How long does it take to film one episode of a TV show such as The Sarah Connor Chronicles?

Answer 1

Hour-long episodes of American and Canadian television series (which are actually between 41-44 minutes in length without commercials) usually take eight shooting days, and usually there are two days off a week, so a week-and-a-half in real time. Unlike multi-camera sitcoms, which take one week off after every for episodes, dramas only take of time for national holidays and summer hiatus (which really starts in the spring).

In the UK, hour-long shows take twice as long to shoot as they do in North America. For example, Doctor Who takes three weeks to shoot each episode. 90-minute episodes like on Sherlock take five weeks to shoot one episode.

Multi-Camera sitcoms use four cameras and shoot in front of a live audience from start to finish like a play (although there are a couple of shows that shoot in that format that forgo the audience, like How I Met Your Mother). Multi-Cam sitcoms rehearse for four days and shoot on the fifth day, usually taking three to five hours to get 20-22 minutes of usable footage.

A Single-camera sitcom is actually a misnomer. All hour long dramas and Single-Cam sitcoms use at least two cameras at one time to get the coverage they need to finish principle Photography on time. A single-cam show shoot an entire episode within five days.

Answer 2

It entirely depends on the show. Live or syndicated daily shows (news or Talk Shows) obviously take a day, shows (syndicated usually, game or courtroom) that air 5 days a week are usually filmed in bulk, one after the other, over the span of 3 or 4 days.

Weekly network shows could take days to film one episode. Reality shows, film the entire season which could take months, and edit the footage down for individual episodes.

Answer 3

It depends on the show. It could take a couple of hours to a week.

In the case of reality shows, even longer since they are filmed in one giant block of time and edited into individual episodes.

Answer 4

The time it takes to shoot a TV series depends on the number of episodes. It takes about eight days to shoot one episode of a show such as The Vampire Diaries.

Answer 5

It takes about 8 or 9 ten-hour days and over 150 hours of video editing to create one episode.

Answer 6

One week