Creating a television comedy that grabs the viewer’s attention can be difficult. The directors, cast, and crew must work together to make a show that is appealing through the voice acting, plot, dialogue and many other things. Adam Reed’s creation, Archer, found on the FX channel is a prime example of all of these things.
Archer is an animated television comedy that began in 2009. It currently has eight seasons and has been praised by groups like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. It follows the adventures of Sterling Archer, an International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) super spy, and his co-workers Cyril Figgis, Lana Kane, his mother Malory, and others. Throughout the episodes the audience follows the agency through various action filled,
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comedy packed missions that never seem to work out as planned. For this essay we will be focusing on several episodes from season three. Each season is intended to be one large story but these episodes are all linked together as one multi-episode season opener. After season two Archer ran away in order to get away from the agency. The first episode in this mini series is “Heart of Archness, Part I” which resumes the agency’s adventures three months after Archer’s disappearance. Archer is an animated show, so a large amount of the acting is conveyed through the character’s voices in order to fully show what is going on.
The show cannot necessarily rely on the animations. All of the voice actors perform in such a way that their humor and actions could be conveyed without ever seeing the show but instead just listening. Each character creates a unique tone and speech pattern that helps develop their roles. They are able to take their lines from the script and make it their own. For example, H. Jon Benjamin (Archer) creates a tone that makes him seem superior to everyone else which fits Archer’s persona perfectly. On the other hand, Judy Greer (Cheryl) keeps her tone light and confused which fits because Cheryl is portrayed as not very smart and slow to understand things. This adds depth to a show in which the viewers cannot rely on the actor’s body language to see how they react to various situations. In this series of episodes the dialogue in the show provides examples of …show more content…
this. The first episode, part one, shows this when Archer encounters pirates after being stranded in a plane crash.
The pirates do not speak english and he must use one of their prisoners, an entomologist, to translate. As usual, Archer uses a large amount of idioms which become lost in translation. This becomes problematic when he tries to explain anything to the pirates. As the episode progresses, the goofy comedy begins to become more apparent. After taking over the ship, killing the captain in progress, he is informed that he is now the captain as they return to the island that houses the base. Upon returning he decides that he will no longer go home but stay as the “pirate king” instead. It is when Archer becomes the “pirate king” that we begin to see his true self. He becomes easily distracted and is an ineffective leader. The other pirates want him to treat their operation like a business and raid ships to earn further profits but Archer has other plans. For a short time he leads a life of luxury, partying all day while sleeping around with the local women. This angers the crew to the point they begin to threaten mutiny. As a way to try and satisfy them, he leads a raid on a fishing boat. After hearing the captain of the fishing vessel however, Archer decides to let them go and returns to the island because they have families to support. This shows that while Archer is a selfish, egotistical man he still can show that he cares about the wellbeing of others.
The dialogue continues to be comedic while also progressing the story line. It is because of this that the show’s dialogue can be successful and advance the storyline while providing humorous conversations between the cast. Moving to the second episode in the three part series, we begin to see the tension building even more. Bucky, the aspiring pirate king, challenges Archer to a malwan raja which is a fight to the death in order to try and dethrone Archer. As a character, Archer always has to be the best at everything and will do almost anything to prove it so he quickly accepts the challenge going against the first mate’s warning. Archer continues the conversation by bragging about how easily he will beat Bucky until he is informed that the challenger may choose anyone they would like to represent them in the fight. Archer becomes nervous as he sees a gigantic man come out of one of the houses that has been chosen as his contender. This is where we see a lapse in his cockiness because he does not think he will be able to win this challenge which would make him look like a lesser man and damage his ego. The fight begins, and in an Indiana Jones-esque style Archer pulls out a pistol and immediately shoots his opponent allowing him to claim the victory. Bucky is enraged, claiming that he went against the tradition of hand to hand combat. This scene represents Archer’s morals because he is willing to break tradition in order to make himself seem like he is still the alpha male of the group. Once again the viewers see, through the plot, that he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep his ego intact. This is the last straw for the pirates, and is when the plot takes a major turn. They begin to rebel against Archer and his first mate. Chaos ensues as they are chased through the compound and become trapped in the radio tower. At the same time, Lana and Ray make it to the island in an attempt to rescue Archer, believing that he has been held hostage the whole time. Another common theme among the ISIS team is miscommunication which can be seen throughout the entire series, especially in this three part series. Adam Reed often uses this to further the plot by sending the viewers through various twists and turns that are caused by lack of communication between the agents. Upon landing on the beach, Ray and Lana are quickly apprehended and taken to a cell in the dungeon of the fortress where they join Archer, the first mate, and Rip Riley. This marks the end of part two in the form of a cliff hanger. Overall, part two is used to greatly advance the story by having Archer’s dream come crumbling down around him. His hopes of living in this paradise have vanished and they now must attempt to escape to avoid almost certain death. Part three opens with the group still in their cell attempting to create and escape plan. Once again, the comedy ensues right away. When together, Archer and Lana work together to create a sarcastic tone that fills the entire scene. They come up with impossible ideas to escape their cell that bring a light feel to an otherwise dark situation: their impending death.
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
“People who had incurred the displeasure of the party simply disappeared and were never heard of again.
Throughout the course of this novel, Ishmael Beah keeps the readers on the edge of their seat by incorporating interchanging tones. At the beginning of the novel, the tone can be depicted as naïve, for Beah was unaware to what was actually occurring with the rebels. Eventually, the tone shifts to being very cynical and dark when he depicts the fighting he has endured both physically and mentally. However, the most game changing tone is towards the end of the novel in chapters nineteen and twenty. His tone can be understood as independent or prevailing. It can be portrayed as independent because Beah learns how to survive on his own and to take care of himself. At the same time, it is perceived as prevailing and uplifting because Beah was able to demonstrate that there is hope. Later in the novel, Beah travels to
The chapter, Church, has the troop hold up in a church for a few days. In the church, the monks take an immediately likely to the troop help with food and weapon cleaning. A few of the soldiers discuss what they wanted to do before the war. The troops learn more about each other and insight into what faith can be to them.
In the same also different way, the coach in Marshall speech also using pathos when he said “ They don’t know your heart. I do. I’ve seen it. You have shown it to me...You have shown just exactly who you are in here.” This is pathos because the coach bring up how good the team have become. Whether they’re losing or winning, the only thing will matter is no one will have a great heart as the players have. They don’t need to win the championship to show that they’re the best, they just need to show how much passion they have with football to show that they’re the best team. The coach also said: “ When you take that field today, you’ve gotta lay that heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final.” He doesn’t put pressure on the players that they have to win, he speaked how he feel, he speaked from his heart, he just wanted that when the team take the field today, they just need to put all their effort and passion on the field.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
Hosseini’s purpose of writing the Kite Runner was to teach the readers the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The main character, Amir, is a Pashtun and Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, then there are Hazara’s that the Pashtuns do not get along with. Hazara’s are not welcomed by the Pashtuns because they are different social classes.
Popular culture is the artistic and creative expression in entertainment and style that appeals to society as whole. It includes music, film, sports, painting, sculpture, and even photography. It can be diffused in many ways, but one of the most powerful and effective ways to address society is through film and television. Broadcasting, radio and television are the primary means by which information and entertainment are delivered to the public in virtually every nation around the world, and they have become a crucial instrument of modern social and political organization. Most of today’s television programming genres are derived from earlier media such as stage, cinema and radio. In the area of comedy, sitcoms have proven the most durable and popular of American broadcasting genres. The sitcom’s success depends on the audience’s familiarity with the habitual characters and the situations
Family comedies have evolved throughout the past century. What was once revered as classic has completely changed forms and turned into the comedic experience we witness today. Family sitcoms in particular have been converted to show a broader picture of how family’s interact in today’s world. This greatly appeals to today’s audiences and is what people want to see. Modern family specifically has tapped into what nontraditional families are all about and even with being so alternative has resonated with every type of family, making it one of the most popular shows on TV at the present moment. The pilot episode of Modern Family uses hyper-irony, allusions and uses references to technology to enforce comedic impact.
Her hand gestures are still natural, but she uses more gestures to express her emotion and the way she feels to further emphasize her story. Her facial expressions and voice tone is more vibrant and aggressive to further go along with the emotion she’s expressing and to grab the viewer’s attention to detail. She does a good job on being the main focus of her speech by not having any outside sources such as slides, note card, etc. and also keeping her body relaxed and in a natural state by not pacing around, expressing natural movements, and many other things. Throughout the speech, she puts emphasis on the word ‘articulate’ as she uses it various amounts of times to get the viewers to catch on to what she is trying to say and the message she is trying to get across. She does express humor here and there but she doesn’t use it as a focal point to keep her audience engaged, instead, elaborates on a story on why she’s
Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, "The Raven" starts off in a dark setting with an apartment on a "bleak December" night. The reader meets an agonized man sifting through his books while mourning over the premature death of a woman named Lenore. When the character is introduced to the raven he asks about Lenore and the chance in afterlife in which the bird replies “nevermore” which confirms his worst fears. This piece by Edgar Allen Poe is unparalleled; his poem’s theme is not predictable, it leads to a bitter negative ending and is surrounded by pain. To set this tone, Poe uses devices such as the repetition of "nevermore" to emphasize the meaning of the word to the overall theme; he also sets a dramatic tone that shows the character going from weary
It’s amazing how much we learn about people from what they say. One way to achieve this is through carefully constructed dialogue. Work to create dialogue that allows the characters’ personalities and voices to emerge through unique word selection and the use of active rather than passive voice.
Language or the way in which words are used is one of the most important components of a comedy. Through an intelligent use of word play and the ability to add
Television comedies have been on the air for decades, and throughout this time many different shows have come and gone. Due to the dominance of these shows, comedies are one of the biggest draws on television. There are many different types of comedies, each with their own unique characteristics and features that differentiate them from others and lead to their popularity. Whether the show is a sketch comedy, sitcom, mockumentary or dramatic comedy, each utilizes different types of humour, locations, themes, and situations to appeal to the audience; which is likely why they are so popular today.