Question 4a Notes

Programme name: Keith Lemon's Celebrity Juice
Channel: ITV - it's commercial and would attract a large audience.
Time: 10pm - it's aired after the watershed because of the transgressive humour and language which would appeal to adults but is inappropriate for younger viewers.
Audience demographic: E -> students - relatable to them because of the jokes (relatively immature) and language/situations. They are familiar with the presenters and guests from other shows.
Date: Thursday
Produced by: TalkBack
Commissioned by: ITV
USP: The show is 'out there' - the extreme and vulgar games and humour set it apart. The inclusion of well-known character Keith Lemon also is a selling point, as people will want to watch his shows.


Programme name: Peter Kay's Car Share
Channel: BBC - vision: to be the most creative organisation in the world, aim: to enrich people's lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain.
Time: 9:30

TV Comedy: Keith Lemon Biography

His shows:

• Whatever I Want (2000)
• Bo' Selecta! (2002-06)
• Celebrity Juice (2008-)
• Lemon La Vida Loca (2012-13)
• Through the Keyhole (2013-)
• The Keith Lemon Sketch Show (2015-16)

He often presents panel shows (Celebrity Juice and Through the Keyhole), but has also done sketch comedy (Bo' Selecta! and The Keith Lemon Sketch Show). His show Lemon La Vida Loca was a parody of reality shows. The range of comedy show styles he has produced shows the diversity of the character and the various comedic situations he can be relevant in.

Celebrity Juice:

TV Comedy: Panel Shows

Codes and conventions:

- Usually on the topic of current affairs: 

- Satirical humour (making fun of serious topics). Audience can laugh at taboo subjects. Can be controversial.

- The contestants are seated around a panel, facing the audience. the panel is clearly separated into two teams, with the host sat in the middle.

- The host is the same in each episode, and there are usually one or two comedians who are featured in every episode, often as team captains.

- The audience can be heard clapping and cheering at the end of the opening credits and before you see the contestants.

- There are usually recurring segments that the audience will be familiar with (eg. 'Here is the answer, what is the question?' in Mock the Week)

Episodes are typically 30 minutes long, in order to keep a lot happening without any segments dragging. this keeps the audience engaged, whilst having enough time to fit a lot of content in. The format of the shows and even the set layout are every similar to each other. This is because, when the audience sees this format before the show starts, they will know what to expect because there are so many other shows with extremely similar formats. Channels that broadcast panel shows are major commercial channels such as BBC, ITV and Chanel 4. The shows are broadcast after the watershed, which allows the comedians to say whatever they want, no matter how vulgar or transgressive. This helps with the fact that the show is completely unrehearsed: it doesn't hold the comedians back at all. The shows are cheap and easy to make - all that needs to be done is pay for the set and the comedians. There are no screenwriters that need to be paid as it's all unscripted. They are easy for the company to produce as they are so cheap and are so popular. The shows are aimed towards young - middle-aged adults, as they will be aware of current affairs and will be able to appreciate and laugh with the satirical comedy style.

TV Comedy: Audience Pleasures in Peter Kay's Car Share

Episode 1:

- Relatable situation: Sat-nav playing up and radio adverts. This will be something the audience will be familiar with, so will inject humour into things they deal with most days.

- Transgressive pleasure: Urine sample incident. The audience will find pleasure in the use of a taboo situation.

- Narrative pleasures: Introduces the characters and the differences in their personalities. Audiences will know people similar to John and Kayleigh in their own friendship groups of colleges, so will find their contrasting personalities comical. 

- Specific pleasures: Peter Kay as a recognisable figure from stand up. Very well recognised and established. The audience will recognise him and will find pleasure in seeing a familiar face from stand up in a different form of media - a sitcom.

- Character identification: Working class characters that audience can identify with. Commuting to work will be something that the audience will be familiar with, so brings humour to a usually boring element of their own lives.

Episode 2:

- Snowballing narrative: 'Dogging' joke running and growing throughout the episode. This also incorporates performance unpredictability and spontaneity, as the audience anticipates the build up of the joke when the character of Kayleigh pulls up to a dog walker. the audience anticipates the reactions of both characters.
- Difference-in-repetition: Ted's death is discovered in this episode, and he was introduced in episode 1. The situation turns comical when Ted's replacement is an attractive young male, which links to the character of the trolley-pusher in the first episode. In this episode and the next one, the same idea of Kayleigh having a crush on the new trolley-pusher, but with variations such as him changing from wearing just a vest to being topless, and Kayleigh's hair being a mess when she sees him.

Episode 3:
Repetition: The repeated 'Brillington College' joke has run through each episode, and creates something familiar that audiences will look out for now they've seen it featured in every episode. They will enjoy the small pleasure of a familiarity in each episode they see.
Transgressive pleasure: The inclusion of Japanese swearing is something transgressive and taboo - the audience won't usually joke about this in their normal lives because it could be offensive or misunderstood, so seeing people on television discussing something like that will be enjoyed by the audience as it's something they wouldn't take the liberty to discuss. The sexual puns of 'Japsi' and 'Pussy Lover' as the names of Kayleigh's two dates are also humorous as the audience can laugh at her naivety whilst also getting pleasures from the transgressive and inappropriate nature of the names.

Episode 4:
Performance unpredictability: The new concept of having kids in the car adds a new element to the show and a situation that the audience haven't seen the characters in. As they usually have a transgressive sense of humour, it is funny for the audience to see them try to avoid that.
Narrative pleasure: 

TV Comedy: Peter Kay's Car Share

Network: BBC One

Number of episodes: 6

Cast: Peter Kay, Sian Gibson

Writers: Peter Kay, Sian Gibson, Paul Coleman, Tim Reid

Scheduled broadcast: 21:30

About the writer, Peter Kay: His first stand-up was the competition the North West Comedian of the Year, which was held in Manchester.  Kay was last on the bill and won the competition, beating Johnny Vegas.

Viewing figures: 

Episode 1: 7.01 million

Episode 2: 4.67 million

Episode 3: 6.44 million

Episode 4: 6.18 million

Episode 5: 6.10 million

Episode 6: 5.78 million

Critic opinions:

"I laughed over and over again, loudly and gracelessly, during BBC1's Car Share" - Grace Dent

"Peter Kay's Car Share will leave a daft grin on your face" - Micheal Hogan

"Kay’s new un-hyped TV show is big-hearted and silly and reminds us what a terrific comic actor he can be" - Brian Logan

"The script is sharp and Kay’s performance is completely natural" - Christopher Stevens

Codes and conventions of sitcoms:

Running jokes, a comic trap (the situation the characters are in which is the premise of the whole show), one-liners, a laugh track/canned laughter, parody/spoof, satire, locations that the show is frequently set in that the audience will recognize, a recognizable theme tune.

TV Comedy: Audience Pleasures

• narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
• character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
• pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
• pleasures of difference-within-repetition
• performance unpredictability and spontaneity
• transgressive pleasures
• specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities.

TV Comedy: Walliams and Friend Research

Who commissioned the programme? 
Shane Allen and Gregor Sharp (Commissioning Editors from the BBC).

Who produced it?
Sarah Fraser.

What audience is it aimed at? Why?
It's aimed at adults due to the mature nature of the comedy and the later time it's aired.

Why is it on at that time and on that channel? Link to 'type' of comedy and target audience.
It's aired at 21:30 on BBC One. The late time is due to the transgressive humour that wouldn't be appropriate for younger viewers. The time allows the adult target audience to watch the show whilst any younger viewers are already in bed.

Is it on after the watershed? Why?
It's on after this time because it allows the show to include swearing and violence which would work better with the taboo topics they deal with in the comedy. The type of humour that is featured works better with expletives to add to the transgressive style.

Know the audience demographic.
The audience demographic is class B/C1: Middle management, teachers, creative and media people eg. graphic designers etc. / Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff - white collar.