Infotainment
Under the class discussion of simulacra - a representation or imitation of a thing - came the discussion of infotainment. Infotainment caught my attention as it is taking the ordinary mundane news stories that appear on TV and turning them into funny and relatable news stories. In the UK we have two similar shows called 'Have I Got News For You,' and 'Mock the Week.' The idea on both of these shows is to beat the other team with guessing either the correct news title, or having the funniest twist on the news title. There are 6 comedians, 3 on each panel acting as a team and one host that asks the questions or shows a picture of the news image.
I chose to talk about this in my blog as these shows reminded me strongly of my family life back home. Ever Sunday it would be a ritual for myself, my mum and dad to sit down and watch these two shows one right after the other. They would often overlap on subjects and it be hilarious to see how differently the teams approach it. I personally preferred Mock the Week as it was a bit cruder and had less political news on it. we never did much as a family but this was something that really brought us together. I never had a strong relationship with my dad but we could come together and agree on this being entertaining. Plus I never read the newspaper or see the news so it was a fun way for me to learn about current affairs whilst getting a good giggle out of it.
The way it relates to Comm 160 is the most interesting way. In almost all circumstances it is about the delivery of the humor. It is about the way that the guests can impose their comedic value on current events and make it not such a 'dull' subject. The way they communicate with each other as well adds to the value of the comedy too. These shows don't seem so common over here. Maybe with Trump as president something will kickstart...
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