Unit 25: T. V. and Video Studies Essay Name: Johnny Ray Brolly
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| Unit 25: T.V. and Video Studies Essay
Name: Johnny Ray Brolly Student ID: BRO05024500 Course: Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production (Film & TV) Unit: 25 – T.V. and Video Studies Tutor: Conor Glynn In this assignment I will be analyzing various TV shows to show my knowledge of how forms, narrative and genre apply to the TV and video industry and how a show appeals to a certain audience and fits into the wider sector. Rick and Morty 
“Rick and Morty” is an animated science fiction comedy T.V. show that was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon and is broadcast on Adult Swim, which as an American cable network channel that shares broadcasting space with Cartoon Network. Every night at 8pm Cartoon Network will switch over to Adult Swim. The majority of its programming contains cartoons with adult humour. “Rick and Morty” is about a young boy named Rick who has an ingenious scientist grandfather named Rick, who is very irresponsible and will often get the two of them in bizarre and dangerous adventures. It’s a science fiction show and will often use the conventions of this genre. This genre allows the writers and crew behind this show to take the story in several outrageous directions. Examples of typical things that are explored in the science fiction genre that feature in this show would include space travel, extraterrestrial life and new and advanced technology that doesn’t exist in the real world. It’s also a show that very much falls in line with the comedy genre as there’s a very comedic tone throughout each episode. “Rick and Morty” has a sense of humor that is often dark, cynical and rather crass. It heavily uses absurdist humor as well which is aided by its use of the genre conventions of science fiction. The combination of these two genres would mean that it is classified as a hybrid show. Although each episode is majorly intended for humour the show will occasionally adopt a more dramatic tone as a means of bringing more dramatic weight to the actions of the characters. I think this is also done because if the characters are written with aspects that would be present in a real person then it’s easier for the audience to relate to and become invested in their experiences. “Rick and Morty” is a show that uses the form of animation to tell its stories. It is a show that will often have very outlandish and bizarre storylines as I had said earlier, so I feel as if the decision to create this show in animation was informed by this aspect of the show. Animation does not have many of the limitations that live action productions do, but the decision to make the show in the form of animation meant that each episode has a very long production time of several months. However it also allowed the writers to explore more outlandish storylines that they wouldn’t be able to in live action. The narrative codes used in the writing in “Rick and Morty” uses symbolic codes to explore the themes behind Morty and Rick’s behavior and Rick’s generally self-destructive nature. It has a linear narrative as each episode continues on the story from the last. Its narrative would also be considered linear and anti realist as each episode continues on from the last and it isn’t an accurate depiction of reality. The target audience for “Rick and Morty” would generally be young men from the ages of 18-35 as that is the demographic that will on average enjoy this show’s particular sense of humour and that makes up the majority of the show’s viewership. Adult Swim, the channel that it’s broadcast on is also a show that’s general programming appeals to this demographic. The show also heavily appeals to fans of science fiction and comedy.
“Rick and Morty” has become a very successful television show and has become Adult Swim’s most popular property, so a lot of the funding and marketing from that network has gone into promoting this show as it’s bringing a lot of success and attention to their channel. Adult Swim has used various advertising methods to promote “Rick and Morty” such as bill boards and a partnership advertisement with the fast food chain Carl, Jr.’s. This has allowed them to make profits from merchandise outside of the actual show such as T-Shirts and DVDs and Blu Rays. This is where “Rick and Morty” fits in the wider sector of Adult Swim’s programming. 
Better Call Saul 
“Better Call Saul” is a crime drama T.V. show with aspects of comedy that was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. It’s a spin off/prequel to “Breaking Bad”. Like “Breaking Bad” it is broadcast on AMC which is a network that has become known for television shows that are made to a very professional standard with a big budget such as “Mad Men” and “The Walking Dead”. AMC had also made in agreement with Netflix that they would have the rights to stream an entire season of “Better Call Saul” on Netflix after every episode of a season had been broadcast on AMC. “Better Call Saul” is about a formal criminal that tries to turn his life around and becomes a law abiding lawyer to make an honest living, but the temptation of a life of crime is still something he hasn’t completely gotten over. “Better Call Saul” would fall under the genre of crime drama. A lot of the tension and plot points in the show revolve around the protagonist’s inner conflict about being a former criminal that is now trying to lead a law abiding life whilst simultaneously being unable to make a living by doing so. He is constantly tempted to return to a life of crime by different occurrences in the plot. The show’s genre influences the story very much in this regard as the types of characters typically prevalent in the crime drama genre such as drug dealers, con artists and corrupt police will take on major roles in the show’s plots. Typical situations in the crime drama genre such as bribery, shady business deals and murders take place in “Better Call Saul” which are tropes of the genre that influence the story of this show. “Better Call Saul” is a show that uses the form of fictional drama. It is live action and is shot in the same manor as how a professional feature film would be shot and edited. It has a rather high budget when compared to most T.V. dramas. It’s very filmic and its production value would be on par with many major feature films. I would consider the show’s narrative to be considered non-linear as it tells the story of events that take place before “Breaking Bad”. The very first episode shows where the protagonist is after the events of “Breaking Bad” but then the rest of the show takes place before the events of “Breaking Bad” and seeing as the plot to both shows connects in many ways I would consider this to be non linear storytelling. In spite of this it is linear in the sense that the events that take place before “Breaking Bad” are told in a consecutive and linear manor. It has a realist storyline as well. The themes and topics that are explored in the show are all ones that are relevant to the real world and that could occur in real life. Of course certain liberties are sometimes taken for the purpose of exciting storytelling, but for the most part the storyline to “Better Call Saul” is rather realistic. The enigmatic codes typically used in this show will raise questions to the viewer about how the protagonist will get out of certain legal situations in the plot often involving criminals that could endanger his life. The symbolic codes of this show mostly concern the morality of the main character and whether or not his decision to live a law abiding life is a permanent one. “Better Call Saul” essentially had a very large audience ready to watch the show before its first episode even aired. Its connection with “Breaking Bad” meant that it already had a built in audience seeing as there was already a very big established fan base for “Breaking Bad” that was interested in more content after that show had ended. The very first episode of season 1 proved that there was already an in built audience as it had 6.9 million viewers. It’s a show that would have an audience demographic of adults both male and female ranging from the age of 18-49.
“Better Call Saul” fits into the T.V. industry’s wider sector as an example of how a continuation or a spin-off of an established T.V. property that has been proven to be successful can lead to a larger audience and almost guaranteed success. It’s also an example of the advantages of having a show be available on both scheduled broadcast television and 24 hour online streaming.  
Spaced 
“Spaced” was a short lived sitcom T.V. show that lasted for 2 series in the early 2000s. It was created by Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson and Edgar Wright and it was broadcast on Channel 4. It had a rather average T.V. budget. It consisted of 14 episodes that lasted roughly 22 minutes each. It’s about two “slacker type characters named Tim and Daisy that move into a flat together and meet a bunch of eccentric characters. The show mostly follows them half-heartedly trying to find work to pay the rent. “Spaced” was a sitcom show that would be considered a show that fits in the comedy genre. The show’s storylines were very much informed by its genre. Every episode has a very humourous tone. The plots to most episodes revolve around rather mundane situations being made to seem as if they’re action packed epic events, so that the contrast could provide for good comedy. A lot of the humour in the show also comes from the eccentric traits of the different characters in the show as well as pop culture reference humor. Each character has a distinct trait that is often used for comedy. For example Mike Watt played by Nick Frost is very childish and is obsessed with the army and the absurdity of these character traits is often the subject of jokes in the show. As for the references the writers of the show are self confessed “geeks” and are very knowledgeable of things such as cult movies, comic books and video games and will often make clever references to them in the show. The form of “Spaced” is a live action sitcom production on a rather average budget that was shot single camera. I personally feel as if the show’s recurring director Edgar Wright helped to elevate the material above its shortcomings such as its budget and other limitations through his creative visual style. He often tries to replicate and pay homage to popular films in genres such as action and horror for the purpose of humour. “Spaced” is fictional and has a linear narrative. Plot points from each episode carry on to the next and continue their story. Although it could be argued that the show could be considered realist in the sense that that the majority of each plot is about rather average mundane events, I’d consider its narrative to be anti-realist, because these plots will often be treated as a heightened reality. There will be massive shifts in style to make mundane events seem epic for a comedic contrast. Narrative codes are used in “Spaced” like any other T.V. show. Action codes are the actions and events that that progress the plot forward and keep the viewers’ attention in a show. The action codes in “Spaced would include comedic banter between characters, situational humour and comedic stylistic changes. The audience of “Spaced” would be made up largely by “geeks”; people who really enjoy media such as cult movies, comic books and video games as they will understand the various in jokes and references in the show and would be most likely to relate to the characters. It would have mostly appealed to a younger male early 20s demographic as yet again they’re mostly likely to relate to the characters. Personally I feel as if “Spaced” fits into the wider sector as an example of how a show doesn’t need to be on the air for an extremely elongated time to make some sort of an impact and to help its creators and crew to go on to do more work. “Spaced” only ran for two series but the connections that co-creators Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg had made with Channel 4 helped them to gain funding from Film 4 to make their debut feature film, “Shaun of the Dead”.  
My Wasted Life: Matt Groening 
“My wasted Life” is a 30 minute documentary that was directed by Selina Mehta. It was a single episode show so this means that there was only ever one episode that covered the full story that the creators wished to tell. It’s about the life of Mat Groening, the creator of “The Simpsons”. It covers his whole life from when he was a child, to when he was a struggling cartoonist in LA and finally to when he found success with “The Simpsons”. It’s titled “My Wasted Life” because in the show Groening talks about how his school teachers told him he was wasting his time watching TV instead of doing homework, which now has a sense of irony to it as he’s become one of the most successful people in the TV industry ever. It was broadcast on BBC Two in the year 2000. It fits into the genre and form of documentary. It tells a true story and because of this it could not be considered fiction. It is essentially a rather long interview with Matt Groening himself telling stories about his life. Any questions that the interviewer had asked are cut out of the documentary to give the illusion that Groening is just telling his story to camera on his own. There’s a heavy use of stock footage in the show to evoke a sense of the time period in which Groening’s take place. Groening grew up in the 1960s and this show uses a lot of footage of things that were relevant to that time period. It specifically uses a lot of stock footage of old 1950s/60s TV sitcoms which served as Groening’s inspiration. It’s a show with a linear narrative as Groening tells his life’s story chronologically. The fact that’s a single episode show means that its story must be structured in a way that allows the entire scope of the story in only one episode. “My Wasted Life” is a show that would mostly appeal to an older audience as it was broadcast on BBC Two which is a channel that’s programming largely appeals to an older audience. It’s a channel that strives towards creating shows that have a purpose beyond just entertainment and that have more meaning or importance to them. Often they will broadcast shows that tell stories from real life.
In conclusion it’s clear to me that forms, narrative and genre are applied to all TV shows but for varying purposes and to appeal to certain audiences, so that the show can be successful. Sources:
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