It's A Comedy?
Today in class we continued with our unit on comedy by viewing examples in television and discussing their use of the genre. While we watched the video clips, we tried to keep in mind these three questions and how they related to each one: How would we describe the genre more specifically than comedy?, What are the conventions of this genre?, and What tone does the text develop about these conventions? The first example we saw was the kitchen fire scene from the 2005 television show, Everybody Loves Raymond, which had the titular character, Raymond, in the kitchen trying to make something, but forgetting about it and accidentally setting the kitchen ablaze. After watching the scene, the class found that the show seemed to fall into the genre of sit-com, specifically a family sit-com, because the show revolved around the interactions of Ray's family and the wacky situations they got in. We found that the show followed some conventions of the genre, such as the laugh track and having an oblivious male character. The clip also utilized the superiority theory of comedy because all the types jokes used involved the viewer laughing at Ray's stupidity and inability to notice that something was happening right next to him, and the irony of him saying he was a good cook, but he managed to burn something pretty easily. For the show's tone towards theses conventions, the class agreed that the show embraced them due to its abundance of them and lighthearted mood.
The last two video clips we saw were from the 2010 television show, Louie, that is about a recently divorced father and his struggles with everyday life as he works as a comedian. The first clip we watched from the show was the Oh Louie scene, which was originally set up like your average 80's sit-com, but later diverged into the regular style of the show. I labeled the show as a cynical comedy or mature comedy because the remainder of the scene played of established tropes of the genre, while having a negative tone. Although the clip was vastly different from other sit-coms, the class said it would still technically fall under the same genre because the beginning of the scene used conventions of this comedy genre like: kitchen scene where the wife comes in and is annoyed with the husband, having a lazy and dumb male, middle class family, episode/show titled after the main character, and a laugh track. This clip also displayed characteristics from the relief theory of comedy because it made jokes and had the audience laugh at certain topics that they usually wouldn't, such as family and production issues. In this clip, the show had a negative tone toward these genre conventions because the main character criticized the husband's character's actions and treatment towards his wife, and insulted the audience in the show for choosing to watch it.The final video clip we watched in class, was the pregnant scene from the same show, which had Louie's sister in pain and had him worrying and struggling with how to help her. I still considered the show a sit-com, but also a dramatic comedy because it dealt with more realism than most shows of its genre. Similarities it shared with other sit-coms included the eventual bright lighting of the scene and its use of the superiority theory and relief theory of comedy, by having us laugh at Louie's inability to help or cope with his sister being in pain. I said that the show had a playful tone towards these conventions because it subverted our opinion on sit-com comedy, but also embraced a few of them.
The three questions we thought about in class can be related to the world at large because any comedy is essentially made up of the same structure and conventions, whether or not they hold them in high esteem. An additional example of a clip where these questions can be applied, is in the clip __ from Parks and Recreation. The 2009 television show follows Leslie Knope, bureaucrat who works at an Indiana Parks and Recreation, and her friends and the struggles they face in the workplace and out of it. We can further describe this show as a sit-com, but mostly a momentary because it had similar genre tropes, such as: fourth wall breaks, an in universe camera crew recording the characters at work, a handheld style of filming, lots of close ups and zooming outs, and the absence of a laugh track. In this scene, the show also displayed the superiority theory of comedy because each character is blaming another for breaking the cup in order to push the blame onto someone else and they, along with the audience, laugh or feel better when the spotlight is off of them. The text's tone towards these conventions was positive because the entire scene employed the use of these conventions to present a story and jokes to an audience familiar with this type of film/Television show that would recognize and enjoy them, especially if they were fans of the show's creators' previous show, The Office.
Parks and Recreation: Who Broke It Clip
The three questions we thought about in class can be related to the world at large because any comedy is essentially made up of the same structure and conventions, whether or not they hold them in high esteem. An additional example of a clip where these questions can be applied, is in the clip __ from Parks and Recreation. The 2009 television show follows Leslie Knope, bureaucrat who works at an Indiana Parks and Recreation, and her friends and the struggles they face in the workplace and out of it. We can further describe this show as a sit-com, but mostly a momentary because it had similar genre tropes, such as: fourth wall breaks, an in universe camera crew recording the characters at work, a handheld style of filming, lots of close ups and zooming outs, and the absence of a laugh track. In this scene, the show also displayed the superiority theory of comedy because each character is blaming another for breaking the cup in order to push the blame onto someone else and they, along with the audience, laugh or feel better when the spotlight is off of them. The text's tone towards these conventions was positive because the entire scene employed the use of these conventions to present a story and jokes to an audience familiar with this type of film/Television show that would recognize and enjoy them, especially if they were fans of the show's creators' previous show, The Office.
Parks and Recreation: Who Broke It Clip
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