chosehumanity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2010-05-17 10:52 am
chosehumanity) wrote in fandomhigh2010-05-17 10:52 am
Entry tags:
Birth of TV Comedy, Monday First Period
"And this week, we're starting with the actual comedy," Mitchell said, without really seguing much. "Not to disparage anyone's jokes, but I think some of you are dearly in need of some education."
He clapped his hands.
"Let's start at the beginning," he said. "Like most genres in television, the TV comedy was birthed from the radio tradition. In fact, in the old days, some sitcoms on TV ran concurrent with similar shows on the radio, such as Hancock's Half Hour. Sadly, a lot of these series have been lost, such as Pinwright's Progress, which was never recorded in a fashion it could be recovered in."
Mitchell had seen it. Not that he'd brag about it.
"So sadly, we have to look to the sixties for the real material. If you stay in Britain, at least. The 'sitcom', the situational comedy, was always the most prevalent kind of TV comedy. The other two options were stand-up and sketch comedy; the former involved a single person, sometimes two, talking to the audience. The second involved unrelated short bits of comedy, stuffed into a single show. Likemeta for Monty Python, but we'll be getting to that next week. Sitcoms, on the other hand, had a consistent storyline set in a situational background. Like a family, or a business."
He pushed himself up out of his chair. "So much for the boring background," he said, "We're here to watch TV, right? Early fifties, and the sixties. We'll show some examples of British and American sitcoms and see about the differences."
Beat.
"And then I want you all to tell me which part of your life would work the best as a sitcom. Just for the fun of it."
[[wait for the ocd up! ]]
He clapped his hands.
"Let's start at the beginning," he said. "Like most genres in television, the TV comedy was birthed from the radio tradition. In fact, in the old days, some sitcoms on TV ran concurrent with similar shows on the radio, such as Hancock's Half Hour. Sadly, a lot of these series have been lost, such as Pinwright's Progress, which was never recorded in a fashion it could be recovered in."
Mitchell had seen it. Not that he'd brag about it.
"So sadly, we have to look to the sixties for the real material. If you stay in Britain, at least. The 'sitcom', the situational comedy, was always the most prevalent kind of TV comedy. The other two options were stand-up and sketch comedy; the former involved a single person, sometimes two, talking to the audience. The second involved unrelated short bits of comedy, stuffed into a single show. Like
He pushed himself up out of his chair. "So much for the boring background," he said, "We're here to watch TV, right? Early fifties, and the sixties. We'll show some examples of British and American sitcoms and see about the differences."
Beat.
"And then I want you all to tell me which part of your life would work the best as a sitcom. Just for the fun of it."
[[
Re: Talk to Mitchell
"Thought I should. And now I'm just gonna go."
She needed a nap or a hardcore DDR session or something.
Re: Talk to Mitchell
"Kate," he settled on, "If something's the matter..."
He winced internally. This could possibly flame out very badly.
Re: Talk to Mitchell
"You didn't happen to listen in when I told Jack I'm fine?"
Re: Talk to Mitchell
Mitchell snorted. "'I'm fine' could mean anything from 'fine' to 'I've just had my heart crushed by a hovercraft' with you," he said, and glanced at her leg.
Re: Talk to Mitchell
Really now, Mitchell. You should be keeping an eye on her hands.
Re: Talk to Mitchell
"I know another one like you," Mitchell said, choosing to ignore the question. "But really, go on. Embrace the repression."
Re: Talk to Mitchell
She'd leave soon. Really. She would.
Re: Talk to Mitchell
Re: Talk to Mitchell
"You know what? I am not doing this with you as well."
And apparently she meant it, since she turned to leave.
Re: Talk to Mitchell
Re: Talk to Mitchell
These were some very graceful parting words.