What TV shows are people watching?

Unknown Soldier · 08-25-2012, 11:20 AM

series and serial, never gave any thought between the two. Everybody I know refers to them as series including myself. I think the word serial is somewhat outdated.

Urban Hat€monger ? · 08-25-2012, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I'm guessing a serial is what we'd call a mini-series.

Why not a mini-season?

The Batlord · 08-25-2012, 11:27 AM

You Brits have officially confused the hell out of me. I was only joking before, but if your system is that ****ed then you need to switch to ours. We have TV series, which are made up of seasons, and that's the end of it.

**Janszoon** · 08-25-2012, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger ?

Why not a mini-season?

Same reason mini-golf isn't called mini-hole.

Urban Hat€monger ? · 08-25-2012, 11:40 AM

It would probably be more popular if it was.

I'd play it.

The Batlord · 08-25-2012, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger ?

It would probably be more popular if it was.

I'd play it.

But people would just assume it was a gay midget bar...oh, I see where you're going with this!

**Janszoon** · 08-25-2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger ?

It would probably be more popular if it was.

I don't know, it sounds like something for the not-so-well-endowed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger ?

I'd play it.

Hmmm.

Trollheart · 08-25-2012, 01:55 PM

Far as I recall, bein' from this side o' the water and all, a serial was something made up of maybe six or eight episodes but self-contained, never intended to have a sequel. So "Children of the stones" --- brrr! "A very British coup" and "Edge of darkness" were serials, ie they never went beyond the one "season", as you guys would say, but something like "Doctor Who", "The Tomorrow People" or, er, "Black Beauty" was a series, as it moved from first to second, and so on.

Seasons are arranged, it seems, in a certain order: they begin in one month and end in another. Nowadays we buy most of our stuff from you guys, so we get seasons, but anything home-produced (RTE or BBC or ITV etc) is still referred to as a series. It doesn't have to run over any particular span of months, unlike US stuff, which, well, does.

Just to confuse everyone though, RTE here still refer to their "new season" for any upcoming shows due in the next few months.

But yeah, that's basically it. Jansz would be right in terming a serial a mini-series; more or less the same thing, except perhaps a mini-series might be picked up and made into a full series (thus acquiring seasons) whereas a serial would not. It would be self-contained, with usually no scope for any continuation. The story would finish in the last episode, and there would generally be no loose ends to be tied up.

Any clearer? No? Sod ya then!

debaserr · 08-25-2012, 03:48 PM

This season of Louie has been hit or miss to the extreme.

Mojo · 08-26-2012, 07:52 AM

It always made sense to me that there was a difference between a season and a series.

You have to keep in mind that in the UK the TV industry is very different. For a start a show has a good chance of being able to be made to its completion here. Not to say we dont cancel stuff but its nothing like it is over there. We also dont have a show produce over 20 episodes a year and schedule it to come back year on year. We usually make somewhere between 6 and 12 episodes and in most cases the entire run of that would last for 6 to 12 weeks. We make shorter 'series' and dont interrupt the run rather than dragging it out over the course of a 'season' (or two) and then having breaks every few weeks where people either forget about it in the meantime or fans of it are forced to wait a considerable length of time just to see what happens next.

I think thats why shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Soprano's used 'series' instead of 'season', because they were shorter and, being on HBO, didnt have to be subject to a lot of the same crap and could have their show air consistently week after week.

08-25-2012, 11:40 AM	#1365 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	It would probably be more popular if it was. I'd play it. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

08-25-2012, 01:55 PM	#1368 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Far as I recall, bein' from this side o' the water and all, a serial was something made up of maybe six or eight episodes but self-contained, never intended to have a sequel. So "Children of the stones" --- brrr! "A very British coup" and "Edge of darkness" were serials, ie they never went beyond the one "season", as you guys would say, but something like "Doctor Who", "The Tomorrow People" or, er, "Black Beauty" was a series, as it moved from first to second, and so on. Seasons are arranged, it seems, in a certain order: they begin in one month and end in another. Nowadays we buy most of our stuff from you guys, so we get seasons, but anything home-produced (RTE or BBC or ITV etc) is still referred to as a series. It doesn't have to run over any particular span of months, unlike US stuff, which, well, does. Just to confuse everyone though, RTE here still refer to their "new season" for any upcoming shows due in the next few months. But yeah, that's basically it. Jansz would be right in terming a serial a mini-series; more or less the same thing, except perhaps a mini-series might be picked up and made into a full series (thus acquiring seasons) whereas a serial would not. It would be self-contained, with usually no scope for any continuation. The story would finish in the last episode, and there would generally be no loose ends to be tied up. Any clearer? No? Sod ya then! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

08-25-2012, 03:48 PM	#1369 (permalink)
debaserr eat the masters Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 5,470	This season of Louie has been hit or miss to the extreme. __________________ Last.FM

08-26-2012, 07:52 AM	#1370 (permalink)
Mojo Melancholia Eternally Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: England Posts: 5,018	It always made sense to me that there was a difference between a season and a series. You have to keep in mind that in the UK the TV industry is very different. For a start a show has a good chance of being able to be made to its completion here. Not to say we dont cancel stuff but its nothing like it is over there. We also dont have a show produce over 20 episodes a year and schedule it to come back year on year. We usually make somewhere between 6 and 12 episodes and in most cases the entire run of that would last for 6 to 12 weeks. We make shorter 'series' and dont interrupt the run rather than dragging it out over the course of a 'season' (or two) and then having breaks every few weeks where people either forget about it in the meantime or fans of it are forced to wait a considerable length of time just to see what happens next. I think thats why shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Soprano's used 'series' instead of 'season', because they were shorter and, being on HBO, didnt have to be subject to a lot of the same crap and could have their show air consistently week after week. __________________ Last.FM \| Echoes and Dust