Sarah Haag- Blog

In class today, We started by writing down questions on the topic of comedy. The questions were:

1. How would we describe the genre more specifically than comedy?
2. What are the conventions of this genre?
3. What tone does the text develop about these conventions?

We researched and identified different types of comedies such as dark, sitcom, spoof, mockumentary, etc. After this we then took a look at the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”. After watching this we answered the first question and gave examples such as situation comedy, irony, slice-of-life, and family sitcom. The class then identified the conventions (second question) as dumb husband v. Heroic Wife/mom, laugh-track, Dramatic irony→ the audience knows more than the characters, as well as a bland middle class home. We then looked at the similarities of the conventions to the first minute of the show “Oh Louie”. The similarities were the laugh track and empathy for the dumb husbands. But as we resumed to play the show he then calls out the conventions and wants to do a different script.

The tone of the genre is more of light-hearted, but the tone of the compositions were light-hearted, humorous, and comical. The audiences that would most be attracted to this shows would be parents because it’s like an everyday life and so relatable to people.

Identifying the conventions and genres would be most useful when watching a show/movie. By using these genres to identify movies and shows that will bring in consumers.