
- End the last scene of the act with
FADE OUT.at the right of the page. - Below it, centered, in capitals and underlined:
END OF ACT ONE. - Start the next act on a new page. Centered, capitals, underlined:
ACT TWO. - Then
FADE IN:at the left margin and the scene heading. A teaser or cold open takes the same labels:TEASERorCOLD OPEN, closed byEND OF TEASERorEND OF COLD OPEN.
Cable and streaming
Without commercial breaks, act breaks are not required. Some writers drop them and number nothing. Others keep the labels because they show where the story turns, and a reader can see the structure at a glance. Either choice is accepted; look at a produced script from the show you are writing toward.
In First Page
On the Mac, First Page has New Act and End of Act elements, set centered in bold, underlined capitals. A line that begins ACT, TEASER or COLD OPEN is set as a New Act for you, and one that begins END OF ACT as an End of Act. You can also choose either from Format, then Change Element To. To start the next act on a new page, use Insert, then Page Break, or Command-Return. Transitions covers the FADE OUT. and FADE IN: either side.
Questions
- How many pages is a one-hour TV pilot?
- Usually about 50 to 65 pages. Network episodes are written to a fixed running time built around commercial breaks. Cable and streaming episodes run as long as the story needs, so their page counts vary more. There is no single rule.
- How many pages is a half-hour TV pilot?
- For a single-camera comedy, about 25 to 40 pages. Multi-camera sitcoms are set in a different format, with double-spaced dialogue and action in capitals, so their page counts do not line up with these ranges.
- How many acts does a TV pilot have?
- It depends on where the show airs. Broadcast one-hour dramas are commonly built as a teaser and four acts, sometimes five. Half-hour comedies are commonly a cold open and two or three acts, sometimes with a tag at the end. Cable and streaming shows may use acts, or none.
- How do you format an act break in a TV script?
- End the last scene of the act with FADE OUT., then centered and underlined in capitals, END OF ACT ONE. Start the next act on a new page with ACT TWO centered and underlined, then FADE IN: and the scene heading. A teaser or cold open is labeled the same way: TEASER or COLD OPEN, then END OF TEASER or END OF COLD OPEN.
- Does a spec pilot need act breaks?
- If the show would air with commercial breaks, yes, because the act structure is part of how it is built. For cable and streaming it is a choice, and many writers keep the breaks to show where the story turns. Look at a produced script from the kind of show you are writing.
