Episodic or Serial

[JirinPanthosa]

This is why some shows fail the instant gratification that some people want rather than waiting for a pay off later.

It's still not a question about instant gratification. It's more about "I don't like this story, I'm glad the next episode will have nothing to do with it" for a show that's not serialized. You don't get that luxury otherwise. In a serialized format, you're stuck with the same story, like it or not, where the pay off might not even matter by the time you eventually get to it.

For episodic shows, unless it's something like Twilight Zone, the story will be different but the characters will be the same, and generally the formula will also be the same. You could say "I don't like any of these people, I don't care for this formula, what do I care what adventures they'll have next?" Or "If the writers are this bad, why should I trust them to do a good job next episode?"

I would give up on an episodic show I wasn't enjoying a lot faster than a serial show I wasn't enjoying, because I know episodic shows tend to repeat formulas and serial shows build to something. Especially if I have friends whose opinions I trust in my ear telling me to stick with it.

I definitely agree that serialized shows add more variety and depth to their characters by having self contained stories in the middle. Just like Sopranos had that episode about the rap producer trying to take back money from Hesh.

 

[suarezguy]

Either can work, and a balance (like DS9 or Buffy) is nice, but as a show gets older (and probably expectations higher) becoming more serialized is a good check against things getting stale or seeming inconsequential.

 

[urbandefault]

Episodic.

Often times, in hindsight, a serial could've been condensed into far fewer shows and been much better paced and better told that way. Stretching a story out doesn't necessarily mean that it adds greater nuance, either. They often sag in the middle with strange, out-of-left-field elements just to keep the story alive until they can pick up the main thread again and bring it to it's "dramatic" conclusion. I have a Life. I just don't have the time to commit to watching specific shows in specific order, anyway. Or the interest, frankly ...

I was just about to post almost those exact words.

 

[Kelthaz]

I vastly prefer serialized shows. Episodic shows get repetitive after a few episodes and I quickly lose interest. Although, serialized shows that mix in episodic episodes here and there (Buffy, X-Files, Supernatural, etc.) is my personal preference.

 

[I am not Spock]

I like both. I enjoy arc based shows like DS9 and Buffy. But I also like episodic shows, and even ones which have no recurring characters between episodes. I love anthologies like Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Outer Limits, etc.

Sometimes I want to jump in and watch any random episode, in no particular order.

Other times, I want to do a huge marathon of a serialised show.

As long as it's good, doesn't really matter if it's episodic, or serialised

 

[urbandefault]

Serialized drama has to be really careful in the writing, lest it become like The Young and the Restless. That's some bad tv, right there.

 

[the G-man]

I don't have a preference. It comes down to the quality of the show.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^You can add Lost in to tha mix started off great the first couple of seasons maybe the first 3 were good but then it seemed as if they were dragging it. Whilst B5 had a five year plan, which unfortunantly had to be condensed in the fourth year before the eleventh hour renewel.

Lost is the perfect example of a show that just wants to create water-cooler buzz. They did a good job of keeping people intrigued, but they blew it at the end because they never knew where they were going.

 

[hux]

Depends how we define serial. I mean people call Voyager, episodic but surely the "getting home to the Alpha quadrant" was a seven year arc that involved an obvious story telling continuity

I think most people see serial as character based though, don't they. A means for the characters to develop and evolve within the environment of an ongoing plot/setting (so more references to what had gone before) in which case, Voyager did fail there.

I like a bit of both

 

[MacLeod]

Depends how we define serial. I mean people call Voyager, episodic but surely the "getting home to the Alpha quadrant" was a seven year arc that involved an obvious story telling continuity

I think most people see serial as character based though, don't they. A means for the characters to develop and evolve within the environment of an ongoing plot/setting (so more references to what had gone before) in which case, Voyager did fail there.

I like a bit of both

^Isn't that the critsim that some level at VOY it's premise leant towards a more serialised approach, but what we got was a more episodic approach?

i.e The seemingly unlimited supply of shuttles, the magic torpedeos which appeared out of thin air despite us being told they had NO way of replacing them. The no EMH backup, or but we do, no we don't etc..