Talk:Serial (radio and television)

CorenSearchBot
I have removed the tag made by CorenSearchBot, left because it "appears to be a substantial copy of ". This article was split from the Wikipedia article Serial. The external webpage appears to a copy of that, original, wikipedia article. - AdamBMorgan 12:52, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Dubious examples
As the example sections are unreferenced, they are basically original research. The problem here is that at least two of the series listed are, IMO, not serials. Seinfield, for example, is most certainly not a serial. It was completely episodic in nature. That's why it can be aired in syndication without any concern for episode order—because each episode "about nothing" has (almost) nothing to do with the others. The show certainly didn't make much of an attempt to have any continuity. And it's not expected, because it was a sitcom. I'm sure others on the list had similar problems. Just because you maintain the same characters and maybe reference old episodes again at some later point does not make a show a serial. RobertM525 (talk) 01:31, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Most of those shows are NOT serial drama/comedies.  This article needs to have some sort of clear criteria for what constitutes a serial and what just has occasional references to previous episodes.  I added in the "dubious" tag that I know are not serials, though many probably are Laplie (talk) 20:51, 16 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree as well. And considering it's been literally half a decade since this issue was raised, and no one has voiced any dissent, I'm going to remove those that don't seem to fit. (This is basically the vast majority of the "comedy" section, as almost no comedy series is a serial, as evidenced by the syndication point raised by RobertM525.) I'm leaving ones I'm less familiar with. If anyone knows that any others don't fit the definition of "serial" as described by this article, please remove them as well. --Wikisian (talk) 01:19, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Vs 'series'?
Are 'serial' and 'series' completely interchangeable when talking about dramatic tv programmes? Ie: 'Lost' - which word is best for it? Just wondering:) Malick78 (talk) 18:17, 30 June 2008 (UTC)


 * No, series is just another word for TV show. The definition of serial is more restricted, it refers to only those shows that have a long-term story arc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.112.46.18 (talk) 02:13, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Fringe?
Is Fringe really a good example of a serial drama? The episodes have a strong "case-of-the-week" format, with minimal attention spent on building a story arc. I haven't seen all the episodes though, maybe this changes later. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.112.46.18 (talk) 02:10, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

It's described in articles as primarily procedural in format so I'll remove it from the list. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2008/oct/10/jjabrams-ustelevision Pabsiletr (talk) 21:43, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Terminology
Not only is the person who wrote this section a sesquipedalian (see I can use big words to make you feel dumb as well), but they also should have considered merging the Other Uses For The Term Serial section with this one. Although the United States use the term serial in some rare occasions, the country that seems to use the term the most is the United Kingdom. I also believe that someone who is actually interested in doing some editing should take a look at the Television Program article. It seems that there is more information about serials on that page than there is on this one.

ABickerstaff 07:30, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

The Good Wife
Although the NYT article referenced in this sentence: "As of 2012 CBS has not aired a serial drama in many years, in part because of the success of its non-serial procedurals", does in fact state this, the fact is that The Good Wife is highly serialized, as seen in the first paragraph of it's Wikipedia article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.55.99.246 (talk) 13:47, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Usage of the term in other countries
As it stands, the article completely focuses on American and to a letter extent British television. However the term serial is common elsewhere in the English speaking world, notably in South and East Asia as well with a slightly different meaning. Would it be a good idea to bring in examples and what the term stands for in these other contexts?

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Serial (radio and television). Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090122212713/http://www.scifi.com:80/battlestar/downloads/podcast.php?seas=3 to http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/downloads/podcast.php?seas=3

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Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 13:29, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Requesting wider attention
I felt article Islamic_literature is in bit of neglect so I added my note on talk page there, requesting to take note of Talk:Islamic_literature. If possible requesting copy edit support. Suggestions for suitable reference sources at Talk:Islamic_literature is also welcome.

Posting message here too for neutrality sake

Thanks and greetings

Bookku (talk) 08:03, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

UK term - serial
This pages seems to be written from an American perspective and ignores how the 'serial' came about. I'm going to try and add info as to what a 'serial is. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9780312235987 Writing for Television: Series, Serials and Soaps (Creative Essentials) by Yvonne Grace; "Series are open ended storylines with usually, but not always, a precinct that the world sits within. Serials have a definite ending; the story has an end point over usually a shorter span of episodes."Halbared (talk) 22:15, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Is suitable here?Halbared (talk) 10:16, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

Lack of impact of streaming services
This article has not been updated in any significant way since September 2012, and as such does not reflect the significant changes that have occurred in serialised television due to the impact of streaming services over the past 10 years. Terovian (talk) 08:46, 23 January 2022 (UTC)


 * 1000% CORRECT. Madscribbler (talk) 05:00, 5 September 2022 (UTC)