WHAT MAKES THE IT CROWD FUNNY

When I was watching 'The IT Crowd' (I watched the episode called 'FriendFace') I found several things that made the programme appealing. These included:

- the running joke of Moss and Roy being desperate for girlfriend (this is why they were so suddenly, comically eager to join FriendFace as there was a possibility of meeting women)
- the running joke of Jen wanting to get a boyfriend and prove she has done something with her life to other people like in this episode when she has to make up lies to feel worthy of her old friends from school creates ridiculous and comic situations such as the fake fight between Roy and Moss
- slapstick humour: characters making silly faces or noises
- Jen's complete incompetence in IT is comically ridiculous given her position as head of the department and also continues to create funny, silly situations such as her not being able to use the internet or the computer
- Ludicrous situations the characters get themselves into such as when they all end up talking to each other by computer in the same room
- Sarcasm and hypocritical lines by the characters like the 'less is more' line by Jen while she applies loads of lipstick also adds humour to the episode
- the stereotypical geekiness of Roy and Moss makes the show funny because of their ideas, the things they say and what they do, such as trying to become 'real men'
- Moss' awkward nature that leads him to say inappropriate things like telling people too much information about his and Jen's fictional relationship and making up the lie that Jen is dead. The awkward and embarrassing nature of these situations makes the programme funny
- Finally, the process of events, often including a lot of misunderstandings and ridiculous lies digs the characters deeper into their mess and often makes it even funnier as the situation gets worse

These are all the techniques I identified while watching 'The IT Crowd'
 

CHANNEL 4 RESEARCH

 

Channel 4’s guiding light is its remit, as laid out in legislation by Parliament. At its heart the remit requires us to be innovative, experimental, distinctive and diverse. It is multi-faceted, with different components, such as supporting and stimulating well-informed debate and inspiring people to make changes in their lives. The remit also suggests how we can deliver outcomes – for example by investing in high-quality media content and nurturing creative talent. It applies across the full spread of our genres – from comedy and film to news and education.

Audiences lie at the heart of everything we do at Channel 4. Our unique model means that we aim to have as wide an appeal as possible while also reaching out to specific demographics under-served by other broadcasters. We worked harder than ever in 2012 to engage with our viewers, harnessing new technologies to allow us to better understand their likes and dislikes and develop a more personal relationship with audiences that we expect to deepen further over time.

 

Channel 4 Comedy Programmes

-          2 Broke Girls

-          Man Down

-          8 out of 10 cats

-          How I Met Your Mother

-          Rules of Engagement

-          The Big Bang Theory

-          Father Ted

-          The Inbetweeners

-          Laughing at the…

-    Sean Lock: Lockipedia

-    Lee Mack Live

-    Black Books

-    Rude Tube

-    The Simpsons

-    Peter Kay - The Tour that Didn't Tour - Tour

-    Ugly Betty

-    Frasier

-    Fresh Meat

-    Desperate Housewives

-    Bill Bailey - Dandelion Mind

-    Whatever Happened to Harry Hill?

-    School of Comedy

-    8 out of 10 cats does Countdown

-   Charlie's Angels

-   Fresh Meat

-   Hit the Road Jack

-    Alan Carr: Tooth Fairy Live

-  Lee Evans: Roadrunner

-   Rhod Gilbert: The Cat that looked Like 

The comedy programmes seem to be mainly aimed at younger people - I think Channel 4 wants to appeal to a younger audience and does this by using slightly quirkier programmes you don't see on other channels

 

TEST SHOTS - BOLD AND OUTGOING THEME

I did some test shots for how I might want my perfume advert to look. I knew I wanted the model to be doing something active, not too posed, to fit the outgoing theme. It was raining and really windy on the day I took them, so I thought I'd take advantage of this and do some fun ones with an umbrella! I asked Eden (my model) to try and be spontaneous and do whatever she wanted. Here are the ones I liked the best: