The combination of Serial and Episodic programming into the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

Sitcoms traditionally fall under three basic features, series, serial and episodic.  I will be focusing on how some traditional sitcoms fall under both a serial and an episodic programming.  Episodic programming is a style in which each show is its own separate entity, meaning that jokes and storylines from the previous episode tend to not carry over to the current one.  A serial programming style is the midpoint between episodic and series sitcom's.  If you turned on a random episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" you would be able to laugh to just as many jokes as the person who has seen every episode of the show to that point and you would be able to grasp the general plot of what was happening.

The sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (TFP) incorporates both a serial and an episodic style into its episodes.  Every episode of TFP does not progress the series as a whole all that much.  It is the occasional episodes where Will Smith's mom comes to town or he breaks up with his girlfriend Lisa that help continue the serial aspect of the show. The show is designed for every viewer, from the weekly to the occasional one.  The famous introduction song that every episode of TFP opens up with is a prime example of how this show is both serial and episodic.  It gives the viewer a premise as to how Will got to be where he is all the while telling nothing about the show as a whole on an episodic basis.  This style of programming has proved to work time and time again with TFP being a prime example.