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A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a pre-planned limited number of episodes. Storytelling is the ancient art of conveying events in Words Images and Sounds often by Improvisation or embellishment

Contents

Television

Although no strict rule exists which differentiate a miniseries from a "regular" series or serial there are some suggestions. Leslie Halliwell and Philip Purser argue that miniseries tend to "appear in four to six episodes of various lengths" [1] whilst Stuart Cunningham defines them as, "a limited run program of more than two and less than the thirteen part season or half season block associated with serial or series programming. "[2]

One other important aspect, as Francis Wheen argues is that, "Both soap operas and primetime series cannot afford to allow their leading characters to develop, since the shows are made with the intention of running indefinitely. In a miniseries on the other hand, there is a clearly defined beginning, a middle and an end, (as in a conventional play or novel) enabling characters to change, mature or die as the serial proceeds. . "[2]. Thus a series that is cancelled, or not renewed, after only a few episodes would not fall into the category of a miniseries.

In television, the format dates back to 1974, beginning with QB VII, which starred Anthony Hopkins. QB VII by Leon Uris was a best seller published in 1970 This four-part novel highlights the events leading to a life-shattering libel trial in the United Kingdom Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937 is a Welsh Film, stage and Television Actor. Following this initial NBC foray, other networks considered the possibilities of using miniseries as a way to bring other novels to the screen. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rich Man, Poor Man, based on the novel by Irwin Shaw, was broadcast in twelve one-hour episodes by ABC, and the success of the format had been proven. Rich Man Poor Man was a 1976 American Television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 1000pm ET/PT on Monday night for twelve Irwin Shaw ( February 27 1913 &ndash May 16 1984) was an American playwright screenwriter and novelist who was also a highly regarded short The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network.

Alex Haley's Roots in 1977 can fairly be called the first blockbuster success of the format. Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11 1921–February 10 1992 was an American Writer. Roots is a 1977 American television Miniseries based on Alex Haley 's work Roots The Saga of an American Family This article refers to the theatrical slang term for other uses see Blockbuster (disambiguation. Its success in the USA was partly due to its schedule: the twelve hours were split into eight episodes broadcast on consecutive nights, resulting in a finale with a 71 percent share of the audience and 130 million viewers, which at the time was the highest rated TV program of all-time. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the TV Guide (April 11-April 17, 1987) called Jesus of Nazareth "the best miniseries of all time" and "unparalleled television. TV Guide is the name of a North American weekly magazine about television programming Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Jesus of Nazareth is a six-hour long Anglo - Italian Television Miniseries of the birth life death and resurrection of Jesus "

In British television, the term "miniseries" is almost never used, except in reference to American imports. British television broadcasting started in 1936 and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media through which there are up to 600 channels The term serial is preferred for short-run British television drama, which has been a staple of UK schedules since the early 1950s when serials such as The Quatermass Experiment (1953) established the popularity of the form. Serials in Television and Radio are series often in a weekly Prime time slot that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a serial fashion The Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by "Miniseries" is, however, used as a kind of exonym for non-miniseries British TV series in the United States, where the typical season length of six to thirteen episodes is considered short. An exonym (from Greek el ἔξω exo = out el ὄνομα onoma = name is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local The United States of America —commonly referred to as the


Comic books

Main article: Limited series
See also: List of limited series

A miniseries or limited series is a common format for comic books, as it allows creators to tell a single specific story focusing on a character or set of characters, whether that story stands alone (Watchmen), or is heavily interlinked with other events in the same fictional universe (Civil War). A limited series is a term originated by Marvel Comics referring to a Comic book series with a set number of issues In Comic books (primarily American comic books, a Limited series is a title given to a comic book series which in intended from the outset to have a finite A limited series is a term originated by Marvel Comics referring to a Comic book series with a set number of issues A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Watchmen is a twelve-issue Comic book Limited series written by Alan Moore, and illustrated by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins Two to twelve issues is the usual length for a comic book miniseries (a story contained in a single issue is termed a one-shot). In the American Comic book industry the term one-shot is used to denote a pilot comic or a stand-alone story created to last as one issue 52 is arguably the longest comic book miniseries to have been planned, as it was intended to last for fifty-two weekly issues. The alternative is an ongoing series. Ongoing series, sometimes shortened as the Noun ongoing, is a term referring to a comic book series that is intended to continue indefinitely

Comic book series intended from the beginning to tell a complete story can become longer still, for example Sandman, which lasted 75 issues; these are not considered miniseries, partly because of their size and partly because no fixed number of issues is announced at the beginning. The Sandman is a Comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published in the United States by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo Similar to a canceled television series, a series intended to be ongoing, but which is discontinued after a dozen or fewer issues (usually due to poor sales), is not considered a miniseries, though they are sometimes described as such by the publisher after the cancellation is announced.

See also


References

  1. ^ Halliwell, Leslie, and Peter Purser, Halliwell's Television Companion, London: Paladin, 1987
  2. ^ a b Stuart Cunningham, "Miniseries", Museum of Broadcast Communication web site

External links

Dictionary

miniseries

-noun

  1. A television series with a small number of episodes not intended to last a complete season.
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