TV shows are common conversation topics in friend groups, events, and other social outings. However, when you find yourself in one of these conversations, how do you describe the TV show? Would you say on the TV show or in the TV show?
Both on the TV show and in the TV show can be used interchangeably. On the TV show is more commonly used, but in the TV show can be used as well. Both are grammatically correct as long as you’re using it to describe what happens on or in a TV show. If you are describing something being on TV, then you cannot use in for that situation.
The rest of this article will cover when to use on the TV show, and when to use in the TV show.
When To Use On The TV Show
On the TV show is an expression you can use when describing something that happens on TV. For example, if you’re describing a TV show’s plot, you can explain it by saying something like this: “on the TV show, character A has to search for a map”.
If you’re describing what happens on the show, or who stars in it, you can use either in or on. Here are a few examples of ways you can use “on the TV show” in a sentence:
“She’s my favorite actress, and she stars on this TV show.”
“Who’s on the TV show?”
“On my favorite TV show, the main character has to find his missing brother.”
“I’m watching a show on TV.”
On the TV show is an expression you’ll see more commonly used in American English. In the TV show is more common in British English. However, both can be used at any time, and both American and British English use them interchangeably.
When To Use In The TV Show
Both on the TV show and in the TV show can be used interchangeably in most situations. The only situation you shouldn’t use in the TV show is when you’re describing that you watched something on TV. For example, “I watched the news on TV”.
If you were to say “I watched the news in TV”, it makes no sense. It doesn’t make sense because you can’t watch the news while being inside a TV, which is what that sentence is implying.
Therefore you can use in the TV show to describe events in a TV show, but not to say where you watched something. For example, you can say “in the TV show, a vampire is the villain”, and it makes perfect grammatical sense. Here are a few examples of “in the TV show” being used in a sentence.
“In the TV show, the main character found out he’s a robot.”
“A pirate and a siren fell in love in the TV show.”
“In this TV show, there are a lot of characters, but they all have a stake in the plot.”
“There’s a lot of violence in this TV show.”
