My life could be a sitcom... sorta =S

I turn on the television and put one of my favorite shows, Two And A Half Men. I don't always have the chance to watch it whenever it comes on, but I do not lose much from missing a couple episodes here and there. Why? Because this show is just an example of a TV sitcom that follows an episodic plot flow that allows viewers without having any prior knowledge to watch an episode and understand and enjoy the show. 

 

One characteristic of the TV sitcoms is the tendency to lean towards an episodic nature, meaning that the sitcom is separated into episodes, and each episode, which usually last half an hour, is for the most part independent of each other. Each episode follows a modified 3-act structure, reaching a mini-resolution in the end, which returns the "world" in the show back to normal (or at least back to how it was at the beginning of the episode). Because each episode lasts only a short amount of time, characters do not have the opportunity to experience much, if any, growth, and characters tend to fall into distinct identities with clear-cut character traits that define their roles, carrying through each episode. This allows new viewers to connect with the characters without having followed the series from the beginning. In addition, we can deduce from character's distinct traits how that character will behave in following episodes.

 TV sitcoms usually develop a cyclical/repeating pattern through their episodes. Characters, with their defined set of personality traits, will presumably encounter a conflict of some sort towards the beginning of the episode, and the episodic storyline follows the characters as they attempt to resolve the conflict so that by the end of the episode, things have returned to "normal."

In Two And A Half Men, for example, the character traits of Charlie, Alan, Jake, and Berta are clearly defined so that with each passing episode, they do not undergo any drastic growth. Throughout the seasons, Charlie has been the hedonistic, free-wheeling bachelor brother to the up-tight, divorced doctor, Alan, who moved into Charlie's Malibu home with his son, Jake, whose character identity reflects that he is clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed, while Berta has been the bitingly sarcastic housekeeper. These traits are the same in each episode and have not changed significantly over the seven seasons that the show has run since 2003. They are easily recognizable characters in each episode, so regardless of any prior knowledge of the show, it is easy to pick up for new viewers. The show is organized so that episodes do not need to be watched in chronological order, which is convenient in today's society of on-the-go TV watchers who record episodes when they cannot be home to watch them when they come on. Each episode usually consists of Charlie getting into some sort of predicament, while Alan tries his best to keep Jake from engaging in any dangerous or dumb activities, all the while, Berta inputs her sarcastic comments. By the end of each episode, the conflict is usually resolved, whether that means Charlie got caught and he managed to get away with whatever he did, and the show reverts back to how the episode began.