Serial (radio and television)
In television and radio programming, a serial has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from traditional episodic television that relies on more stand-alone episodes. Worldwide, the soap opera is the most prominent form of serial dramatic programming.
Drama theory
A drama unfolds through "episodes" in which "characters" interact. The episode is a period of "preplay communication" between characters who, after communicating, act as players in a game that's constructed through the dialogue between them. The action that follows the episode is the playing out of this game; it sets up the next episode. Most drama-theoretic terminology is derived from a theatrical model applied to real life interactions; thus, an episode goes through phases of "scene-setting", "build-up", "climax" and "decision". This is followed by "denouement", which is the action that sets up the next episode. The term 'drama theory' and the use of theatrical terminology is justified by the fact that the theory applies to stage plays and fictional plots as well as to politics, war, business, personal and community relations, psychology, history and other kinds of human interaction. It was applied to help with the structuring of Prisoner's Dilemma, a West End play by David Edgar about the problems of peace-keeping.
In the build-up phase of an episode, the characters exchange ideas and opinions in some form or another and try to advocate their preferred "position" – the game outcome that they are hoping to see realised. The position each character takes may be influenced by others' positions. Each character also presents a "fallback" or "stated intention". This is the action (i.e., individual strategy) a character says it will implement if current positions and stated intentions do not change. Taken together, the stated intentions form what is called a "threatened future" if they contradict some character's position; if they do not – i.e., if they implement every position – they form what is called an "agreement".