INTRODUCTION TO TV DRAMA
Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions to show your comprehensive knowledge of the television drama genre:
What is serial television drama? Write your own definition.
A tv drama that is organised into different parts and tells a story over a period of time.
List five of the TV dramas discussed in the history of the genre on page 1 of the factsheet. How has the genre evolved over time?
- The avengers
- Danger man
- Minder
- The Sweeney
- Doctor who
They have become more action and mystery based.
List the sub-genres of TV drama featured in the factsheet. Come up with your own example of an existing TV drama to fit each category.
- Crime - brooklyn nine nine
- Medical - Chicago Med
- Period - Bridgerton
- Sci-fi - Stranger Things
- Family - Modern Family
- Teen - Icarly
- Superhero - the spectacular spider man
- Romance - YOU
- Spoofs - the fresh prince of bel air
Why is setting so important for TV drama?
Setting is important because it can quickly establish a situation or mood. It can help the audience to understand the actions and emotional lives of the characters in the story.
TV Dramas typically use archetypal characters as the framework. The Audience recognise the characters and enjoy being able to relate to them or perhaps form a intrapersonal relationship with them.
What is a multi-strand narrative? Give an example of a TV drama that features a multi-strand narrative.
A multi strand narrative is when a drama has multiple stories that all occur at the same time, revolving around a group of characters. Examples of this would be Breaking bad and outer banks.
What is a cold opening?
Drama producers work in a competitive, commercial atmosphere where each episode must captivate and keep their audience. As a result, they use a preview at the start of the video to draw in audiences and keep them interested. This is also known as a "cold opening" and is used to create mystery or intrigue prior to the title sequence or the initial commercial.
How can Todorov's theory of equilibrium be applied to TV drama serials?
The episodes the drama can feature peace to begin with then lead it to disequilibrium, which then leads for the ending of the season restoring the equilibrium at the end of the episode or for the upcoming season.
What is the typical form for TV dramas and how are the programmes typically distributed to an audience?
In the UK and US shows are usually between 30-45 min long with the rest being taken up by adverts.
How have subscription channels (such as HBO) and streaming services (such as Netflix and Amazon Prime) changed the form and content of TV dramas?
Because they are not subject to the same restrictions, drama serials on pay-cable channels like HBO, AMC, and Showtime can contain a lot more mature and difficult material. Additionally, because they are not required to follow strict timings, cable channels and services like Netflix and Amazon Prime frequently commission shorter runs. The tv dramas are accessible anywhere and anytime therefore increasing the amount of views.
Choose a TV drama and do your own analysis of it using the SETTING / CHARACTERS / NARRATIVE / FORM headings as featured on page 3 of the factsheet.
The series Outer Banks which has 3 seasons and each episode is 42-79 mins long follows a tight-knit group of local teens (the “Pogues”) in the beach vacation destination of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. When a hurricane kills the power for the summer season, it sets off a chain of illicit events that force the friends to make life-altering decisions. It is an adventure-mystery saga where the pogues are on a hunt for a long-lost treasure worth $400 million.
How might the TV drama genre evolve in future?
As the film industry moves towards a model of making only high or low budget films, television drama is filling the void vacated by the mid- budget movie (which is much harder to turn a profit on). As Hollywood concentrates on superheroes, special effects and high octane action, many film actors are turning to television to play ‘difficult’, often morally ambiguous, characters in more complex and challenging narratives.
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