The drama`s credits boast the name of a renowned writer, associated with some great TV scripts from the past. But the drama that you see is not great at all. The characters behave erratically, there are predictable twists and turns and the dialogues deliver heavy doses of cringe.

It`s as if the script has been written by a group of college students who have been given carte blanche to set new benchmarks in TV drama tackiness. You never know, maybe it really has been written by them.

Around the world, top tier script writers work with teams that assist them with the writing process. The head honcho envisions the plot, dictates scenes and defines characters` behavioural patterns and the team joins the dots, putting together the story on paper. This allows the head writer to manage his or her workload as well as train entire batches of new writers to take on the crowded TV drama-scape.

Sometimes in Pakistan, though, it seems the boss decides to shrug responsibility altogether and let the team go wild with pathetic dialogues and wishy-washy characters. Because of such instances, Pakistani TV has become littered with hackneyed, regressive storylines.

A motley crew of generic story lynchpins talk about honour, second marriages, stealing husbands and dowry demands and characters commit suicide on a whim or dabble with black magic. An ageing mother coughs away, a greedy son-in-law repetitively asks for money, and an evil `other woman` keeps trying to catch the hero`s attention with her feminine wiles.

Kudos to the actors some of the country`s finest who, in the absence of better scripts, enact these scenes with great sincerity. And to the directors and producers who adamantly promote these dramas, turning a blind eye towards their glaring flaws. And kudos to the audience that consistently watches such drivel.

Of course, a special mention goes to the writers who have chosen to cash in on their bylines, earned through years of hard work by writing some truly great drama scripts, and have decided to take ownership of substandard scripts written by assistants. It is an open secret that many of Pakistan`s most popular TV drama writers are now operating in a supervisory capacity rather than actually writing the script themselves. It is also evident that they aren`t really supervising with a gimlet eye.

Most dramas follow familiar leitmotifs and are only able to connect with audiences by virtue of the dialogues and detailed character development. Left in the hands of amateurs, some truly terrible storylines have surfaced.The audience notices they point out flaws in the `Comments` section of the drama`s YouTube videos, create memes on X (formerly Twitter) inspired by the most ridiculous of dramas and viewership ratings may also plummet. Despite this, the same writers resurface with more haphazard scripts, written for the same producers and channels. It`s almost as if a conscious effort is being made to normalise mediocrity in TV dramas.

WHODUNNIT? Is this really so? Producer and director Nadeem Baig observes that, while writers often maintain teams of `assistants`, the final script is dependent on how well the writing process has been supervised.

`The producer usually knows that the writer is getting the script written by his or her team, and is going to supervise. This doesn`t necessarily mean that the script will be a weak one, especially if the main writer oversees the writing with responsibility. Umera Ahmed was one of the first few who started this practice. The charges would be different for a script written by her personally and for one written under her supervision.

This would suit us, because we could make decisions based on our budget.

He continues, `Also, a lot of times, writers are critiqued for writing a predictable script when they are only following directions given to them by channels.They commercialise their writing by delivering what the channel requires.

It`s a case of quality vs quantity, where many writers opt for the latter and earn big for as long as they can.

Producer Abdullah Seja says, `There is this one very well-known drama writer, for instance, who has committed to deliver five scripts over the span of this year. This isn`t possible unless the writer has a team of younger writers working on the scripts. Sometimes scenes are dictated over the phone or WhatsApp voice notes and the team just puts the script together! `It`s just that, a lot of times, channels and production houses want to keep working with these writers and it isn`t possible to churn out so many scripts in a short span. Often, actors want to know who has written the script before they agree to work on a project. It is only when the script has been written by a renowned writer that they decide to sign on to the drama.

COPYCAT CULTURE What do directors do when a half-baked script comes their way? Experiences vary. Director and occasional actor Saife Hassan has been fortunate to have worked on some of the finest scripts to have been written for Pakistani TV in recent times, courtesy his longtime partner-in-crime, writer Mustafa Afridi. is why I enjoy the rehearsals more than the performance itself,` he says.

`The hours spent working on the script, changing situations, adding in dialogues, is something that I look forward to. Script development can take as long as a year. While a good director can uplift a good script, not much can be done to improve a weak script.

Director and actor Mohammad Ehteshamuddin recalls the scripts that have come his way and says, `As a director, I have only worked on a handful of projects, and the scripts for those dramas and films were very well-developed. As an actor, though, I have at times come across scripts that have struck me as very similar to movies or dramas that I have seen earlier.

`I was once offered a telefilm which had a storyline that was the same as that of an old Bollywood movie starring Amitabh Bachhan, Milli. I had been offered Bachchan`s role, but I refused! This rampant copycat culture doesn`t just limit itself to Bollywood there are plenty of dramas that are heavily `inspired` by other hit dramas. Producer Abdullah Kadwani states: `Just scriptwriters cannot be blamed for repetitive drama content.

There is a general lack of ethics in the TV industry, where a certain drama format becomes a hit and, then, writers are asked to create similar storylines.

Many writers agree to this because it`s an easy way of earning money, where they don`t have to come up with an original story.

`There are so many examples of dramas that are created following the format of a certain hit drama, [and it`s done] so unabashedly that the similarities can`t be missed. This is wrong, of course, but the only reason why this happens is that writers are able to get away with it. There is such a rush to deliver hits, haul in ratings, that a lot of times drama makers producers, directors, writers don`t end up spending the time and effort in creating original content.

STORIES FROM THE DARK SIDE There are other, commonly known, horror stories, where a script submitted by a new writer may get rejected by a channel and, then, the channel proceeds to `steal` that script and air it, giving credit to one of its in-house writers.

In the channel`s rush to create new content while saving money, the new writer gets swindled and, with no strong contacts in the industry, he or she has had no choice but to stay silent and become more careful the next time round.

T he plot gets murkier: a certain very well-known drama writer, recognised as one of the highest-paid amongst his peers in the industry, has occasionally succumbed to commercialism and simply changed the names of characters in an earlier script and sold it off to a channel as a new one! A source who chooses to remain unnamed lest it unleashes the wrath of the writer who has a penchant for controversy, recounts, `In one such instance, the writer got caught out, when director Shahid Shafaat had started shooting the drama, only to realise midway that there were certain parts of the script where [only] the characters` names were different [from an earlier drama].

`A search through YouTube revealed that the same drama, word by word, with the same scriptwriter`s name in the credits, had aired a few years ago on another channel. Since the drama had already started airing, the channel and the director had no choice but to continue with the shooting.

Soon afterwards, Mohammad Ehteshamuddin was all set to fly off to Dubai to shoot a drama written by the same writer, when he noticed certain discrepancies in the script. `In some places, the script referred to the `Margalla Hills` when the characters were all based in Dubai,` says the same source. `After a few hours` search on YouTube, it was discovered that the same drama had aired earlier, with the characters based in Islamabad rather than Dubai. The drama`s shoot was cancelled.

SOME SILVER LININGS Not all drama writers, however, sell their souls in the name of commercialism. Writer Farhat Ishtiaq`s career, for instance, is highlighted by a slew of commercially and critically acclaimed scripts that are testament to her dedication and understanding of the human psyche.

`It takes me at least a year to write a script and, yes, that might mean that I am earning less than others who are somehow producing multiple scripts in a matter of months,` she says.

`But this doesn`t matter, because I can proudly own the scripts that are associated with my name.

`I would never want to misuse my name. There are times when I may supervise the writing of a script but this doesn`t mean that my name will be added to the drama`s credits. For instance, I recently supervised a new writer who wrote the script for the currently on-air drama, Meri Tanhai.

Ultimately, the script is hers, which is why her name is listed in the credits.

There are other writers who similarly feel a sense of responsibility when they are working on a script. Saima Akram Chaudhry the brains behind some of TV`s hit Ramazan dramas such as Chupke Chupke, Suno Chanda, Hum Tum and Ishq Jalebi chose to take a break when she felt that she was running out of original content.

In an earlier interview with Icon, she had stated, `Ramazan dramas need to be family entertainers, with a light romance, some comic elements a specific format has to be followed and it got very difficult to come up with new characters that were unlike those that I have written before ...

ultimately, my name is on the line.

`T here is an audience who associate some of their favourite Ramazan dramas with me, and they have faith in a production that has my name in the credits. I can`t disappoint them with a storyline that they have seen before, or that has been stretched out too much. It`s why I decided to take a break this year ...

Another popular Ramazan drama writer, Sarah Majeed, who wrote Fairytale parts one and two, emphasised in an earlier interview, `I wrote Fairytale and then I wrote the sequel. If I had gone on to write yet another drama. . . I wouldn`t have been able to come up with a new story, new characters.

Producer Momina Duraid says: `There are many writers who do their work with immense responsibility.

All over the world, scriptwriters work within `Writers` Rooms` The main writer creates the world, decides upon characters and major events, while the other writers in the `room` give suggestions and help with research.

`For instance, if a character has a Punjabi background and the main writer is unfamiliar with the Punjabi language, another writer could help in devising the dialogues. A Gen-Z character`s dialogues could best be tweaked by a young writer belonging to the same age bracket. In these rooms, everyone helps the main writer in coming up with the best script possible. I know of some writers who use such resources very wisely,` says Momina.

`Ultimately, while a writer may take help from assistants or tweak the script based on recommendations made by the director, producer or actors working in the drama, the story is the writer`s creation. There have been times when people working in a drama have come on to public platforms and declared that the script has been written by them. This is unfair. A drama`s cast and crew works like a team and everyone is involved in trying to make the project better. The credit for writing the script, though, still lies with the writer.

She continues, `A good writer would never be irresponsible while writing a script that will have his or her byline.

Yes, we have had bad experiences in the past but, then, we just choose not to work with the same writer again.

At the same time, we have had the good fortune to frequently work with exceptional writers, who sometimes take an entire year to create a script, are open to suggestions and willingly change a script several times if they feel that it can be improved.

`And every writer needs a good editor to help with the script. It`s a long process but, ultimately, the goal should be to create dramas that have a space in people`s libraries rather than [simply] hits, which may bring in ratings and profits but are instantly forgettable.

To walk the fine line between commercial and critical acclaim, to create content that is a hit, attracts advertisers and, at the same time, has cerebral nuances to it, to not just merely churn out stories roughly put together by a few kids wanting to earn a few quick bucks these are challenges that Pakistan`s TV drama industry faces at present.

`If effort and thought isn`t put into creating relatable, well-conceived storylines, the TV industry may deteriorate because of commercialism the same way the film industry dwindled down,` warns veteran actress Sania Saeed.

It`s a very demoralising notion. But it rings true.