Genre Analysis

There can be similar formulas when it comes to making a TV show of many kinds. You can often get the same type of show in the end, even if parts of it are always different. I thought that I would do a bit of an analysis on some of these shows in this blog post.

Work place comedy: One of the three most common types of comedies, all of the humor seems to relate to what comes on at the work place as most of the show is set there, even if parts of it are not seen in order to set up other plot points. The relationships with the co-workers are often friendships and often border romantic in some cases. It can run the risk of being predictable in some ways as you often see the characters briefly fired and then rehired in the same episode or shortly later. Romances are often taboo in some ways, but always allowed in the end. Many parts never change.

Family based comedy: Basically, what makes this typical plot of this one is that the show revolves around a family even if others might be seen in the cast at times. Often, the kids are in school, be it grade school or high school or even college. There are times that the family members are all adults, but this does not happen often in the show. Normally there is an antagonist relationship between at least two of the characters in the end, but this is not always the case. Often there are life lessons in some cases and the romances with the characters can last a while, but almost never last until the end of the show with some notable exceptions.

Friends based comedy: These shows are always about a group of friends that have known each other for some time at the start of the show with the possible exception of a new person at the start of the show who often stays for the whole show. Sometimes the cast changes, but it often doesn’t depending on how long the show lasts. The people might have married couples here and there, but what is often known is that romance is certain to happen between the friends on the show. Often there can be issues with some of the people on the show that can even last for a while, but they tend to come around at some point in the end.

Courtroom drama: There’s not too much to say about this outside of the obvious plot of these. There are always people seeking to find answers to legal questions and it can often be based on the crime and not on the characters themselves. This is not always the case, but is often the issue with it. There is not much else to say about it as some shows make it more likely that one side will always win and others will make it more widespread for some of these cases.

Medical drama: It is quite clear that the doctors are always the same and will treat the patients that show up in one episode or another. You would not see that much outside of the drama in some cases. One of the almost certain part of these shows are the doctors hooking up with each other that we see from time to time and it can be quite flawed making us wonder who is sleeping with who. But this can be quite interesting as it isn’t about seeking justice for people who were victims of crimes but about treating those who are injured, sick, or otherwise need help.

Crime or cop based drama: One of the most common and typical shows makes you see those on the show try to solve crimes, typically murders, but sometimes other ones instead. Who killed this person and why were they killed? That is what people need to find out. Often, you see the crimes solved on this show taking up the main focus and it isn’t always about the characters in the end.

Reality competition: Widely mocked by some and often ignored by many, there are devoted fans of these shows. Often accused of being rigged or otherwise fake in some way, they can’t due to the quiz bowl scandals that prevent such a thing from happening. There can be a sense of sameness on these shows as it can be part to tell some of the seasons apart from each other in the end. But they are always about some people trying to win a competition.

Supposed reality documentary: With no competition going on with these shows, you can know for sure that these are not real in any way as most of the drama is made up for entertainment purposes. They don’t even care who knows if the show is scripted or who cares. Some watch it as a result. Many of the previous section that I just mention make sure people know the differences. As a fan of Survivor, I would never compare it to The Real Housewives series even if both are said to be reality shows.

True crime show: Be it 48 Hours, Dateline, 20/20, or something else like it, you see people who talk about crimes in reality and how they were solved, if such a solution exists, or just about the crime. That is what often makes it annoying: not all of the cases shown have an ending or final result. I try to avoid them often unless they focus on kidnappings or missing person dramas as I just don’t really want to see some of what they do or otherwise cover in the end.

Soap opera: While some primetime versions of this exist, I’m talking about the daytime shows were there are so many crazy things happening, the show never really ends unless or until it does, and they often recast characters with other actors. Another thing notable is the number of deaths, including the onscreen deaths, that turn out to be fake in the end as people often come back from the dead for a whole assortment of various reasons.

Superhero shows: Not always common, these are often based off of comic books, but this is not always the case. These shows are perhaps the only shows more notorious than soap operas for dead people coming back in some way, as there is often a good explanation for it in the end that makes sense in the world of the show in the end. There is often a villain of the week, but this is not always the case as there can be a lot of different things going on in the show.

There’s not much else to say about these shows that hasn’t already been said so I will end this post here and let you go for today. I hope that you liked my thoughts on different genres that you often see on the shows of today, even if I could have included more.