Reflect and Blog

After reviewing my list, I think the shows I love and the shows I not-so-love say a lot about my personality and my style. I am a very relaxed, yet hard working kind of girl who enjoys a broad variety of television shows, but mainly ones that have deep plot structures or interesting themes. I enjoy being challenged in daily life and I love being intellectually challenged when watching dramatic television shows, however I still enjoy a little mindless comedy like King of the Hill and Adventure Time, but one could argue that those shows do offer some intellectual clarity and themes when watched at a point more focused that at the surface. For example King of the Hill shows the journey of a propane salesman and his son attempting to bond in that ever-awkward Texan way. It’s heartwarming at the end of the series when Bobby and Hank finally get that moment of father-son love at Bobby’s Texas Tech meat indentifying competition. But if we take into account the module on reception analysis, then the ideas of polyvalence start to show when other people’s perceptions of the show differ. Some see King of the Hill at face value, others see Texan stereotyping, and some see the relationship metaphors through Bobby and Hank, Joseph and Dale, Bill, and Boomhower. When you think of King of the Hill as emotionally sympathetic, it kind of feels less guilty to like the silly drama.

A show I never feel guilty about and still don’t after thinking through criticisms, is Doctor Who. The fun loving Doctor and his eager companion(s) take on the universe, fighting evil dictators, earth hating species, and saving lives one planet at a time. In my opinion it’s the best show I’ve ever seen. Its story plots are deeply involved stemming back through time and season space to retell jokes, explain past episodes or to reveal plot developments that have been happening since season one episode one (that sadly was taped over by the BBC and no one “claims” to have a copy).  I feel like this show defines the actor who is playing the Doctor. If we examine the newest doctors, Eccelston, Tenant, and Smith and their life outside of Doctor Who you can really see how the role defined them as celebrities. Chris Eccelston plays the hard doctor. His dark leather jacket, his purple tee, and his charming yet hard spoken attitude, make you love him and yet see him as a planetary dignitary. He’s all business and only Rose Tyler can break down his heart. In Chris Eccelston’s real life during the filming of Doctor Who, he was having trouble with Steven Moffat due to disagreements about acting and the two rather just disliked each other. Eccelston did one hard-hitting season and then left to play other heard faced roles as this bad boy comeback actor. David Tenant took on a much more loveable Doctor. He played the role as enthusiastic, adorable, and fun loving and won the hearts of the new fans and a few of the old. While playing his role, David Tenant’s outside life showed him in much the same personality traits. He was married, attended Comic Cons, hardly ever took his blue suit off, and was the Doctor in real life and on the screen. It’s no wonder why as a boy he wanted to play the Doctor on television and of course his dream came true. Matt Smith also has the same home life as work life. As the Doctor he has gained our friendship and while he has made the fan girls swoon, Tenant still holds the love of Rose Tyler. Matt’s energetic and boyish nature takes his viewers on a journey with his friends the Ponds and the love of his life River Song. Matt Smith’s personality shows through his character. He also attends comic cons, wears funny t-shirts for the paparazzi and has plenty of quirky awkward moments caught by the media’s eye. These fun loving actors bring the story to life and the story does well to play off of their own character traits that help define them as celebrities.

After examining A, B, and C story lines I was interested in how other shows do this and the best I could really clearly see was another comedy The Office. I seriously love this show but still haven’t seen the final season or its finale so don’t break my heart with the news of Jim and Pam’s relationship or if Darrell never rises to the top, or if Andy and Erin never get married.  I’ll die a slow and painful disappointed death. Anyway back to story structures. In one episode in particular, Jim is trying to do a rundown, Dwight and Andy are fighting over Erin, and the Michael Scott Paper Company is enhancing their Cheetos catching skills and make their first sale. This episode seamlessly sews these story lines together using the technique of documentary style editing. It seems as if these stories just naturally flow together yet all of the members interact with each other during the day.  I’ve never really considered the intricateness of a show like the Office until examining shows like Modern Family. It’s interesting to see how both of these shows pull everything together flawlessly, while still having one big over arching story.

I love all three of these shows and none of them have seemed to lose my attention over their many years. I have noticed that shows I’ve liked and then hated, like How I met Your Mother or The Big Bang Theory have lost my enjoyment due to predictability in story structure. The episodes all happen the same way, the jokes are over used or stereotypical, and the characters aren’t easy to empathize with. It makes it very hard to enjoy these shows. I’ve also always had a disdain for reality television shows for the same reasons.

I really enjoy television, especially narrative comedy or dramedy. It’s the whole reason I’m in media studies. I want to make people laugh, cry, and fall in love.  I want to create a hit show and work with talented people. It’s the American Dream for me-success through what I love. I’m glad to have these analytical views in my arsenal now so that I know what works and what doesn’t, why people watch and why people don’t, and why actors work in some parts but don’t in others. It’s extremely valuable information. 

Also here's a cute Dalek so you can have an awesome day! :)