Self Evaluation

WWW (What Went Well): As I gave my presentation on the American television sitcom 'The King Of Queens', the class together with Mr.Bush noticed and let me know of the good factors that my presenation consisted of. To begin with I had a good introduction as straight away I engaged the audience by asking them a question. Later on, I felt quite proud about this since nobody else that had given a presentation before me had used this technique and as a result it made me feel as if my presentation was unique. Moreover, I had simplistic slide in the sense that it was cluttered with writing and I did not have to refer to my board much whilst talking to the class. This showed my confidence and knowledge regarding the American television sitcom 'The King Of Queens'. To further this point I was told the slide was well designed with a good choice of colour, still images and labelling. The key media points I explored within the presentation were good representations in particular stereotypical representations and whether or not these stereotypes were fair and accurate or not. I was told I was fluent this displayed my presentation skills in a positive light. The key media terminology I used was "binary oppisition". The insitituional research was another key element to the presentation as I had researched the institution in depth. As was the genre. My presentation was probably liked by the class due to the fact that it had been previously rehearsed.

EBI (Even Better If): The most important thing for me to have worked on was whilst giving my presentation I really should have looked at the audience to engage them further, instead I just kept looking at Mr.Bush. I should have also discussed other key concepts in detail such as the values and ideologies of the sitcom as I did not at all mention these and they are very important since they are part of MIGRAIN.

Blog: My blog was quite good minus the research which wasnt at all good.

Rating: Significance: 2
Structure: 2
Simplicity: 1
Rehearsal: 2
Overall: 7

MEST 4: Research & Production

The King of Queens:

Within the sitcom there are three central characters; Doug, Carrie & Arthur. Doug is the main character as the storylines are more often than none based upon him.

Media Representations;

Doug -
Doug is an overweight, blue collar working , average joe'. Doug is portrayed as a lazy man. Through this portrayal is the implication that all overweight people are lazy. Doug fullfills this label as each time he is asked to carry out a task by his wife or work overtime at work he always seems to find an excuse. Although, whether or not all overweight people are actually that lazy is a debatable issue therefore it is hard to tell if the representation is a fair and accurate one or not.

Moreover, Doug is represented as not at all being hard working as he is quite satisfied with being a driver and does not aspire to move up in the company. This is a representation of the blue collar working indicating that all blue collar workers are not hard working at all and only do their job for the money. This is probably an accurate and fair representation.

Furthermore, Doug is represented as being 'slow' as his wife, Carrie, deals with most of the financial issues and home purchases since he is portrayed as being incapable of carrying out these simple tasks. This is most probably the representation of the all american 'average joe'. It is hard to define if this representation is true or not since I don't live in New York or any other American state.

Carrie-
Carrie, Doug's wife, a white collar worker and is represented as being extremley hard working. This is the stereotype that all white collar workers are hard working. This obviously isn't true. It's just a stereotype.

Moreover, Carrie is portrayed as being the dominant force in her and Doug's relationship as she deals with most of the 'serious' issues they both face. Her being like this is the representation that all wives are dominant in the marital relationship. Whether or not this is a fair and accurare representation is debatable.

Furthermore, Carrie is represented as being materialistic as her 'weakness' is shown to be shopping (in particular for expensive designer clothing). This is an obvious stereotype of women and it's obviously not true as not all women fullfill it.

Arthur-
Arthur is Carrie's dad. He is quite old and doesn't really have much to do. Various references by Doug are made towards Arthur regarding his awful stench. This is the representation that all old people smell. This is probably true. Moreover, since Arthur is so old and most of his friends are dead or have moved away he more often that none has nothing to do so finds various ways to entertain himself. His 'entertainment' all of the time seems abit crazy and this is the representation that all single old people or senial since they are so bored. It is debatable whether or not this is true.

Media Language + Forms;
Denotative and Connotative levels of meaning vary in regards to the subject of the story in a particular episode. For example, in Season 1, Episode 1 the denotation is that Arthur comes to live with Doug and Carrie. The connotations of this situation are that it will be an uncomfortable living arranged for both parties as Doug and Carrie will have to limit some of their marital habits and Arthur is quite hard to live with as he is represented as being a bit of a 'hell raiser'.

There are various forms of non-verbal structures of meaning within the text such as gestures, facial expressions, postional communication, clothing props etc.

The Mis-en-scene and the set and the setting all create an atmospheric mood for what's going on at the time.

There is a laughter track within the sitcom which indicates to the audience each time something funny happens. Moreover, Carrie has a regional accent and just by hearing her speak the audience can identify the location of the sitcom - New York City.

The dominant images within the sitcom are Doug's uniform, Carries smart clothing, a lot of scenes in the kitchen or near the T.V. especially when a match is on. These all have significance to the sitcom as the compliment each characters personalities.

An example of a visual image being used to convey meaning is when Doug and Arthur are fighting over ketchup. The ketchup remains in all the shots throughout the duration of the scene at the front of the camerca to signify its importance.

Narrative;
The audience is positioned in relation to the narrative through them more often than none knowing something that other characters do not. i.e thoughts of a certain character or something a certain character has done.

Doug and Arthur's narrative functions are to create a problem. Carries is to fix the problem.

Doug's friends and interests are the identification of him. Carrie's is her work. Arthur is usually alienated.

The features of the laughter track tells the audience when to laugh. The same music is used all the time. So there's probably no subliminal meaning. The role of the genre is a situation comedy. Therefore, a comical situation arises. The mis-en-scene shows what the sitatuion is about through some form or way.

Majors themes in the narrative include the differenciations between wrong and right. Mostly theses themes revole around greed. The desire of wanting something more.

Genre;
The genre the text belongs to is sitcom- situation comedy. The generic conventions of the text are the plot. Everythings normal, than a problem arises than its resolved. The characters within the sitcom are used to tell the story. The audiences generic expectations of the text are more often than none cheated. This is great as it makes the sitcom unpredictable. The company CBS is in association with paramount who was in assocation with Desi Arnaz, a pioneer of 'the sitcom'.

Media Institution;
Paramount/CBS are the insitutions proving this text. Paramount/CBS is known in the U.S. for producing some of the best sitcoms. The institution is commerical therefore it has been set up for profit, this ensures that the programming has to be good, if not it is taken of air as it's not making enough money. The programme in the U.K. is distributed by Comedy Central.

Values & Ideologies;
The various values explored within the text include family values, work values, social values, economic values, geographical values, the truth and the difference between right and wrong.

Audience;
The target audience is most probably married couples, single adults and old people. Though the target audience is not restricted to just these groups as anyone really can view the sitcom and get into it. The size of the audience is probably large as the sitcom is repeated 3 times in the duration of a day. once in the moring, once in the afternoon and once again in the evening. It also comes on before or after other successful sitcoms such as 'Frasier' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. The audience probably doesn't read too much into the text as its just ment to make you laugh and nothing else. I, whilst watching it, feel the same way. I dont take it seriously at all.

Here's a link for the show on the world famous "rotten tomatoes" - http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/king_of_queens_season_one/

Reviews

efc91: I love watching this show on Comedy Central, it is one of those really funny sitcoms you catch when you bored in the house in the middle of the day and theres nothing on TV King of Queens along with Frasier and Everybody loves Raymond is such a funny sitcom to watch, I never get bored of these shows and they never fail to make me laugh. Doug is a really funny character and Carrie is funny too but Doug is the best. Kevin James did a great job on this show and he always makes me laugh. 9 out of 10.

Jim Fan 1: This show is about a middle aged man Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) and his wife Carry Heffernan/Spooner (Leah Remini) Carry's Mom dyed in season 1 so carry's father Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller). This family deals with problems in the world either jobs, relationship fights, or even Arthur. Doug and Carry finally got their baby at the end of the series. this show first aired in 1997 and ended in 2006. 9 seasons it took for another great comedy show that will no doubt be a classic. this show was on CBS at 8:00. This comedy show will be a classic show forever.

hi0: This in my opinion is an amazing show. Reccomended for anyone!!MAIN CHAR:Doug is lazy, yes funny and optimisic. Carrie is pessimistic and is married to Doug. Arthor is Carries father who lives with them.DOUG'S FRIENDSSpence is obsessed with shows and their convensions. He is described as "dorky". Danny is Doug's cousin and resembles Doug a lot but more lazy. Deacon is the families best friend. He is probably the most mature and realiable. This show is very interesting and very funny. I really think and hope that they make more episodes!! this is an awesome show!! i really reccomend it!!