SITI NUR BAKYAAH BINTI JURAIMI
MC243S4A
2018225976
SUBJECT: BRO 551- BROADCAST CRITIQUE
TOPIC: REVIEW ON IT CROWD
         ‘IT CROWD’ is a British comedy sitcom tv about two tech nerds that claimed as ‘experts’ in the IT branch of the fictitious corporation ' Reynholm Industries' and there the current Head of Department, who knows little about technology, through the challenges of dealing with people higher up in the business and through life in general.
1)         WHAT ARE CONVENTIONS THAT MAKE UP THE GENRE?
      The conventions that makeup a genre is considering its main features. These conventions include themes, setting, characters, plotlines, narrative structure, mood, props or significant objects. In the IT CROWD, it has two to three locations that main location is in the offices of Reynholm Industries located at the dingy, untidy, and unkempt basement. A strong contrast to the sparkling new buildings and the breathtaking views of London shared by the rest of the company. The overall setting is at the central of London.
      There’s four main character that can be seen in this show which is first, Roy Trenneman a lazy, laid-back Irish IT support technician whose working day is to play video games, indulge in candy and crisps, and read comics while doing as little work as possible. He is an uptight character that often is upset at change or a break in the rules. More laughed at than laughed with. Also know as The Stick in this story Next character is Maurice Moss A technically smart but socially unaware IT specialist who, in his thirties, still lives with his mother and collects wires. Being a typical nerd, Moss is generally referred to by his nickname and is the most hard-working worker in the IT department and is also the most competent and willing to do his job well. He puts a lot of work into his job, but he doesn't get the respect he deserves. His character who does not fit into the mainstream this can result in comedy if they misunderstand a situation known as The Fist Out of Water.
      Other characters is, Jenn Barber a new deal with Reynholm Industries, who, having claimed to have "a lot of experience with computers," is headed by the IT department. Roy and Moss initially dislike having Jen as their supervisor (having quickly discovered that she doesn't know much about their jobs at all) but soon find it helpful for them to communicate with others. Therefore, she describes herself as their "relationship boss." Whe also known as The Unruly Woman is a woman that is NOT a typical motherly type, preferring career or other thigs over caring directly for her family.
      Last main character is Douglas Reynholm, a sexually frustrated Head and leader of the multi-billion-pound corporate company, Reynholm Industries. Douglas took over the business when his predecessor and his wife, Denholm Reynholm, committed suicide in 2007. While Douglas is an extremely wealthy and successful businessman, he is also inclined to take advantage of his power by wasting the company's pension fund on such stupid things as placing gold leaf in the water coolers and covering the walls of his office in pornographic art. Douglas has been convicted of sexual harassment on several occasions, but he seems to have wormed his way out of prosecution every time.
      The IT CROWD genre basely on beliefs and learning about ‘self’, romance, family (and how important a strong one is) and also conflict/dilemma (that causes comedy)

2)         IF THE PROGRAM APPEARS TOBE A HYBRID GENRE, WHAT ARE THE CONVENTIONS OF THE GENRES THAT HAVE BEEN COMBINED TO MAKE IT A HYBRID?
      The IT Crowd is primarily comedy, but some of it is done in an ‘off-beat’ way. If it been combined to make it hybrid, I suggest that it be done with a little bit of drama to make the story more attractive.
3)         WHAT ARE AUDIENCE EXPECTATION OF THAT PARTICULAR GENRE?
      Since the story is primarily comedy, so people will expect all episode to be fun. But there’s some of the story that contain the awkward machine laugh that do not feel funny for me. Audiences rely on the familiar structure, including the audience (or canned laughter) and even the studio camera set up. With the familiar structure the audiences know what to expect.
4)         WHAT IS NARRATIVE PROGRESSION? DESCRIBE THE EVENTS.
        The IT CROWD programmes have an episodic narrative. In' The Final Countdown,' we understand that the conclusion of the story for this episode is, in reality, Moss winning the Countdown in one direction or another. The IT Crowd will not seek to set up storylines that spread through series and strive to make them entirely self-contained.
5)         HOW IS TIME PRESENTED? ARE THE EVENTS SUCCESSIVE? DO THEY GO BACK AND FORTH IN TIME OR DO EVENT OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY?
        The time presented on the stories is during the early of the 2006’s to 2010’s where the internet is still new and not really globally known. Channel 4's official YouTube has been livestreaming one scene on repeat this entire weekend. The scene is when Douglas Reynholm's entrance to his father's funeral. Matt Berry's character bursts open the church door and yells FATHER at the top of his lungs.
6)         WHAT IS THE LACK OR DISEQUILIBRIUM, AND HOW IS THE LACK REMOVE TO RESTORE EQUILIBRIUM?
        The disequilibrium in the story is how the character try to fit in each of other characters. How it been restored by equilibrium. Jen wants to fit in with Douglas, Moss wants to fit in with 8+, Roy wants to fit in with Alastair, and finally, they all want to fit in with normal society. Although it is not the common practice to ridicule those that do not fit in, the humor that Linehan uses is presented in such a manner that we sense the humiliation of a character as they insult another person. Roy is the key case that he tries to blend in, but refuses the window cleaners, because he has expectations of what the' right' profession is to blend into.
7)         IS THERE A HERO OR HEROINE AND A VILLAIN OR VILLAINY? HOW IS THE HERO OR VILLAIN REPRESENTED? WHAT ARE THEIR ACTIONS, AND HOW CAN THEIR PERSONALITIES BE DERIVED FROM THEIR ACTIONS? DOES THE HERO OR VILLAIN HAVE SUPERIOR ABILITIES?
        The hero and heroine in the story mean the protagonist/main character in the narrative. For the IT CROWD, there’s three main character which is Roy, Moss and Jen, by the programme being named after this small group of individuals, and that each of them has a mini narrative arc through this episode. We are clearly following their journeys. (heroes’ journey). The villain or also been called as the antagonist or character that is against the hero. The villain or antagonist in the IT CROWD is Douglas Reynholm. Douglas has been accused on numerous occasions of sexual abuse, although each time he seems to worm his way out of prosecution.
        The hero and villain in the IT CROWD don’t have any superior abilities since based on the real life of normal people stories.
8)         HOW DOES CONFLICT PLAY OUT? ARE THERE OPPOSITIONS SUCH AS GOOD AND EVIL, LEGAL AND ILLEGAL, WORK AND HOME, AND/OR MASCULINE AND FEMININE.
        The three characters; Roy, Moss and Jen change regularly within each narrative arc, taking on the role of helper(s), for each other to provide advice and motivation to their next action. Prime is a more obvious helper in his first interaction with Moss and then he quickly becomes the sidekick amazed by Moss’ intelligence. It becomes more complicated when we try and consider some of the other characters in the episode such as Barry the Window Cleaner, Alistair and Douglas and what roles they take in the episode.
9)         IS THERE CLOSURE OR DELAY UNTIL THE NEXT EPISODE? HOW IS THIS PRESENTED?
      A first for Channel 4, all episodes of the first series were available for download via the channel's website a week before the episodes' initial broadcasts. Downloads were only available for UK and Ireland viewers and were supplied in Windows Media Video format. All episodes were encoded with DRM restrictions except for the first two episodes.
      All episodes are available on Channel 4's "4 on Demand" (4od) service available on Channel 4's website. The episodes of Series Four were available for viewing on 4od a week before their TV broadcast, although this was only available to logged-in and registered viewers, unlike most of 4od's post-broadcast output.

10) IDENTIFY THE STAGES OF THE HERMENEUTIC CODE- ENIGMA, DELAY, AND RESOLUTION- THAT MOVE THE NARRATIVE FORWARD. (THE ENIGMA ENGAGES VIEWER INTEREST BY PRESENTING A RIDDLE SUCH US “WHO COMMITTED THE CRIME?” AND TEASES THE VIEWER TO GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. THE DELAY STALLS OR POSTPONES THE SOLUTION TO THE ENIGMA. A RESOLUTION TO THE ENIGMA IS FINALLY FOUND, BUT IT MAY CREATE ANOTHER ENIGMA.) CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE ENIGMA, DELAY, AND RESOLUTION OR SEVERAL OF THEM IN NARRATIVE?
      In each narrative arc in the episode of The IT Crowd there are some enigma codes leading the audience to question many aspects of this episode and to drive each character to make significant decisions. By the end of episode there are still some questions, but by the very nature of sitcom’s conventions, these are not answered and left open by the next episode. It is clear we will never discuss Countdown, see Alastair or attend the workout meetings again. Each episode is fresh and new.
      After a good run on the famous Countdown quiz show, Moss is welcomed by a mysterious man called Prime (Benedict Wong) to "8+," an elite party for the previous champions of the game show who have participated more than eight times. Later, he was asked to "Street Countdown."  Moss is living the Countdown fantasy. When Rachel Riley calls the letters that Moss already knows. At first, the audience feels confused when Moss starts to respond strangely, but then they notice that Moss still wins the countdown, even without answering it properly.
11) ARE THERE ELEMENTS OF OLDER STORIES THAT ARE RETOLD IN THE NARRATIVE?
      The elements of old stories that can be found in the stories is when they hanging on the phone and keep repeating “if the things not working,try turning it off and on again” to solve a problem. They have they’re on phone recording for that words

12) CAN YOU IDENTIFY MYTHS? DO THE MYTHS GIVE LESSONS FOR SOCIAL ORDER?
      The myth can been seen during the second episode of the show where all the products is not working ans on fire. They realise that all the things that ‘made in Britain will be on fire’.
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13) ARE THERE ARCHETYPES AND RITUALS IN THE NARRATIVE? IF SO, HOW DO THEY RELATE TO THE MYTH?
      The funeral of Denholm Reynholm was a ceremony to pay respect and appreciation to Denholm Reynholm, founder and head of Reynholm Industries, for his efforts and accomplishments following his untimely suicide in 2007. The case took place in a church in London and was presided over by an anonymous priest. Common funeral myth You must hire a funeral home for every death. It is perfectly legal in most states to care for the body privately, as a family, without hiring a funeral home. Families can choose to do some or all of the process. A family may want to wash and dress the body and keep it at home for several days as part of a private vigil, only calling the funeral home or crematory when they are ready to let the body go. In 42 states, families are allowed to take on the entire process, including the filling out and filing of death certificates and burial permits in addition to the care and transportation of the body.
      Other than that, the scene where all employees and family also friend come to the ceremony is one of myth where viewing is necessary for “closure” after a death. For example, as death is expected, family members have already started their "goodbyes." They have very little desire to see the body to acknowledge the fact of death. Families facing sudden or untimely death, on the other hand, frequently show a urge to see and spend time with their bodies
The link to the google drive is downhere:
Task 3- Review on IT CROWD