Story Grid Showrunners
Books & Literature
Could watching TV can make you a better writer? We think so. We’re a group of Story Grid editors analyzing hit TV series to help you understand how great writers create masterful crime, thriller, love, society stories and more. If you're writing a novel, screenplay or TV series, our show will help you look at storytelling from an editor's perspective. New episodes are released every Thursday and our Show Notes are available at www.sgshowrunners.com
Location:
United States
Description:
Could watching TV can make you a better writer? We think so. We’re a group of Story Grid editors analyzing hit TV series to help you understand how great writers create masterful crime, thriller, love, society stories and more. If you're writing a novel, screenplay or TV series, our show will help you look at storytelling from an editor's perspective. New episodes are released every Thursday and our Show Notes are available at www.sgshowrunners.com
Language:
English
Episodes
034: Game of Thrones S2 - How to write a successful book series
9/25/2020
Editor Reactions:
Randall: The intertwining storylines are so intriguing. Great setup.
Mel: The Game of Thrones has officially started in this season with everyone wanting to be the next king, no matter who has a right to it and who does not.
Parul: The hungry for power in Season 1 (society genre) has continued and kicked off a war.
What's the Global Genre?
In a multi-plotted saga like Game of Thrones, how do you work out the genre and why should you? So why we dissect it is to help us...
Duration:00:38:08
033: Game of Thrones S1 - Winter is Coming
8/28/2020
This is a series with a mini-plot, multiple characters that each pursue their own storyline but come together for a larger story arc. In this first season of Game of Thrones you’ll see multiple storylines weaving together. But the value at stake is power - the clue is in the name: the Game of Thrones. This is closely linked to the action genre with its values of life and death. And you’ll see other genres laced throughout which we will share in our shownotes.
One sentence review from the...
Duration:00:30:52
032: Ozark Season 3 - It just gets better
8/13/2020
Randall: I totally understand the hype on this series, I can’ believe it took this long for me to watch it. It just keeps getting better.
Parul: This show is getting darker and more complex. It’s riveting.
Randall: I think this is really what makes a good thriller, the ability to have compelling subplots/ red herrings that also have equally life/ death repercussions, but at the same time reminding the viewer/ reader who the real villain is. The cartel is involved throughout the season, as...
Duration:00:30:43
031: Ozark Season 2
7/31/2020
What did we think?
Beginning Hook:
To read all of our show notes, go to www.storygrid.com or www.sgshowrunners.com.
Duration:00:35:55
030: Ozark Season 1 - 6 Core Questions and Foolscap
7/17/2020
Did the Story Work?
Randall: Pretty good, some nice surprises, overall the story worked.
Parul: High stakes, constantly moving. The story worked as a thriller.
What are the Editor’s Six Core Questions?
It’s a great way to analyze any story and figure out if it works. Here are the questions. We’ll touch on them in this podcast, but the full notes can be downloaded afterward.
BEGINNING HOOK
We start with what appears to be a normal family: Marty is an accountant who appears to watch porn...
Duration:00:25:16
029: Ozark Intro
7/3/2020
Randall Expectations: I’m excited to watch this series, it’s got a lot of good hype. I also really enjoyed Breaking Bad, with which I see some similarities.
Parul Expectations: In terms of Genre? Action or Thriller with morality. Status? Maybe? It’s unclear why he’s making the choice, but we know he’s chosen to be a drug dealer and now will pay the price. As a viewer - this looks like it’s an edge-of-my-seat type of show. I’m excited but not looking forward to seeing the body count - I’m...
Duration:00:12:25
028: Killing Eve Season 3 Finale - Does the Story Work?
6/19/2020
Villanelle demonstrates a cold brutality even though she looks stunning and absolutely beautiful which deceives everyone around her. Her beauty and innocent appearance is like the trap that lures her victims into her reach so that she can kill them.
Villanelle doesn’t follow a moral code and only does what excites her. If she has to do something, she doesn’t want to, she falls back into lashing out like a child. Not being able to see the consequences of her actions. She’s impulsive, while...
Duration:00:27:23
027: Killing Eve Season 3 Ep 8 - Are you Leading or Am I?
6/5/2020
Initial Observations:
Mel - Seems like the biggest crisis and the most at stake was neither for Villanelle nor Eve, but for Konstantin in this final episode, while Eve and Villanelle were only bystanders. If I wouldn’t love the character of Konstantin that much, the episode would have been lots more disappointing.
Parul - 50% thriller, 30% love, 20% morality
Randy - Finally. Finally Eve and Villanelle meet again, and as always, they are the best scenes and the best dialog of the show.
To...
Duration:00:30:09
026: Killing Eve Season 3 Ep 7 - Beautiful Monster
5/29/2020
Initial Observations:
Mel - I’m lost. I’m not engaged in the show anymore.
Parul - We’ve veered off the global genre
Randy - World’s worst assassins
Read our show notes at www.storygrid.com or www.sgshowrunners.com
Duration:00:33:54
025: Killing Eve Season 3 Ep 6 - End of Game
5/22/2020
Initial Observations:
Mel - Very unexpected, and not believable beginning, and then the characters became unreal for me, too.
Parul - I like many scenes, glad the investigation is back on track, but I’m worried about the global story
Randy - No way!
Recap:
Villanelle goes home, sees her family, wins the dung throwing contest at the local fair, kills her mom, and blows up her family’s house
5 Commandments for Eve:
For more Episode Notes go to www.storygrid.com or...
Duration:00:41:11
024 - Killing Eve Ep 5 - Mommy Issues
5/15/2020
Initial Observations:
Mel - A documentary about life in remote Russia that has a tragic, but expected ending.
Parul - If I’m looking for a silver lining - here is a good way to look at how one might introduce a villain’s backstory
Randy - WTH?
To see all of our show notes visit us at www.storygrid.com or www.sgshowrunners.com
Duration:00:29:46
023 - Killing Eve Ep 4 - Still Got It!
5/8/2020
Killing Eve S3 Ep4
Initial Observations
Mel - Confusing, because I wondered why they’ve changed the way they tell an episode, especially in midseason? Probably only to keep the tension between Eve seeing Niko and in between until we found out why we thought something was off.
Parul - I’m not sure about the new format. But I am happy about the addition of the red-haired woman. Good episode but slower and doesn’t match the allure of Season 1.
Randy - The ending was just bad writing, but it...
Duration:00:27:37
022 - Killing Eve Ep 3 - They Meet Again!
5/1/2020
Mel - Finally, Killing Eve is indeed back. Everything we loved about the show, they had saved for this episode. Loved it.
Parul - Mostly good. A little disappointing.
Randy - Nothing new, not too many surprises
“I want to smell like a Roman Centurion coming across an old foe who once hurt her greatly, but the centurion comes back and is now an Emperor”
To see the rest of our analysis and notes, visit us at www.storygrid.com or www.sgshowrunners.com
Duration:00:32:15
021 - Killing Eve Episode 2 - Management Sucks!
4/24/2020
First Impressions
Mel - This episode did not work for me and I’ll add the why later on.
Parul - Strangely, I really enjoyed this episode, and I was really disappointed when the series ended.
Randy - I get it, they had to have an episode where the two protagonists both know that each other is alive, but it was kind of slow and even the Clown assassin kill scene didn’t catch my attention much (Villanelle is above that). But they have all the players in position to make something exciting...
Duration:00:32:47
020 - Killing Eve is Back! Villanelle is Back!
4/17/2020
Initial Observations:
Mel - Without Eve in her life, Villanelle returns to her old self.
Parul - I no longer look at Constantine
Randy - Villanelle is back killing in her unique way, and the trailer shows some other scenes which look interesting to say the least. I’m in.
Inciting Incident:
Randy - Eve is alive. I mean, we knew that, but we had to see it. And she’s working as a cook in a Korean restaurant.
Parul - What is an inciting incident? It’s the ball of chaos that shifts the...
Duration:00:26:01
019 - 6 Core Questions to Netflix Series You
4/15/2020
Initial Observations
Mel - The villain is the hero of his own story. And it was great to get into the mind of a psychopath, especially through the first-person narrative, seeing how he leaves red herrings for whoever is trying to get him and start seeing the good guys as his antagonists while wanting him to succeed.
Parul - Another great story where we have great innovations of the Love Genre mixed with the thriller genre to give us an engaging narrative drive. Reminds me of Killing...
Duration:00:51:38
018 - Introduction to Netflix series You
4/1/2020
Randall and Melanie analyze the trailer on YouTube and the Wikipedia description to establish the viewer expectations based on the assumed Genre.
Duration:00:19:28
017 - The Witcher 6 Core Questions
3/15/2020
With three protagonists and three timelines, the story can get a bit confusing for those with no prior knowledge of the Witcher Universe. There were some good scenes, but the editors break down the problems and offer some solutions.
Initial Observations - One word or one sentence.
Randy: Interesting, but no game of thrones. One word: confusing
Mel: Wonderful portrayal of The Witcher by Henry Cavill, but my one word for this TV series: disappointing.
Parul. A good example of how a great...
Duration:01:15:25
016 - The Witcher Introduction and Expectations
3/1/2020
What other epic fantasy television or movie series have you guys watched?
Melanie: Hercules, Narnia, Dungeons and Dragons, Warcraft
Randall: Magicians; Shannara Chronicles
Parul: Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Xena: Warrior Princess, Wonderwoman
You'll find our show notes on:
Duration:00:24:27
015 The Umbrella Academy - Did the story work?
2/13/2020
We've analysed The Umbrella Academy TV Series of Season 1. In this episode we talk about the global story and if it satisfied our expectations or not. And if not, let's find out why.
We talk about genre, moments we expect, the point of view, wants and needs of the characters as well as wrap up the Season by using the 5 commandments for Beginning Hook, Middle Build and Ending Payoff.
In our shownotes on storygrid.com and sgshowrunners.com, you'll find bonus material: PDF for the foolscap,...
Duration:00:53:58