Television Comedy: Car Share: Series 1, Episode 1.
As the
first episode in the series, it is important to establish the comedy genre and
the characters. Both are established conventions of TV situation comedy and
this 30-minute programme is designed to develop a connection between the
audience and characters while making them laugh. There are several methods to ensure the programme meets the needs of the audience and these audience pleasures are designed to appeal to the audience.
The episode
begins with a sketch-show style joke, mocking people’s interaction with an in-car
satellite navigation system. This is situation comedy as many viewers will have
had experience of this irrational anger at a computerized system, speaking to
the voice as if it is a real and can actually make mistakes. This recognized behaviour
sets the humourous tone for the programme while introducing Peter Kay’s
character John. He has a mundane job as a supermarket manager and is often ready
to complain or to quickly lose his temper about little annoying things on his
way driving to work each day.
The
programme narrative is structured around John offering a lift to Kayleigh,
played by Sian Gibson, as part of a workforce Car Share initiative where
employees share vehicles and commute together. The format is the same each
episode, as the characters drive to work, then there is a jump forward or ellipsis in the narrative sequence to them
driving home at the end of the working day. All of the scenes are filmed in the same car setting, which is
another convention of situation comedy where the viewer only sees the actors in
limited settings. The trolley man Ted is a familiar part of the programme
format which is developed later in the series.
Kayleigh is
established as lacking intelligence and being rather naïve and outspoken. But
she has endearing qualities which the programme develops during the initial
episode as she sings to her favourite songs. She is different to John and this
contrast between the characters implies potential romance, which keeps the
viewers involved in the narrative. They discuss their love lives and establish
that they are both single.
The comedy
ranges from farce, such as the sequence with the urine in a water bottle. The accident
is awkwardly embarrassing, particularly as they are colleagues and do not have
a personal relationship. This is illustrated by the awkward small talk in the
car. The urine joke is repeated throughout the episode with her saying ‘See you
in a wee while.’ shaking the bottle at him when they arrive at work and him
wearing a Beyoncé vest top, a homosexual stereotypical outfit, while
proclaiming he is heterosexual. Kayleigh calls it a ‘big gay vest’ to make the
joke explicit and the episode ends with John’s line: ‘I am what I am’ as a
reference to a stereotypical song about freedom. In fact, the programme uses cultural
references to appeal to their 30-45-year-old target audience demographic. Many
of the songs played by the programme’s own in-car radio ‘Forever FM’, a parody
of UK regional radio stations, would be known by the audience. This nostalgic
soundtrack from the 1980s/1990s would appeal to the audience and is part of the
dialogue when Kayleigh uses a line from TLC ‘I don’t want no Scrubs’ or when
she sings Alanis Morrisette in the car or imagines herself in a music video
during the cut-scene. There are also references to television characters Cilla
Black and Kermit the Frog.
Forever FM
has humour embedded within the programme through wordplay and parody. There is
an advert for a window company with the slogan ‘Smashing the cost of
conservatories’, an advert for Brillington College which is a parody of adverts
for less academic universities and an advert for the Shed Surgery using
hyperbole as a comedy device.
