Example notes from episode one.

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.