Question 4a

This will get you started.

‘Peter Kay’s Car Share’ was first broadcast on --------------------- as it was believed by the producers that the target audience aged ---------- would be at home at this time before school / college / work on a------------.

‘Celebrity Juice was first broadcast on a ------------------------ as it was believed the target audience would have ------------------------------------.

‘Peter Kay’s Car Share’ and ‘Celebrity Juice’s’ target audience are contrasting as ‘PKCS’ audience fall into the ------------- demographic category as they are more likely to empathise with the narrative of the sitcom while ‘’CJ’s’ audience falls into the ------------------ category as the audience are likely to be ------------------------- and find comedy in the ---------------------- of the programme as they are more probable to keep up with current ---------------------.

Both programmes proved to be a success on their niche audience channels and were then switched to ----------------------, mass audience channels as they ranges over a wide demographic with programmes for all such as -------------------------------.

Both programmes were aired after 9pm as part of ‘watershed’, conveying that they both contain adult humour for a specific audience.

The exemplar answer from last lesson gives time, day and channel for both Gavin and Stacey and Have I Got News For You. This fits the level 2 descriptors. Any plausible scheduling is rewarded, as examiners cannot be sure which scheduling decision the candidates have studied and with long running programmes there may have been many different forms of scheduling. Some accurate explanation of why the programmes were scheduled in this way – such as a discussion of the watershed – should raise it into level 3. The answer achieves this with a discussion of why specific nights were chosen, their original scheduling on niche channels and a move to a mass channel, and a mention of the watershed.

To reach a level 4 your answer needs to explain why the channels chose to schedule these programmes and be definite about the time and the days both programmes were broadcast. You also need to link audience demographic to the channel in a clear fashion.

Celebrity Juice

Watch the very first episode and look at the audience pleasure examples (make a note of anything that you think will add to your 4b answer). How has the show changed over the years?

4a exemplar answer

Click Exemplar material and read through how to gain the marks. To find the document:
1. Go to support materials
2. Scroll down the June 2013 Exemplar Candidate work
3. Download it and save a copy to your user area


There are example answers from the 2013 exam. Look at how the students gained the marks and how you need to structure your 4a answer to secure full marks.


Task: Write your own 4a answer in your book.

TV Comedy - Question 4a

What is the difference between commercial and public service broadcasting? You should have noticed that we are comparing two comedy shows that are scheduled by different broadcasters. This is really important and you need to know what makes these companies so different.

Make notes that will help you answer question 4a. You may have some notes on your blog already so it is fine if you just want to simply add to your work.

Task:
1. Explain why two channels selected different comedy programmes to schedule on particular days and at particular times.
Programme name:
Channel:
Time:
Date:

2. Create two separate blog posts with information about the two main terrestrial channels:

• BBC 
• ITV

Why am I looking at this for my exam? If you're asking yourself this very question then take a look at the mark scheme below to find out.

Level 4 (12-15 marks)
Discusses the scheduling of two comedies Precise and accurate use of terminology - think about why certain programmes are on at certain times
Shows detailed knowledge of TV or radio channels and scheduling with understanding of how programmes reflect institutional contexts - read this on ITV  - read this on the BBC's mission and values and this on its public purposes
Thorough understanding of how channels use scheduling to reach audiences - think about why programmes are clearly aimed at a particular audience - look at this again and decide on the audiences for both programmes
Ideas expressed clearly and fluently in well-structured sentences with few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Level 3 (9-11 marks)
Accurately describes and evaluates the scheduling of two comedies Some accurate use of terminology
Shows sound knowledge of TV or radio channels and scheduling with some understanding of how programmes reflect institutional contexts
Sound understanding of how channels use scheduling to reach audiences
Ideas expressed with some clarity and fluency; errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar do not obscure meaning.

Need extra help?
You can look here at Mr Ford's blog for some helpful information about the BBC. You need to write about ITV in just as much detail.

Institution and Regulation

What is the difference between:

• transgressive
• obscene

Why do regulators consider some material is unsuitable for broadcast on television?

Use information from the Ofcom website to find out some of the programme content that is regulated and for what reason.

Task: Write a short blog outlining some of your research findings.

Celebrity Juice

Consider the audience pleasures of the series. Make notes while watching the clip in your book.
Write an answer to the exam question, based on some of the things in the clip, or that you have seen during your own research.
Explain how the audience pleasures offered by the comedy panel show Celebrity Juice make the programme appeal to the target audience.

Research Task: Keith Lemon

 

Task: Find out all about Keith Lemon and create a post about his unique style of TV Comedy. Use the questions below to help you collect enough detail for a blog post explaining your research findings. Remember that this information will be essential for your exam prep.

 

1. Find out what shows have been developed using the character Keith Lemon.
2. Create a timeline of his TV Comedy shows.
3. What genre of TV Comedy shows has he produced.
4. Explore his successful show Celebrity Juice, explaining how it appeals to audiences (consider audience pleasures here).

Read through some of the articles from today's lesson to support your research.

Guardian

Digital Spy

Radio Times

TV Comedy

 

 

TV Comedy Panel Shows

What are the codes and conventions of a comedy TV panel show?
Consider how long the shows last and how the format and even set design are so similar.
Look at which channels broadcast these shows and at what time they are scheduled.
Consider whether this type of comedy TV show is commercially viable (does it make a profit for the company because of big audience figures and advertising revenue)?
What type of audiences are being catered for? Can you think about demographics of viewers?


If you want a list of UK shows this website (click here) is really useful.

Making notes for Audience Pleasures Task

Carshare Audience Pleasure Notes by ldownie77 on Scribd

Identifying the audience pleasures in Situation Comedy Carshare

Task: How many Audience Pleasures can you identify in the first episode? Create a blog post exploring your ideas, using your notes from today's lesson.


The pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation are developed early on, even though the audience have only just met the two characters. Recognition and familiarity is established through the soundtrack which is built into the narrative as diegetic sound. The music has a nostalgic element which would appeal to the target audience. The context of a daily commute is maybe familiar to many of the audience, who travel to work in the same way. In fact the sound is important as it reinforces the familiarity of the commute but it is also part of the comedy with radio adverts that parody local radio marketing with adverts for mediocre college places and sheds. There are also other gags that are tied into the background of the narrative events.


Many Situation Comedies are built on this pleasure of familiarity as it develops a fondness for the characters. Why do you think this would be important for the success of a SitCom? How does the audience feel about the two main characters by the end of the episode and why?


In the first episode it uses the elements of comedy to engage the audience as they get to know the two main characters. However, its success is built on the name of Peter Kay. Refer to your research into this comedian to help you explain the specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

The use of transgressive pleasures is introduced quickly emphasizing the awkward relationship between the two colleagues. This is evidenced through the language and the spillage scene at the start. What is the prediction for the rest of the series? How is that linked to the narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution?

TV Comedy Exam Questions

Answer both the questions below. You have the whole lesson.

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.

State the day, time and channel of each programme.
Who commissioned the programmes?
Who produced them?
What audience are they aimed at? Why?
Why are they on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience.
Are they on after the watershed? Why?
Know the audience demographic
You must know:
day
time
channel
for both programmes (Friday Night Dinner and Bad Education).

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:
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.
Remember to include clear examples from the TV comedy you decide to write about.

Audience Demographic Categories

Writing an examination answer

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the
programme. [15]
This 4b question is about Audience Pleasures and what inspires audiences to watch TV Comedy. You need to focus on Bad Education. Remember this is also about textual analysis, so you must include examples. The examiners say this question is often rushed so make sure you have left enough time to answer it fully.


Here is an example answer from the exam board.

Extract from Candidate Script 1: Marks awarded and rationale: 10 marks
‘Benidorm’ is a sitcom which is a comedy which is set in the same location with the same characters. This allows the audience to build a relationship with each of the characters as they get to know them, plus the audience is also included in the storyline as they they get to see each episode unfold.
‘Benidorm’ offers us audience gratification because of the various stereotypes presented in the programme. One stereotype presented is the ‘chav’ stereotype, in which we see this in the Garvey family. This can be seen as they are a white British family on holiday in Spain with their own set of normal and values. We can also see the ‘chav’ stereotype come through in them due to the fact that their teenage daughter is pregnant, which is also another stereotype shown in the programme which is teenage pregnancies. This can be pleasurable to the audience as it enables the audience to
feel superior towards to the family allowing the audience to look down upon the characters.
Another stereotype presented is the “snob” stereotype in which we see two of the characters. We see this by the way they both look down upon the other characters, and how they make crude remarks about the IQ of the Garvey family. This can be seen in one episode in which Mrs Garvey was speaking to one of the snobby characters and the snobby character spoke to Mrs Garvey in a very patronising way, making Mrs Garvey look rather stupid. This offers the audience
gratification because of humorous it is to see certain characters being ridiculed. Plus, in some sense it establishes a relationship the snobby characters and the audience due to the audience being able to relate with the characters with them agreeing with.

COMMENTARY

This is a good example of an answer that fails to earn the textual analysis marks for the question as it fails to give detailed exemplification.

This answer shows understanding of audience pleasures by citing various pleasures, such as ‘building a relationship with the characters’, feeling superior to stereotyped characters, and humour. However, the answer suffers from the common fault of lacking detailed examples. This limits its mark to level 3 at best.

There is a reference to the nature of the family, but the section on stereotypes solely refers to characters and does not give examples of narrative events that express their characterisation. This reliance on characters is very typical of answers in this band. There is one more promising reference to one episode that featured a snobby incident, but this is too vague to count as detailed.

Institution: Television Broadcasters

Key terms to support your answer to the 4a scheduling question.

Watershed 9pm is the normal watershed time when television content is not suitable for younger viewers. Programmes shown post watershed may contain inappropriate language or sexual references.

Public Service Broadcasting

Audience Pleasures

Watch the episode and then do the following:

• Make brief notes on all the audience pleasures.
• Answer the question.

Swap with a partner and peer mark. have you included 3 points? have you included 3 examples from the episode? Have you explained how the audience derive pleasure (have you linked the two earlier points?)

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• 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.

Audience Pleasures

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme (Bad Education) offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

The pleasures are:

• 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

Remember to include clear examples from episode one.

What do these terms mean?

Narrative pleasures refer to the audience enjoying how the storyline is constructed. In situation comedy, the plot starts and ends in exactly the same place (narrative resolution). What happens in between is usually a snowballing narrative of one problem added onto another problem, This is usually caused by the stupid decisions of the character and the audience laugh as they make each poor choice.

Character identification is how the audience knows the characters well and can predict how they will behave. Audiences feel they can relate the the characters and they become well loved because of these predictable character traits. How does Mr Wickers appeal to the target audience? He is seen as the worse teacher ever but he is surrounded by some of the weirdest teachers who by comparison make him seem far better than any alternative. His intentions are good and the audience identify with him, even though he is immature and makes such cringe-worthy decisions.

Pleasure of recognition means audiences enjoy the anticipation of what a character will say next. Certain characters have catchphrases or typical behaviours that the audience expect to see. This makes them predictable and adds to them being well-loved by audiences who feel like they know the character well. The action happens in the same setting, which the audience are familiar with.

Pleasures of difference-within-repetition means that the audience can easily recognise this as a situation comedy but the show plays with the repetition of the same narrative structure. Each episode sees the characters facing alternative plots and comedy through the script but the same sort of events happen.


Transgressive pleasures are the comedy elements which go beyond the boundaries and into offensive or rude topics. They are based on taboo and are designed to offend the audience into laughing because they feel uncomfortable.

Performers or personalities appeal to certain target audiences. Jack Whitehall is well known as a comedian and actor. He has an established fan base who would have watched Bad Education on the back of his previous success with Fresh Meat. Simon Bird is well-known for his role as Will McKenzie in the Inbetweeners and would attract a similar audience to Friday Night Dinner. 

Research for Scheduling Question (4a)

4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels.


State the day, time and channel of each programme.

• Who commissioned the programmes?
• Who produced them?
• What audience are they aimed at? Why?
• Why are they on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience. 
• Are they on after the watershed? Why?
• Know the audience demographic

You must know:

1. day 
2. time
3. channel
4. for both programmes (Friday Night Dinner and Bad Education).

Use the links below to support you to complete the tasks. Post your work onto your own blog by the end of the lesson today.

Friday Night Dinner

Bad Education

Extension work:
Research original scheduling (time of broadcast) for both programmes and any subsequent scheduling that may be different.
Account for the reasons why the programmes were broadcast on their particular days. If this changed from series to series comment on this too.

Television Comedy Research Task

Here is a good example of the research task.
Media: Sitcoms from alwebley1707: Sitcoms from alwebley1707

Television Comedy

How many different examples of television comedy can you list?  You may find there are a variety of comedy shows that appear on the schedule of British television stations. There are many celebrity panel shows, situation comedies,  and comedy stand-up shows.

Task: Do some research into these programmes, initially focusing on the situation comedies.

1. What is the title of the situation comedy? Make a list and find a marketing image for each programme.
2. What channel is the programme broadcast on? Terrestrial channels include the BBC channels, ITV, Channel 4 and Five. Satellite channels include Sky, Dave etc.
3. What time is the programme scheduled to appear and has this changed as the show has become more popular? How long has the series run for?
4. Who is the target audience for the show?
5. Why do you think people watch television comedy?

TV Comedy Introduction: Institution Research

1. List all the BBC channels.
2. What is the target audience for each channel?
3. How do they all differ?
4. What type of programmes do they tend to show? List five of the most popular for each channel. Classify the programmes by genre.
5. List all the ITV channels.
6. What is the target audience for each channel?
7. How do they all differ?
8. What type of programmes do they tend to show? List five of the most popular for each channel. Classify the programmes by genre.
9. List all the Channel 4 channels.
10. What is the target audience for each channel?
11. How do they all differ?
12. What type of programmes do they tend to show? List five of the most popular for each channel. Classify the programmes by genre.