Thursday 19 May 2011
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Sunday 1 May 2011
Friday 29 April 2011
THE SCIENTIFIC COMEDY FORMULA
It may seem unlikely, but scientists have researched sitcom in order to decide which is the funniest sitcom of all time! The research, for digital channel UKTV Gold, was conducted by Dr Helen Pilcher and writer Timandra Harkness. Dr Pilcher is a member of the scientific group The Comedy Research Project. The scientists invented a ‘sitcom formula’ and applied it to a number of well known sitcoms. Their formula for a winning sitcom multiplies
• the recognisable qualities of the main character (r)
• by their delusions of grandeur (d)
• adds that to the verbal wit of the script (v).
• This total is then multiplied by the amount of times someone falls over (f)
• added to the difference in social status between the highest and lowest ranking characters (s)
• and the whole lot is divided by the success of any scheme during the show (a).
When they applied their formula to a variety of the most popular sitcoms, Only Fools and Horses came out as the funniest British sitcom of all time, followed by The Office and
Father Ted.
Calculate the number of points a show scores: R x D + V x F + S ÷ A = the score
Their top 5
OFAH
THE OFFICE
FATHER TEDFAWLTY TOWERS (they gave it 557)
BLACK ADDER (374.5)
Theorists on Humour in Sitcom
Theorists: some media theorists have analysed sitcoms and have written research papers/ books about the messages and values present in sitcoms. Some of their points refer to how comedy works which is a key part in audience pleasures and tv comedy. Here are some of the points they make: |
Mick Bowes: "Sitcom sometimes presents us with a variety of 'families' which are deficient in some way and this lack of wholeness is sometimes used as a source for humour" "Clearly, images of men and women in TV sitcoms are meant to present viewers with types of characters that they can easily recognize and relate to. What they also do however is to retain traditional images of men in gender‑related roles. Sitcom rarely challenges any of these traditions through the characters and situations it uses." "due to the relatively short nature of sitcom episodes, character identities have to be established very early on" David McQueen: "a classic narrative structure exists for each episode of a sitcom' |
‘the most commonly stereotypical representations of femininity include 'domesticated, weak and passive' Glen Creeber: Outlines how traditional male values are associated with characteristics of rationality, efficiency, and ruthlessness Joanna Meehan: Suggests 'good' women are represented as submissive, sensitive and domesticated Suggests 'bad' women are represented as rebellious, independent and competitive |
Thursday 28 April 2011
Monday 25 April 2011
Wednesday 20 April 2011
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Friday 7 January 2011
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