| abstract
| - How does the work present itself? Do the characters appear to treat their current situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency or do the actors seem to be having way too much fun with their roles? The answer depends on where the series falls on the Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness.
* A largely silly series relies heavily on the Rule of Cool, the Rule of Funny, and the Rule of Fun. Much of the dialogue is made up of cheesy one-liners, and emotions and reactions are often exaggerated or otherwise played for laughs. No Fourth Wall and Negative Continuity may also be present, though not required, and it is possible to use both tropes in serious works as well.
* A mostly serious series relies more on the Rule of Drama, and the writers at least try to make the dialogue and emotional responses as realistic as possible, though if written or delivered poorly it can still result in Narm. It is possible that there may be moments of comic relief, but in general the series will retain its serious tone throughout.
* Somewhere in the middle, seemingly leaning towards silly, are shows which employ Ha Ha Only Serious to slip uncomfortable or disquieting truths past the audience's defenses by making them appear superficially like farce. It should be noted that when a creator creates a piece of media, they often take their work very seriously and want it to be good. But that doesn't mean that the work in question has to take itself seriously. It should be also noted that this scale is completely independent of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism. It is entirely possible to have a work be idealistic but retain the same level of seriousness throughout, such as in The Dark Knight Saga. Likewise, it is equally possible to have a very silly and campy work be downright cynical throughout, such as Family Guy. Did Not Do the Research might be a good indication of where the show lies on the scale. If the person clearly did do the research and the situation presented on the show at least closely resembles how it would happen in Real Life, then most likely the show takes itself seriously. However, it should be noted that just because they Did Not Do the Research, doesn't mean that the show was supposed to fall on the silly side. It could just as easily have been the result of carelessness or ignorance as to how things actually work on the part of the writers, thus leaving the series still serious, but filled with plot holes and factual errors. On the other hand, if the presentation is clearly done as a parody, or presented in such an outlandish and over-the-top manner, then the show itself probably doesn't take itself too seriously. Works So Bad It's Good generally fall more toward the silly side, while works So Bad It's Horrible could fall on either side of the scale. Many works that are on the serious side but are considered So Bad It's Horrible have been criticized for taking themselves too seriously, thus becoming humourless, po-faced and pompous on top of their other faults, and many people believe that such works would have been more enjoyable had they been more Camp. Conversely (although relatively rarer), it is possible for a show to not take itself seriously enough, which can affect the audience's ability to immerse themselves in the drama; if the writers and characters obviously don't take what's happening seriously, why should the audience? True to form, works that are So Okay It's Average can fall on either side of the scale, with slight silliness being moderately prevalent. Of course, it is entirely possible for a work to be silly and campy, yet still be genuinely good on its own merits. Many fan bases tend to take the object of their fandom more seriously than the casual viewer and often vocally demand that the show reflect this; see Maturity Is Serious Business for more on fans of this mindset. Pandering to the Base can pose a problem, however, if as a result of this a show initially quite 'silly' begins to take itself too seriously, with the result of turning off casual viewers. If silly scenes and serious scenes are back-to-back to each other, beware of Mood Whiplash. Cerebus Syndrome can occur if the work starts out on the silly side, and eventually ends up on the serious side over time. Some concepts can confuse the scale, such as Black Comedy or Ha Ha Only Serious: comedy is generally more silly, but the subject matter of Black Comedy is dark and serious; and Ha Ha Only Serious pretends to be comedy to distract while delivering unwelcome truths. Examples of Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness include:
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