7th January 2009 |

Difference Between Two TV Shows Best answer on the web

  • There are shows like The Simpsons, Friends, and Everybody Loves
    Raymond which hold to one setting but hold a new adventure every show.
    Then there are shows like Stargate Atlantis, and almost all anime that
    continue every show with an ongoing story where you can't miss an
    episode without missing vital information.

    What would you call each group, like what category (i.e. Storyline
    Driven Shows, Not-Storyline Driven Shows)?


  • Hello mcmeaties-ga,

    I'm glad the information was useful. Thank you for the five stars and nice tip.

    ~ czh ~


  • The situational scripts are called "situation comedies" (or sitcoms for short). The running storyline shows are referred to as "serials". Does this answer your question?
    tutuzdad-ga


  • Hello mcmeaties-ga,

    The terms you?re looking for are episodic and serial.

    Episodic television shows tell a story in each episode about the same cast of characters. Each episode tells a complete story and the viewer does not need to watch the episodes in sequence. Both drama and comedy shows can follow the episodic format. The characters rarely develop or change and the stories tend to follow a basic formula.
    Serial television shows tell stories that develop over a period of time and the story arch requires sequential viewing to make sure the viewer doesn?t miss anything. Mini-series are short versions of serials.
    Episodic television is excellent for syndication because the episodes don?t have to be shown in order and reruns can go on forever because each episode makes sense by itself. There is a current trend to serials such as Lost or 24 where each episode builds on what has gone before. It is more difficult to syndicate these shows but they have been very successful in seasonal packages released on DVD.
    Here are some articles that discuss the current trends with the emergence of serials and their impact on episodic TV.
    Enjoy!

    ~ czh ~



    http://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/2005/08/tentative-glossary.html
    TENTATIVE GLOSSARY

    episodic: a show in which nothing that happens on one episode significantly impacts later episodes
    serial: a show in which the plot develops from episode to episode; compare episodic

    ==

    http://scifi.about.com/library/weekly/aa010901.htm
    Oil/Water; Plot Arcs/Episodic TV

    Sigh.

    Things were so much simpler with TOS. People knew it was episodic television, not a soap opera or a miniseries. Connections between shows were limited to things like dead characters' not being around anymore, actors' getting to put a little extra umph into certain lines, a developing relationship, and, just maybe, someone's referring to something from a previous episode in such a way that people wouldn't be confused if they didn't get it.
    The rules for this arrangement are familiar, but they are not simple. In fact, doing episodic television well is quite demanding, and in some ways more demanding than doing a continuous story.
    (This is a long article that discusses the challenges involved in writing episodic TV.)
    ==

    http://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/2005/09/episodic-vs-serial.html
    EPISODIC VS. SERIAL

    ==

    http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/soapopera/soapopera.htm
    Soap Opera

    The defining quality of the soap opera form is its seriality. A serial narrative is a story told through a series of individual, narratively linked installments. Unlike episodic television programs, in which there is no narrative linkage between episodes and each episode tells a more or less self-contained story, the viewer's understanding of and pleasure in any given serial installment is predicated, to some degree, upon his or her knowledge of what has happened in previous episodes. Furthermore, each serial episode always leaves narrative loose ends for the next episode to take up. The viewer's relationship with serial characters is also different from those in episodic television. In the latter, characters cannot undergo changes that transcend any given episode, and they seldom reference events from previous episodes. Serial characters do change across episodes (they age and even die), and they possess both histories and memories. Serial television is not merely narratively segmented, its episodes are designed to be parceled out in regular installments, so that both the telling of the serial story and its reception by viewers is institutionally regulated. (This generalization obviously does not anticipate the use of the video tape recorder to "time shift" viewing).
    ==

    http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial.php?id=22
    Japanese vs. American Animation

    And there is one thing prevalent in almost all American animation -- it is episodic. Episode after episode, the main characters return unchanged and unaffected by the previous episode's events. It is always possible to miss an episode here and there, or watch the episodes out of order, and never be lost.
    As mentioned above, many anime series are just that, series. The storyline is continuous, with plot twists and character development, and in my opinion, makes them more interesting to watch. The viewer cannot simply sit back and expect the characters to all be the same as the previous episode, and may miss something if they failed to catch an episode or two.
    ==

    http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2006/04/how_will_the_we.html
    How will the web affect TV shows?




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