1. How are Scrubs and HIGNFY
different?
• AIM
• To consider the differences between Scrubs
and Have I got News for you
• To have a set of revision notes
• To test how quickly you can absorb knowldge

2. Describe the shows
• Scrubs is an American
sitcom set in a hospital that
follows the lives and loves
of the staff. It is unusual for
a sitcom in that there is a
voice-over letting us hear
the thoughts of the main
character JD, who is a
doctor at the hospital. The
comedy comes mostly from
rapid-fire dialogue and JD’s
comments on what’s going
on, but also from strange
‘daydream’ sequences
• Have I Got News For You is
a games show where two
regular panellists and two
guest compete to answer
questions about events in
the news. Their aim is to be
as funny as possible while
doing so. The two regular
panellists are comedian
Paul Merton and the
satirical journalist Ian
Hislop.

3. Two different sorts of comedy?
SCRUBS
• Situation Comedy
• Scrubs is a drama. The
actors play characters
delivering a script.
• Scrubs has a narrative that
is resolved in some way at
the end of the episode.
• The humour in Scrubs
comes from everyday
situations
HIGNFY
• Comedy Panel game
• HIGNFY is a performance. The
panellists play themselves and it
is supposed to be unscripted.
• HIGNFY has a loose narrative in
which players compete for points
and the teams win or lose at the
end, but this is far less important
than the laughs generated along
the way.
• the humour in HIGNFY comes, for
example, from attacking the
stupidity of people and events in
the news.
SUB-GENRE? SUB-GENRE?

4. How are they aimed at different
audiences?
SCRUBS
• Young adult audience
• It has a fast pace
• Young adult main
characters
• Often incorporates rock,
pop and indie music
• Similar visual style to other
sitcoms aimed at young
audiences, such as
Everybody Hates Chris
HIGNFY
• Older audience
• Aimed at those interested
in the news – as it often
asks questions about
political events
• Therefore it addresses an
audience who would be
more likely to read
newspapers
HOW ARE THEIR AUDIENCES
TARGETED?

5. Two different sorts of
channels?
• a niche audience channel that
aims to appeal to the young
audience that is very attractive to
advertisers
• E4 is part of a public institution -
Channel 4 is owned by the British
public and is not designed to
make a profit.
• However, E4 is a commercial
channel and a non-PSB digital
channel.
• This means that E4 can show any
programmes that it thinks will
attract an audience, in any order.
• mass audience channel that aims
to attract the full range of the
British audience.
• The BBC is not funded by
advertising but by the licence fee.
• Therefore it is a PSB and has a
duty to educate, inform and
entertain the whole British
public.
• This means BBC1 programmes
have to be popular, but have to
have an extra quality - being very
well made, having educational
value or representing all the
different parts of Britain, for
example.

6. Two different sorts of
channels?
• E4 can import lots of cheap
American programmes like
Scrubs.
• E4 can show the same
programme twice in a stripped
schedule (e.g. at 12.15 pm and
12.45 pm every day).
• E4 are competing with lots of
different digital channels, so it
needs to have a schedule that is
easy for the casual viewer to
understand - so it strips
programmes across the week.
• PSB channels have to show a lot
of original material
• PSB channels have to have a
mixed schedule with different
genres of programmes

7. Do the shows meet the
channels remit?
• E4 is a young channel that,
like Channel 4, aims to be
more daring and exciting
than its competitors.
• It needs a programme that
is popular, entertaining, but
not too mainstream to fit
this brand image.
• Scrubs attracts the right
target audience and is fresh
and different enough to fit
E4's brand image.
• HIGNFY - proved itself popular
when it was shown on BBC2, so
this justified moving it to BBC1
• It is an entertaining programme
for a fairly wide target audience.
• It was set up to be more than
funny, however. Ian Hislop was
chosen as he is a moralistic
journalist who has serious
opinions about news. It was
originally expected that Paul
Merton would provide the jokes
and Ian Hislop would provide the
opinion. This gives the
programme the opportunity to
inform, as well as entertain.

8. Different audience pleasures?
• The situation comedy offers
narrative pleasures
• we can follow a story as it
unfolds throughout an episode
and, in the case of Scrubs,
from one episode to the next.
• We identify with one or more
of the characters - we feel for
them and want the best for
them, though in JD's case this
can be spoiled by his obvious
weaknesses and stupidity.
• We are rewarded as loyal
viewers by understanding
events that are only explained
by what happened in previous
episodes. For example, only
viewers of the pilot episode
know why the Janitor is
constantly playing practical
jokes on JD.
THIS MEANS

9. Different audience pleasures?
• We get the pleasure of
narrative resolution. A
sitcom will have one or
a few storylines that
come to some
conclusion at the end of
the episode.
• Scrubs offers a mix of
serious and comic
storylines.
• We might sympathise
with characters as well
as laugh at them.

10. Different audience pleasures?
• Have I Got News For
You also has a narrative,
but who wins the game
is much less important
to the audience than
the laughs they get
along the way.
• One pleasure that Have I Got
News For You offers that Scrubs
doesn't is that it gives a
viewpoint on events in the news.
• This can add to the audience's
sense of security brought about
by the feeling that you know
what is going on in the world and
listening to other people's
opinions about these events
• Have I Got News For You also has
a track record in attacking the
rich and powerful, such as top
politicians and business people.
• This satire, apart from being
entertaining, may also help the
poor and less powerful feel
better about themselves.

11. Different
schedules?
SCRUBS
• Scrubs is scheduled at 8.45am, 2pm
and 2.30pm every day on weekdays.
Saturday 2.05pm, 2.45pm and
3.05pm, Sunday 9.05am and 9.35 am
• The afternoon slots are part of the
rolling programme of repeats with
which E4 fills its daytime schedules
• Scrubs is scheduled before the
watershed, so has to be a programme
that is suitable for children. It fits this
requirement because, though it does
contain some sexual content, it is not
sexually explicit, or violent, and it
does not contain excessive bad
language. It is, however, a slick and
reasonably adult comedy that would
appeal to a teenage audience.
HIGNFY
• scheduled at 9 pm on Fridays. It is
repeated the next day.
• 9 pm is when BBC1 schedules its
showcase dramas and documentaries.
• This suggests that 9 pm is the premier
slot on weekdays on BBC1.
• The slots before Have I Got News For
You from 8 pm to 9 pm on BBC1 are
filled with very mainstream
programmes, such as Eastenders at 8
pm, and the slot after Have I Got News
For You is filled with a comedy -
making the 9 till 10 slot on Friday
nights a regular comedy slot. This
suggests that Have I Got News For You
is being aimed at a large, mainstream
audience that likes to wind down to
comedy at the end of the week.
• Have I Got News For You is scheduled
just after the watershed. This means it
is allowed to feature adult
content, which is important for a topical
news show.

12. Similar audience pleasures?
Both
programmes use
verbal comedy.
Both programmes have regular
characters that become familiar
to regular viewers.
Both programmes
deal with real-life
issues.