Red comma white comma and blue

Commas are needed in a series between each piece in the series plus before the final and/or. Here is my easy-to-remember example: The flag is red, white, and blue. A series can show up in a sentence in many ways. You could have a series of verbs (actions): The cheerleader runs, jumps, and flips across the football field. You could have a series of subjects (what or who): The kids, their parents, and family friends gathered at the park for a cookout. The hot dogs, baked beans, and coleslaw were delicious. The series could come at the end of the sentence: People had to choose between a chicken patty, a burger, or a hot dog. You could also have entire portions of a sentence that run in a series: The teenagers took the car for a joy ride, got into a wreck, totaled the vehicle, and were grounded by their parents for a month. Notice that last example had a series of four; the other examples had series of three. It helps to identify the pieces if you take highlighters or colored pencils and make each a separate color. Remember to put the final comma before the and/or when writing academically or professionally. However, journalists drop the final comma in newsprint articles. Perhaps they are saving space?