dissertation proposal
TRANSCRIPT
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
“THE PRODIGIOSITY OF CLASSIC BRITISHSITCOMS: WHAT IS MISSING IN CONTEMPORARY BRITISH SITCOMS”
By
Samuel O. Osagie
LIMKOKWING UNIVERSITY, LONDON
APRIL 22ND, 2009
1
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
ABSTRACT
The British Situation Comedy (Britcom) is experiencing what the Holy Bible calls,
“Ichabod”, meaning the ‘glory’ has departed. The glory days of Britcom are gone! If the
foundation of a building is destroyed, what will become of that building? It will be mendacious
to say British sitcom is still what it used to be.
Gone are days of British sitcoms like Fawlty Towers, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Steptoe
and Son, ‘Yes minister, Yes Prime Minister’, Only Fools and Horses, et al. As we are now in
a time when contemporary British situation comedies in television entertainment genres is
nothing but a laughing stock among television audiences, which may have eventually led to
the huge decline of sitcoms in British televisions. The decline of Sitcoms in today’s television
networks has been generating a lot of controversies and criticisms.
“A few years ago you couldn't pick up a paper without someone announcing that the TV
sitcom was dead, and that there hadn't been a decent one for years. That's perhaps not
surprising given that, at the time, the genre was represented by such shows as Babes in the
Wood, Dad, Operation Good Guys and Let Them Eat Cake. Now, though, everything's
changed” (Williams, S., 2003). What is happening to British sitcom? Is it dead? Or has it
gone on a long summer holiday? Do you think we can still have those days of nerve-breaking
humour?
The intent of this dissertation is to question the elegiac quality of contemporary sitcoms and
investigate the missing elements in contemporary British situation comedies, and to explore
2
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009ways by which the prodigiosity and nostalgia of classic British sitcoms can be rejuvenated
and replicated to bring about the renaissance of sitcoms in today’s television comedy genre.
This research study is aimed at examining and finding out the problems with contemporary
British sitcoms- such as what has lead to the huge decline of situation comedy as a television
genre, and why contemporary sitcoms lack the prodigiosity and patronage that classic British
sitcoms possessed for over 40 years. “But the new sitcoms retain the thematic concerns of
the British sitcom classics. Their subjects are individual disappointment and social failure and
the courage of people in the face of their problems” (Phil Wickham - http:
//www.screenonline. org.uk/tv/id/445368/). And also explore and proffer ways by which the
Renaissance of situation comedy could be rejuvenated in British televisions. To make Sitcom
the most engaging television genre to audiences as it was in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and early
‘90s.
The decline of sitcom genre in British television has become a central issue of debate among
various segments of the British television industry and among television audiences in Britain.
Although considerable researches have been devoted to the prodigiosity of British sitcoms,
rather less attention has been paid to the state and problem of contemporary British sitcoms.
This research study will examine the following research questions: what makes British classic
sitcoms prodigiosity? What is the state of contemporary British sitcom? What is missing in
contemporary British sitcoms? What causes the huge decline of sitcoms in British television
networks? How can the prodiogiosity and nostalgia of classic British sitcoms be rejuvenated
and replicated to bring back the renaissance of sitcoms in British televisions?
The research will use both qualitative and quantitative method to gather data. Both internet
survey and interviews will be use to gather primary data, while secondary data will be
3
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009collected from DVDs, articles, journals, books, and the internet. The various data collected
will be analysed.
INTRODUCTION
A sitcom (situation comedy) is a comedy genre originally designed for radio but was
eventually transferred to television. Situation comedy has been one of the most engaging
and enduring television genres in British television history. For over 40 years sitcoms have
helped British society engage with itself – the delivery of very hilarious and nerve-breaking
materials, which audiences have significantly respond to, even in their reruns after decades.
Hancock’s Half Hour (BBC, 1956-60) was the very first British sitcom.
Hancock’s Half Hour
The programme first started on radio before it was transferred and developed for television.
The sitcom script was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The successful work of
these pioneer of sitcom writers, laid the benchmark for sitcom script writing, which help to
steer Britain down a different path from the team writing system in America.
4
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
Steptoe and Son
Then both Galton and Simpson wrote two other sitcoms – Steptoe and Son (BBC, 1962-74)
and Till Death Do Us Part (BBC, 1966-75) – that made sitcom to become the central part of
British cultural life, at the time when television has find its way into many homes in Britain.
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em
The ‘70s and middle ‘80s were referred to as the “Golden Age of British” sitcom. With sitcoms
such as Dad’s Army (BBC, 1968-77), Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (BBC, 1973-
74), Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (BBC, 1973-78), Porridge (BBC, 1974-77), The Fall and
Rise of Reginald Perrin (BBC, 1976-79), Rising Damp (ITV, 1974-78), and Fawlty Towers
5
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009(BBC, 1975-79) gaining hugely popularity and massive audiences, even outside shores of
Britain. “Sitcoms have had an important influence on British life in the last 40 years.
Fawlty Towers
The have made us thinks about ourselves by making us laugh at our own absurdity. Good
sitcoms are a kind of virtual reality- they reflect the rhythms of everyday life, the pain of the
human condition and, of course, the joy of laughter” (Phil Wickham - http:
//www.screenonline. org.uk/tv/id/445368/).
The golden age of British situation comedy has come to an end. There will be no more of
those very engaging and nerve-breaking TV comedies. No more of those TV comedies that
deals with social change. “We are living through the end of jokes, the final flourish of the set-
up and punch line, and the last gasp of the obliging laughter track. Television comedy is
dying” (Lappin, T., 2003). In 1984, 60 sitcoms were commissioned on British terrestrial
television, but now the figure has plummeted to just 7 in 2004 (Liddiment, D., 2006).
6
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009“But the new sitcoms retain the thematic concerns of the British sitcom classics. Their
subjects are individual disappointment and social failure and the courage of people in the
face of their problems” (Phil Wickham - http: //www.screenonline. org.uk/tv/id/445368/).
“The British sitcom has for years been treated as the perennial “sick patient” of British
television. Whilst a survey conducted by the BBC in 1998 suggested that viewers strongly
disagreed with the notion that the British sitcom had seen its heyday, the television industry
still periodically returns to an assumed truth that the Brits can no longer “do” sitcoms
properly” (http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/comedy/funny business.htm). The recent belief that
television networks have not been able to produce popular sitcoms for more than a decade
now is as accurate as the affirmation that British sitcom itself is dying. As a matter of fact only
few BBC sitcoms in recent years have been able to achieve higher level of critical success.
7
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The decline of sitcom genre in British television has become a central issue of debate
among various segments of the British television industry and among television audiences in
Britain.
“Who Killed the British Sitcom?” is a documentary film aired on Channel 4, produced by
David Liddiment, a veteran broadcast and former Director of ITV Programmes. In the
documentary, David Liddiment argued that the shifts in the society, family life, class, and
alternative TV comedy (like Peep Show, Stand Up, Comedy Drama) and Reality Shows,
have all contributed to the demise of what he calls the “best-loved and most enduring genre”
in British television (Liddiment, D., 2006).
8
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
There are many studies that focus on the prodigiosity of British sitcoms. But there have only
been few articles and one documentary (Who Killed British Sitcom, 2006) on both the decline
state and failure of British sitcoms. There has not been any extensive investigative study on
the true state and problem of contemporary British sitcoms known to me in Britain. This is
why I have picked up keen interest in this area, to do an extensive research study on the
present state and problem of contemporary British sitcoms. Hence, this study will focus on
the state and problem of contemporary British sitcom with an aim to help rejuvenate and
replicate the prodigiosity and nostalgia of classic British sitcom, which will bring about the
Renaissance of British sitcoms in televisions.
This research study is aimed at finding out the state and problem of contemporary British
sitcoms- such as what has lead to the huge decline of situation comedy as a television genre,
and why contemporary sitcoms lack the prodigiosity and patronage that classic British
sitcoms had in its golden age -for over 40 years. There is still a lot of controversy as to the
true state of Britcom. Some believe British sitcom is dead; some others believe is not but in a
decline state; while some others again have the belief that it is neither dead nor in a decline
state but is only going through some changes as the society and technology is change.
This research study will help to bring more light on the true state of British sitcom as a
television genre in Britain. It will also contribute to academic works on British sitcoms. And
also explore and proffer ways by which the Renaissance of situation comedy could be
9
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009rejuvenated in British televisions, to make Sitcom the most engaging television genre to
audiences as it was in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s.
RESEARCH QUESTION
A lot of studies have been done about the perennial success of classic Britcoms, and the
role they played in helping the society engaged with itself. There have also been some
documentaries by BBC, which only eulogized the prodigiosity of classic British situation
comedies. Documentaries like Comedy Connections (BBC, 2003-2004), Laughter in the
House: the Story of British Sitcom (BBC, 1999). But there is one documentary which really
did the contrary, a documentary that came from a long TV veteran in the UK, David
Liddiment (a former ITV executive director). In 2006, he produced a great documentary
called Who Killed British Sitcom? An insightful and incisive documentary aimed at finding out
what lead to the demise of the well acclaimed British sitcoms. He is one of those who decry
the state of contemporary Britcoms and hold a strong opinion that British sitcom as a genre is
dead. Investigating the elegiac state of contemporary British sitcoms and proffering the best
possible solutions that could help rejuvenate and replicate the prodigiosity of British sitcom
like those of the Golden Age of British sitcom, with a view to bring about the renaissance of
British sitcoms in today’s television networks and among TV audiences in Britain.
In this study, I will be look at the following problems in Britcoms:
What makes British classic sitcoms prodigiosity?
What is the state of contemporary British sitcom?
What is missing in contemporary British sitcoms?
10
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
What causes the huge decline of sitcoms in British television networks?
How can the prodiogiosity and nostalgia of classic British sitcoms be rejuvenated and
replicated to bring back the renaissance of sitcoms in British televisions?
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
There are various schools of thought on the position of contemporary British sitcom. Some
believe British sitcom is dead; some others believe is not but in a decline state; while some
others again have the belief that it is neither dead nor in a decline state but is only going
through some changes as the society and technology is change.
Studies on contemporary television have revealed that the attitude of viewers towards
television viewing has changed compared to what it decades ago.
The mental-shift in television viewers seeing Sitcoms as a genre of television entertainment
that represent ‘Home’. Think of the situation of most popular and engaging classic sitcoms,
they are parodying the family life of couple, with the entire plot playing around ‘home’. We
often see the three-point camera angles address the space as characters converge around a
central prop – characters in the sitting room or bedroom, characters in the kitchen, family in
the dinner, car in the garage, or couch in the basement. All of these constructions of place
help to put together a collective image of sitcom as a portrayal of ‘home’ to television
audiences. They remind us of our own homes, of our friends’ and family’s homes seducing
us into a state of flow as we surrender our critical lens of observation to moments of
collective connection to these “ultimate,” imaginary TV homes (or bars, offices, and
hospitals), for all of these examples become symbolic of the welcoming place “where
11
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009everybody knows your name”. The state of ‘flow’ has been described as “perhaps the
defining characteristic of broadcasting, simultaneously as technology and as a cultural form.
This new definition includes shifts in the interface between the viewer and television, and
thus in the viewing experience as a whole” (Uricchio, W.C., 2004).
David Liddiment in his documentary argued that the shifts in the society, family life, class,
and alternative TV comedy (like Peep Show, Stand Up, Comedy Drama) and Reality Shows,
have all contributed to the demise of what he calls the “best-loved and most enduring genre”
in British television (Liddiment, D., 2006).
The digital age and constant change in technology has also contributed to these problems.
Access to the internet, quasi-american lifestyle, youth culture targeting, promoting
multinational shows in British television, and news coverage of foreign nations, all seems to
make British sitcoms inefficacious and dull to contemporary TV viewers. It is true that “from
its start, television has been a transient and unstable medium, as much for the speed of its
technological change as for the process of its cultural transformation, for its ephemeral
present, and for its mundane everydayness” (Uricchio, W.C., 2004).
This has lead to the opinion of sitcom as an old-fashioned genre, even when the traditional
sitcoms still find audiences. Contemporary sitcoms have done away with the winning formula
of classic sitcoms. “The new sitcoms dispense with the old formal conventions like the
studios audience, heavy lighting and theatrical performance, as technology and audience
tastes have changed” (Phil Wickham - http: //www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/445368/).
Another factor that led to the decline of sitcom in British television is the opinion of “modern
television executives, on the dubious pretext that it is old-fashioned, politically incorrect, or
has little appeal to today’s audiences” (Powell, V., 1999).
12
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research plan will be approach in two phases. The first phase will deal with data
gathering while the second phase will deal with data analysis and interpretation. During the
first phase, I will focus on gathering both primary data and secondary data. I will collect my
primary data by using online survey and interview to gather both qualitative and quantitative
data (Cresswell, J.W., 2000). The online survey will be done by posting open-structured
questions online -that will allow respondents to give their answers freely in their own
expressions. While the second aspect of the primary data gathering, will be done by
conducting in-depth interviews with three notable experts in the TV industry. Both the online
survey and the interview will help me investigate and explore the true state of British sitcom
and find out the problem of contemporary Britcoms. The personal interview with these
experts will yield data with high internal validity.
Secondary data will be culled from previous research works, online articles, journals, text
books, and DVDs.
The second phase, this aspect of the research will deal extensively with in-depth data
analysis and interpretation. I will analyse and interpret both results from the primary data in
13
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009conjunction with those gathered from secondary data. There will be case study on the
prodigiosity of British sitcoms; it entails analyses of some classic British sitcoms such as:
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em
Fawlty Towers
Steptoe and Son
Only Fools and Horses
Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister
My research draws on a three-tiered methodological approach: close analyses of primary
data; contextualization of both primary documents and broader socio-cultural framework
through archival research and secondary data; and interpretation of primary data through
theoretical frameworks.
This project is theoretically informed by several related literatures that form a compelling
interdisciplinary intersection: studies of theoretical works; Visual works; and historical
archives. The proposed project will draw from recent investigations in these literatures,
contributing materially or theoretically to each.
14
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
TIMELINE/PLAN OF WORK
TASK JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE
INTENSIVE RESEARCH
FINAL PROPOSAL
AND DISSERTATIONPRESENTATIO
N
FURTHER READING AND
FILM ANALYSIS
DISSERTATION DRAFT
EDITING AND REWRITES
DEADLINE
18TH
15
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
1. Cresswell, J.W. (2000) Research design: A qualitative and mixed method approaches.
2nd Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
2. Eisner, J. & Krinsky, D. (1984). Television comedy series: an episode guide to 153 TV
sitcoms in syndication. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
3. Feuer, J. (2001). Situation comedy, Part 2: the television genre book. London: British
Film Institute.
4. Grote, D. (1983). The end of comedy: the sitcom and the comedic tradition. Hamden,
Conn: Archon Books.
5. Hamamoto, D., Y. (1989). Nervous Laughter: television situation comedy and liberal
democratic Idealogy. New York: Praeger, 1989. Series Title: Media and Society
Series.
6. Koseluk, G. (2000). Great Britcoms: British television situation comedy. Jefferson, N.
C.: McFarland.
7. Lappin, T. (2003). New British sitcoms are a laughing stock. Published May 12, 2003,
http://living.scotsman.com/features/New-British-sitcoms-are-a.2426667.jp
16
NAME: Samuel OsagieCOURSE: Research & DissertationTUTOR: Daniel VidalASSIGNMENT TITLE: Dissertation ProposalDATE: 22-4-2009
8. Locke, L. F., Spirduso, W. W., & Silverman, S. J. (2000). Proposals that work: A guide
for planning dissertations and grant proposals. 4th Edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
9. Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (1999). Designing qualitative research. 3rd Edition.
Thousand Oaks, SAGE.
10.Morreale, J. (2003). Critiquing the sitcom: A Reader. 1st Edition. Syracuse University
Press, New York.
11.Poyner, R. (2001). Obey The Giant. London: Birkhauser D Publishers for Architecture.
12.Uricchio, W.C. (2004). Television’s Next Generation: Technology/Interface
Culture/Flow. Spigel (164-182).
13.Williams, S. (2003). The Sitcom Story: Monday 19/05/03, BBC1 reviewed by Steve
Williams, http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/reviews/2003/sitcomstory.htm
14.Who Killed British Sitcom? A documentary produced by David Liddiment in 2006.
17