Do TV writers write differently for streamers since there are no commercials?

Over the course of my career, I’ve written for network television, cable, streaming, features, comedies, dramas, animated, live action… you name it. The way that we tell stories is the same regardless of whether or not there are commercial breaks. That’s because story sturcture is story story structure… regardless of the platform it’s viewed on.

Back before streaming, we’d build to an act break, then go to commercial. The act break was intended to feel like a mini-cliffhanger so that the audience would stick around, and not change the channel. But even if there are no commercials, you still want the audience to be engaged in the story. When writing feature films (where there are no commercial breaks) we still use the same three act structure.

The same applies for streaming shows. We use the three act structure because it makes a story feel dramatic.