TV (Script Format/Viewing)

Period 7:

Please complete your comment from last class. This is past due for most of you.

Classroom task:

• If you haven't done so already, respond to last class's post. 
• Consider entering one of the contests--there is one (the SPJ/JEA High School Contest, 300-500 words (1.5-2 pages double spaced) on the topic of media. Answer with support from outside sources and compose. 

Additionally, please take a look at the TV format handout and sample from the Star Trek episode (handout).

Period 7/8:

I Love Lucy was one of the most popular television series in the 1950's when television was new to the silent generation. The show aired from 1951-1957. While somewhat dated on its treatment of women, the show remains funny and established the genre of the situational comedy.

In situational comedy, we should look for the following tropes:

• Originally recorded live (in front of a small studio audience)
• Often uses a sound track to indicate where to laugh (laugh track)
• Characters do not change--if they do, they change DURING the episode, but return to a normal state by the end of the episode
• Focus is on a zany plot: a reversal of fortune, a crazy idea that is acted upon, or a "situation" that has the potential of changing the fate/economic status/relationship of the main characters
• Set usually moves from a traditional setting (a living room or standard set) to one other set (a bar or someplace outside of the normal setting) and back
• Focus is on one-liner jokes or witty dialogue

HOMEWORK: None.