#episode structure

[lonestarbabe]

Honestly the lack of actual calls they go on has been so annoying this season. I feel like in this half they’ve only gone on the one where Judd sees his friends mom the one that led to arson and the one that had the guy die in front of Marjan. Other than that it’s just personal drama which is fine but this is supposed to be a show about first responders, it’d be nice to see them....respond to something. I almost wonder if it’s because Grace isn’t at work so they couldn’t do the whole dynamic of someone at dispatch helping. But OG 911 does such amazing hilarious calls and montages of calls it’s a shame we can’t see the same with LS

It definitely changes the pace of the show, and I think it takes it somewhat away from the premise. I don’t mind that they’ve cut down some on the 9-1-1 calls for personal stories because I think you see that with 911 too BUT there’s a point when it’s like, we do need some episodes with these calls because those calls often show that what the characters are facing are bigger than themselves. The calls take extreme happenings and connect them to more universal ideas. Plus, they do allow some comedic relief and they help the show pace itself without getting too far into the “constantly throw drama at the characters” which gets exhausting and I think it detracts from the overall season as a unit. Sometimes, straying from the formula is good because it marks something special and emphasizes certain plots, but when they do it too much, it misses the point. And this is coming from me, a person who much prefers personal drama over the 911 calls (which is probably the sentiment of most people).

[floralmotif]

Slight correction from me writing about the cinematography of 12.12′s promo. *yawns* Sam and Mary are the C-Plot, not the A-Plot. The A-Plot is Kelly and Rosemary’s baby right now which... yeah, even saying it out loud holds some weight but anyway, I wrote that when I was really tired and when I re-read it, I was like “wait, no... damnit, Past Me.” Sorry if it was confusing to anyone who noticed. To clarify.  A-Plot = overarching plot of the season or whatever. B-Plot= secondary overarching plot. Usually a romance or whatever an important relationship in the show is. Usually bounces around between characters and their current relationships. In SPN it’s usually either destiel or Sam and Dean’s codependency. S12 also has Mary’s relationship with the boys thrown in and a few other ones. Basically B-Plot = relationships in shows like SPN, usually. C-Plot= This is the plot of the specific episode. It’s really obvious in MoTW episodes. There is a thing, investigate and probably defeat thing. The C-Plot is supposed to mirror the A and/or B plots to answer whatever questions with them were proposed at the beginning of the episode. So like... in 12.10: Was Cas’ decision justified? Should he think about his actions more thoroughly? What’s with Dean and Cas? What will happen when they find Kelly? By episode end, the plot of the specific episode conveniently answers or addresses those questions. 

^These are specific to tv dramas and similar, not sitcoms so much. You can find this sort of structure in similar shows like Burn Notice, White Collar, The Flash, Bones, etc. It’s also pretty true for more serial shows like Jessica Jones and Stranger Things. Watch some later Bones episodes if you want to see a really obvious version of this structure. It’s not bad, it’s just noticeable. These structures are tools, after all. They have to cram a lot of info into about 42 minutes and be in keeping with the restrictive 5-6 act structure of tv. Unless you are a Netflix show (and even if you are), the structure is kind of necessary a lot of the time.

The rest of  that breakdown should be basically accurate minus some grammatical errors... at least in terms of general theory. I can’t guarantee the breakdown is correct intention-wise since I’m not part of production but it’s in line with the rules of film anyway. 

[quantumleapanalyses]

Quantum Leap Trivia #21:

The story guidelines includes the following structure for QL episodes: -What’s the arena? (When and where’s the story taking place?) -Does the plot touch the “heroic dreamer in all of us”? -What’s the good Sam will do? What’s the “ticking clock” or jeopardy? -What’s Al’s subplot concern? -Have you used the era, juxtaposing contemporary information with earlier times? -What’s the kiss with history? (optional- missing in a lot of season 2 and 3)

[citationneeded]

The Dukes of Hazzard

The show ran for seven seasons and a total of 145 episodes. Many of the episodes followed a similar structure "out-of-town crooks pull a robbery, Duke boys blamed, spend the rest of the hour clearing their names, the General Lee flies and the squad cars crash".

Link