The act of playing with story structure, wherein the filmmaker shifts our focus periodically from one to another of several intertwining threads of story. Often it’s not until the end of the movie that we realize that these stories were shaping one big yarn.
Some great examples:
and, definitively:
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PARTY OF FIVE DISEASE:
A progressive, degenerative condition typically seen in dramas. Characters find themselves struggling against a continuous stream of ever-worsening hardships. Cause(s): ratings-driven producing, episodic plots centering on premise instead of character Symptoms: increased audience tolerance to character pain can lead to creative teams attempting to trump past travails with ever more ridiculous adversities. Prognosis: Might go unnoticed for as many as several years, all the while eating away at the initial premise of a show |
MOONLIGHTING DISEASE:
A debilitating, sudden-onset malady afflicting both comedic and dramatic television shows, typically at 4 to 5 years of age. Most often affects programs whose plotlines centered on the relationship of a male and female lead. Cause(s): Consumation of relationship, ending long-standing sexual and/or romantic tension Symptoms: Will-they-won’t-they precondition often means writer ability to form other story lines has atrophied; significant drop in ratings Prognosis: Nearly always fatal Also Known As: Who’s the Boss Disorder. |
ALLY McBEAL SYNDROME:
Pathology wherein a protagonist becomes annoying or disinteresting, but cannot be removed from a show because his/her name is in the title. Common Mistreatment: Producers seek the short-term high of quirky new characters, forsaking responsibility to existing ones. Unfortunately, these foreign bodies displace primary characters, attaching themselves to the portion of the brain where primary characters would normally bond. In severe cases, chronic appearance of fresh faces leads to series regular positions. Clinical Cases: Grey’s Anatomy, Dawson’s Creek |
