List of nonlinear narrative television series

Nonlinear narrative is a storytelling technique in which the events are depicted, for example, out of chronological order, or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions, flashbacks, flashforwards or narrating another story inside the main plot-line.

In television, there are several examples of works that use this kind of narrative, although not all of them use it in the same way. In spite of it being more commonly used on dramas, it can also found on comedies.

This technique is used for different purposes, such as serving as a narrative hook, to mimic human memory or to explore the past of the story without leaving its present completely aside. In addition, not all television series use this technique in the same extent; some of them use it only in certain episodes, e.g. Fringe, others only in certain seasons, e.g. Breaking Bad, while others do throughout their entire run, e.g. Lost.

1950s

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
1959―1963	The Untouchables	Crime drama	ABC

1990s

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
1990―1991	Twin Peaks	Drama	ABC		[1]

2000s

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2000―2006	Malcolm in the Middle	Comedy	Fox	Mainly through the use of flashbacks, especially episodes Flashback and Bowling
2000―2004	Coupling	Comedy	BBC Two
2002	Boomtown	Action-drama	NBC
2002	Firefly	Science fiction	Fox	Only episode Out of Gas
2003―2006 2013―present	Arrested Development	Comedy	Fox (season 1-3) Netflix (season 4-present)	Especially season 4	[2]
2004―2010	Lost	Drama	ABC		[3][4]
2005―2014	How I Met Your Mother	Comedy	CBS		[4]
2005―present	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Comedy	FX, FXX	Only in certain episodes, such as Who Pooped the Bed?, Frank's Brother and How Mac Got Fat
2006―2013	30 Rock	Comedy	NBC	Mainly through the use of flashbacks and smash cuts.
2006―2010	Heroes	Drama	NBC
2007―2012	Damages	Drama	FX		[4]
2008―2013	Breaking Bad	Drama	AMC	Only Pilot, season 2 and season 5	[5]
2008―2013	Fringe	Science fiction	Fox	Only certain episodes, such as Peter and Subject 13
2009―2010	FlashForward	Drama	ABC
2009―present	The Vampire Diaries	Fantasy drama	The CW
2009―2015	Parks and Recreation	Comedy	NBC	Only episodes Leslie and Ron and One Last Ride

2010s

2010

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2010―2014	Boardwalk Empire	Period drama	HBO	Only episode Under God's Power She Flourishes and season 5
2010	The Event	Science fiction	NBC		[4]
2010―present	The Walking Dead	Horror drama	AMC		[6]
2010―present	Pretty Little Liars	Teen drama	ABC Family

2011

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2011―present	American Horror Story	Horror drama	FX	Flashbacks and dream immersions
2011―present	Homeland	Drama	Showtime	Only certain episodes, such as Crossfire and All About Allison.
2011―present	New Girl	Comedy	Fox	Mainly though the use of flashbacks
2011―present	Shameless (U.S.)	Comedy-drama	Showtime	Only episode A Night to Remem... Wait, What?
2011―present	Person of Interest	Science fiction	CBS
2011―present	Once Upon a Time	Fantasy drama	ABC		[4]

2012

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2012	Alcatraz	Science fiction	Fox	Only through the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards
2012―present	Arrow	Superhero	The CW	Mainly through the use of flashbacks	[4]
2012―2014	Revolution	Science fiction	NBC
2012	The Returned	Drama	Canal+

2013

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2013―2014	Once Upon a Time in Wonderland	Fantasy drama	ABC
2013	Deception	Soap opera	NBC
2013―2015	Hannibal	Drama	NBC	Especially season 3	[7]
2013	Golden Boy	Drama	NBC
2013―present	Orphan Black	Science fiction	BBC America	Especially Season 4
2013―present	Orange Is the New Black	Comedy-drama	Netflix	Mainly through the use of flashbacks
2013―present	The Originals	Fantasy drama	The CW
2013―present	Ray Donovan	Drama	Showtime

2014

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2014―present	The 100	Science fiction	The CW	Mainly through the use of flashbacks
2014―present	BoJack Horseman	Adult animation	Netflix	Mainly through the use of flashbacks and dream immersions
2014―present	Black-ish	Comedy	ABC	Mainly though the use of flashbacks
2014―present	Gotham	Crime-drama	Fox	Only certain episodes, such as Spirit of the Goat
2014―2016	Penny Dreadful	Drama	Showtiime	Only episodes Closer Than Sisters, The Nightcomers and A Blade of Grass
2014―present	The Affair	Drama	Showtime	Using unreliable narrators, the same events are revisited twice, according to the perception of each character	[8]
2014―present	True Detective	Drama	HBO	Especially season 1
2014―present	How to Get Away with Murder	Drama	ABC	In media res narrative
2014―present	The Flash	Superhero	The CW	Time travel, parallel timelines and flashbacks
2014	The Honourable Woman	Political-spy thriller	BBC Two
2014	Manhattan Love Story	Romantic comedy	ABC
2014―present	The Missing	Drama	BBC One
2014―present	The Strain	Horror drama	FX	Mainly through the use of flashbacks
2014―present	The Leftovers	Drama	HBO	Through the use of dream immersions and flashbacks
2014―present	Transparent	Comedy-drama	Amazon	Only episode Best New Girl
2014―2015	A to Z	Comedy	NBC
2014―2015	Forever	Drama	ABC	Mainly through the use of flashbacks

2015

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2015―present	Aquarius	Period drama	NBC	Through the use of flashbacks and dream immersions
2015―present	Wayward Pines	Drama	Fox	Mainly through the use of flashbacks	[9]
2015	Connected	Documentary	AOL On
2015―present	12 Monkeys	Science fiction	Syfy	Time travel
2015―present	American Crime	Drama	ABC
2015―present	Bloodline	Drama	Netflix	Flashforwards used as a narrative hook
2015―present	Better Call Saul	Drama	AMC	Only episode Marco
2015―present	Daredevil	Superhero	Netflix	Mainly through the use of flashbacks	[10]
2015―present	Marvel's Jessica Jones	Superhero	Netflix	Through the use of flashbacks and dream immersions
2015―present	Master of None	Comedy	Netflix	Through the use of flashbacks
2015―present	Grace and Frankie	Comedy	Netflix	Only episodes The Fall and The Elevator
2015―present	Fresh Off the Boat	Comedy	ABC	Only through the use of flashbacks
2015―present	Fear the Walking Dead	horror-drama	AMC	Only episode Blood in the Streets
2015―present	Humans	Science fiction	Channel 4 and AMC	Only through the use of flashbacks
2015―present	Mr. Robot	Drama	USA Network	Through the use of dream immersions	[11]
2015―present	Narcos	Drama	Netflix
2015―present	Sense8	Science fiction	Netflix	Only certain episodes, such as I Can't Leave Her	[12]
2015	The Whispers	Science fiction	ABC
2015―present	Quantico	Drama	ABC	In media res	[13]
2015	You, Me and the Apocalypse	Comedy-drama	Sky 1 and NBC

2016

Year	Title	Genre	Distributor	Notes	Ref
2016	11.22.63	Science fiction	Hulu	Time travel
2016	The Night Manager	Espionage drama	BBC One, AMC
2016―present	American Crime Story	Crime drama	FX
2016―present	Legends of Tomorrow	Superhero	The CW	Time travel
2016	Vinyl	Drama	HBO	Mainly through the use of flashbacks and dream immersions
2016	Damien	Drama	A&E
2016	The Real O'Neals	Comedy	ABC
2016	The Family	Drama	ABC
2016―present	Billions	Drama	Showtime	Only episode Quality of Life
2016―present	The Path	Drama	Hulu	Mainly through the use of flashbacks and dream immersions
2016	Containment	Drama	The CW
2016―present	Lady Dynamite	Dark comedy	Netflix	This series features three narrative times, two different storylines in the past and one in the present	[14]
2016―present	Outcast	Drama	Cinemax	Mainly through the use of flashbacks	[15]
2016―present	Preacher	Drama	AMC	Mainly through the use of flashbacks	[16]
2016―present	Stranger Things	Drama	Netflix	Mainly through the use of flashbacks

See also

• Nonlinear narrative in television
• List of nonlinear narrative films

External links

• Anachronic Order in Television. TV Tropes.

References

1. "Twin Peaks fans party on as show plots return to weird heart of America". The Guardian. Retrieved on September 30, 2015
2. Stanhope, Kate. "Arrested Development Creator on New Episodes, Surprises: "We Want to Reward the Fans"" TV Guide. Retrieved on October 5, 2015.
3. "Out of Order: A discussion of nonlinear narrative structure". Retrieved on August 20, 2015
4. "Anachronic Order on TV". TV Tropes. Retrieved of August 20, 2015.
5. Poniewozik, James. "Review of Breaking Bad Season 5 premiere, "Live Free or Die" Time. Retrieved on October 5, 2015. "
6. Prudom, Laura (2015-10-12). "'The Walking Dead' Season Premiere Recap: The Long and Winding Road". Variety. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
7. "'Hannibal' Review "Digestivo"". Entertainment Monthly. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
8. Goodman, Tim. "'The Affair' Season 2: TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on October 6, 2015.
9. Dowling, Amber. "Wayward Pines: “The Truth” Review. IGN. Retrieved on October 10, 2015.
10. Steinbeiser, Andrew. "Review: Daredevil Will Heighten Your Senses (Spoiler Free)" Comicbook.com. Retrieved on October 6, 2015.
11. "'Mr. Robot' Recap: Success Through Playing Audiences Against Their Own Expectation". Forbes. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
12. Farley, Michael. "What's going on?: The Wachowskis' globe-trotting, empathetic 'Sense8'". City Paper. Retrieved on October 6, 2015.
13. "Review: ‘Quantico’ Flips Between Jousting F.B.I. Recruits and a Terrorist Attack". The New York Times. Retrieved on September 30, 2015
14. "Review: 'Lady Dynamite' Finds Surreal Humor in Mental Illness". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
15. "'Outcast' Review: Robert Kirkman's Cinemax Possession Series Is a Frustrating Tease". The Wrap. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
16. "'Preacher': What That That Massive Comic Book Cameo Means Moving Forward". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 June 2016.