Bible (screenwriting)

[2] For example, the Frasier show bible was "scrupulously maintained", and anything established on air — "the name of Frasier's mother, Niles' favorite professor, Martin's favorite bar...even a list of Maris' [dozens of] food allergies" — was reflected in the bible.

[2] The updated bible then serves as a resource for writers to keep everything within the series consistent.

[2] Other bibles are used as sales documents to help a television network or studio understand a series, and are sometimes given to new writers when they join the writing staff for the same reason.

[2] These types of bibles discuss the backstories of the main characters and the history of the series' fictional universe.

[2] In the United States, writing the bible of a produced series earns that writer the 24 units of required credit necessary to qualify for membership in the Writers Guild of America.

Cartoonist Stephen Hillenburg holding the bible of the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants