TV is a shared delivery system among each of the members of our society. It creates unification within a diverse group of individuals. One way TV influences its viewers is through narrative fiction. Narrative fiction can be broken down into three important aspects; serial, series, and episodic. I would like to go into detail with episodic narrative fictions. Episodic narrative fictions usually consist of a show that lasts for about a half hour. A key distinction between episodic narrative fictions and series/ serial narrative fictions is that episodic narrative fictions display issues/conflicts that occur only once in each of its episodes. In other words, you do not usually have to watch a certain previous episode in order to figure out what is happening in the present episode you are watching. Things do not carry over. More importantly episodic narrative fictions contain TV sitcoms. A sitcom is short for “situation comedy.” This means sitcoms are TV shows that have reoccurring settings and characters in order to maintain the same “situation” in each of its episodes. The interactions among characters in these situations are comedic.
One specific characteristic of TV sitcoms in which I find important is the modified three-act structure. A three-act structure consists of an introduction to main characters. Often the main protagonist is introduced in the first act of the episode. The second act which is the longest segment of the show deals with a main conflict that comes about, and the protagonist in this act tries to come up with ways to resolve the conflict he/she is dealing with. The third and final act of the sitcom is the final resolution to the conflict. The three-act structure is mainly used as a way to maintain the attention of its viewers from one episode to the next. Comedic dialogue is often used between each of the characters during the progression of the three-act structure in each episode. The three-act structure also allows a TV sitcom to not have episodes that are too cumulative since a new conflict is usually introduced in each separate episode.
For example, consider the TV sitcom The Office. The Office displays the everyday scenarios that could occur in an office work setting. A three-act structure outlines each of its episodes. For instance, one episode of The Office covers a series of different problems some of the main characters are dealing with. Michael, who is the regional manager of their company, accidently hits one of his employees on the way to work. Another character, Dwight, informed another employee that he had to kill her cat since it was suffering. Michael then assumed that his office was cursed due to the several problems occurring all at once. As a resolution to his problem, Michael decided to organize a charity fun run in order to raise awareness on the dangers of rabies. In the end of the episode Michael is forgiven by the employee he sent to the hospital. The three-act structure used in this specific sitcom helps attract viewers by resembling the lives of typical office employees, and the problems they face.
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