Scott,
Have you ever heard about Vladimir Propp's "Morphology of the Folk Tale"?

His Morphology of the Folk Tale was published in Russian in 1928. Although it represented a breakthrough in both folkloristics and morphology and influenced Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes, it was generally unnoticed in the West until it was translated in the 1950s. His character types are used in media education and can be applied to almost any film or television series.

Alex
http://new-storyteller.livejournal.com/

Alex, thanks for that recommendation. I am familiar with Levi-Strauss, having studied him in college, but not Propp. Will pick up his book. What's your email? Would like to ask you a few questions.