Dramatic programming is television content that is scripted and (normally) fictional. This excludes, for example, sports, news, reality and game shows, stand-up comedy and variety shows. Also, by convention, the term is not generally usually used for situation comedy or soap opera. The term is used more in the Commonwealth of Nations countries than the United States. NEWS is the abbreviation of North,East,West,South. ... Reality television is a genre of television programming in which the fortunes of real life people (as opposed to fictional characters played by actors) are followed. ... A game show involves members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ... A stand-up or stand-up comic is someone that performs comedy in an informal way, i. ... A variety show is a show with a variety of acts, often including music and comedy skits, especially on television. ... A situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... The Commonwealth of Nations (CN), usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, the majority of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom. ...

Most dramatic programming for TV falls within other standard categories such as miniseries, made-for-TV movies or certain rather circumscribed dramatic genres. A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... A television movie (also TV movie, TV-movie, made-for-TV movie, etc. ...

Some examples of BBC dramatic programming would be the oft-rebroadcast miniseries The Six Wives of Henry VIII or the ongoing Masterpiece Theatre. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than £4 billion. ... The Six Wives of Henry VIII was a series of six teleplays produced by the BBC and first transmitted between 1 January and 5 February 1970. ... Masterpiece Theatre is a long-running television series produced by WGBH which premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. ...

See also

• Dramedy
• BBC television drama
• TV series (China)
• Japanese drama
• Korean drama