it's easy to tell with network shows, b/c of the commercial breaks, but what about cable shows like Curb or Shameless that are half hour comedies with no commercial breaks?  2 or 3 acts?

Quoted from Conz it's easy to tell with network shows, b/c of the commercial breaks, but what about cable shows like Curb or Shameless that are half hour comedies with no commercial breaks?  2 or 3 acts?

I think it's just about analyzing the shows and figuring out how they structure themselves.

Here's an example for Modern Family (I know it has commercials, but the example is more to illustrate pinning down a particular show's structure and then going from there.  Just pretend that Curb/Shamless have commercials, but the commercials are replaced by Exterior shots of the house with that famous music playing).

MODERN FAMILY STRUCTURE

Act I – The episode premise is established and the conflict for the each storyline is introduced.  Occasionally, a minor attempt to solve the confict has been tried with no success.

Act II – Further attempts to remedy the problem are attempted and story twists are introduced.  Often, a twist that sends the storyline into a different direction is introduced early, which often leads to a new problem that must be solved.

Act III – A final solution leads to the resolution of the previous problem(s) and most of the time a minor truth is revealed about the characters involved.  (That minor truth part is really important for Modern Family. If your script doesn’t reveal any truths, then you might want to go back to the outline stage.)

As far as i know the best thing to do is to write your script withe the 3 acts structure. It doesnt matter if its 3 pages or 100 pages. About commercials now . Why commercials would affect your act stucture? i just dont get it.

commercial breaks are usually at act breaks.  im writing in 3 act, but i just wasnt positive b/c a lot of google results say half hour shows have 2 acts.

found a few examples, they dont even have act breaks.  even better.  thanks though guys