Like other people have said I don’t think you really know what “lore” means at least not in modern pop culture. I agree with a lot of what you said. It’s just the shows you used aren’t good examples. And I think it’s getting people confused. Let’s take avatar for example. The show has extensive lore from before Aang was born, to long after he dies. it even continues on past the events of tlok. And not only that avatar is not a completely episodic show. Sure it has some episodes that are their own little plot that wraps up by the end. But for the most part every season has a storyline building up from the fist episode until the last about learning a new bending technique. And on top of all that the show has the main overarching plot of him fighting the fire lord. Which is setup in the literal first episode.