An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic, comedic, or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption.

Etymology

The noun episode is derived from the Greek term epeisodion (Ancient Greek: ἐπεισόδιον).[1] It is abbreviated as ep (plural eps).

Taxonomy

An episode is also a narrative unit within a continuous larger dramatic work. It is frequently used to describe units of television or radio series that are broadcast separately in order to form one longer series.[2] An episode is to a sequence as a chapter is to a book. Modern series episodes typically last 20 to 50 minutes in length.[3]

Narrative sub-units

Narrative sub-units of episodes are called segments, bounded by interstitials, such as commercials (Radio advertisements and Television advertisements), continuity announcements, or other segments not direct continuations of the prior segment.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Carpool Karaoke is a television show segment that is now a spin-off television series.[14]

Stacking a show is a phrase newscast broadcasters use to describe putting segments together for a newscast episode.[15]

Other contexts

The noun episode can also refer to a part of a subject, such as an "episode of life" or an "episode of drama".

See also

Look up episode in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. "Episode (defined)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018.
  2. "Episode (definition and synonyms)". Macmillan Dictionary. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021.
  3. Walch, Rob; Lafferty, Mur (22 May 2006). Tricks of the Podcasting Masters. Que Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 9780789735744. episode length 20–40 minutes
  4. "A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Make a TV Show". Teleprompter.
  5. Fonseca, Catherine. "Chicago Citation Style Guide: TV & Video (Web)". Research Guides. Libraries, West Virginia University.
  6. "AirTalk". LAist.
  7. "Common Ground with Jane Whitney". pbs.org.
  8. "The Colt Balok show evolves; adds new segment 'Game Changer'". Gallup Sun. Gallup, New Mexico: Gallup Sun Publishing.
  9. "Hit TV show 'Pawn Stars' to air segment on West Chester visit". Daily Local. MediaNews Group. 27 October 2022.
  10. "Watch The Talk: Save the Day #11 Segment - Full show on CBS". CBS .com. 20 December 2024.
  11. "podcast episodes". Science Friday. NPR. 17 April 2025.
  12. "Video: Dyke TV 1993". Sophia Smith Collection. Smith College. The half-hour weekly, nation-wide cable tv show featured a five-minute news segment covering issues relevant to lesbian lives from a lesbian perspective ...
  13. Fortner, Mitch (17 April 2025). "The Game - 4/17/25". News Radio KMAN. Full Show; Segment 1 – 2025 wing Ashton Magee decommits from K-State; Segment 2 – TE coach Luke Wells with media & TE touchdown over/under; Segment 3 – Lee Corso announces retirement; Segment 4 – Ask Us Anything;
  14. Pena, Jessica (10 March 2016). "Carpool Karaoke: CBS Shopping Series Based on James Corden Segment". TV Series Finale. Carpool Karaoke wouldn't be the first late show segment to nab its own spin-off series.
  15. "How To Stack A News Show". New York Film Academy. 21 March 2016.