Comedy Revision
- 1. How are Scrubs and HIGNFY different? • AIM • To consider the differences between Scrubs and Have I got News for you • To have a set of revision notes • To test how quickly you can absorb knowldge
- 2. Describe the shows • Scrubs is an American sitcom set in a hospital that follows the lives and loves of the staff. It is unusual for a sitcom in that there is a voice-over letting us hear the thoughts of the main character JD, who is a doctor at the hospital. The comedy comes mostly from rapid-fire dialogue and JD’s comments on what’s going on, but also from strange ‘daydream’ sequences • Have I Got News For You is a games show where two regular panellists and two guest compete to answer questions about events in the news. Their aim is to be as funny as possible while doing so. The two regular panellists are comedian Paul Merton and the satirical journalist Ian Hislop.
- 3. Two different sorts of comedy? SCRUBS • Situation Comedy • Scrubs is a drama. The actors play characters delivering a script. • Scrubs has a narrative that is resolved in some way at the end of the episode. • The humour in Scrubs comes from everyday situations HIGNFY • Comedy Panel game • HIGNFY is a performance. The panellists play themselves and it is supposed to be unscripted. • HIGNFY has a loose narrative in which players compete for points and the teams win or lose at the end, but this is far less important than the laughs generated along the way. • the humour in HIGNFY comes, for example, from attacking the stupidity of people and events in the news. SUB-GENRE? SUB-GENRE?
- 4. How are they aimed at different audiences? SCRUBS • Young adult audience • It has a fast pace • Young adult main characters • Often incorporates rock, pop and indie music • Similar visual style to other sitcoms aimed at young audiences, such as Everybody Hates Chris HIGNFY • Older audience • Aimed at those interested in the news – as it often asks questions about political events • Therefore it addresses an audience who would be more likely to read newspapers HOW ARE THEIR AUDIENCES TARGETED?
- 5. Two different sorts of channels? • a niche audience channel that aims to appeal to the young audience that is very attractive to advertisers • E4 is part of a public institution - Channel 4 is owned by the British public and is not designed to make a profit. • However, E4 is a commercial channel and a non-PSB digital channel. • This means that E4 can show any programmes that it thinks will attract an audience, in any order. • mass audience channel that aims to attract the full range of the British audience. • The BBC is not funded by advertising but by the licence fee. • Therefore it is a PSB and has a duty to educate, inform and entertain the whole British public. • This means BBC1 programmes have to be popular, but have to have an extra quality - being very well made, having educational value or representing all the different parts of Britain, for example.
- 6. Two different sorts of channels? • E4 can import lots of cheap American programmes like Scrubs. • E4 can show the same programme twice in a stripped schedule (e.g. at 12.15 pm and 12.45 pm every day). • E4 are competing with lots of different digital channels, so it needs to have a schedule that is easy for the casual viewer to understand - so it strips programmes across the week. • PSB channels have to show a lot of original material • PSB channels have to have a mixed schedule with different genres of programmes
- 7. Do the shows meet the channels remit? • E4 is a young channel that, like Channel 4, aims to be more daring and exciting than its competitors. • It needs a programme that is popular, entertaining, but not too mainstream to fit this brand image. • Scrubs attracts the right target audience and is fresh and different enough to fit E4's brand image. • HIGNFY - proved itself popular when it was shown on BBC2, so this justified moving it to BBC1 • It is an entertaining programme for a fairly wide target audience. • It was set up to be more than funny, however. Ian Hislop was chosen as he is a moralistic journalist who has serious opinions about news. It was originally expected that Paul Merton would provide the jokes and Ian Hislop would provide the opinion. This gives the programme the opportunity to inform, as well as entertain.
- 8. Different audience pleasures? • The situation comedy offers narrative pleasures • we can follow a story as it unfolds throughout an episode and, in the case of Scrubs, from one episode to the next. • We identify with one or more of the characters - we feel for them and want the best for them, though in JD's case this can be spoiled by his obvious weaknesses and stupidity. • We are rewarded as loyal viewers by understanding events that are only explained by what happened in previous episodes. For example, only viewers of the pilot episode know why the Janitor is constantly playing practical jokes on JD. THIS MEANS
- 9. Different audience pleasures? • We get the pleasure of narrative resolution. A sitcom will have one or a few storylines that come to some conclusion at the end of the episode. • Scrubs offers a mix of serious and comic storylines. • We might sympathise with characters as well as laugh at them.
- 10. Different audience pleasures? • Have I Got News For You also has a narrative, but who wins the game is much less important to the audience than the laughs they get along the way. • One pleasure that Have I Got News For You offers that Scrubs doesn't is that it gives a viewpoint on events in the news. • This can add to the audience's sense of security brought about by the feeling that you know what is going on in the world and listening to other people's opinions about these events • Have I Got News For You also has a track record in attacking the rich and powerful, such as top politicians and business people. • This satire, apart from being entertaining, may also help the poor and less powerful feel better about themselves.
- 11. Different schedules? SCRUBS • Scrubs is scheduled at 8.45am, 2pm and 2.30pm every day on weekdays. Saturday 2.05pm, 2.45pm and 3.05pm, Sunday 9.05am and 9.35 am • The afternoon slots are part of the rolling programme of repeats with which E4 fills its daytime schedules • Scrubs is scheduled before the watershed, so has to be a programme that is suitable for children. It fits this requirement because, though it does contain some sexual content, it is not sexually explicit, or violent, and it does not contain excessive bad language. It is, however, a slick and reasonably adult comedy that would appeal to a teenage audience. HIGNFY • scheduled at 9 pm on Fridays. It is repeated the next day. • 9 pm is when BBC1 schedules its showcase dramas and documentaries. • This suggests that 9 pm is the premier slot on weekdays on BBC1. • The slots before Have I Got News For You from 8 pm to 9 pm on BBC1 are filled with very mainstream programmes, such as Eastenders at 8 pm, and the slot after Have I Got News For You is filled with a comedy - making the 9 till 10 slot on Friday nights a regular comedy slot. This suggests that Have I Got News For You is being aimed at a large, mainstream audience that likes to wind down to comedy at the end of the week. • Have I Got News For You is scheduled just after the watershed. This means it is allowed to feature adult content, which is important for a topical news show.
- 12. Similar audience pleasures? Both programmes use verbal comedy. Both programmes have regular characters that become familiar to regular viewers. Both programmes deal with real-life issues.