Haylee McCormick

I watch a lot of television, and I had a hard time recording everything in my time-use diary. I know I could be spending my free time doing other things, but I just really like television- it’s my way of winding down at the end of the day.

In week 4 we talked about shared experiences and social rituals. This is relevant to much of my television viewing experiences, as I watch the most television in the lounge room of my share house. Although we don’t have free-to-air broadcast television, we use the services ABC iView and SBS on Demand to watch certain shows. Although we don’t watch television at the original broadcast times, we still know what night our favourite shows will be uploaded and wait until 10pm for the newest episode of Media Watch, Gruen XL or Dateline. The other night we found that two seasons worth of Kitchen Cabinet had been uploaded in anticipation of the newest season, so that caused some excitement and encouraged us to watch three episodes in a row.

One of my favourite television shows I started watching this semester was BoJack Horseman. I remember someone mentioning it in class while we were discussing Netflix and binge watching, thinking it sounded interesting. When I got home that night, a friend who had been crashing on out couch logged into his Netflix account via the PS4 in the lounge room and told us we should check out BoJack Horseman. I usually don’t like cartoons very much, various friends have been trying to get me into them for years, but I really liked BoJack. I think it’s the dry, cynical sense of humour that I like, and I finally understood that cartoons are appealing because of the freedom in what is shown on screens. People can animate things that cant happen in real life. One of my favourite sequences is their take on a trip sequence:

Basically my love for Bojack Horseman shows that I’ve been really trying to get out of my comfort zone in terms of viewing experiences. I was always a super stubborn teenager, rarely wanting to watch something I wasn’t familiar with and that is definitely something I’ve been trying to change. When Season 2 of Bojack came out I think we watched around 5 episodes in a row. Just last night we watched the first four episodes of the season in a row, even though we have already seen it. It’s that good.

This brings me to bingeing. The introduction of Netflix in Australia has inevitably changed many audiences viewing habits, with binge watching now a lot easier to do. However, having Netflix hasn’t changed my viewing habits at all, as I have always been a binge watcher- wether watching a series on DVD or simply streaming it on my laptop. Looking at my time use diary, I usually watch more than one episode at a time. I do this because I feel that I get more from a series if I watch it for an extended amount of time. Orange is the New Black is a show that definitely capitalises on this concept, being a Netflix original series that was practically designed for binge watching. The writers of Orange is the New Black know that viewers will generally watch more than one episode at a time, benefiting by creating complex characters and relationships.

Orange is the New Black is one of the shows I watched by myself this semester. Although most of my viewing is done in the lounge room with my housemates, sometimes you just want to be alone so I retreat to my room to watch something I know they wouldn’t like. Usually it’s a guilty pleasure like MasterChef or Keeping up with the Kardashians. This semester I also watched The OC again. I have all of the seasons on DVD from when I was around 13 or 14, and something about watching cheesy teen soap operas is very comforting. Its probably their simple narratives and traditional serial model that wraps up at the end of every season.

This semester has made me reflect on my television habits in a way I haven’t before. Rather than just recognising what I watch, I was able to start thinking about why I watch them, and what it is that makes them appealing to me.

Reality television is a genre of television programming that features seemingly unscripted real-life situations. Although reality television didn’t experience wide spread popularity until the 1990s, the concept of documenting ordinary people in unscripted scenarios dates back to the 1948 show Candid Camera, which is considered an early example of reality television.

Since then reality television has changed significantly. The relationship between documentary and reality television is the strongest when considering observational documentary, which emerged from ‘direct cinema’ in 1960s America, cinema verite in 1960s France and ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary television in 1970s Britain. (Hill, 2004). The introduction of lightweight camera equipment allowed such media to become more prevalent, with the docusoap subgenre of reality television directly influenced by observational documentary. The docusoap is a series that follows people around during their day to day life, without the filming affecting their routine.

I am definitely the type of person who complains about how bad reality television is only to later sit in my room watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians alone. Like the many other people who are guilty of doing the same thing, I just can’t seem to resist the impression of authenticity, sense of spontaneity and hint of voyeurism involved in most reality television. I know that there are better ways to waste my time, but something about reality television just seems to shut my mind completely off.

A recent study found that ‘evidence supporting reality TV’s appeal has been documented as a function of motives for self importance, mechanisms for escape, perceived realism, surveillance, curiosity about the lives of others, audience interactivity, romance and competition and habitual entertainment’. (Tsay-Vogel & Krakowiak, 2015).

Keeping Up With the Kardashians has been running since October 2007, with 10 seasons and numerous spin-offs. It is a docusoap, with the series following premise of representing the Kardashian family during their day-to-day life. The series has received its fair share of criticism, mainly for emphasising the ‘famous for being famous’ concept and appearing to make up story lines purely for the benefit of the series, which removes from the entire reality premise. Ginia Bellafonte from the New York Times claimed that ‘the Kardashian show is not about an eccentric family living conventionally; it is purely about some desperate women climbing the margins of fame, and that feels a lot creepier.’ (2007). However, regardless of the criticism received it continues to bring in huge ratings for the network.

So if the audience is aware of the fabrication of certain plot lines, is Keeping up With the Kardashians really a true reality show, or should it be categorised as something more structured than that?

When discussing any documentary or reality series, I think its important to consider the power held by the network in what is and isn’t included in the final product. Sure, a film crew might follow the Kardashians around for a couple of days a month, but that is only a small chunk of their time. Furthermore, they know when filming is scheduled and can plan their life around what they do or don’t want to be filmed. The film crew don’t simply show up unannounced to shoot. There is also a huge power in the editing process. Imagine how much footage is obtained during filming, only to be cut into a 45 minute long representation of an entire week.

There is also the idea that the camera itself can affect peoples behaviour, wether the change is made consciously or subconsciously. By being aware of the cameras presence (no matter how observational and unobtrusive it is) there is a constant filter on what is being said and done.

Reality television isn’t really reality, and most viewers are aware of that. However constructed the television shows are, they can still represent a little bit of real life more than what completely scripted series can, which is what keeps viewers coming back for more.

References:

Hill, A 2005, Reality TV: Audiences and popular factual television, Routledge, London and New York

Bellafonte, G 2007, ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians The All-Too-Easy Route to Stardom’ The New York Times, 13 October

Tsay-Vogel, M & Krakowiak, K.M 2015, ‘Exploring Viewers responses to Nine Reality TV Subgenres’, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, viewed 28 October 2015, ProQuest

Twin Peaks is exactly what you would except from eccentric director David Lynch. Co-created with Mark Frost, the television series aired for two seasons between April 1990 and 1991, enjoying initial success and going on to gain a huge cult following after its initial broadcast. Much like Lynch’s other work, Twin Peaks explores the façade of small town America, revealing the darkness of its inhabitants that isn’t initially obvious.

The series is hard to place into an established genre- although it has features of crime drama, supernatural and psychological thriller it also has features of the melodramatic soap opera. As a result, the series has the ability to appeal to a wide demographic and has continued to reach audiences around the world long after its initial release. Although the genre of Twin Peaks is difficult to establish, it can be easily said that the series has a serial format rather than an episodic. The multiplicity of characters, multiple storylines and complex history are some of the elements that define Twin Peaks as a serial.

The opening sequence of Twin Peaks in the pilot episode was a rather lengthy two and a half minutes. For the rest of the series episodes it was cut down to a shorter one and a half minutes, though it remains ultimate in capturing the feel of Twin Peaks. The combination of small town imagery, slightly eerie music and bright green credits tie together to perfectly encapsulate the genius weirdness that is Twin Peaks.

The title sequence opens with a close shot of a Bewick’s Wren bird (native to North America) perched on a branch. Pointed out by writer Shaun Mir on the website Art of the Title, one of the last shots of David Lynch’s 1986 film, Blue Velvet, was also of a bird- though a robin perched on a windowsill. This could potentially be Lynch’s way of letting the audience know to expect a television series with themes and aesthetics similar to that of Blue Velvet (which is later proven to be the case.) The sequence then goes on to a series of cross dissolves depicting the lumber mill, allowing the audience to understand that the towns industry revolves around lumber before continuing onto the episode.

Following these first few shots, the fictional Pacific Northwestern town of Twin Peaks is officially introduced to the audience with an establishing shot showing the towns welcome sign (reading ‘Twin Peaks Population 51, 201’) in the foreground and the evergreen trees in the background. In a 1990 New York appearance, Mark Frost revealed that the original population of the town was 5, 120 but ABC Network felt that a town that small would be unrelatable requesting the population to be higher. As the series progresses a population of 51, 201 seems a little unrealistic as everyone in the town seems to know each other, there is only one high school and a handful of police officers to cater for a population of that size. Regardless, this establishing shot gives the audience the sensation that they are travelling down the road, entering the world of Twin Peaks.

After officially entering Twin Peaks, the audience is introduced to a waterfall in front of The Great Northern Hotel, which later becomes one of the recurring settings in the series. The fast moving water soon cross dissolves to follow a slow running stream and then ducks wading at the shore. The dramatic change of water movement in the sequential shots reflects the dramatic differences within the town of Twin Peaks. Sometimes slow and calm, there is a fast moving, heavy underground.

Throughout the entirety of the opening sequence, there are two other elements that shape it: the audio and the text. The choices made in regards to typography are aesthetically completely different to the natural landscape imagery on the screen- the text is made up of block orange capital letters, with a neon green outline. This is the only hint towards any sort of supernatural themes, something that becomes integral in the narrative of the series. The only audio throughout the sequence is a song called ‘Falling’, composed by Angelo Badalamenti. The song is slow, with a nostalgic undertone and combined with the images of the industrial and natural sides of the town succeed in capturing the creepy, nostalgic feel of Twin Peaks.

REFERENCES:

http://twinpeaks.wikia.com/wiki/Pilot

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/twin-peaks/

http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a23468/twin-peaks-alt-culture/

Television news has been long established as regularly scheduled programs designed to present audiences with factual, relevant and un-biased information on current events. Traditionally, families would gather around the television set to watch the 6pm news broadcast in order to keep up to date with what is happening in the world. However, as the public sphere has started to move into a post-broadcast era, ‘liveness’ in television has started to become a valued concept in news. This is to consider ‘liveness’ as content being broadcasted directly from the studio to television screens at home, with no time delay. Now considered a near pre-dated method of presenting live information, liveness was once considered a unique characteristic of television.

The ABC’s talk show Q&A presents a weekly debate between public figures on current news topics. The show is broadcasted live to air, encouraging audience interaction with both the studio audience though open questioning and through the audience at home being invited to share their thoughts through twitter and text messaging. These text messages and tweets are then seen rolling along the bottom of the screen, further adding to the value of liveness.

Although Q&A is an ideal example of live television, it has also provided many examples of live television ‘going wrong’. In June, both the program and the broadcaster came under fire when audience member Zaky Mallah (who had previously been an audience member) asked one of the panellists a challenging question that had been pre-approved. This ensued in a backlash against the ABC for providing Mallah with a platform. On another occasion, the show was disrupted by a group of university students protesting against proposed higher education cuts when Minister for Education Christopher Pyne was on the panel. These occurrences were broadcasted immediately throughout the country, with no time for editing anything out.

The ABC receives a lot of criticism for choosing to continue live broadcasting, as the behaviour of the audience and the panellists are largely un-controllable. However, they continue to broadcast live, on front of a studio audience as the ‘liveness’ of the program adds an extent of authenticity in its content. Audience members at home get the feeling of ‘being there’ as the events unfold, and value what is being presented to greater extent. Although Q&A is also available to watch after the original scheduling, the audience feels a lesser effect of involvement when watching it a later time.

Although there is a rise in demand for technology that allows you to watch what you want, where you want, the effect of live television on audiences has remained different to the effect of watching re-runs or streaming television. With the demand of up-to-date news on the rise, live news broadcasts will continue to develop regardless of what device they are watched on.

The Comedy Channel series Broad City originated as a web series created by co-stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer. Similarly to many television series that have recently experienced success, Broad City follows two female best friends in their twenties living in New York City. However, it differs to series like Girls by seeking out a niche audience and tapping into their online` viewing habits, therefore enjoying an extent of freedom in content. Broad City transgresses notions of gender in a number of ways, with its portrayal of women’s drug consumption (particularly cannabis) standing out as one of the most explorative directions.

This is not to imply that television doesn’t attempt to portray women smoking cannabis. The token bleary eyed, giggly girlfriend is a staple novelty character in a number of comedies. For example, in the sitcom That 70s Show the guys’ girlfriends are often included in the basement smoking circle- but in this circle is the only time they are seen smoking. Unlike the male characters, they don’t seem to smoke of their own accord, and only when they are in the company of their boyfriends.

Broad City represents the near opposite of this. In the episode ‘Pussy Weed’, Abbi decides to stop depending on her friend for marijuana and to start buying it for herself. This decision is sparked by Abbi’s realisation that her best friend, Ilana keeps weed in her vagina- or how she likes to call it, ‘vahina’, and ensues a comical pursuit of finding someone to purchase cannabis from as a way to become more adult and responsible. Cue scenes of Abbi rolling on the floor in a doctor’s office and setting off the fire alarm of a dentist’s bathroom from (not so inconspicuously) smoking a joint. The two women aren’t in their underwear, puffing on a joint in a sexy yet seductively innocent way. They are smoking marijuana of their own accord because they enjoy, in the same way and in the same environments that men are so commonly represented in.

In another episode, ‘In Heat’, the two best friends are on a pursuit to find an air conditioner, which somehow results in them getting stoned with a bunch of (male) college freshman in Ilana’s old dorm room. Though contrary to stereotype and common representation, the two women are the instigators of the activity and encourage the younger men to participate. A completely different reaction comes from the (female) instigators of this activity compared to if they were male. It is not uncommon to watch elder male characters on television hit on and provide drugs to younger women. Yet when women are depicted doing the same thing (if not in a more innocent respect) it is seen as unusual.

Broad City is rapidly gaining popularity not only because it is now being broadcast on the Comedy Channel, but because its appealing to an audience that has usually been unsatisfied with common representations of women in television. The women in Broad City are unfiltered, any not hesitant to break stereotype.

Visual Material Used:

JackieHydeCircle, n.d. photograph, viewed 12th August 2015,

<http://www.fanforum.com/f88/why-you-should-ship-62802139/>.

Broad City- Underage Bongs, video, Comedy Central, 15th January 2015, viewed 12th August 2015,

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtdK_GYpzPk>.