Situation Comedy: Striking a Chord with Gen Y
Situation Comedy: Striking a Chord with Gen Y
By Dan Rupple
In a recent TV Week article, TV consultant Jim McKairnes, stated his case for the return to the multi-camera, “taped before a live audience” sitcom as the salvation of the genre. While his points are well taken and his ratings’ statistics are credible, I think he errors in not being mindful of the viewing habits of the young Gen Y audience that television comedy is trying so desperately to reach. Mr. McKairnes encourages us to “all take a page from history and judge what will work based on what has.” Well, merely because multi-camera comedy has been successful in the past doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be again. Times have changed. The audience has changed. The delivery systems have changed. This assumption is akin to saying that because Disco was hugely successful in the 70’s that a return to the disco ball, medallions and platform shoes will revitalize the music industry.
Generation Y, the highly coveted audience of 18-28 year olds, has a far different sensibility, sense of humor, taste and context in which they approach their entertainment fair. Ever wonder why Internet entertainment is soaring? Why has mockumentary style comedy flourished? Why has reality television dominated the ratings for networks?
Let me venture a guess. Study upon study tells us that one of the highest values of Gen Y is authenticity. Their parents - the Baby Boomers, of who I am a proud member – have so hyped, marketed, branded, commercialized everything in their world; that they celebrate anything that is genuine, anything that is void of an agenda, anything that rings true.
One looks at the huge success of the user generated videos uploaded to YouTube. Why do 12 million Internet users watch a video of a girl eating a preying mantis? Because a real girl, eating a real bug in her real dorm room brings out the voyeuristic curiosity in all of us, especially the Gen Y’er who want to know what is really happening in the reality of their neighbor next door or around the world.
As for television, I believe that this quest for authenticity, fueled by a generation’s increasing voyeuristic tendencies in a growing isolated universe is, in large part, responsible for the false sense of realism that has made reality shows so popular. We all know that there is little reality to this producer manipulated genre, but Gen Y doesn’t care. They are perfectly content to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” It quenches their thirst. As does the pseudo documentary comedy style of The Office (as well as Christopher Guest films or Borat) and the realistic locations and fly on the wall camera style of shows such as Arrested Development, Entourage or 30 Rock.
While a multi camera, studio shot, laugh track seasoned, traditional comedy format (Back to You) might find an audience, especially amongst Baby Boomers; I have grave doubts that it could be the savior of televised comedy with the young generation. We Boomers may like the nice and tidy escapism of the homogenized sitcom, but when Gen Y watches these types of shows, they see a whole different offering. When they see the artificiality of the canned laughter, the one dimensional sets, the unrealistic and often unrelatable storylines, the set-up / punchline joke structure; they see (to quote Elaine Benes) Fake! Fake! Fake! Fake!
I’m not saying that future multi camera comedies have absolutely no chance of garnering an audience. Comedy that is well crafted and expertly performed will usually find its audience, regardless of the platform or style But the bigger question just might be, even if we give Gen Y the type of comedy they want, will this “on demand” generation let their schedule be dictated by “appointment TV”? I think yes, if the comedy offerings are compelling enough to their collective funny bones. We must get better acquainted with our audience – their likes, their dislikes. And let’s get creative, with so many mobile options at our fingertips, are there ways we haven’t yet explored that television and digital media can work hand in hand? Our odds of success will increase if we get creative and think outside the cable box. Let’s take all that we can into account, then give the audience what they want, the way they want it, where they want it and when they want it.
Dan Rupple, a former CBS Production Supervisor, is CEO of Seriously Funny Entertainment, providing comedy entertainment for television and Internet. Dan also teaches Comedy Writing for Television at Biola University.
By Dan Rupple
In a recent TV Week article, TV consultant Jim McKairnes, stated his case for the return to the multi-camera, “taped before a live audience” sitcom as the salvation of the genre. While his points are well taken and his ratings’ statistics are credible, I think he errors in not being mindful of the viewing habits of the young Gen Y audience that television comedy is trying so desperately to reach. Mr. McKairnes encourages us to “all take a page from history and judge what will work based on what has.” Well, merely because multi-camera comedy has been successful in the past doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be again. Times have changed. The audience has changed. The delivery systems have changed. This assumption is akin to saying that because Disco was hugely successful in the 70’s that a return to the disco ball, medallions and platform shoes will revitalize the music industry.
Generation Y, the highly coveted audience of 18-28 year olds, has a far different sensibility, sense of humor, taste and context in which they approach their entertainment fair. Ever wonder why Internet entertainment is soaring? Why has mockumentary style comedy flourished? Why has reality television dominated the ratings for networks?
Let me venture a guess. Study upon study tells us that one of the highest values of Gen Y is authenticity. Their parents - the Baby Boomers, of who I am a proud member – have so hyped, marketed, branded, commercialized everything in their world; that they celebrate anything that is genuine, anything that is void of an agenda, anything that rings true.
One looks at the huge success of the user generated videos uploaded to YouTube. Why do 12 million Internet users watch a video of a girl eating a preying mantis? Because a real girl, eating a real bug in her real dorm room brings out the voyeuristic curiosity in all of us, especially the Gen Y’er who want to know what is really happening in the reality of their neighbor next door or around the world.
As for television, I believe that this quest for authenticity, fueled by a generation’s increasing voyeuristic tendencies in a growing isolated universe is, in large part, responsible for the false sense of realism that has made reality shows so popular. We all know that there is little reality to this producer manipulated genre, but Gen Y doesn’t care. They are perfectly content to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” It quenches their thirst. As does the pseudo documentary comedy style of The Office (as well as Christopher Guest films or Borat) and the realistic locations and fly on the wall camera style of shows such as Arrested Development, Entourage or 30 Rock.
While a multi camera, studio shot, laugh track seasoned, traditional comedy format (Back to You) might find an audience, especially amongst Baby Boomers; I have grave doubts that it could be the savior of televised comedy with the young generation. We Boomers may like the nice and tidy escapism of the homogenized sitcom, but when Gen Y watches these types of shows, they see a whole different offering. When they see the artificiality of the canned laughter, the one dimensional sets, the unrealistic and often unrelatable storylines, the set-up / punchline joke structure; they see (to quote Elaine Benes) Fake! Fake! Fake! Fake!
I’m not saying that future multi camera comedies have absolutely no chance of garnering an audience. Comedy that is well crafted and expertly performed will usually find its audience, regardless of the platform or style But the bigger question just might be, even if we give Gen Y the type of comedy they want, will this “on demand” generation let their schedule be dictated by “appointment TV”? I think yes, if the comedy offerings are compelling enough to their collective funny bones. We must get better acquainted with our audience – their likes, their dislikes. And let’s get creative, with so many mobile options at our fingertips, are there ways we haven’t yet explored that television and digital media can work hand in hand? Our odds of success will increase if we get creative and think outside the cable box. Let’s take all that we can into account, then give the audience what they want, the way they want it, where they want it and when they want it.
Dan Rupple, a former CBS Production Supervisor, is CEO of Seriously Funny Entertainment, providing comedy entertainment for television and Internet. Dan also teaches Comedy Writing for Television at Biola University.
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