TV Comedy Sitcoms

My Family:


My Family is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One and Gold for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadcast from 2002 onwards. Its first episode aired September 19th, 2000 and its final episode on September 2nd 2011. Series one was first aired at 7pm and the last series first aired at 9pm, this could have been because of the popularity rating it could have had since it first aired on BBC One. Also the fact that it aired from 7-9pm throughout its entire show means that it's target audience would be adults aged 20-64 as they do not generally have a specific curfew as opposed to teenagers and young children. It is also why adult humour is mainly referenced in its episodes which makes it humorous to adults.


People generally watch comedy TV to unwind and relax after being stressed from work. Its scheduled timings have been put in place when the majority of the people would relax and watch TV. It relaxed your muscles and puts your mind at ease for a short period of time and puts the viewer in a hearty and joyful mood which is the sole purpose of the show.

Outnumbered:

Outnumbered-a family sitcom revolving around two parents who are "outnumbered" by three children, a sarcastic teenager, a pathological liar and a little girl who seems to imitate everything she sees on television. There were five series, which aired on BBC One in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2014 with its first episode airing August 28th 2007 and series 5 last airing 5th March 2014. An additional season was to be made but the director had announced that the children were growing out of their roles. Outnumbered was first broadcasted in 2007 on BBC One at 10:35pm. The news is broadcasted before Outnumbered because it is the BBC's pledge to inform, educate and entertain its audience. The target audience would be families and adults as it is shown late at night and they can relate to the situations they go through.

Miranda:

Miranda is a British television sitcom written by and starring comedian Miranda Hart. It originally aired on BBC Two from 9th November 2009 and later on BBC One until 1st January 2015, lasting three series and two finale specials. It is aired at 8pm and has no inappropriate language as it is classed as day time television and before watershed. This would lead to the target audience being family members as it is aired before watershed and its content has to be appropriate for all viewers, including younger ones, which is why they have a policy which requires them to restrict showing scenes involving swearing, violence and nudity as it may reflect on the younger viewers which was not the intention on the television show in the first place- in fact the opposite, to humour and make the show pleasurable for all of those that watch it.

Friday Night Dinner:

Friday Night Dinner is a British television sitcom written by Robert Popper and starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal and Mark Heap. The comedy is focused on the regular dinner experience of a British Jewish family (the Goodmans) on each Friday night. The first series originally aired from 25th February 2011 on Channel 4 and is now airing on E4 with the programme still running currently. It's target market would be young adults/adults due to the content. Since the sitcom is of a family, its awkward humour aims to relate to its target audience as some of the less exaggerated scenes are things that might happen to an average family at home and can humour at it's relatable features. The characters mirror an average family and emphasises some of the key scenes such as the 'brotherly teasing' and 'the talks'. The programme is based around the concept of having the usual 'Friday Night Dinner' with an unsuspecting plot twist occurring which happens to ruin the casual chatter.

Adam is the older brother-mid 20's- who is trying to forge his career in the musical industry. He is currently single despite his mum constantly getting him together with a girl called Tanya Green and his dad trying to get him to look at 'females' on the internet.  Johnny is the younger brother in his early 20's and works as an estate agent, although being the younger one means the childish behaviour hasn't left yet by putting salt in Adam's water. Martin isn't the typical 'dad' character, fond of going shirtless and grabbing the odd slice of toast straight from the bin. He is deaf and wears a hearing aid and often uses this to get out of rows with mum. Jackie is the mum who has the sense of humor of a teenage girl. she adores her boys but loves Masterchef even more and is constantly gossiping to her friend Val. Lastly, Jim is the family's next door neighbour who manages to ruin every Friday night dinner-without fail. He is never seen without his dog Wilson.

Bad Education:

The first series started airing on 14th August 2012 and on the 23rd August, it was announced that Bad Education would have a second series. The second series began airing on BBC Three on 3rd September 2013. Part of the second series was filmed at St. Michael's Catholic High School. Finchley, London. The series focused on Alfie Wickers (Whitehall), a posh, newly graduated secondary school history teacher at the fictional Abbey Grove School, in Watford, Hertfordshire. Ever determined to impress his crush, Rosie Gulliver (Solemani) Wickers made repeated efforts to appear "cool", such as coaching the school football team, organising a weapons amnesty and fielding a candidate for the school elections. Usually, in these efforts, he turned to his mismatched class for help, despite them often disapproving of his actions. The target audience for this would be teenagers and young adults. This would be because of the content and those who go to college/school would be able to relate to the characters and some of the scenes to everyday situations. This would humour them as some of the scenes are exaggerated for effect to make it interesting and pleasurable to watch including references to adult humour. The times would normally air around 7:00 as this is the time when students can relax and unwind and so it will gain the most viewing rates.