STORY MAPS: TV Drama: The Structure of the One-Hour Television Pilot
Page 9
Written By Matthew Weiner
When the first episode of Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men premiered on July 19, 2007 on the AMC channel, the network had previously been known only for showing old movies. It ushered in a re-branding of the network as a producer of original, serialized content, paving the way for Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead and providing a template for other cable networks to get into the scripted TV business.
The beat sheet below is based on the completed pilot episode. The episode is 48 minutes long and the script was 52 pages in length. The script does not contain act markers, but it contains three FADE OUTS that correspond to what I assume were commercial breaks. I initially used them as guides for the map, but the episode’s structure departed from the script, so I found myself going through several iterations before finally arriving at four acts, no teaser, which gives it the least number of acts of our eight case studies. In a unique move, Weiner ends the “A” story at the close of Act Two, leaving acts three and four to the more character-driven B, C and D stories. This is not the only way it breaks with convention, ultimately distinguishing itself as a masterwork.
This pilot does not contain a ton of plot, but it works fabulously because it emphasizes the voices of its characters, the theme and the very particular setting. It’s building a world that we want to spend more time in, if for no other reason than to bask in the witty repartee. It’s all about dialogue, which is all about the theme, It’s a man’s world. As the series goes on, the primary theme will become the pursuit of happiness in an increasingly cynical and chaotic world. But Weiner knew that a pilot’s first job is to suck in the reader/viewer, so he went bold with his first episode, pouring on the sexism and stylized dialogue as strong as the booze in a Sterling Cooper liquor cart.
In keeping with the period of the beginning of the Sixties, all of the main characters are striving to become something new, to escape the positions that society has thrust upon them. The ad campaigns reflect this theme, with Rachel Menken trying to convince a bunch of WASPs that she’s “not just another Jewish department store,” and the Lucky Strike boys hoping to stand out from their competition amidst the stigma that their product causes cancer. The dynamic between Pete Campbell and Don Draper is particularly interesting, and their character construction is clearly built on dualities. Pete is Don’s “Shadow,” not only in social background but on the job, as Pete is in Accounts but wishes he was in Creative like Don. He even says as much with the line, “I’m not going to pretend I don’t want your job,” and he tries to shake Don’s hand, to which Don replies, “Let’s slow down, I don’t want to wake up pregnant.”
If you’ve seen the show and you know Don’s secret, it’s interesting to look back at the early episodes and you may just see a subtext of “acting” in many of the scenes, not just in Jon Hamm’s performance but in the character’s dialogue and actions. He’s not who he says he is, and this fascinating game of pretend he’s playing (perhaps his true Achilles Heel) informs his character for seven seasons of powerful drama. From a distance, we can see that Don’s journey is just one big ticking time clock, counting down to the moment when he can no longer sell the façade, when the actor can no longer play the part.
MAD MEN
Pilot “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” (2007)
Written By Matthew Weiner / Directed by Alan Taylor
1 Titles and Opening Card:
MAD MEN
A term coined in the late 1950's to describe
the advertising executives of Madison Avenue.
They coined it.
ACT ONE
1-3 OPENING: DON DRAPER asks a black waiter why he smokes Old Gold cigarettes. "I love smoking." Don's trying to figure it out. (“A” story: Don’s pitch)
3-6 Visits MIDGE, his sexy girlfriend, late at night. A recent anti-cigarette article in Reader's Digest has caused a stir. Don has NOTHING. They sleep together. The next morning, Don says, "We should get married." It’s nine hours until his meeting with the tobacco people.
7-8 CATALYST: Young ad guys hitting on New Arrival, PEGGY. (“C” Story: Peggy’s first day on the job) The guys are excited about the upcoming bachelor party for PETE CAMPBELL. (“B” Story: Pete’s bachelor party)
8-10: JOAN shows Peggy the ropes. Joan: "They want something between a mother and a waitress." All about sex, looks and hooking a man to live in the country. Joan introduces Peggy to her new boss, Don.
10-12 Dynamic Ally: ROGER asks Don about his Lucky Strike pitch. Roger needs a Jew for the Menken’s Department Store meeting. Don left in office, alone, he's got nothing. We see his purple heart, Lt. Don Draper.
12-15 SAL, closeted gay art director, playing up the fake libido. German woman researcher, GRETA, says Freud's "death wish" is the way to approach the medical issues with cigarettes. Don throws her report in the trash.
16-17 Don sleeps in his office, the sounds of battle in his head (A hint at Don’s “ghost:” His military service). Peggy wakes him. After Pete is a giant asshole to her, Don dresses Pete down.
18-19 INCITING INCIDENT: Don meets a new client, RACHEL MENKEN: “You were expecting a man.” (ROADBLOCK: Don must be subordinate to a woman.) (“D” story: Don and Rachel Menken) Roger got a Jewish employee from the mailroom to pose as an artist to make Rachel and co. more comfortable.
CLIFFHANGER: Can Don work for a woman?
ACT TWO
20-22 Peggy at the doctor getting the pill, doctor warns her not to be a “strumpet” and not to abuse the medicine. “Even in our modern times, easy women don't find husbands.”
22-24 FIRST TRIAL: Don and team pitch Menken. She criticizes their approach. FIRST CASUALTY: Don flies into a rage: “I'm not going to let a woman talk to me like this. This meeting is over.” He storms out.
25 SHADOW SHOWDOWN: Pete appeals to Don to help him out. Don: “Let's take it a little slower, I don't want to wake up pregnant.” Pete fumes.
25-26 Joan introduces Peggy to the phone pool. One of the girls is the third person to tell Peggy to show off her legs. Maybe this job is really just about sex.
27-32 MIDPOINT: Lucky Strike meeting with the Garners. Negative press and lawsuits are killing them; they need a dynamic new campaign. Don still has nothing. Pete brings out research from Don's trash. Americans have a death wish? It bombs and the Garners get up to leave. (ALL IS LOST “A”) As they leave, Lee says, “At least we know that if we have this problem, everyone has this problem," and Don suddenly gets inspired and turns it into his ASSUMPTION OF POWER (“A” Story): He comes up with a way that they can differentiate themselves from their competition...the tag line “It's toasted!”
DON DRAPER
Advertising is based on one
thing. Happiness. And you know
what happiness is? Happiness is
the smell of a new car, it's
freedom from fear, it's a bill-
board on the side of the road
that screams, whatever you're
doing is okay. You are okay.
The Garners buy it. (End “A” Story)
(Note: Notice how the “It’s toasted” campaign works by pointing out the one way in which this product can be different from the other, identical products, which brilliantly reflects the era the series will explore, as the cookie-cutter middle class ideal of the 1950s breaks down during a decade in which notions of self will radically change. Peggy, Rachel, Sal, Pete and Don are all “hiding in plain sight.” They are either not who they seem to be or they are fighting being just another cog in the machine. It should also be noted that this is the same type of “theme sharpening” beat as seen in Scandal.)
ACT THREE
33 After the Lucky Strike win, Roger asks Don to do the presidential campaign.
ROGER
Consider the product: young,
handsome Navy hero. It shouldn’t
be too hard to convince America
that Dick Nixon is a winner.
34-36 The guys invite Don to Pete’s bachelor par
ty, but Don passes. He confronts Pete about stealing Greta’s research report from his trash can. (ALL IS LOST “B”) Peggy makes an awkward pass at Don. (ALL IS LOST “C”)
36-38 The bachelor party is in full swing at a strip club. The guys are joined by some girls, and Pete scares one of them off. More rejection, he stews.
38-42 CLIMAX (“D” Story): At a restaurant, Don woos Rachel Menken over drinks, but his charm isn’t working. He asks her why she isn’t married.
RACHEL
For a lot of people, love isn't
just a slogan.
DON
The reason you haven't felt it is
because it doesn't exist. What
you call love was invented by
guys like me to sell nylons.
You're born alone and you die
alone and this world just drops a
bunch of rules on you to make you
forget those facts. But I don't
forget. I'm living like there's
no tomorrow, because there isn't
one.
RACHEL
I don't know what it is you
really believe in, but I know
what it's like to be out of
place...disconnected. There's
something about you that tells me
you know it, too.
He's taken aback. She says he's charmed her. She will see him Monday morning for a "real meeting." (End “D” Story)
ACT FOUR
43-45 CLIMAX & INTEGRATION (“B” & “C”): Pete shows up drunk at Peggy's door. She takes him in. (End “B” & “C” Story)
45-48 EPILOGUE/BIG ENDING: Don goes home to his wife and kids.
TV PILOT STORY MAP WORKSHEET
I can provide a worksheet for you to map out your pilot.
If you would like a free Word or PDF version of the TV Pilot Story Map Worksheet emailed to you, please email me at dan@actfourscreenplays.com and put “kindle story map worksheet” in the subject line.
Acknowledgments
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the many individuals who helped me with this book. As always, thank you to my parents for their constant support. Thank you to Joe Nimziki, Larry Reitzer, Fritz Manger, Christine Conradt, Hilary Weisman Graham, Rick Bosner, Jenny Frankfurt, Ben Elterman, Micah Herman, Aaron Goldberg, Lee Stobby, Regina Lee, James Martin, Mike Kim, Tony Mosher, Dustin Tanner, Mike Rozmarin, Kathy Muraviov, Jeanne Bowerman, Shelly Mellott, William Rabkin, Gina Leone, Steve Lam, Leilani Holmes, Guy McDouall and all of the good folks at The Writers Building, The Tracking Board, Inktip, The Blacklist, The Scriptwriters Network and The Writers Store. Thank you to all of the gifted television creators who have entertained and inspired me for decades, to all of my students and clients, and to my partner and muse, Nicole.
Good luck and happy writing!
Dan