What is a “cold open”?

Simply put, a cold open is the bit before the opening credits in a TV show that makes you go “huh”, “hmm”, “oh”, “ooh”, “what?”, “oh my god!”, “lol”, “lmfao” etc.

Also commonly known as a teaser, the cold open does exactly that. It teases what’s to come. A hook to ensure audiences continue watching after the title sequence (or adverts in the U.S.) and don’t switch channels.

They’re normally just one scene, up to three minutes long. Sometimes they set-up the plot, or a sub-plot of an episode, introducing new characters or even the show itself.

Cold opens are more common in American sitcoms and American shows in general and rarely seen in British TV except for Doctor Who, of course.

In fact, fans of Doctor Who are so used to the cold opens that they were in uproar when the show didn’t feature any in series 11! (Don’t worry, they were reinstated in series 12.)

Before I give you some advice on how to write a cold open, here are the-

Different types of cold open

Pilots

Cold opens are a sure-fire way to get a viewer interested in a new show.

I’m sure you’re sick of hearing that your scripts need to hook a reader immediately if they stand a chance of bagging an agent or producer. You know, the Ten-Page Rule, all the malarkey.

A cold-open in a pilot should grab the viewer/reader’s attention because that’s their purpose. They’re designed to drop the viewer/reader right into the action so they get a sense of the show - the genre, the tone. You can introduce everything - characters, world, plot - properly after you’ve made the person reading/watching care enough to learn those things.

Yes, we might be going in cold but you want the teaser to be hot!

The go-to example for a great series opener is Breaking Bad.

Creator and writer Vince Gilligan has been hailed as the “Undisputed Master of the Cold Open”. Carried over from his time working on X-Files, Gilligan’s cold-opens in Breaking Bad and later, Better Call Saul, were a staple of the show that reinvented the technique - as Emily Todd VanDerWerff explains in more depth here.

It might be an obvious choice but just re-watch, or read, that first scene from the pilot. Imagine you haven’t seen it before (you might not have) and think of all the questions you have - “Where are we? Are we in the desert? Are those dead bodies? Is that a meth lab in an RV? Why is he wearing a gas mask? Why is the dad from Malcolm in the Middle standing in his tighty-whities aiming at a gun at oncoming police?!”

You want to know the answers! You need to know! And you’ll watch the rest of the episode to find out because the cold open was so exciting and intriguing.

Lessons From The Screenplay did a brilliant video breaking down the pilot of Breaking Bad and why it works that you can watch here.

A more recent cold open in a pilot that I think does a fantastic job of selling the show is Netflix’s acclaimed Sex Education, which kick-starts with a sex scene featuring two of the main cast and one of them fakes an orgasm.

Not only does this prepare the audience for what’s in store straight-away by setting the tone, but wards those off who didn’t get the gist from the title and might be offended. It’s a bold statement that says “this is what we do here - you can either stay or go”.

There are similar cold opens throughout Sex Education. Episodes open with characters, often ones we haven’t met, having problems in the bedroom that are later explored as a subplot and might have some thematic resonance/tie in to the main plot/main character’s arc. A lesson to be learned. Hence, the title of the show.

The cold open is an effective technique to remind or inform a viewer what a show is all about, as well as enticing audiences to watch the rest of the episode they’ve just set up.

Monster/murder of the week

As I’ve mentioned, both Doctor Who and X-Files regularly feature cold-opens. Cold-opens are common in sci-fi shows to introduce the monster of the week.

The gif above is from the scene following one of my favourite cold opens from Who that I’d suggest you watch to see how the pros introduce their weekly antagonists.

Similarly, in crime procedurals like your Law & Order’s, every episode opens with a dead body or somebody getting murdered. It’s a thrilling way to set up that week’s mystery.

These cold opens are part and parcel of the science fiction and crime genres’ format.

Sitcom

In sitcoms, the cold open usually has nothing to do with the plot of the episode. They’re more like sketches with the main characters. This both gives new viewers a sense of the show so they can decide whether to commit and gives regulars a chance to settle in through a laugh with familiar faces.

This type of cold open only works after the pilot. Putting one in the first episode of your sitcom would just be confusing because we don’t know your characters yet! You could have a cold open similar to dramas that set up the show but I don’t think that’s ever really done.

Masters of the sitcom cold open include Friends and Brookly Nine-Nine, especially. But the undisputed champion is obviously, The Office (U.S.) with iconic cold-opens such as Jim impersonating Dwight, Asian Jim, the fire drill and my personal favourite, the lip dub, which perfectly encapsulates the show’s tone and every character’s personality. Exactly what a cold open should do.

*insert amount of time* earlier…

This type of cold open could be considered a bit of a cheat by the cynical but hey, Breaking Bad did it! This is when an episode starts at the most exciting event and then after the opening credits, goes back so many hours, days, weeks, months - you get the point - earlier to show how the characters got into that situation.

One of Community’s most meta moments, season 6 episode 10, ‘Basic RV Repair and Palmistry’, deconstructs this trope by having self-aware TV nerd and aspiring filmmaker Abed disappointed by the anti-climactic flashback that explains the characters’ situation and spends the rest of the episode trying to flash back to more a interesting inciting incident.

Abed tries to flash back.

It’s a great reminder to have good reason for starting in the middle. Is your cold open going to be satisfactorily explained or was it just a cop-out because the rest of your script wasn’t as exciting as the scene you brought forward? This type of cold-open can only work if it pays off and is done for the right reasons.

How do you write a cold-open?

Haven’t you been paying attention? I’ve been telling you this whole time!

It depends on what kind of show you’re writing. They can be in any genre but work best in sitcoms, sci-fi and crime shows. They can set up a plot, sub plot or no plot at all. Catch us up with the ongoing plot, what characters are up to, introduce new ones or kill off others!

Essentially though, the three things to remember about cold opens. They must-

• Be short and succinct. Between one to three minutes, preferably.
• Go in cold with little information or explanation so the audience asks questions and continues watching for answers.
• Be hot! Exciting, thrilling, funny. Whatever the tone of your show is, make sure your cold open captures that and makes the audience feel the way you want.

your show has it's own dna

There is no one way to write a cold open. And like Vince Gilligan, you can make them your own. Make them unique and weave them as part of your show’s DNA. They can be a useful storytelling tool that grabs attention, but don’t rely on them. A cold open can intrigue someone, but the rest of your script will be what determines whether they stay for the pay off and keep watching.

Now, remember: