965 3P

TV in American Life

April 12, 2019

Group Presentation: Sitcoms

Details:

Due Dates: Monday, May 6; Wednesday, May 8; Friday, May 10; Monday, May 13

Length: 10-12 minutes

Value: 150 points

Description:

In a couple of weeks, we are going to be laying out a brief history of the situation comedy by focusing on five

series: I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, and Community. We will be discussing how certain

visual aspects of the series have changed. We will also examine how humor itself has changed over the course of

the nearly 70 years of sitcom history. For this group presentation, you and your partners will be examining an

additional sitcom. (You can choose the sitcom, but it cannot be any of the five we will be discussing; it also cannot

be All in the Family or any show that anyone in your group has used for any other assignments this semester. In

other words, it needs to be something new.) Your job will be to fit your sitcom into the history that we’ve

established in class. Which series is it most like? How was it influenced by the series we will be examining in class?

How is it different from these sitcoms? How innovative is your series? How does your sitcom’s sense of humor

compare to the sitcoms we discussed in class? You will want to examine both the more technical aspects of the

series (including camera use, the laugh track, the structure of episodes, and more) and the series’ overall sense of

humor. Basically, in your presentation, you’ll be doing what we will have done in class – just with a different

sitcom. In your presentation, though, you should explain the most significant connection between your sitcom and

the ones we will have discussed in class. And then you’ll need to explain HOW this connection works.

When you’re thinking about which sitcom you should use, you should keep in mind that we’re generally talking

about ½ hour programs aired on a network, a cable channel, or streaming service. Also, we’re basically looking for

series that are meant to be funny. Sitcoms should be narrative, so you can’t use Late Night with Stephen Colbert or

other similar talk shows. Narrative animation that functions as a sitcom, like The Simpsons or Bob’s Burgers, would

qualify for this assignment. When you’re preparing your presentation, you might want to use a single episode from

your series to create a really strong focus, but can also make brief references to other episodes. Make sure that

you’ve got good, specific evidence to support your analysis. You shouldn’t need to do any research for the

presentation, but if you need to check on characters’ names, the website imdb.com is always useful. (If you do any

research to flesh out your ideas, make sure you cite the sources in your presentation. Our book The Platinum Age

of Television might be a good source, depending on the sitcom you are working on.) You will probably want to

watch multiple episodes of your sitcom very closely so that you can develop some concrete examples to support

your ideas. The presentation needs to be your analysis, not a report about the sitcom, but you will need to include

a brief summary or description of your series.

As a presentation, you will need to include a visual component. That could be clip from the show (but try to limit

yourself to about 2 minutes) or a PowerPoint presentation with images, or a combination of both. Make sure that

all members of the group talk during the presentation. Using notes is fine, but reading a script (whether it’s on

paper or on the screen) will hurt your overall grade.

Evaluation:

A high-quality presentation will have the following ingredients:

• Well-developed analysis that reveals specific connections to the series discussed in class

• An examination of both the technical aspects of your sitcom as well as its sense of humor

• Brief summary of the sitcom and perhaps a specific episode being focused on

• Clear evidence – including visual elements – that support your analysis

• Interesting and engaging presentation that is clearly delivered with useful and appropriate visual elements. In your presentation, all members of the group must talk. Visuals need to be presented clearly, without

taking up too much time for arranging your clip, and everything must be explained thoroughly and in a

well-organized fashion. Try to engage with audience; make eye contact and avoid reading.