Compare two different genres of Comedy TV

Use two different examples of comedy television programmes to explain the differences and similarities of genre. Refer closely to examples from your research.

Use the information on your blog to help you talk about two different genres of comedy television. To plan your answer create a table to list the similarities and differences between your choice of shows before you write anything.

• Remember to explain the codes and conventions. What makes a Sketch Show and a Situation Comedy show different? How are they similar in terms of length of episode or audience pleasures?
• Comment on the Institution. Who broadcasts the programme? Explore the commercial pressures of scheduling TV Comedy to mainstream audiences. Do Public Service Broadcasters have more freedom to explore new comedy ideas? Remember how reliant companies are on income from advertising.

Audience Pleasures

The type of audience pleasures you need to write about in the exam include:

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

The conventions of film genre

Task: Can you spot the film genre and answer the following questions for each poster?

a) How do you know which genre the film is just from the film poster? Label your examples. 
b) How do the characters fit with the chosen genre? Explain using examples from the key image.
c) How do the background images suggest the content of the film? Explain using examples from the key image.



1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Task: Now compare one of the posters with one of the following posters. What are the similarities and differences between your two chosen posters?

Creativity: CD Cover Activity 2

The task: Make a CD Cover with no restrictions.

Choose your own image, title and artist.
OR
Make a cover for either an existing artist or a made up one.
OR
Make a CD cover for an existing CD-give it your own version.

Remember to use Photoshop and find a high-quality image to make your product look as good as possible. Think back to the CD Cover Evaluation you have written in your books. What did you learn from that first activity that you can use here?