Outnumbered Article modern sitcom

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14 MediaMagazine | April 2010 | english and media centre

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arguably incorporates elements of the sitcom:

Barrett and Fielding have created a surreal and

strange show, fixed loosely around the running of 

‘Nabootique’, with unusual characters and bizarre

storylines. The BBC Three comedy reached out

to less mainstream audiences and found great

success.

Another unusual sitcom is Miranda – almost

a tribute to classic sitcoms. The show is an

adaptation of Miranda Hart’s radio show and first

hit the screens of BBC Two in November 2009.

One unusual aspect is that Miranda is aware of 

the audience’s presence and often talks directly

to the camera. A key scene to show this is in

Episode 4 where she repeats her bad joke, ‘not

very annoying, ovary annoying’, to her friend and

mother, then to another friend, and then to the

camera when she fails to get a laugh. The other

characters do not acknowledge the audience

or camera, except at the end when they wave

goodbye in a ‘you have been watching’ sequence

hailing back to  Are You Being Served . The show

also makes brilliant use of slapstick and physical

humour, once a frequent occurrence in classics

such as Fawlty Towers and Some Mothers Do

‘Ave ‘Em, but sadly neglected in more recent.

OutnumberedAndy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin’s Outnumbered  

is an unconventional sitcom in many ways,

although it does meet a number of the more

important conventions. Produced in series of 

six thirty minute episodes, it focuses on the

entrapment of the Brockman family by day to

day life, particularly Pete and Sue (Hugh Dennis

and Claire Skinner) who are truly outnumbered

by their three troublesome children, Jake, Ben

and Karen (Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Rocheand Ramona Marquez). This feeling of being

trapped is emphasized by the fact that only a

small variation of settings is used, the house

being the central location. The show is humorous

and features a few main characters along with

additional characters such as family friend Jane,

Auntie Angela, Sue’s father Frank and the unseen

presence of Sue’s bosses Veronica and, in Series

 Two, Tyler.

However the programme does ignore some

traditional conventions. There is no canned

laughter or live audience.; the show is filmed in

an actual terraced house making a live audience

impossible. However, the silence helps add totheir isolation, and a tacky laughter track could

have effectively ruined the show. Of course this

is not the only sitcom that doesn’t use audience

laughter; The Office, The Royle Family and

Benidorm all go without. However in these

shows, The Office in particular, the silence is used

to emphasize already awkward silences at points

when the audience are glad they aren’t there, as

opposed to highlighting isolation and making the

show seem more real.

Another aspect of the show’s unconventional

nature is that the acting is semi-improvised.

 There is some scripting, mainly for the adults,

but a lot of the children’s lines are their own

responses to situations after being briefed on the

main points of the scene. Hamilton and Jenkin

‘made a point of not getting stage school kids’;

this makes their performances seem particularly

natural. The location is a spacious London home,

the mise-en-scène is scruffily authentic: pictures

on the fridge, family pictures on the fire place and

a mess of toys in the bedrooms. This, along with

the acting style, gives the illusion of a fly on the

wall documentary rather than a sitcom.

 The show has been cleverly scheduled so

that it is not competing with already popular

shows that demand a lot of audience attention.

Situation comedies are common in prime time

and so this scheduling is unusual for the genre. It

signifies that the show is aimed at adults, and yet

the show is still firmly focused on the children.

 The show is written by two experienced

comedy writers who have also worked together

extensively on projects such as Drop the Dead 

Donkey . Hat Trick Productions, producers of 

                  

          

   

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english and media centre | April 2010 |MediaMagazine 15 

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Outnumbered, are well associated with high

quality comedy such as The Armstrong and 

Miller Show and Father Ted so this show simply

adds to their catalogue of success.

Last December, the show picked up three

awards out of five nominations at ITV’s British

Comedy Awards 2009. These were Best Female

Newcomer (Ramona Marquez), Best Sitcom, and

Best British Comedy. As the Radio Times has said,

‘acutely sharp observational writing and three

remarkable child stars’ are much to the show’s

credit.

An episode in close-upMore specifically, I am looking at Episode 5

of Series One, T’he Mystery Illness’. The episodeopens with Sue trying to get the k ids ready for

school. Fibber Ben is claiming to have ‘bovine

 TB’ and various other illnesses, Karen is unable

to find her other shoe and Jake is shrugging off 

his father’s ‘matey’ attitude. The show has no

opening titles, and opens with Sue cleaning up

in the kitchen and shouting for the kids to get

ready. This sort of opening is odd for a sitcom,

and it’s unusual to see a show run straight into an

episode. Many audience members will prefer this

opening style over the cheesy theme music and

title sequences that many shows have adopted.

In one scene, Ben leaves saying he’s ‘going to

lie down on my bed and watch Little Britain on

the internet.’ This is one of the show’s running

 jokes, along with the troublesome task of finding

the phone. However, the show doesn’t explot

regular catchphrases. This helps make the show

less predictable for the audience who can often

spot such repetitive phrases before they’ve

arrived. Also, the show has a relaxed approach

to narratve; although there is disruption and

stabilisation to the equilibrium, there is rarely

a large and climactic event to fill the show.

Storylines will follow mundane events like a trip

to the city zoo or a wedding; it is not all action,

tension and potentially dramatic situations.

Some improvisation is evident in this episode,

for example Pete asking Karen whether she is

knitting with or eating her spaghetti, ‘both’ being

the answer. The adults also seem genuinely

surprised when Ben says the Nazis were led by

‘Addie Hitler’. As Hugh Dennis is an experienced

comedian, this improvisational style is not new

to him and he reacts very authentically to the

children. The acting style helps the cast interact

naturally and convincingly, for example when

Karen greets Pete’s home from work with a run

and jump for a hug.

 The whole series is modern in its

representation of family dynamics. This

episode shows it first in Jake’s refusal to accept

his fathers help with being bullied, telling him to

‘just chill, ok?’ Karen shows her usual dislike for

her auntie and leaves the room as Angela is part-

way through answering her question on religion.

Sue also struggles to get along with Angela and

we see her failing to believe her sister will stay

and care for their Dad; notably, Angela bares

all to Jake about her failed relationship rather

than her sister. It’s not all happy families for the

Brockmans. Also, Sue takes on a fairly strong role

as head of the household, symbolised by her

fixing the sink rather than Pete. Typically, this sort

of role would be given to the father of the family.

Co-creator Andy Hamilton has commented

that ‘TV hadn’t really done a proper family

comedy’ and that previous shows hadn’t

‘captured the chaos of life with small children.’

Outnumbered certainly achieves this. The show is

‘absolutely child-centric’ and filming techniques

aim at getting the best from the children.

 This show differs greatly from many sitcoms;

it tackles mundane things like how to load the

dishwasher. The chaos and hilarities focus on the

children – yet the show is still aimed at adults,

and we see the typical everyday tasks parents

may encounter, including having to explain

complicated things to children, for example what

a Nazi is, or trying to make your children get

along: ‘He called me lezza, and he called me a

toss piece…but I especially don’t like lezza,’ claims

Karen, providing a fresh look at childish bickering.

 The sitcom genre has changed greatly over

the years; it has moulded itself into a reflection

of modern day life and provides contemporary

shows for each audience demographic.

Outnumbered is by no means the only sitcom to

show this development, but it highlights some

great changes that have pushed the sitcom into

a new era. Another hit for the BBC, the show

brings us a thoroughly modern look at family life

and has aspects that will relate to every viewer

watching at home. Shows like this are made to

treasure; and they demonstrate that there’s life in

the sitcom yet.

Lucy Ferguson is a student at Wreake Valley College,

Leicestershire.