Serial Storytelling

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Television drama evolved primarily as an episodic medium. More recently there has been a shift away from episodic storytelling and towards serial storytelling,Serials tell a story with a definite resolution over a fixed amount of episodes. The distinction between series' and serial' is important.A drama series is a show that can generate new and interesting story lines around the series' premise and characters for however long is required. These are often referred to as returning drama series', where they can run for pretty much forever.A classic episodic series is Law & Order." The characters come back every week, but the stories are completely independent of each other." You don't need to watch last week's episode to understand tonight's episode.A drama serial is usually a concept and story line that will have a definite resolution over a fixed amount of episodes. They lure the audience in with their interesting premise, usually high concept or grabbing in some shape or form, and twist and turn the plot over a set amount of episodes before coming to a satisfying conclusion.Will the survivors on Lost get rescued?" Will Jack Bauer get through another 24 hours?The way to determine if your favorite show is a long running drama is to ask yourself: What happens in episode 4?" What happens in episode 54?" What happens in episode 154? If you're struggling to come up with an answer beyond series one, you've probably got a drama serial on your hands.The current trend in successful drama is to take the serial approach to the style of storytelling, but this does not mean that the shows are necessarily drama serials.For example, Lost, 24, Heroes, and The Wire may appear like novels because of the way they eke out their plot into various chapters but ostensibly, the shows can run forever based on their existing concept and characters.The serial style of storytelling from episode to episode is just a new and engaging way to keep the audience hooked in a world where multimedia, internet and a host of other distractions compete for our attention.I don't know how long the current absurd practice of an October-to-May season punctuated by sweeps months and periods of hiatus has been operating, but you only have to look at the way shows like Buffy would save up showpiece episodes and/or big plot developments for November, February and May to see how it's affected the structure of US shows, to the point where the decision a few years ago to start the season of 24 in January and run straight through " without breaks! " to May felt genuinely radical.Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example, was an episodic show, although it became less so as it went on (to its detriment)." You can watch, say, Band Candy with minimal knowledge of previous Buffy, and it'll work fine. You can't do the same with episode 13 of the fifth season of 24. The term arc, I would argue, is somewhat meaningless when applied to a serial show, because in a serial show there is only arc " there's no non-arc for contrast.Certainly serial storytelling has qualities that episodic storytelling can't replicate: an accumulation of detail, a more sustained period of engagement with the tale. But consider Battlestar Galactica, which has been alternating unevenly between periods of serial storytelling and periods of episodic storytelling since its inception.The serial episodes are, almost without exception, the better episodes of the show (the creative peak is probably the start of season two), but " though I've seen the suggestion made several times " the disparity has nothing to do with the inherent qualities of the two types of storytelling. Serial is no easier or harder to get right than episodic; they're different skill setsSo the problem with Galactica is not that it's turning out standalone episodes, it's that it's turning out bad standalone episodes " ones that do offer too-easy answers that rely heavily on melodrama, convenience and clich.Serial storytelling is just as easy to do badly: look at the weaker episodes of Lost." But there is a reason we are beginning to enjoy more serial television.Long form storytelling is the chief virtue of the television medium." In a movie theater we get our stories in two-hour doses." In pop music, in three minute doses.Yet in television, because of the weekly recurrence of our favorite characters, the storytelling magic can continue ad infinitum." These stories paint on a large canvas with epic aims and themes, seeking to portray stories of vast complexity.Consider the television series, Lost." When Lost was first proposed as a television series, it was pitched merely as a show about stranded castaways on a tropical island -- a televised version of the feature film, Cast Away." Needless to say, this story did not interest JJ Abrams, who thought that such a show might quickly devolve into Gilligan's Island camp." Imagine the equivalent of Ikea furniture fashioned out of coconuts and palm fronds.JJ Abrams wanted to do something more original, with a science fiction twist." " But the true genius of Lost came in their decision to use serial storytelling, which has forced the show to evolve into a different beast with every seasonal iteration.In season one, we have castaways that are quickly learning to survive." In the season one finale, the survivors open a hatch on the island that in turn opens up an entirely new storyline about other inhabitants on the island." Season two follows the survivors as they try to discover who they are and what the mysteries of the island are." Season three morphed the series into action/adventure, and found our survivors locked in a dual with a hostile society on the island that refuses to co-exist with them.No episode of Lost can stand on its own, but rather, they must be taken into account with the whole series." Unlike a show like 24, Lost must have an inevitable conclusion." They will discover the mystery of the island and achieve salvation, either in rescue or in some other metaphysical sense." 24, on the other hand, functions as a serial only throughout the season, but not over the entire length of the show (although serial elements carry over)." 24 resolves every season." Lost leaves us with cliffhangers every season until the series finale.There is a dark side to serial television." It is notoriously difficult to syndicate because all of the episodes must play in their original linear order." Also, viewers who arrive late to the show sometimes feel alienated without having seen other shows, making it very difficult to bring new viewers to the show.Despite the challenges that come with serial storytelling, it is the narrative most in vogue at the present time, and Young Hollywood salutes the intrepid shows that boldly tell long form stories in original and fresh ways.>