Two of my favorite television comedy shows are Parks and Recreation and The Office. Both of these television shows remind me of postmodernism in the way that they are filmed and the settings themselves.
The shows are filmed as if there was a documentary crew there to research the lives of the characters. We know this because in The Office we see characters fiddle with their microphones, and look into the camera. Some even talk at the camera during the show. Parks and Recreation and The Office directly interview the characters to add in extra commentary to the events that are taking place in the show. So, there's this weird time aspect where we're watching the action and plot take place, and also getting the characters' opinions on what is happening as they look back on it from a future time.
In the last season of The Office, the characters are seen watching their own documentary of the paper company which was produced in their world, but which is the same documentary that we--as the audience--are also watching. It's like inception or something. A documentary within a documentary.
Also, both shows use shaky camera movement and sudden zooms to make it look more unedited, and this draws attention to the fact that there is a camera man who is controlling what we see. In fact, in The Office, we even meet one of the camera men in the final season. The camera man becomes a character who changes the story when he intervenes in a scene of the show. I guess one could say this is slightly similar to how Dana tries to stay distant from the past, but, in the end, ends up changing the story anyway.
The setting of the stories is also slightly postmodern. Both shows feature what would normally be considered as horribly mundane and boring plot settings. One is set in the office of a company that sells paper and another is set in the parks department of small town Indiana. Neither are glamorous, or would at first glance lend themselves to much humor, but the shows end up being hilarious. Perhaps this is evidence of postmodern idea that everyone--even a boring office worker--has something to contribute, and that it's not just about an elite group of individuals.
Here are some videos that show the unique style of tv shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation
The Office:
Parks and Recreation:
I'm a big fan of The Office, mostly in reruns, so I haven't yet seen the "meta" episodes at the very end of the series, where the fourth wall is broken, one of the camera guys becomes a character (Jim's rival for Pam's affections), and the characters watch themselves in their own documentary. But I'm glad they went there--because the whole idea that this was allegedly a "documentary" was always so implausible. Who would want to watch this? But, of course, *we're* watching it, and it is funny and engaging on various levels. So: stupid idea for documentary; great idea for show.
ReplyDeleteEven more postmodern, in some respects, would be shows like Modern Family, where you have the same "documentary" aesthetics (handheld cameras, on-camera "confessional" narration) but there isn't even a premise of an actual documentary being made. It just "quotes" the style pioneered by The Office. And yet, in a clear violation of the conventions of televised fiction, every now and then a character will make eye contact with the camera/audience, roll their eyes as if sharing their exasperation *with us*.