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If you have television-obsessed friends, you've likely heard a lot of rogue terms thrown around. Television is a singular word used to encompass the many ways we consume media. There are TV shows on Netflix and Amazon - most of which you can watch on your tablet or phone. This phenomenon is fairly new in the world of television but many categorizations of shows have remained through these technological changes. There are news, reality, and talk shows. There are soap operas, situation comedies (sitcoms), and dramas. All of these show types help us to categorize and manage expectations when turning on our content device-of-choice. But ultimately, television storytelling can be squarely categorized in one of two ways: either procedural or serial. While procedural shows have in the past been the most prominent, serial shows have been gaining audiences and critical acclaim. So here's our breakdown of what it all means.

Procedurals

Procedurals are shows in which each episode is self-contained. These shows generally have the same characters across episodes and may even have some over-arching storylines but largely an episode can be watched out of order. Well-known procedurals are Law & Order, CSI, NCIS and Criminal Minds. These shows have a crime, mystery or case in each episode which is typically solved or finished by the end.

Serials

Serials are shows that should be watched in a series. There are complex plots and stories carrying from one episode to another. If you watched a random episode of LOST in the middle of Season 5 you'd be...well, lost. Well-known serials are Game of Thrones, Mad Men, True Detective, The Walking Dead, Orphan Black and Breaking Bad. These shows are often complex and each episode builds upon another leading to a much greater time commitment but also a greater payoff.

The Pros and Cons

It's impossible to say whether that one type of show is better than another because it's all based on personal preference and show execution. Both come with pros and cons, and nowadays many shows don't fall strictly into one category or another - like NBC's Hannibal - but instead are somewhere between the two. There are brilliant shows like The Good Wife that expertly blend procedural and serial elements. Like Grey's Anatomy, which has had several episodes where cases were interwoven with recurring character storylines. Some shows even oscillate from procedural to serialized as they progress (like Fringe). Typically procedural shows spend more time on story than character and don't necessarily need to be watched in any particular order, making syndication - when shows are essentially leased out to other networks to air - is much easier. If you miss an episode of a procedural show, you might not catch a few subtleties in the next episode but you can still fully understand what's going on. Like House. In a serial show, the audience needs to be very dedicated and tuned-in. Missing one episode of a serialized show isn't an option. Serialized shows require more of a commitment from the audience, which frankly some people just aren't willing to do.

In the documentary Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, Damon Lindelof says he enjoys serialized shows more because life itself is serialized. That said, I think procedural shows have their place on television - there will always be an audience that passively watches TV or prefers to have closure at the end of each episode. There is nothing wrong with that. Me? I prefer serialized shows because of the complex storylines and character arcs that can be created over the course of seasons. I like the cliffhanger and the rush of waiting for a whole week to find out what happens next. Serialized shows seem to always keep the audience coming back.

What sort of television style is your favorite?

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Breaking Down the Differences Between Procedural and Serialized Television | Geek and Sundry

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If you have television-obsessed friends, you've likely heard a lot of rogue terms thrown around. Television is a singular word used to encompass the many ways we consume media. There are TV shows on Netflix and Amazon - most of which you can watch on your tablet or phone.

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Tom & Jerry Cartoon Effect

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Massive

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Broadcast

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Cable

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There is a 116-year-old French nun who recently got COVID-19. She survived -- three weeks later. Believed to be the world's second-oldest person, she is looking forward to her 117th birthday.

You can survive anything if you want to, or have great genes, or get great help. Good for her. She keeps going, doing pretty much what she has always done.

When it comes to longtime media companies, one needs a lot more aid. First, the ability to change internal eco-financial systems quickly just to stay afloat. I know what you are thinking -- it's all about new streaming platforms. But other changes need to be addressed, shifting quickly to advertiser and viewer needs.

Take the Fox News Channel, which may be not all that motivated to make changes -- politically speaking, of course.

"We don't need to go further right," says Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman/CEO of Fox Corp, during an earnings phone call with analysts. We don't believe America is further right, and we're obviously not going to pivot left."

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He added: "We're targeted to the center-right, exactly where we should be targeted, as we've been." Murdoch was alluding to smaller traditional cable TV network outlets -- Newsmax and OAN, for example -- being to the right of Fox. Analysts suspect those networks might be taking some of Fox's viewer base, though Fox has been shifting hosts and shows. It also promoted election fraud stories for months, much like its right-wing rivals.

Murdoch adds: "We'll stick where we are, and we think that's exactly right. And that's the best thing for the business and for our viewers." Of course, that last bit is key: best for "business."

We assume this means all its business interests -- advertising, pay TV providers (traditional, virtual and otherwise) and other partners. Murdoch then said: "We're down about 13% in ratings," referring to prime-time viewership for January. "It's a cycle we expected."

This is in line with any TV news network in which viewers have a particular political inclination, he says. After the 2016 presidential Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton election, he adds CNN was down 17% and MSNBC 10% lower.

Perhaps, though next time might be different. Add in a growing streaming TV factor, where everyone can choose exactly the TV networks/apps they want, not the 200-300 or so networks that come with your legacy cable, satellite, telco pay TV service.

Right now, most modern pay TV subscribers, some 90 million in the U.S, pay for all TV news networks, whether they watch them or not: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and perhaps Newsmax and OAN. That is how the legacy pay TV systems work -- and why, in part, there is growing cord-cutting.

Soon, because of streaming, many more Americans will choose to shut out the other side: TV viewers opting not to have the Fox News Channel; right-leading TV viewers eschewing CNN and MSNBC.

And that's when the business dynamics change.

Billions in longtime crucial affiliate cable TV revenues that support TV networks are already slipping. That leakage may become a steady flow. A changing streaming curve isn't helping either; advertisers' revenues are fragile.

TV news networks are in a similar boat. They will rush startup more connected TV services, hoping to avoid any possible business-related maladies that may come their way.

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many more americans will choose to shut out the other political side. 02/12/2021

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Does A Streaming Future For Cable TV News Networks Mean A Loss Of Affiliate, Ad Revs?

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There is a 116-year-old French nun who recently got COVID-19. She survived -- three weeks later. Believed to be the world's second-oldest person, she is looking forward to her 117th birthday. You can survive anything if you want to, or have great genes, or get great help. Good for her.

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Week to Week viewers

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Traditional Procedurals https://gideonsway.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/types-of-television-procedurals-part-1/amp/

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Storytelling

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learning from my peers.