Episodic Play

So I've been watching the Legend of the Seeker on Netflix. I enjoyed the Sword of Truth novels, though I absolutely hated the series end (and the heavy-handedness on the philosphy...).

Anyway, the complaints of obsessive fans about the TV series is that it doesn't follow the novels closely at all. But there is a very clear difference between a novel (or series of novels) and a one hour (okay, 43 minute) episode of of a TV show. I mean, there are episodic elements to novels, yes, but there's also usually an overarching, more complicated plot whose threads weave in and out of the episodes. And TV viewers, being less obsessed than the typical raving fan of a novel series who will pout about the injustices of the adaptation - and the attention span of a puppy...

So - TV is episodic. Yes, there might be a single element of plot that weaves from one episode to the next (the boxes of orden, for example) but generally each episode has a plot of its own that has to be dealt with and resolved in 43 minutes.

I've been reading Robert E. Howard's Conan stories - and thinking about the episodic nature of those stories - and how they are adventures very like a TV series. Short plots that come to resolution - with hints of some larger events (example - Conan becomes king - and then has to deal with civil war and assassination attempts - and Howard deals with Conan king in several stories).

So, what all this has to do with AD&D for me is this - I really may not ever have the ability to run a complicated, plot driven campaign - but I could run episodes. There may well be some background plotting going on, but I really need each "episode" of adventure to come to some kind of resolution - maybe not an "ending" per se, but a "stopping point" since it might be a month between sessions...

So - I'm wondering if a sandbox campaign can accomplish this? Just thinking out loud...