Serial:
1. Film usage (Theatrical serial). A type of "short subject" film which was characterized principally by the episodic development of a story which was presented in installments over a period of several weeks. The serial engaged audience interest in a hero or heroine whose exploits reached an unresolved crisis at the end of each episode. The predominant style of the serial was melodrama. Serials remained popular with motion-picture audiences until production of them ceased in the early 1950s.
2. Television usage (Television serial). A group of programs with storyline continued from episode to episode.
3. Library usage. A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals; newspapers; annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc., of societies; and numbered monographic series.
See also: