Since the 1920’s situation comedy (sitcoms) have evolved into the most popular television genre. They focus mainly on day to day life events to highlight humerous faults of human behaviour. To make these sitcoms successful they use characters in a cultural context, a didactic plot and a setting we can relate to. For years the sitcom Seinfeld has drawn viewers into the complicated and confusing world of Jerry Seinfeld and his dysfunctional friends. In sitcoms, setting is the most important aspect as it allows the viewers to see realism, the characters identity and a social back round.
Comedy or Subliminal Messages Often times in comedic television subliminal messages underlie the punch lines. Television shows such as Family Guy feed unintentional messages into the subconscious that can unknowingly, shape and mold one’s views on a variety of topics. Anyone who has ever seen an episode of Family Guy can attest to the offensiveness, weirdness and extreme bluntness of the show. Nevertheless, those that are offended by the show usually do not see how it transforms real life situations into ones that Americans can humor themselves with. One article in particular, Antonia Peacocke’s, Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, speaks upon the overt offensiveness within the show.
For example both Sedaris and Swift use satire, however their satire defers in Swift use the satire towards others while Sedaris uses it to poke fun at himself. Sedaris uses the element of details to add to humor just as Swift uses details to add to his. There are differences in the humor as well such as Swifts appeal to utilitarianism opposed to Sedaris appeal to practicality. Swift and Sedaris are great writers who are similar as well as different in using humor, satire and irony in their delivery of their writing. Sedaris and Swift share multiple similarities in their writing such as the element of details to add humor.
Hotchkiss wants the audience to believe that the circumstances behind living an unhealthy lifestyle, outweighs a few laughs, ratings, and bragging rights. Hotchkiss provides effective evidence of his standing, as well as strong reasoning why this show gives unbridled hilarity and entertainment a bad name. Hotchkiss uses diverse techniques in proving and convincing his audience by providing factual and individual support, an actual doctor’s figures, powerful connections, and avoiding the use of repetition. In his article, Hotchkiss conveys his worries that the Thompson family is episodes away from killing themselves. The family consists of an overweight seven year old, her four older sisters, and her un married parents, who are all also overweight.
Because people are making fun of his nose he is able to provide witty humor that makes the book become a comedy. Valvert says “Ah…your nose…hem!...Your nose is…rather large!” “Rather” “Oh well” “Is that all” “Well of course.”(35-36 Act 1) But Cyrano does not leave it like this he replies by insulting Valvert and ultimately making him angry by telling him all the better insults that he could have had. He threw it right back in his face by making it a joke. Throughout the story comedy like this occurs and that is why I believe it is a
show I love, but that not many people understand, falls into that category. South Park is more than just a television show. It is an outlet in which moral messages can be channeled through, in a humorous way that we can all understand and relate to. The key element of South Park is its satirical humor style. Many episodes are based off of real-world problems, and are solved through extensive use of satire.
Antonia Peacocke, in her essay “ Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious”, applies the main ideas of Freud’s “Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious”, logical evidence, and strong arguments, to prove the true meaning behind the show’s unique humor. Her main evidence against the supposed “offensive” show is by introducing Freud’s literature, “Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious”, which claims Family guy hits the unconscious parts of our minds, and while our minds realize the true meaning behind the joke, it makes the joke seem funny (Peacocke 308). This idea of using satire to create the jokes in Family Guy are meant not to offend, but to “provide a sort of relief by breaking down taboos” over American culture and stereotypes that people create amongst each other (Peacocke 308). Another way Peacoke introduces logical evidence is by presenting direct dialogues from the show, and therefore revealing the similarities to the American culture’s realities. For example she uses pieces of dialogue in which one involves a commercial set in the 1950’s in which is believed to be “blatantly sexist” because it ridicules how people perceived and treated women in the 1950’s (Peacoke 302).
In order for a sitcom to be great, it should be re-watchable. Seinfeld has a number of inside jokes including catch phrases and character flaws which are repeated throughout the episodes. The inside jokes are generally only picked up by dedicated viewers who realise that they’re funny, hence they are necessary in re-watchability. Another factor in a great sitcom is chemistry among the characters. The characters of Seinfeld have such great chemistry that we love to watch them, and feel like a part of it.
On the “Daily Show” Stuart, after broad casting the corrupted video, used a sarcastic tone and commended Fox for showing such a shocking video and even apologize for past “mistakes” of ridiculing Fox. He fabricates this scenario to build up a false sense of admiration of Fox, only to bluntly humiliate them and shatter their reputation. He rhetorically does this to amplify his point and mock the audience of Fox for being gullible. Stewart broadcast the original video to compare his credibility versus Fox, so he can gain more reliability and further appeal to the cynical
Price uses irony to mock the flamingos, which causes readers to clearly see from her point of view. The comparison of flamingos to other cultural symbols is used to show that flamingos are seen as a sense of hope. While Price ridicules the way Americans viewed flamingos, she also shows how flamingos helped them through rough times since