I’m reading more network pilot scripts this year than in years past, so I can’t say whether this is a new trend or just something I was unaware of:
**What’s with all the swearing?**
These are network pilots, not HBO or even basic cable. You can’t say shit or fuck in any combination. But characters in several pilots say both of these words a lot — at least in the drafts I read.
What gives? Why write words you can’t say?
I know some shows have a house style where the scene description is loaded up with a lot of profanity to give it texture:
Wallace turns to see --
THE BIGGEST FUCKING MONSTER ever. Seriously, this thing eats Girl Scouts and shits Trefoils.
That’s fine. It’s amusing for the staff and crew, and makes for a better read.
But I don’t understand the instinct to use never-okay swearing in dialogue. You’re going to have to replace it later, and you’ve made your job more difficult by setting up a dialogue structure that seems to demand a certain word. It’s going to sound wrong to everyone who has read the dirty version.
On D.C., I chastised a writing team for doing this. Now I see bona fide showrunners doing it. And I’m stumped.