Episode

For other uses, see Episode (disambiguation).

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). 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. An episode is to a sequence as a chapter is to a book. Modern series episodes typically last 20 to 50 minutes in length.

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.

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

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

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

• Serial (radio and television)
• List of most-watched television episodes