We are now living in the golden era of television. The term "golden era" is what television and media critics call the collection of TV shows from the late 1990s to present day. Commercial television shows have existed since the early 20th century, but as Jason Mitchell notes in his book Complex TV, technological development in the late 1990s led to three drastic changes in television. First, TV shows started to look better and showcase more interesting camera work. Second, the growth of more available channels led to an increase in the number of shows being produced. And third, technology allowed users to record, pause, and rewind the shows they were watching. Together, these three changes ushered in the golden era of television, allowing TV shows to tell more complex stories.
There isn't a clear-cut division between a complex plot and a simple one, but in general, simple plots exist in shows where every episode begins as if the one before it hasn't happened (known as stand-alone episodes). Complex plots, on the other hand, exist in shows where each episode depends on what happens before (known as serialized episodes).

License information: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
MPAA: G
Go to source: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/can-television-be-considered-literature-and-taught-in-english-classes