The Episodic and Serial Natures of the Situation Comedy

The situation comedy, or sitcom, is one of the oldest and most popular forms of television programming.  Sitcoms are usually either episodic or serial in the nature of their plots.  A sitcom is episodic if each individual episode's plotlines are unique to and cleared up in a single episode, and they do not carry over into another episode.  A sitcom is serial if its storylines and plots carry on between episodes.

Although there are plenty of sitcoms that can simply be classified as either episodic or serial, many of the most successful and memorable sitcoms feature different aspects of both.  If a sitcom is purely episodic, then it can entice some viewers who really do not care for long-running storylines, but it can also alienate some viewers for not trying to develop itself more.  If a sitcom is purely serial, then it can attract some cross-over viewers from the drama genre, but it can also make it harder to gain viewers because they would have to go back to the earlier episodes to fully understand what is going on.  However, by combining different aspects of these two natures, they can attract as many viewers as possible.

One of my absolute favorite sitcoms, 30 Rock, is the perfect example of this combination.  Each individual episode has its own plotline, yet certain plot points from certain episodes carry over from episode to episode and season to season.  The perfect example of this is present in some of Jack Donaghy's relationships.  Many of them, such as those with Phoebe (Emily Mortimer), C.C. (Edie Falco), and Elisa (Salma Hayek) progress for multiple episodes.  Yet there are long stretches in 30 Rock in which no storylines are carried over.  Overall, 30 Rock strikes the right balance between its episodic and serial characteristics.