Long Form TV Drama

My life with the Walter boys 

    “My Life with the Walter Boys” has a couple main story arch's. The first main one is about how Jackies parents and sister died in a car accident. This results to Jackie having to move from New York City to a Colorado ranch to live with the rowdy Walter family, which has 11 boys and one girl. This huge, drastic change is hard for Jackie and the episodes show how she copes. Another story arch that coincides with Jackie is her love triangle with two of the Walter boys. Lastly, another story Arch is on one of the older Walters boys' relationships with their significant other. They go through hard times and try to plan a wedding but because of their low income they struggle to make it work. The producers were able to show these story arch's but cutting to different clips and constantly switching conversations.  

     Each story arch follows Todorov’s narrative theory. Each effect happens in chronological order and follows a cause an effect structure. There is an equilibrium where the characters are introduced, and the story's plot comes to light. This is when Jackie is forced to move to the Walter boys house and has a new “life”. The disequilibrium is where there is a series of complicated actions and a initial disruption. This is the ongoing argument between Cole Walter and Alex Walter. Jackie disrupts their organized, chaotic household.  

    These multiple story arches feed into the main narratives arch because it all has to do with the family, their relationships, and the struggles they are going through. Every character plays a role, and contributes to how one might act, say, or do. For example, in “My Life with the Walter Boys”, because of the brother's ongoing tension this affects Jackie and her actions.  

This comes to show how important story arcs really are when producing a good film. They are the premise of the plot and are what draws the viewers attention/ grabbing them in.