Line #48 Main/TelevisionSerial


1	A television format similar to a series of MiniSeries. Rather than airing a self-contained episode each week, long stories are broadcast broken into a number of individual parts.
2
3	This format derives from the serial format used by the short films once shown before a feature, and, before that, the publication of novels in magazines. (Many of the works of Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle were originally published as serials.)
4
5	The modern CliffHanger evolved from the custom of ending most episodes of a serial with a suspenseful scene which left our heroes in peril (often, literally hanging off a cliff).
6
7	All the episodes of a story are usually considered as a single unit. In syndication or video release, they may be [[CompilationMovie edited together into a "movie format"]] which stitches the episodes together, usually removing the CliffHanger.
8
9	Differs from the SoapOpera in that the narrative is not continuous throughout the entire series. Typically, each story would last between three and eight episodes then end.
10
11	Differs from a StoryArc in that each episode is ''not'' a complete story on its own. Though the format is not mutually exclusive of a StoryArc, continuity between episodes which are not part of the same story is generally minimal (though this is probably entirely a result of arcs having been rare when the serial format was common).
12
13	Today, the TelevisionSerial is a deprecated format, having been largely replaced by occasional two-part stories in a mostly stand-alone series and the MythArc.
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15	For some reason, this format was particularly common for British science fiction series.
16	----
17	!!Examples
18
19	[[AC:British series:]]
20
21	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' (used throughout the 1963-1989 Classic Series; dropped in the 1996 telemovie and the 2005-present revival series, save for 2009's "The End of Time")
22	* ''Series/TheTomorrowPeople1973''
23	* ''Series/SapphireAndSteel''
24	* ''Series/TheBill'' since 2002
25	* ''{{Series/Cracker}}''
26	* ''{{Timeslip}}''
27	* Many British sci-fi shows that did this are also examples of BritishBrevity, where the whole season is one serial but very short:
28	** ''Series/AForAndromeda''
29	** ''Franchise/{{Quatermass}}''
30	** ''Series/DarkSeason'' (which managed to have ''two'' mostly but not entirely separate serials within a single 6 episode season).
31
32	[[AC:Non-British series:]]
33
34	* ''Series/RockyJonesSpaceRanger''
35	* On radio, ''Radio/YoursTrulyJohnnyDollar'' during the late 1950s, as well as ''Superman'' and lots of other shows.
36	* ''Series/DrKildare'' (TV show) used this format for it's fifth and final season.
37	* ''Manga/GhostHunt'' is an example that's rare both for being {{anime}} and for happening in 2006-2007.
38	* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' is another modern anime example.
39	* ''Series/MoonlightMask''
40	* ''The Space Giants'' (a.k.a. ''Series/AmbassadorMagma'')
41	* ''Series/{{Ghostwriter}}''
42	* Creator/TheCW's Series/{{Arrowverse}} has been doing this since 2016 -- first that year with the ''Series/Invasion2016'' event, told over four installments (as episodes of ''Series/{{Supergirl\|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', ''Series/{{The Flash\|2014}}'', and ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'') over two nights. ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'' followed in 2017. 2018 saw the three-part ''Series/{{Elseworlds}}'' (the Legends sat this one out, to reduce the behind-the-scenes logistics; however, ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} appeared as a backdoor pilot for [[Series/Batwoman2019 her own show]], and the Barry Allen of the [[Series/TheFlash1990 early 1990s Flash series]] appeared for the first time since his show was cancelled). Finally, there came ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'' -- an adaptation of the [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths comic event]] which saw an epic, multiverse-threatening event -- and the requisite number of cameos to back it up, from all over DC media (including, much to everyone's shock, [[spoiler:the Film/DCExtendedUniverse version of The Flash]]); the Crisis unfolded across five shows, as well as a RedSkiesCrossover episode of ''Series/BlackLightning'' (who then proceeded to join the other heroes beginning in part 3, and whose Earth, along with Supergirl's Earth-38, was amalgamated with the main Arrowverse Earth, Earth-1, into a singular "Earth-Prime").
43	* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse uses this format for its Creator/DisneyPlus shows, with each series playing out as if it were an extra-long film split into several installments. The main exception is the AnimatedAnthology ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'', but even that has each episode play into the GrandFinale.
44	* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' was an animated example prior to the ''Unlimited'' {{retool}}, with ''every'' episode being a two-parter.
45
46	[[AC:Used as a format for a segment within a VarietyShow:]]
47
48	* The namesake segments of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle''.
49	* ''Mathnet'' on ''Series/SquareOneTV''
50	* ''The Bloodhound Gang'' on ''Series/ThreeTwoOneContact''
51	* ''Around the World in 79 Days'' on ''WesternAnimation/TheCattanoogaCats''.

Context Main / TelevisionSerial