...Dynamics of Relational Humor in Sitcoms Situational Comedy is one of the most dominating show genres on broadcast television today. Situational comedies are also referred to as sitcoms. These shows endear audiences with relatable circumstances that are exaggerated for humorous purposes. Humor being one of the main focuses of sitcoms, they often times depict a main character’s experiences in life. The audience experiences the trials and tribulations of life with the character, which is partly what causes a regular watcher to develop a “parasocial” relationship with them (“Research Report,” 2013). Upon examination of the development of the television sitcom, many of the humorous moments throughout the years have stemmed from embellished situations in character-to-character relationships. An analysis of these relationships, with emphasis on those of an intimate relationship has shown that today sexuality is often the source of primary humor. This sexuality in sitcoms is currently the most repetitive type of humor and is considered the standard, but such was not always the case. Early sitcoms focused on more traditional problems of marriage, of family affairs, and other every day social inter-relationship problems, and even had a different method of presentation, but throughout time they evolved to depend on the provocative behavior of the characters. The sexual problems they experience took the role of their every day problems; vulgar topics such as this became the cultural norm...
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...exchanges? Len’s tone is a little condescending, threatening, and hostile up to the point of criticizing Marilyn and her work. Marilyn’s tone was continuously defensive; her every word and actions. As a lady, I think she feels intimidated maybe because she is a lady. She feels like she was being put down in the first exchange while in the second, she was more solemn. • Were Marilyn's objectives on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange? Len was doing everything he could including using the blocking tactic, so I do not think Marilyn’s objective was on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange. She was being bullied and Len was also trying to intimidate her as a woman. She was continuously put in a defensive situation while at the same time countering every frame that Len used. She had to explain why she could perform better and had to get him back to the reason of the conversation. Personally, I feel that she had no opportunity to use any of her strategy and tactics even if she had any because Len gave her no chance to complete her sentences and negotiate her points. • Were Len's objectives on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange? I do not think that Len’s objectives were on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange either because I think...
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...Can you find the thesis statement? 1. I have chosen to compare two TV-series who in fact, are a lot like each other. They are both sitcoms and revolve around a group of friends, living their lives and having fun with it. I have chosen “How I Met Your Mother” and “Friends”. In both of these series, there is a main character, whether the main character is more important than the rest is only to discussion. These two series are similar in many ways, because they both use the same episode-structure. However, there is one little difference. The group of friends in “How I Met Your Mother” are five whereas the group in “Friends” are six. Either way, these two TV-series contain many similarities except for a quite significant difference in a central cinematic technique. 2. The two popular sitcoms “How I met your mother” (2005) and “Friends” (1994) contain several similarities. They are both built up on a group of friends who have very unique individual personalities. We follow their everyday life in New York; mainly staying at the local bar/coffee shop or in an apartment, which some of the characters lives in. But then again they are not completely similar. “How I met your mother” is, as the title reveals, about how the main character met his wife, which he tells his kids in the year 2030. Then the sitcom takes us through his life in the year 2005 among his friends, trying to find his future wife. “Friends” is on the other hand about 6 friends relationship to each other and...
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...In the early days of television, the role of a misfit was one of comedic effect, an excellent example is one of the first and certainly one of the most popular comedy shows of its era; The Three Stooges. In The Three Stooges, almost every gag is either violent slapstick, a farcical joke, or demeaning jokes centred around the main cast's stupidity. As one approaches contemporary times, the role of a misfit changes significantly, over the decades, society becomes more tolerant of difference and more accepting toward individuality, imposing fewer expectations on youth to replicate their parent's lives, this was around the time of programs such as Freaks and Geeks. Eventually, television and society start celebrating differences, seen in modern television in many programs, especially seen in series such as Son of Zorn. The changes in television are deeply linked to changes in society, each affecting the other. In the early 1900's (~1930) Columbia Pictures new 'short film' series The Three Stooges took the world by storm; the trio of actors turned a comedy act into numerous sketch-type short films each year. Many years later the 1950s; the sequence of films were broadcast to the world; this was during the time of a rapid increase in population growth (2) and thus and much larger 'mass culture' which allowed for a significant increase in cultural diversity in given populations (3). Combined with this was the rapid increase in the number of homes that had a television to a reported...
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...CWV-101 December 9, 2012 Thomas Joseph The Connors: The Real American Family I chose to watch and observe a situation comedy that I liked watching as a teenager called Roseanne. Roseanne was a show that never shied away from real issues that families would endure and overcome. This show had nine seasons and always stayed current with the events that were going on in the world. The show portrayed a broad array of worldviews and how people in general would live together under different, sometimes opposing, outlooks on the world. Although the show never delved too deep into exact religious beliefs, there was an undertone of a Christian worldview. ("Roseanne full episodes," 2012) Roseanne Conner was the mother of three children, Becky, Darlene, and D.J, and doting wife of Dan Conner. Roseanne was raised in a Jewish family and Dan was raised Pentecostal. They raised their children to be able to choose their own path while instilling in them a sense of belief in something greater than themselves. She worked in various low income jobs while maintaining the home for her family. The middle-class view of this family is what appealed to most of America. You had a more realistic look at what we as the working class go through on a daily basis. There were no issues too taboo and the show gave great instruction on dealing with hard pressed problems. This was one of the first shows that showed the different faces of the family. You had black, Jewish, gay, and all other...
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...Week 4 Assignment What are the objectives of both parties in the exchanges? Both parties in these exchanges want to obtain the best accounts available for their teams to maximize profit for the company, and also for their staff. They both want to get their points across while looking out for their teams’ best interest. Based on the exchange, it seems that Marilyn prefers sharing the accounts rather than being left with the small ones, while Len would like to work on accounts that will generate more money. How would you describe the general "tone" of the exchanges? The tone of the exchanges seems to be slightly aggressive between Marilyn and Len. In the first exchange, it almost seems like Len’s tone is a little threatening and Marilyn’s tone is defensive in response to this. She also seems to be worried that she’ll be stuck with the smaller, less productive accounts that Len is trying to push on her. Were Marilyn's objectives on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange? No, I feel that Marilyn started off well but then allowed Len’s aggression to get the best of her. She became more defensive while countering each of Len’s comments, which caused her to lose sight of the points she had to present in this negotiation. If this would have continued in this manner, Marilyn will not get her point across. Len had her backed into a corner, and Marilyn’s defensiveness was ineffective, since it wasn’t able to turn the negotiation in her favor. Were Len's...
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...The show that gave me the inspiration to pursue meta-narrative and story structure is Rick & Morty. In the 90’s The Simpson’s added the layer of depth to the sitcom that grounded it back into reality. Before the Simpsons sitcom’s presented the ‘idea’ of the what the average family was. Mainly they were Caucasian, upper-middle class and were few conflicts and flaws. This era of sitcom mainly had conflicts that would be resolved in 20-30 minutes, with no change or development in any characters. The Simpsons came along and shattered this notion, having the humor grounded with the characters and how they related to each other. Every character had flaws, just like a normal people. This made the stories the Simpsons told resonate with the audience and feel real. 30 years later, the new style of sitcom has most definitely been best utilized by ‘Rick & Morty’. Dan Harmon and Justin Rowland apply the flaws model to the main characters of Rick, Morty, Beth, Summer and Jerry. However, the show transcends the Simpson’s by also adding a layer of philosophy as well. This is function of the meta-narrative in Rick and Morty. Harmon and Rowland use the meta-narrative to explore philosophical concepts such as alienation, isolation and nihilism. Harmon is an adamant believer of Campbell’s hero’s journey, using this model in each and every episode. An example of this is Season 3 Episode 3 ‘Pickle Rick’. Rick turns himself into a pickle in order to escape family counselling, the episode follows Rick...
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...broadcasting suffered in 1934, when the Wagner-Hatfield Bill was rejected by congress - The Bill was made so that 25% of broadcasting frequencies would be reserved for educational and non-profit broadcasting. Economic Considerations - Creating a national broadcasting system was too expensive to support non-profit & educational specials - Thus, already established commercial radio networks undertook financing of the development of broadcasting television in the US. - Television became a means of selling products with some entertainment to fill out the time between advertisements Analysis on Lipsitz and Haralovitch Readings: Lipsitz: “The Meaning of Memory: Family, Class and Ethnicity in Early Television” - Situation comedies in the 1950s were based on ethnic working class family life. - The Honeymooners, Leave it to Beaver, and I Love Lucy are examples of comedic sitcoms that portrayed diverse families in the 50s and 60s - With the influence of the 1930s Great Depression damaging the economy, many middle and...
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...|THOMAS-KILMANN CONFLICT MODE INSTRUMENT | | | |Directions: | | | |Read each of the following statements about conflict. | |Indicate which of the two statements (“A” or “B”) best represents your behavior during conflict. | |You may wish to complete the instrument more than once, each time for a different relationship (peer/peer, husband/wife, subordinate/boss, etc.). | | | |1 |A |There are times when I let others take responsibility for solving the problem. | | | |Rather than negotiate the things on which we disagree, I try to stress...
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... The drug Ecstasy is dangerous for not only our people, but also a menace to society. With my own experiences in college and people I am closely bonded to, or used to be, I have seen this highly used club drug invade our campuses of America by leaps and bounds. I can tell you more than one story about young college friends that had 4.0 GPAs and promising careers ahead and now have nothing because of this drug. I remember a doctor telling me that 12 years ago this drug was not even known of and now it seems every other day we are reading in the paper of overdoses or reports on the cerebral damage it does. The concern is very high about the use of this drug by young people and it very well should be as for the fact of it has a no win situation when this drug is used. When Exstacy is used, it not only causes cerebral damage and stunts the ability of that user to learn, but it can also result in death. There are quite a few people I have met in my experience who were the definition of intelligent and were always just a little quicker to "pick things up" in the classroom, but after their experimentation of Ecstasy were not. After a while these users began to show signs degenerative cognitive ability: memory loss, inability to learn in class, and a "spaced out" demeanor. Not only can this drug cause learning problems, but also can throw a person into severe depression. If you talk to nearly 1/3 of the United States this disease is very difficult to deal with. Extensive research has...
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... Television comedies can portray their humor is a variety of different ways. Whether it is through dark humor, breaking the fourth wall, running gags, or even through a standard sitcom format, each show has something that makes it at least somewhat distinct from all the others. There are a great deal of comedic shows on television right now, and they all claim and work to be the funniest, but only a few truly succeed at it. One show in particular is Arrested Development. A key component to this show, one that has led to it’s vast cult following and overall success, is it’s extensive use of running gags. Running gags are literary devices that are in the form of comical references or jokes that repeatedly appear throughout a work of literature or in this case a television show. They are used in several types of work, and it is a device, that if used correctly, can truly elevate a show’s humor to outstanding heights. In Arrested Development, the running gags are used to emphasize the show as being anti sitcom by showing how dysfunctional the family is and how certain characters do not fit the sitcom stereotype at all. Given this fact, Arrested Development is such a hilarious show because of its extensive and successful use of running gags to make fun of typical sitcoms and in the end creates an anti sitcom in itself. A running gag is a distinct feature of many comic works. It works well for people who have watched the show or read the literature on a consistent basis. ...
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...COMMUNICATION FOR SANDWICH BLITZ (UNIT 9) August 7, 2012 Kaplan University Professor William Okrepkie To: All Site Managers, This email is to confirm that we have decided to take our business to the next level. Over the past 90 days, we have been testing and trying to get the bugs out of the E-Customer Ordering System. We have realized that by using this new system we will be able to increase efficiency with our customers by 45%, with a 99.9% accuracy level in getting our customer orders correct. We have realized the problems you all have been having, due to the influx of new customers that have been visiting all of your locations. So we have decided to help remedy these situations with this new automated system. We will install the E-Customer Ordering System in each of your locations within the next 3 weeks in order to help all of the site employees in completing their job functions, without feeling upset and overwhelmed. Over the next 2 weeks we will have representatives from the company come in to each location and meet with each one of you to show you all the product that we will now be offering our customers in each one of our locations. It will be each one of your responsibilities to make sure that your team is in on these training sessions or will be trained on the product at a later date. So please schedule accordingly. The reason we are doing this for Sandwich Blitz is because we see a strong flaw...
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...Humor comes in many flavors, any of which may appeal to one person but not to another, and which may be enjoyed in alternation or in combination. Often what one finds absolutely hysterical another may not even understand the joke. Here are names and descriptions of the varieties of comic expressions that I prefer and will be discussing. Juvenile/sophomoric: Humor involving childish themes such as pranks, name-calling, and other immature behavior. Self-deprecating: Humor in which performers target themselves and their foibles or misfortunes for comic effect. Stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield was a practitioner of self-deprecating humor. Situational: Humor arising out of quotidian situations; it is the basis of sitcoms, or situation comedies. Situational comedies employ elements of farce, screwball, slapstick, and other types of humor. FRIENDS VS GOLDEN GIRLS The Golden Girls was one of the first sit-com shows that I remember watching with my grandmother who was a huge fan. As a result, I’ve always had a great fondness for the show. I’ve hummed its theme song and the still remarkable fact that it was a hit starring three women in their 60s. In the meantime, I’ve seen every episode of Friends and to this day would rather watch its re-reruns than almost anything else on TV. Friends may be hugely popular and beloved by mainly girls but that does not make it bad (it just makes it an easy target). Who would not laugh when they watch Monica dance with a turkey on her head...
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...Alexus Fuller CRN: 21556 English 1101 March 6, 2016 Women Then and Now “Lucy I’m home,” the famous saying from the famous 1950s sitcom, “I Love Lucy” fully distinguished a vast difference between women in sitcoms then and now. Women in the 1950s held on to the traditional, stereotypical housewife title, one who only tended to their husband children and household duties. Women in contemporary sitcoms, however, did not hold on to those traditional values that were viewed in the 1950s. For example Being Mary Jane is about a hard working single black women going through everyday life, without those traditional values. Status, parenting, and conservativeness are the foremost leading differences from women in the 1950s and women in contemporary sitcoms. Status is the position somebody holds in society. Women in the 1950s held a lower more respectable status than women in today’s sitcoms. For example, Lucy was very respectful of her husband, and his wishes. Women then did not typically talk back, became physical, or dressed inappropriately. Women in today’s sitcoms, however, were the exact opposites. In today’s sitcoms, women were drug addicts, exotic dancers or workaholics. Women also tend to be very emotionally abusive to their families. For example, a powerful African-American woman on Mary Jane in chastised her sister about having two kids and having another. Women in the 1950s sitcom were typically stay-at- home moms who did not work. Their parenting skills differed from...
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...The Cold War shaped 1950s American society and culture by creating a larger population, a stronger economy and a more persuasive media. By airing TV shows showing what an American family should look like, believe, and act like, American society became more and more persuaded into the “ideals” of society. The 1950s brought forth a growing US population. More and more Americans were getting married. These newlyweds also tended to be younger in age. Teenagers were getting married as young as 18 and 19. Of all 18 and 19 year olds, one third were already married. (“Life Magazine Identifies the New Teen-age Market, 1954,” Major Problems, 89). But instead of waiting a while to have children, they started right away. And with more families having children, it created a large surge in the population. This time of large population growth was called the baby boom. According to A Report on the Baby Boom, 1954, young married college graduates were having more children. Before, reproducing was set off more often or for a longer time. But in the 50s this was no longer true. Married couples with more education also became a norm. Starting in the 1940s, the rise of number of babies per graduate steadily rose (“A Report on the Baby Boom, 1954,” Major Problems, 84). There were many factors leading to the baby boom. The bettering of the economy was one. It was easier for young couples to set up their homes and ready them for a family. With a better economy, young couples were more likely...
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