Activity 3.10

 For this assignment, I am supposed to choose a long-form TV drama and answer questions. This will help deepen my understanding of story narratives/ arcs and what attracts audiences to these dramas. For this assignment. I am choosing to analyze Shameless.  

1. In this show, the main story arc occurs at the beginning of every season and lasts through its entirety. However, there are new conflicts in every episode that alter/ contribute to the story arc.  
2. No, the arcs do not follow Todorov's theory. Within this show we are already well accustomed to the characters and a large event occurs causing a disequilibrium. However, there is rarely a solution to fix the problem at the end of these arcs as a new problem is always arising.  
3. Flash backs are used at the beginning of each scene, and the characters say, “here is what you missed on shameless”. Then they pick up from what they last showed from the previous episode.  
4. Main characters such as the dad “Frank Gallagher”, and the mom “Monica Gallagher”, are always causing problems that have lasting effects on their children. This continuously affects the family and contributes to the idea that in this show, the roles are reversed. The children act more maturely and take care of the parents rather than the parents caring for their children.