Saturday, May 12, 2012

TELEVISION SHOW OBSERVATION ASSIGNMENT

This was a really fun assignment.  I rarely get the chance to sit down and watch television so it was not too hard to pick a show to watch.  I decided for this assignment I would watch the show “Wipeout”.  I chose to watch this type of programming for various reasons including needing to watch something that would be entertaining with no sound as well as with sound.

For those who have not seen this show, contestants of all ages, shapes and sizes go head-to-head in four different rounds of play.  Each of the rounds is filled with really hilarious obstacle courses.  Each contestant is trying to become the “Wipeout Champion” and take home the grand prize of $50,000. 

I am a people watcher by nature.  I love to observe everything around me so this was a great assignment.  While watching the show with no sound, the two commentators seem to have a good relationship as their nonverbal cues (i.e. smiles) seem to demonstrate this.  The contestants each are showing many different nonverbal cues (i.e. smiles, frowns, stamping feet, frustration).  The impression I was given from watching this show with no sound is that the commentators seem to love laughing at the participants’ expense.  I also observed just how much nonverbal cues/instances each contestant displayed during this hour-long show (minus lots of commercials).

Once the sound was turned on for the second viewing, I enjoyed the show even more since I could now here all the comments and jokes made by the commentators as well as what the contestants had to say during their interviews.  It was also really different to hear what was being said to match up with the nonverbal cues the commentators as well as the contestants were showing.  I think that if I watched a show I was more familiar with, the results would be much different.  I also believe that if I watched a different type of show (i.e. sitcom; drama; soap opera) the results would vary from show to show.  All in all this was a really fun assignment and I might just try this again in the future.

1 comment:

  1. Robin,
    My boyfriend is addicted to watching this specific show. I asked myself the first time I watched I was truly in amazement how people could do these crazy obstacles, and there is a finale show too. I tell you I would lose right off the first jump. I too am a people watcher, and I love to watch children in the stores with their parents. At times, I think the children will be a politician after listening to them debate or barter with their parent(s). It is all great fun, but it amazes me that people do not really see what great ambition many preschoolers have, just watching a preschooler barter with her mother over a candy bar..priceless.

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