Tropes about series and sequels, and their quality and trends. This is specifically designed to look at the series as a whole and its progression, rather than individual episodes or entries.
Not to be confused with Live-Action TV Tropes.
Tropes:
- Abandoned Catchphrase: A character has a catchphrase early on, only for it to fall out of favor.
- Accidental Downer Ending: A work ends on a down note with hints and promises that it will be continued, but it does not.
- Anachronic Order: A series' installments are deliberately released in an order different from when the events chronologically occur.
- Ascended Fridge Horror: Audiences' concerns on what could potentially be happening in the work based on what the actual work only implies becomes real canon.
- Breaking Old Trends: A series has been using a specific trope multiple times, only for it to fall out later.
- Cerebus Rollercoaster: A work constantly switches between Comedy, Dramedy, and Drama.
- Cliffhanger Wall: A long-running franchise follows up an installment ending with a Sequel Hook by doing several prequels and interquels instead, leaving the overall timeline on a cliffhanger.
- Cut Short: The series ends without a proper conclusion to the story.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The early episodes of a series are vastly different than the later installments.
- End-of-Series Awareness: The final episode or installment of the series actually has the characters acknowledge in-universe that the series has ended.
- Ensemble Cast: A series that centers on a cast of characters rather than a single protagonist.
- Finale Movie: A non-movie series has its story wrapped up in a feature-length film.
- First Installment Wins: The first installment of a series is the most well-known or considered the best.
- Formula with a Twist: A work that's Strictly Formula except for a gimmick or two.
- Franchise Codifier: An entry in the franchise with major influence on all future entries.
- Franchise-Driven Retitling: When an earlier installment in a series is given a new name based on what the overall franchise comes to be called through sequels.
- Franchise Killer: A work that has such a poor reception that it kills off any interest in the franchise.
- From the Ashes: A fictional work's ending is the starting point of a Spin-Off.
- Going Cosmic: A work begins to incorporate more philosophical and theological themes.
- Grand Finale: The final episode or installment of a series, specifically one that brings the series' story to a proper conclusion.
- Growing the Beard: The point in a series' run where it gets notably better.
- Gut Punch: A single moment that makes a work considerably darker.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode is named in the same way.
- Jumping the Shark: The point where a series is officially undergoing Seasonal Rot.
- Kudzu Plot: Many plot threads are started at once, and are not resolved for a long time, if at all.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: A long-running series' more recent updates deviate greatly from its earlier fare.
- Layout of a Season: The kinda Strictly Formula structuring of a show's seasons.
- Long Runner: TV shows, books, and other forms of media that have been around forever.
- Meet Your Early-Installment Weirdness: Characters in a Long Runner meet themselves the way they looked when the run first began.
- Myth Arc: A storyline that takes the entire series to resolve.
- Non-Indicative First Episode: The first episode is not indicative of the rest of the series' tone.
- Oddball in the Series: One game in the series which is the "odd man out" for whatever reason.
- One Cast Member per Cover: A series has a different cast member on the cover of each volume.
- Pilot Movie: A feature-length film that is intended to serve as the beginning of a television series.
- Recurring Element: Common in-world element consistent to a series or a creator.
- Revisiting the Roots: Series reboot or followup that reuses more aspects of the series' earliest entries.
- Rotating Protagonist: A series with an Ensemble Cast has each episode focus on a different character.
- Sequel First: A sequel is released in a foreign market before the first installment.
- Sequel Series: A new series that takes place after the events of the original.
- Stillborn Franchise: The movie was intended to be the first of a series, but wasn't successful enough to warrant making further installments.
- Story Arc: A storyline that takes multiple episodes to resolve.
- Strictly Formula: When a series rarely (if ever) deviates from a standard plot formula.
- Switching P.O.V.: The story is told from another character's P.O.V.
- Symbolic Cast Fadeout: A cast list that is marked throughout the story whenever a cast member dies or exit the story.
- Tone Shift: When a series goes from being comedic to dramatic, or vice versa.
- Bloodier and Gorier: A work becomes more graphically violent.
- Cerebus Syndrome: A light, comedic work becomes darker and more dramatic.
- Darker and Edgier: A work becomes darker and grittier in tone.
- Denser and Wackier: A work becomes sillier and more gag-oriented.
- Hotter and Sexier: A work adds more nudity and fanservice.
- Kinder and Cleaner: A work contains less profanity than the original.
- Lighter and Softer: A work becomes more lighthearted and kid-friendly.
- Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: A dark, dramatic work becomes more episodic and comedic.
- Ruder and Cruder: A work contains more profanity and/or inappropriate material than the original.
- Tamer and Chaster: Reducing the amount of sexual content in the work.
- Younger and Hipper: A work's characters are retooled to be younger.
- Thematic Series: A series based on themes and settings, as opposed to a specific narrative.
- Torch the Franchise and Run: The creator doesn't want anyone to continue the series without them having a say in it, so they deliberately end the series in a way that it is impossible to continue the story further, often by killing off all or most of the main characters.
- Unfinished Episode: A television series has an episode that gets scrapped before production could be finished.
- Wham Episode: An episode that permanently changes the status quo, shocking the viewership.
- Mid-Season Twist: A Wham Episode that happens midway through the season.
