Nicholas Sercombe, CEO of Harry King TV, on how the lines between scripted and unscripted television are increasingly blurring.
In television, broadcasters have always liked our genres to sit neatly in boxes. Also for the producers, writers, directors and designers associated with those genres to fit into the boxes, like it or not.
A ‘drama’ was scripted. ‘Entertainment’ was Light Entertainment and consisted of a shiny floor and at least one lighting rig. ‘Factual’ was there to educate us and labelled a Documentary. Most ‘unscripted’ productions were supposedly what happened when you pointed a camera at someone and hoped for the best, and ‘reality’ television didn’t exist.
But today that distinction feels increasingly outdated. Some of the most successful unscripted series in recent years have thrived precisely because they have thrown the rule book out the window. Take Welcome to Wrexham, Jury Duty or LOL: Last One Laughing. They may sit under the broader umbrella of unscripted, but in truth are carefully structured, editorially controlled and built around long-term storytelling instincts more commonly associated with what we experience in dramas.
Now, that does not mean they are fake. Far from it. If anything, producers are becoming far more deliberate in how they are shaping narrative, character and tone. They are borrowing tropes from scripted television and applying them to formats rooted in reality. This has been developing for years, but the denouement is never more obvious than now. Producers have always understood that audiences need a semblance of narrative momentum. The difference now is that the market increasingly rewards formats that can sustain that momentum across multiple episodes, territories and platforms.
A broadcaster or streamer commissioning a format today is investing in repeatability, scalability and the possibility of a returning franchise. It is particularly prevalent in co-viewing and family entertainment, where the biggest successes are combining spontaneity with some kind of structure. Audiences want authenticity and personalities they can follow, story arcs they can invest in and emotional payoffs that feel earned.
But a careful feathering of the throttle is needed. Too much structure and control can make the audience feel manipulated. And too little results in the format drifting into chaos – and god forbid, unpredictability, which means risk (a broadcaster or commissioner’s least favourite word). Every producer has sat in an edit suite staring at hours of perfectly real footage that is destined for the cutting room floor.
The most successful shows today are the ones striking this balance best. Welcome to Wrexham works well because the Hollywood ownership and talent is tapping into the history and heritage of the football club itself. It is brilliantly constructed around real people, established relationships and years of emotional investment. There is as much editorial development as in a scripted show; it might add to the initial time and cost, but it dilutes the level of risk and unpredictability. For example, take the unique Jury Duty too – its long, drawn-out hoax concept succeeds because somebody behind-the-scenes is keeping an extremely close eye on the moving parts.
From a commercial perspective, this is more important than ever because platforms are now largely window-agnostic, with social media and streaming transforming viewing habits entirely. Audiences consume reality television with the same analytical eye that they once reserved for a typical multi-season drama. They discuss “character arcs,” speculate their destiny like Wall Street bankers and invest in personalities over long periods of time. But the thread that ties us together is a natural desire to witness reliable and genuine formats. Not necessarily safe, but dependable.
The industry often speaks about “format travelability” and usually in slightly mystical terms. An entirely unscripted ‘just keep cameras rolling’ mentality means travel becomes impossible – you just can’t create anything again a second time by leaving it up to chance – whereas a well-planned format is off to the races. It is really quite simple: all you have to work out is whether your audience understands the premise immediately; whether the local talent integrates naturally; and whether the producers are able to replicate consistently, without reinventing the wheel. Strong editorial control is the answer to all three key elements.
And, of course, as producers we should know that the more planning we do in advance of letting cameras roll, the better; not just for us and our buyers, but for our valuable contributors too. Their safeguarding is more important than our profitability. (We hardly need reminding of how close ‘reality’ shows have come recently to dicing with the lives of the (extra)ordinary people they document).
As for what comes next, I suspect the line between scripted and unscripted will continue to blur and the bigger challenge for any producer won’t be deciding what category a show belongs in, but whether it can hold a viewer’s attention in such a crowded market. Because in the end, audiences don’t really care whether something is scripted, semi-scripted or entirely spontaneous. They only care about whether it is entertaining.
Television has always been a mixture of artifice and reality anyway. We are just becoming slightly more honest – and accountable – about it now.
Staff Reporter
Share this story
Share Televisual stories within your social media posts.
Be inclusive: Televisual.com is open access without the need to register.
Anyone and everyone can access this post with minimum fuss.
