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Subpages:

Television

"Television tastes funny."

—Cheese, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

All about the medium of television, its sub-categories, and TV-specific tropes that cross those divisions. See also Formats.

Television "TV" is traditionally viewed on a television set, though these days people can catch up on their favorite programs via computer and mobile devices. Commercially available since the 1920's, but only really catching on in the 1950's, home televisions were big, heavy, and limited to a 4:3 aspect ratio until after the Turn of the Millennium when light, flat, widescreen TVs became the standard.

Television is what the TV in our name stands for^note. But you probably already knew that.

Tropes:

Ad Bumpers - Short clips used for station identification
Ad Break Double Take - Having a scene appearing at the break repeated after the commercial
Adored by the Network - A show given special treatment or attention
American Television Stations - How the United States got Television
ANSI Standard Broadcast TV Schedule - What US stations typically broadcast
Appointment Television - TV show so good you reschedule your life around it
Automobile Opening - Show opening involves someone driving
Beer Commercials - There's something unusual about beer commercials
Cancellation - When a network chooses to stop funding further shows
Channel Hop - A show moves from one network to another or from one local station to another
Color Wash - Strange changes to the color pallette
Directed by Cast Member - A member of the cast decides to get their feet wet by directing an episode of the show
Edited for Syndication - Changes made when a network show or motion picture is placed in syndicated distribution
Emergency Broadcast - means of providing serious warnings to the public
Excuse Question - A test or skill question used to prevent a contest from being declared a lottery
Fake Video Camera View - View of what supposedly is someone video recording something
Five Year Plan - Length of time after which a show can be sold in syndication
Friday Night Death Slot - An undesirable scheduling spot
Iconic Logo - An image that immediately identifies the advertising campaign or product
Long Runners - Shows running 10 years or longer
Long Runner Cast Turnover - The initial cast of a show is completely different from the one it ends with
Marathon Running - Multiple episodes run back-to-back
Network Decay - Networks whose supposed purpose was a certain type of show, that have started to add unrelated material
New Content Countdown Clock - Onscreen clock to advise viewers of the start of some special or new program
No Hoper Repeat - Show put in as a sacrifice against some extremely popular program on a different network
Not Screened for Critics - a movie that was not advance shown to critics; often a red flag that it's not very good
Once an Episode - A kind of Running Gag that is repeated in every episode
Once a Season - A concept that is repeated every season of the show
Only Barely Renewed - Show that is just barely important enough for the network to renew it, but usually isn't important enough to stick around long after
Out of Order - Showing a series in a different order than it was written
Prime Time - Most important part of a network schedule
Ratings - How many viewers a show has
Ratings Stunt - Unusual event intended to increase ratings
Rerun - a rebroadcast of a program
Saga Sell (Opening Narration) - Short monolog at beginning of show that explains what is happening
Safe Harbor - removal of broadcast content restrictions between 10pm and 6am
Screwed by the Network - intentional sabotage of a series
Second Season Downfall - shows that don't have anything left by the second season
Short Run In Peru - Some shows are run earlier in countries other than the one they are made for
Short Runners - Shows that were cancelled really quickly, sometimes after 1 episode
Show of Theseus - A show no longer having any relationship to what it was when it started
Sweeps - The period when ratings set advertising rates
Syndication - Shows sold directly to individual stations
Timeshift Channel - Supplementary channel run one or more hours later than the regular program feed
TV Guide - The original program listing magazine, and information about TV during the 1950s-1980s
Un-Canceled - a show is cancelled, then something happens and it's restored to the schedule
Voiceover Clip Show - Footage having little or no connection except for the (off-screen) announcer
YouTube - A huge video sharing website
Watershed - Time in the evening when it's okay to run content which is targeted more towards adult audiences
Web Video - Television made available over the Internet
Wrap It Up - A miniseries or movie intended to tie up the loose ends if a series is cancelled
Your Television Hates You - An In-Universe trope about television