TV Comedy Revision Tips - Your own case studies

You need to study two television comedies in two different ways, so you can explain:

•       How and why they were scheduled on British television

•       The audience pleasures of the two programmes

•       The exam questions will ask you

•       Either to compare the two comedies

•       Or to examine one comedy in detail

This means you need to study the comedies in enough depth to that you can write about one programme in detail, and you will need to know the similarities and differences between them.

You will need to create two case studies on two comedy programmes of your choice. It is probably a good idea to pick two programmes that are:

•       Of a different type

•       Aimed at different audiences

•       On two different sorts of channels

•       Offering different audience pleasures

Examples: QI and How I Met Your Mother; Have I Got News for You and Friends; Gavin and Stacey and 8 Out of 10 Cats.

Preparing your Case Studies

Choose programmes you know and enjoy. Follow this 10-point plan for each programme:

1.        Watch several episodes of these programmes so you get a feel for what is repeated and what changes.

2.        Find out what you can about the two channels by looking at their schedules, their channel idents, how they promote themselves, their websites, and any audience figures you can get for the channel.

3.        Decide what you think is the target audience for that channel.

4.        Look at the slot the programmes have been scheduled in, and see:

a.        What else is scheduled in that slot on different nights

b.        What else is scheduled before and after the programme

c.        What is scheduled on competing channels at the same time

5.        Discuss why you think the programme has been scheduled in that slot.

6.        Look at the narrative pleasures of the programme – does it offer narrative resolution (stories at the end), identification with characters, rewards for the loyal viewer, etc.

7.        Look at the media language pleasures of the programme – does it offer fast pace, attractive actors, glossy style, appealing mise-en-scene, etc.?

8.        Look at the form of comedy it offers – is it slapstick, character comedy, black comedy, satire, verbal comedy, punch lines, flights of fancy, etc.?

9.        Watch some more episodes of the comedy; this is a good idea in itself, but it also provides a number 9, which leads on to…

10.     …Number 10! Practise writing essays comparing two comedies and also writing about one comedy in detail.