A (mostly) verbal analysis
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Each student will select a half-hour TV comedy and analyze its use of humor. Elements of the analysis include:
- Recaps of five sitcom episodes.
- Choose any half-hour comedy.
- Write short, one-paragraph summaries of episodes' plots.
- Here is an example from IMDb, using the Bunheads episode we watched:
- "Michelle finds a "new" local coffee shop with an award winning barista. After frequenting the shop a few times, she manages to upset the barista & their personalities clash. Fanny is on the search for a dancer to portray Clara in the Nutcracker since Sasha is gone, but is finding it difficult to replace her. The girls are exhausted from the extra rehearsals & decide to go see a basketball game to watch Sasha cheer. Boo realizes she has a crush on Charlie & wants to tell him but, it might be too late. With the opening of a new grocery store canceled, Michelle decides it's time to protest.—Carrie DeCosta"
- Here is an example from IMDb, using the Bunheads episode we watched:
- Post to your Blackboard journal. One recap is due each Tuesday at 11:59 p.m., starting October 11th.
- Oral presentation and written analysis of your sitcom.
- Using the chapter, "A Critical/Cultural History of the Sitcom," from The Sitcom (on Blackboard), respond to these questions:
- What is the show's narrative problematic?
- Discuss how it plays out in two specific episodes (using the recaps for reference).
- Is your show a "serial" or a "series", or something in between?
- What is your program's "mode of production" and how does that have an impact on how the show tells stories and generates humor?
- Does your show have a laugh track? How does the laugh track (or the lack of one) affect you as you watch the program?
- How does your show relate to the zeitgeist of its time? Does it address social issues head-on (as with All in the Family) or is it more a case of those issues informing the show (as in The Mary Tyler Moore Show)?
- Is your show "televisual"?
- What is the show's narrative problematic?
- Discuss of specific examples of theories of humor: superiority, relief/release, and incongruity.
- Explain the theories of humor first and then provide at least two examples for each theory.
- Use the analysis of Modern Family in The Sitcom as a model for analysis. (PDF on Blackboard under the title, "Butler, Jeremy. "Introduction: Comedy Genre, Humor Theory," The Sitcom".)
- Present your findings to the class during the week before Thanksgiving (11/15 and 11/17).
- Groups A & B on November 15th, Groups C & D on November 17th.
- Collect your findings into a 1,500-word essay and submit it via Blackboard/TurnItIn. Due Friday, 11/18, 11:59 p.m.
- Worth 45 points.
- Using the chapter, "A Critical/Cultural History of the Sitcom," from The Sitcom (on Blackboard), respond to these questions: