Re: The Soprano's
Actually, soap operas are different from other episodic shows because of its seriality.
Here's a great description by a guy named Robert Allen, and it applies to most TV, regardless if the show is on once a week or every weekday:
"The defining quality of the soap opera form is its seriality. A serial narrative is a story told through a series of individual, narratively linked installments. Unlike episodic television programs, in which there is no narrative linkage between episodes and each episode tells a more or less self-contained story, the viewer's understanding of and pleasure in any given serial installment is predicated, to some degree, upon his or her knowledge of what has happened in previous episodes. Furthermore, each serial episode always leaves narrative loose ends for the next episode to take up. The viewer's relationship with serial characters is also different from those in episodic television. In the latter, characters cannot undergo changes that transcend any given episode, and they seldom reference events from previous episodes. Serial characters do change across episodes (they age and even die), and they possess both histories and memories. Serial television is not merely narratively segmented, its episodes are designed to be parceled out in regular installments, so that both the telling of the serial story and its reception by viewers is institutionally regulated."
There's nothing wrong with soaps, but shows like NYPD Blue, 24, and the Sopranos are most certainly soap operas. A good counterpoint show is Law & Order. Occasionally there are references to past characters and such, but each episode can stand on it's own without relying on any history.
It's a matter of genre over episode content.
J.
__________________
Josh
"You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit." - Harry S. Truman
Quote:
Originally Posted by buzz05232000
I only provide alcohol to girls under the age of 18, super hot and tight.
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Last edited by gregory311; 03-24-2004 at 05:58 AM.
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