History Main / SlidingScaleOfContinuity

** ''Series/BreakingBad'': Or, Two Years In The Life of Walter White. And boy, is it an eventful one.

* Most [[KidCom KidComs]], in general, are at this level. While they might occasionally have a brief story arc (and by "brief" I mean "the occasional two-parter"), they usually depict the exact same characters in the exact same situations from season to season. [=TGIF=] sitcoms may veer a little more into Level 3, though, since they at least chronicle their main characters growing up and make any necessary adjustments to the status quo to reflect this.

* Most KidComs, in general, are at this level. While they might occasionally have a brief story arc (and by "brief" I mean "the occasional two-parter"), they usually depict the exact same characters in the exact same situations from season to season. [=TGIF=] sitcoms may veer a little more into Level 3, though, since they at least chronicle their main characters growing up and make any necessary adjustments to the status quo to reflect this.

** ''Series/BreakingBad'': Or, One Year In The Life of Walter White. And boy, is it an eventful one.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' often ends episodes with the destruction of the laboratory and the like. All you need to know for each episode is that he's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dexter and has a laboratory]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FlipTheFrog'' belongs to level 1.

* Many {{Sitcom}}s.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' adhered to this level of continuity well enough that with a scant few exceptions you can watch the series in any order and it generally makes perfect sense.
* Most {{Kid Com}}s (''Series/ICarly'', ''Series/HannahMontana'', etc.) are level two.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' generally operated at this level.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' is level 0 without DLC, but jumps to level 3 with it. ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' is pretty firmly level 3.

* ''Series/{{Fringe}}''.

* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' is level four.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined''

** ''Series/TheWalkingDead''

[[AC:Webcomic]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''.

* The seasons of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' in relation to each other are this, the only similarities being the basic premise of "Blackadder surrounded by idiots" (and not even that considering the first season). However, the episodes within a season can be from Levels 1-2.

* The [[DisneyDucksComicUniverse Disney Duck comics]] by CarlBarks and many other writers. DonRosa's stories, however, are Level 2.

* The SherlockHolmes stories can be read in any order (with a very few notable exceptions like ''The Final Problem'' and ''The Empty House''). And after the first few stories, they aren't all set in the order they were written in, anyway. Conan Doyle deliberately wrote them like this so that readers would not quit following the series just because they had missed a story or two.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': they're always the same family with kids of the same ages that have the same neighbors, etc. Lisa ''did'' permanently become a vegetarian, though, and some such minor happenings.

* The first three ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' books' storylines don't directly depend on the stories of the previous books; they each explain basic premises like the wizarding world, Voldemort, Harry's backstory, etc., Harry continues to live at the Dursleys', go to Hogwarts every year, have friends named Ron and Hermione, etc., and the actual events of the first two books don't matter by the third. The rest of the series, [[ContinuityCreep well...]]
* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is much the same as Harry Potter, with the first four books or so being mostly independent, starting off with the Baudelaires being adopted by a new guardian and carefully explaining who the characters are to potential new readers, but later on the continuity [[ContinuityCreep creeps]] and the reader starts to need to have read the previous books to make sense of all this stuff about VFD and Beatrice and so on.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' generally operated at this level.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is normally Level 3 but occasionally goes into Level 4, especially when a major event happens or characters go through major CharacterDevelopment.

* Most of the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books are Level 4.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' post-2005. Pre-2005 ''DW'' is more a hybrid of Level 4 and Level 3, with 4-6 episode story arcs that have a strict continuity in themselves but overall have virtually no connection to each other. The only difference a casual viewer would notice between a season 10 story and a season 20 story is the [[TheNthDoctor new lead actor.]]

* ''Series/RaumschiffGamestar'': The series swung between Level 5 (Full Lockout) in seasons 1, 2, and 4 and Level 4 (Arc-based Episodic) in seasons 3 and 5, occasionally tapping into Level 3 (Subtle Continuity) at some points in the third and fourth seasons.

* "Series/{{Supernatural}}" tends to do this in later seasons, as compared to the level 3 of the earlier ones. As it recaps all plot points relevant to the episode right before the episode, it's in no real danger of becoming level 5.

!The Sliding Scale of Continuity is as follows:

* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series. A couple of games had sequels or spin-offs; the others are each their own reality with their own characters, their own plot, their own setting... However, they share various nods to one another such as similar monsters, summons, chocobos, and characters named Cid.
* ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'': The [[Videogame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2 second game]] Takes place in an AlternateUniverse from [[Videogame/HyperdimensionNeptunia the first]] and [[Videogame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaVictory Victory]] involves the protagonist and her sister from the second game {{Trapped In Another|World}} AlternateUniverse. Despite having the same characters, the games taking place in AU versions of the same world and with AU versions of the cast make this a level 0.

From the production side of things, works closer to the episodic end of the scale are also much easier to coordinate between writers, and handle [[UnCancelled a change]] [[ScrewedByTheNetwork in episode count or order]] better. In television, their appeal to networks is that can attract casual viewership, and easily increase viewership at any point along the series' run. On the other hand, works leaning towards continuity may find it easier to maintain a more devoted viewership once they catch on.

{{Continuity}} is handled very differently between different works. Some writers [[ContinuityPorn take it very seriously]], others [[NegativeContinuity really, really don't]]; some works [[ContinuityLockout need you to have been watching from the beginning]] while others just let you [[MonsterOfTheWeek hop in and enjoy an individual story at any point in the series]]. Realizing where a work falls on the Sliding Scale of Continuity is often essential to being able to enjoy a series for what it is.

What this scale measures is: ''if you knew nothing of the series but the very basic premise and then happened to catch some random episodes in arbitrary order, how difficult is it going to be to understand and follow what's going on, compared to if you watched it in order from the beginning?''

The different installments of the series are only nominally the same work; every new installment concerns different characters, or possibly the 'same' characters but in an AlternateUniverse, such that the stories are explicitly disconnected and obviously not meant to be part of a continuity of any sort. Within any given installment, it can be assumed that every other installment either never happened or is at least completely irrelevant to the current one. What they share to make them a series is usually thematic, world or (for video games) gameplay elements, with possible minor recurring creatures, objects, etc. NonLinearSequel is the specific trope for this. If done to an entire series you've got a ThematicSeries.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'''s episodes can pretty much stand on their own in a mostly arbitrary order, though this may largely be because it [[TooGoodToLast never got the chance to go anywhere with]] the hinted MythArc.

** ''Series/BreakingBad'': Or, One Year In The Life of Walter White.

** ''Series/BurnNotice'': But it gets much more arc-heavy starting in Season 5.
** ''Series/RoyalPains''
** ''Series/{{Suits}}''

* The ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novels are a fusion of this and AnachronicOrder, numbered thematically rather than chronologically. The first trilogy tells the story of how Cain became attached to the Valhallan 597th Regiment and their early campaigns. The second covers much more ground time-wise but is tangentially related to the ''shadowlight'', a mysterious pre-humanity artifact discovered on Perlia. "Echoes of the Tomb" and ''The Emperor's Finest'' shed light on a NoodleIncident repeatedly alluded to in previous books and [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes why Cain is so terrified of necrons]].

{{Continuity}} is handled very differently between different works. Some writers [[ContinuityPorn take it very seriously]], others [[NegativeContinuity really, really don't]]; some works [[ContinuityLockout need you to have been watching from the beginning]] while others just let you [[MonsterOfTheWeek hop in and enjoy an individual story at any point in the series]]. Realizing where a work falls on the SlidingScaleOfContinuity is often essential to being able to enjoy a series for what it is.

!Level 0: [[NonLinearSequel Non-Linear Installments]]
The different installments of the series are only nominally the same work; every new installment concerns different characters, or possibly the 'same' characters but in an AlternateUniverse, such that the stories are explicitly disconnected and obviously not meant to be part of a continuity of any sort. Within any given installment, it can be assumed that every other installment either never happened or is at least completely irrelevant to the current one. What they share to make them a series is usually thematic, world or (for video games) gameplay elements, with possible minor recurring creatures, objects, etc.

* The ''FinalFantasy'' series. A couple of games had sequels or spin-offs; the others are each their own reality with their own characters, their own plot, their own setting... However, they share various nods to one another such as similar monsters, summons, chocobos, and characters named Cid.

** ''TheTwilightZone''
** ''TheOuterLimits''
* The seasons of ''{{Blackadder}}'' in relation to each other are this, the only similarities being the basic premise of "Blackadder surrounded by idiots" (and not even that considering the first season). However, the episodes within a season can be from Levels 1-2.

!Level 1: NegativeContinuity

Sure, the episodes are clearly related, sharing characters and a basic setup... but ultimately, watching it out of order makes ''more'' sense than in order if anything. The show may cheerfully contradict itself and if something seems to have changed by the end of the episode, you can bet [[SnapBack the next one pretended it never happened anyway]], so it's hardly a loss if that's not the next one you watch. Usually done in [[RuleOfFunny comedy]]. When there actually ''is'' continuity of some sort, that very fact is probably a [[BrickJoke gag in itself]].

* ''DrawnTogether'', as exemplified by the fact it is the subject of the page quote for NegativeContinuity.
* ''FlightOfTheConchords''' second season had several episodes end with the guys having, say, lost all their furniture, or fallen below zero on Murray's friendship graph, with the next merrily restoring the status quo without so much as a mention. The first season, however, is level 2-3, making it an example of [[InvertedTrope inverted]] ContinuityCreep.
* ''DextersLaboratory'' often ends episodes with the destruction of the laboratory and the like. All you need to know for each episode is that he's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dexter and has a laboratory]].
* ''SaturdayNightLive'' alternates between level 0 and level 1, with some recurring sketches and characters.
* ''FlipTheFrog'' belongs to level 1.

!Level 2: Status Quo

* The main series ''{{Pokemon}}'' games mix this with level 0. There is continuity in the world, with references to events from previous games and some recurring characters, but every new game starts with you being a new rookie trainer in a new region fighting a new evil team, and knowing where the recurring characters came from is more a bonus than anything else.
* Many {{Sitcom}}s:
** ''TheSimpsons'': they're always the same family with kids of the same ages that have the same neighbors, etc. Lisa ''did'' permanently become a vegetarian, though, and some such minor happenings.
** As it says on that page, ''SavedByTheBell'' was the king of the StatusQuoIsGod trope.
* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' adhered to this level of continuity well enough that with a scant few exceptions you can watch the series in any order and it generally makes perfect sense.
* Most {{Kid Com}}s (''{{iCarly}}'', ''HannahMontana'', etc.) are level two.

!Level 3: Subtle Continuity

!!Examples:
* Sitcoms that aren't level 2 tend to be this, e.g. ''HowIMetYourMother'' and ''{{Friends}}''.
* {{Forensic Drama}}s, MonsterOfTheWeek shows and other basically episodic, plot-based genres with no {{Myth Arc}}s also usually fall here.
* The first three ''HarryPotter'' books' storylines don't directly depend on the stories of the previous books; they each explain basic premises like the wizarding world, Voldemort, Harry's backstory, etc., Harry continues to live at the Dursleys', go to Hogwarts every year, have friends named Ron and Hermione, etc., and the actual events of the first two books don't matter by the third. The rest of the series, [[ContinuityCreep well...]]
* ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is much the same as Harry Potter, with the first four books or so being mostly independent, starting off with the Baudelaires being adopted by a new guardian and carefully explaining who the characters are to potential new readers, but later on the continuity [[ContinuityCreep creeps]] and the reader starts to need to have read the previous books to make sense of all this stuff about VFD and Beatrice and so on.
* The ''AceAttorney'' games have a stronger (level 4) continuity between cases within each game, but are this with respect to one another, featuring the same characters (bar ''Apollo Justice'') and explaining things like spirit mediums at the beginning of each game but otherwise having independent stories and not depending on the player knowing the previous games.
* ''{{Firefly}}'''s episodes can pretty much stand on their own in a mostly arbitrary order, though this may largely be because it [[TooGoodToLast never got the chance to go anywhere with]] the hinted MythArc.
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' generally operated at this level.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is a level 3, there are {{Continuity Nod}}s and {{Call Back}}s to previous episodes but with the exception of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon cer]][[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony tain]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 two]]-[[Recap/MyLittleponyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 part]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 ep]][[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 is]][[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1 od]][[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 es]] All the episodes are stand-alone.

* ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' is a Level 3 in at least TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks -- while Mort Weisinger was the editor, his supporting cast, RoguesGallery, and mythology were slowly built upon, without readers requiring to have read any previous stories most of the time.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. The games tend to be stand alone but there are three timelines that diverge at ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]. Yet the games only get a ContinuityNod or MythologyGag at best and can be played with any knowledge of the other games.

!Level 4: [[StoryArc Arc-Based]] Episodic
These works do divide into episodes or installments with each (usually) introducing and resolving its own mini-plot, but there is a continuous ongoing storyline going on in the background. While most episodes may be enjoyed individually, any watching out of order will probably leave you wondering where characters who [[AnyoneCanDie died three seasons ago]] are, or why they're suddenly having dinner with [[HeelFaceTurn the guy they had sworn to defeat in the last episode you watched]], or who the hell this new villain they're talking about is, even if you can follow the actual plot of the episode. Shows often try to combat the resulting ContinuityLockout - with varying degrees of success - with PreviouslyOn recap openings.

!!Examples:
* Most of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', though it started to [[ContinuityCreep edge towards level 5]] as the series went on.
* ''TheDresdenFiles'' slides quickly from level 3 to here as the books become less 'investigating a case' and more 'investigating something deeply connected to just about everything else while dozens of old characters reappear and stuff that happened five books ago suddenly turns out to be vitally important', though there is still a plot with its own resolution in each book.
* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is mostly like this - while the [[FanNickname Gaang]] is always traveling the world to find bending masters to teach Aang and there are plenty of {{Filler}}s that belong on level 3, there are pretty steady continuous developments on the villainous side that would be very jarring to anyone who just watched individual episodes here and there.
* ''{{Fringe}}''.
* ''DoctorWho''.
** Pre-2005 Doctor Who is more a hybrid of Level 4 and Level 3, with 4-6 episode story arcs that have a strict continuity in themselves but overall have virtually no connection to each other. The only difference a casual viewer would notice between a season 10 story and a season 20 story is the [[TheNthDoctor new lead actor.]]
* ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and the series that followed it, ''[[StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' and ''[[StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise,]]'' wavered between this and level 3, but their use of longer-running arcs (compared to previous series) bumps them up the scale.
* ''{{Glee}}'' is level four.
* One interesting example is ''StandAloneComplex'', which explicitly identifies each episode as either "Stand Alone" (episodic) or "Complex" (part of the series arc). The episodic ones rarely contain any reference to other episodes.

* Most of the ''{{Discworld}}'' books are Level 4.

!Level 5: [[ContinuityLockout Full Lockout]]
If you haven't seen the whole series so far, or at least the entirety of the current season, you're screwed. Each installment expects you to have seen every previous installment; though it may [[PreviouslyOn make some effort to try to clue you in if you haven't]], you will probably be thoroughly confused, and there is no guarantee there will be any sort of resolution to anything by the episode's end - in fact, it's quite likely to end with a {{Cliffhanger}}. Often BetterOnDVD.

!!Examples:
* ''ReGenesis'', through all its interwoven multiple-episode story and character arcs, is probably impossible to understand episodically despite the lengthy PreviouslyOn recaps.
* Each season of ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'' is a continuous real-time story arc.
* A lot of {{Anime}}, e.g. ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', especially as it goes on (though the Parallel Works are level 0).
* ''{{Lost}}'' is a frequently cited example of ContinuityLockout because of this.
* ''{{Homestuck}}''.
* ''BabylonFive''.
* ''{{The King of Fighters}}'' currently has four {{arc}}s: The [[SNKBoss Rugal]] Saga (the first title, ''[='94=]''), The {{Orochi}} Saga (''[='95=]''-''[='98=]''), The [[NebulousEvilOrganisation NESTS]] Chronicles (''[='99=]''-''2002''), and The Tales of [[TricksterArchetype Ash]] (the present-day saga, having started in ''2003''). While it's not too bad with The NESTS Chronicles (as the protagonist of those titles, K', distances himself from previous hero Kyo despite being genetically-engineered with his DNA), The Tales of Ash almost ''requires'' that you played the first four games. This is made worse if you look past the main plot and focus on the supporting cast, as you then have to deal with allusions and plot points carried over from ''FatalFury'', ''{{Art of Fighting}}'', ''IkariWarriors'', ''Athena''/''PsychoSoldier'', ''[[LastBlade The Last Blade]]'', ''[[FuunSeries Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter]]'', ''Buriki One'', etc. While it's ContinuityPorn and {{Fanservice}} for those who have followed {{SNK}} Playmore since its heyday, it's borderline-ContinuityLockout for anyone else. Remember that this series [[ContinuityCreep originally]] existed as [[MascotFighter a storyless gathering of fighters]].
* The re-imagined ''BattlestarGalactica''
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. From the second game onward the games head straight into KudzuPlot with any detail potentially {{Foreshadowing}} future games (Xigbar's cryptic lines in II being an example). Dream Drop Distance has "memoirs" thought that record the plots of the preceeding games and unlocks them when a ContinuityNod[=/=]CallBack to the respective game first occurs. Making the games a Level 4 at least. (though without that game it still remains at 5)
* Both ''VisualNovel/{{Higurashi|WhenTheyCry}}'' and ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' count. Ye gads, get out of order or miss a segment or two in either, and you can end up so lost. And, this is the same, whichever medium you're playing/ watching/ reading them in.
* Series/{{Damages}} is level 5, due to the AnachronicOrder and following the case instead of a MonsterOfTheWeek format.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'' was heavily arc-based, which had the misfortune to occur at the same time Syfy changed its scheduling strategy to where it would air part of a season, then replace it with another show, then bring the first show back, and so on. The ''SGU'' showrunners partly blame the series' cancellation on the resulting confusion driving away viewers.

* ''SouthPark'' is normally Level 3 but occasionally goes into Level 4, especially when a major event happens or characters go through major CharacterDevelopment.

* Both ''VisualNovel/{{Higurashi|WhenTheyCry}}'' and ''VisualNovel/UninekoWhenTheyCry'' count. Ye gads, get out of order or miss a segment or two in either, and you can end up so lost. And, this is the same, whichever medium you're playing/ watching/ reading them in.