4. (a) Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels

Bad Education is scheduled for Tuesday’s at 10:00pm on BBC 3, commissioned by the editor of the BBC, the producers are Ben Cavey and Pippa Brown Tiger Aspect productions. The humour contained in the programme and the transgressive jokes are aimed at the younger audience (aged 16-20) in the aspect that they are in a school and also the fact that Jack Whitehall is a popular comedian amongst the younger generation which makes it more relatable for the audience. The common storyline that it follows is the school setting and some of the characters (which are relatable types of characters to the audience) coming face-to-face with extreme situations which are relatable to the audience but interpreted on a larger scale to make it entertaining for the audience. It is shown  after the watershed which mean that the content is not suitable for younger viewers as it contains sexual references and inappropriate language and behaviour. It is shown on the BBC because to attract he younger audience and the fact that it is a terrestrial and because of this there will be no adverts in between and the amount of people that watch the channel as the adverts are not paid for. The BBC can be more risky with their content as the are not bound by the expectation of their niche audience. The age range is also specified due to the fact that older children have more lenient curfew hours, unlike younger children, and so will be the main audience for the programme. Furthermore, interacting with this target audience will create a sense of popularity amongst most, therefore generating more viewership.

Friday Night Dinner is scheduled on Sunday’s at 10:00pm on Channel  4 and also commissioned by Channel 4, and produced by Popper pictures and Big Talk productions. The programme would be aimed at 18-25 year old boys in particular because the main characters are male and of that age and so everyone within that age boundary can relate to the scenes that the characters go through to make it humorous. The characters that play the boys have made an appearance in the hit film The Inbetweeners and so the show will be related to their target audience and will be more popular as all of the cast have been recognised from former films/sitcoms. Those who  have formally watched the film will identify the characters in similar roles and will help gather a larger audience and, in total, a larger viewership. In addition it is also aimed at the Jewish community and their interpretation of a typical Jewish Family dinner however  something always goes wrong which is where the comedic side comes in. Channel 4 is a commercial channel and so it gathers their funding by selling time slots and commercials. This is also the reasons why the programmes cannot be so controversial such as Bad Education. This is also the reason why certain taboo words have to be identified as catchphrases so that the audience are familiar with the content and cannot freely express this kind of dialogue like the BBC- which uses this to their advantage by using features like this to make their channel more unpredictable.

The two programmes are scheduled on different channels because of their content and what they channels are allowed to show to their target audience, this is all to do with them being shown after watershed hours and the content that each delivers. For example Bad Education features taboo language and sexualisation of the students and certain references. In addition, Friday Night Dinner features taboo catchphrases and adult humour which makes it enjoyable. However they both have different audiences that they appeal to: Bad Education has an audience demographic of unemployed students as they are teenagers and most teenagers do not have a job as yet current due to studying further education. Their audience can relate to all of the scenes and stereotypes such as the different types of characters and also some of the behaviours and situations that are interpreted on a more extreme scale. Alternatively, The audience demographic for Friday Night Dinner would be skilled workers as the are stereotyping a typical home in which people come home from work and have a family meal together. The BBC can allow itself to be more risky with their content as they are not bound by any commercial expectation from their niche audience, unlike channel 4. This means that the comedic style of the programme can be more unpredictable- and therefore have more freedom with their narratives. Channel 4, however has to be careful as they are funded by their advertising and so they need as many people to view their channel, therefore, they have to make sure their content is not too controversial, otherwise they will start to lose their viewership.



4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme (Bad Education) offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. [15 marks]

'Bad Education' is a comedy sitcom which starts in the exact same place that it ends. This allows the audience to build a relationship with the characters as they are in the same environment throughout the whole episode. The familiarity with the characters and the setting allows the audience to get to know the characters and their personality and behaviour throughout the episode. This will also lead the audience to analyse the stereotypes that each character plays to make it entertaining as they are familiar with the concept of stereotyping which makes each character have a likeable trait. One example of a stereotype is Jing. Her character is specified as the logical and smart one, who is also portrayed as the 'smart Asian'. Throughout the episode, we see her personality as arrogant and egotistical because of her knowledge and constantly telling the teacher what to do and insulting them for not handling the class the way that anyone would expect the teacher to behave. 







Another stereotype would be Alfie Wickers who is portrayed as the lovable loser. Throughout the entire episode we see him trying to impress his colleague Miss Gulliver who rejects him because of his immature and irresponsible attributes. He seems to constantly do this throughout the series to make it humorous for the audience as he fails no matter how many times he tries. Relating to this, this is how the audience familiarised themselves with the characters. Alfie Wickers is the immature teacher who has no authority over the students and lets himself get bullied because of this. This makes the audience realise that these are the attributes that he shows throughout all the episodes and how the audience can identify how he will act in different situations which is presented in the narrative. One example of this is when the school bully confronts Mr Wickers in the corridor and compliments him on his shows, following this he threatens Alfie to give him his shoes. Because Alfie has no authority he unwillingly gives him the shoes and looks in loss property for a pair of ugly shoes. The audience will find this aspect funny but will realise that Alfie has no authority over the other students.

Resaearch for Scheduling Question (4a)

Bad Education:

Date scheduled: Tuesday 10:00pm

Channel: BBC3

Commissions: Commissioning editor of the BBC

Producer: Ben Cavey and Pippa Brown Tiger Aspect productions

Target audience: The humour contained in the programme and the transgressive jokes are aimed at the younger audience (aged 16-20) in the aspect that they are in a school and also the fact that Jack Whitehall is a popular comedian amongst the younger generation which makes it more relatable for the audience. It is shown  after the watershed which mean that the content is not suitable for younger viewers as it contains sexual references and inappropriate language and behaviour. As it is shown on the public service broadcaster it has to have appropriate content before the watershed which is 9:00pm. It is shown on the BBC because to attract he younger audience and the fact that it is a terrestrial and because of this there will be no adverts in between and you will not have to worry about the amount of people that watch it as it is not paid for the adverts.

Friday Night Dinner:

Date scheduled: Sunday

Channel: Channel 4

Commissions: Channel 4
Producer: Popper Pictures and Big Talk Productions
Target Audience: The programme would be aimed at 18-25 year old boys in particular because the main characters are male and of that age and so everyone within that age boundary can relate to the scenes that the characters go through to make it humorous. The characters that play the boys have made an appearance in the hit film The Inbetweeners and so the show will be related to their target audience and will be more popular as all of the cast have been recognised from former films/sitcoms. In addition it is also aimed at the Jewish community and their interpretation of a typical Jewish Family dinner however  something always goes wrong which is where the comedic side comes in.


Channel 4 is a commercial channel and so it gathers their funding by selling time slots and commercials. This is also the reasons why the programmes cannot be so controversial such
 as Bad Education.