hey quick question:
about how long does it take to complete one episodes script?
i know there are probably numerous rewrites and tons of backstory to weave in so i was just wondering what the average time goes into each wonderful episode.
lol thanks for your time

In general, on most shows it takes about one week to two weeks to break a story. That means the writers work together in the writer’s room on the A and B stories, what they’re about, how they are plotted, what the theme is, etc. (In our case, this period is where all backstory elements would be discussed and decided upon.) At the end of the period you have the beats of the episode. It’s pitched to the showrunner, who makes adjustments to the story, and then the writer goes off to write the outline.

It probably takes a day or two to finish the outline. The showrunner reads it, gives notes, and the writer does a second pass on the outline. After the showrunner reads it, the writer works on the first draft. That takes about a week or two. After the showrunner reads it and gives notes, the writer works on the second draft. That can take a couple of days to a week. Then they turn in their second draft.

From there, the script goes out to production, the director, the studio and the network. Within a day or two everyone will call in with their notes, and a revision will go out usually within a day. That’s generally the last major pass on the script, and anything other revision is usually minor.

So getting a script to this stage is about four to six weeks.

Most TV shows allow about seven business days for script prep and then seven business days for shooting. (This is the production phase.) That’s another three weeks. Post production is then another two weeks to three weeks.

When an episode airs, it’s generally been nine to twelve weeks of work.