I have chosen to analyse the audience pleasures of watching Miranda (BBC 1). I will give specific examples by close reference to episodes and by quotation.
Miranda is mainstream family viewing, aimed at a target audience who would relate to middle class life. Miranda is a TV sitcom:socially inept Miranda always gets into awkward situations when working in her joke shop with best friend Stevie, being hounded by her pushy mother, and especially when she is around her crush Gary.
A comprehensive review of all four BBC TV channels by the governing trust (July 2014) found that BBC 1 could feel “middle class in focus and target audience" with Miranda cited as an example. They also found that the BBC is falling out of favour with younger people and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic viewers). The average age of BBC1 viewers is 59, compared with 56 in 2010/11. However, the character of Miranda is also quite like a big child as she is unmarried, always making a fool of herself and getting into trouble with her mother, so I think that audiences such as young adults could relate to her. Audiences also relate to her relationship with her best friend Stevie because their relationship is very similar to the way most people interact with their friends.
Miranda offers the pleasures of the sitcom genre, such as characters that are recognizable that the audience can relate to, who are stereotypes. Miranda's mother, for example, is stereo-typically posh and even draws draws attention to it in the program. Miranda's mother makes us laugh because she is what everybody thinks a posh person would be like and treats her daughter like a piece of property than a person. Miranda's group of girl friends are stereotypes. For example, they are always at fancy dinner parties and talk in a very posh accent. Her girl friends often make us laugh at Miranda, such as in the episode when her friends call her "the Tarzan of cakes". However, in many ways, Miranda is an anti-stereotype because she is not the typical lead actor of a sitcom, she is very tall with short and she is not very lady-like.
There are many points of recognition for middle class audiences in the ways in which the sitcom addresses audience’s lifestyles, concerns, hopes, such as Miranda's conflict with her mother as when she tells Miranda to "not tell anyone you're my daughter". Another narrative strand that makes audiences relate to her is her troubled love life. For example her best friend tells her that she does not have the "allure to attract men with".
Each episode also features predictable running gags such as, for example, Miranda always has a long conversation with her mother. Miranda also always manages to lose her clothing, such as in the episode when she locked inside a park at night, and takes of her top to try and get through a gap in the gates but gets stuck. Stevie and Miranda always compete for boyfriends, such as the episode when they find wallet that was left in their shop. They proceed to go to his self-defence class to try and find him but when he eventually arrives at their shop he leaves quickly then begin to ask him awkward questions. Miranda always embarrasses her friends socially, such as The flashback in episode 6 series 1, where she laughs at the wrong moment during a party, making it obvious that she doesn't know what is going on.
The sitcom addresses audience’s lifestyles, concerns, hopes about relationships. Miranda always fails to explain her true feelings for Gary, such as when she finds out he is going to Hong Kong. Instead of telling him how she feels, she makes up a ridiculous story to explain what she was talking about. She competes with, quarrels and makes up with Stevie, for example, when Stevie tells her that she is not attractive. She gets scolded by her mother, such as in the episode when her mother says "You haven't been blessed by the goddess of socializing"
In most sitcoms, the audience is passive consumer but this show is filmed before a live studio audience. In addition, Miranda establishes a relationship with her audience by breaking the 4th wall. She confides in us, the audience her feelings, saying: "Whatever they (the wiles) are, I've got no idea"
For Blumler and Katz, audiences use media to gratify needs (the uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour). Miranda offers the pleasure of entertainment, escapism and diversion by making us laugh. In particular, both slapstick humour and verbal humour entertain us. Examples of these include: when Miranda kicks the tray of food out of the waiter's hand, when she is taken down by all the members of the self-defence class and when her and Stevie are discussing "The Allure".
Audiences also like to relate to the characters in programmes; I have shown that Miranda offers many points of recognition in its characters. It s also important that Miranda is a likeable character who does not hold grudges. For example, she becomes friends with Stevie very quickly after she says that Miranda is not attractive. Audiences pick programmes with actors that they know and like. It is also significant that Miranda Hart is a well-known comedian.
Audiences tend to favour programmes that support their values and their sense of their own identity. Part of our sense of self is informed by making judgements about all sorts of people and things. This is also true of judgements we make about TV and film characters, and celebrities. The shows we watch, the stars we like can be an expression of our identities. One aspect of this type of gratification is known as value reinforcement. This is where we choose television programmes or newspapers that have similar beliefs to those we hold. Therefore, equally important is the upbeat, comic atmosphere of the show. Despite set-backs such as Stevie revealling that she kept her dog Miranda bounces back by revealling that she kept her's too.
Finally, audiences like to know what is going on in the world (surveillance). This relates to Maslow’s need for security. By keeping up to date with news about local and international events we feel we have the knowledge to avoid or deal with dangers. In a sitcom, the characters face all sorts of situations that we can experience vicariously, some of which are challenging, such as how to act correctly during social events.
In conclusion, Miranda is a successful TV comedy because it satisfies all of our needs. The characters are easy to relate to, it contains stereotypes and it supports our values.
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