Submitted by Hammerfist11 t3_xusvop in television
There are basically 2 types:
There's the shows that are slow, detailed and drawn out. These shows are not necessarily telling a long story but instead the writing focuses a lot on the little details regardless of whether their inclusion is necessary and regardless of how mundane they can be which is what enables the long runtime despite a short plot. They are as thorough as possible in their storytelling but as a result scenes aren't always the most meaningful and relevant to the plot. Viewers are usually intrigued by the drama between characters which is usually quite complex. This is what I like to call the traditional tv show since it's the most common type of show, examples are Breaking Bad, The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, Ozark etc.
Then there's the fast paced movie-like shows that have a genuinely long story to tell. They're straight to the point and focus mostly on things that are necessary and needed to progress the story making the events more substantial and relevant when compared to a traditional show but they also have less detail as a result of all this. Viewers are usually intrigued by the plot and character personas but the drama is generally simpler compared to traditional shows. These shows are less common. Examples are The Walking Dead, Banshee, Daredevil, Narcos, Gangs of London etc.
Edit: I forgot episodic shows, my bad. These are most commonly cop shows or comedies.
Skavau t1_iqxd4ql wrote
The third type: the procedural. Whilst the 'detailed' and 'drawn out' shows you refer to aren't fast paced, they're different to 16-24 procedurals where most stories start and resolve within the episode. The murder/case/monster of the week formula.