To fully answer your question would take me a couple of days and 5000 words. I'll try the abridged version . . . I hope you can keep up.

Novels are 80,000 words. Movies are 90 minutes. And, technically, most novels are exactly what you ask for. The popularity of the 3 act structure means you are effectively reading 3 x 30 minute episodes.

This formula is limited by the simple formula followed by most writers. Hero + Villain + Love interest + Journey + Conflict. Due the expected pacing it is very difficult to stretch this story out.

TV series break the barrier by using an large, ensemble cast to create multiple heroes, arcs, and conflicts as well as concurrent storylines.

Episode 1.
Plot 1, Act 1.

Plot 2, Act 1. Plot 1, Act 2.

Plot 3, Act 1. Plot 2, Act 2, Plot 1, Act 3.

Episode 2.
Plot 4, Act 1. Plot 3, Act 2, Plot 2, Act 3.

Plot 5, Act 1. Plot 4, Act 2, Plot 3, Act 3.

Plot 6, Act 1. Plot 5, Act 2, Plot 4, Act 3.

This formula ensures that something is always resolved and something else provides a cliffhanger.

The rise of 'seasons' and 'binge-watching' may have an effect on literature. I took a 450 page novel that I created years ago and re-wrote to be five novellas - Available individually or as a combined volume. It may be of interest the each volume averages 140 pages (700) but the combined works totals 500 (removal of the previously . . . sections).

Book One: "The Twins have Fallen" introduces a talented medical student, Katrina Kaufmann, her transition into adulthood, the emotional high of meeting 'Mr Right', followed by the low of feeling responsible for the events leading up to the tragic death of her twin sister, Elizabeth, in the 9/11 attack.

Book Two: "Life after Death" is narrated by the dead twin, Elizabeth. The story addresses the surviving twin's loss, her entry into the field of genetics, and her bizarre attempt to replace her sister by cloning herself. Whilst narrating Elizabeth begins to question how she's able to tell this story, and why she's still here.

Book Three: "The Next Generation" Katrina succeeds in cloning herself, and gives birth to a healthy girl. But as the child grows Katrina becomes depressed in realisation that the clone, Elizabeth 2.0, is not a reincarnation of her sister. Unable to care for the child as a mother should, the child is taken into the care of the state of Illinois.

Book Four: "My Sisters' Keeper" Elizabeth 2.0's pubescent years reveal that the clone is 'not quite right'. The adolescent is a hermaphrodite. On reaching sexual maturity the clone self-fertilises, regularly producing clones of her own, clones in her own image, who will, in turn, produce more identical offspring.

Book Five: "Pinocchio's Rubicon" focuses on a third generation clones. Joanna Morgan discovers 'she' is a cloned hermaphrodite and bound to produce more clones. History repeats itself when she inadvertently causes the death of her twin sister. Joanna makes the decision to break the cycle by having a hysterectomy. She embarks on a journey to track down her 34 'sisters', and find the answer to who or what she really is.

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