Analysis Of My Favorite Husband: From 'Learning To Drive'

My Favourite Husband was an American radio program that was broadcasted from the year 1948 to 1951 on CBS Radio. This situational comedy centered around the lives of the Cooper family, and starred Lucille Ball as Liz Cooper and Richard Denning as George Cooper (My Favorite Husband). Through the close analysis of the My Favorite Husband episode titled “Learning to Drive”, one can see that the program relies on verbal communication to structure the diegesis and build a narrative that fulfills the three media functions of coordination, continuity, and entertainment found within Charles Wright’s media theory,
Throughout the program, music is utilized to indicate shifts in both space and time. The episode opens with instrumental music that is

accented by a high-pitched wind instrument, which rises and then falls in pitch; its sound resembles a signal that is utilized to capture the attention of listeners, and to notify them that a new, or the next, program is beginning (“Learning to Drive” 00:00:01-00:00:18). As the announcer introduces the program, this music quickly fades away, and is replaced by the program’s theme song, which includes the addition of brass instruments, and is noticeably more lively and richer in timbre (00:00:20-0:00:39). Because the theme song is unique to the show, the music acts as a second signal to indicate to its listeners that the program is beginning. As the audience grows increasingly familiar to this music, the song becomes synonymous with the program; listeners can now identify that the radio is playing My Favorite Husband solely from hearing its theme song. Therefore, in this case, music serves the dual purpose of indicating the beginning of a new program, and establishing the program within the memory of the audience.
After the theme song, the program does not utilize music until the end of the first scene. From then on, music is used to transition between each scene, indicating to the listener that time has passed within the episode, and characters have moved to a different setting; these orchestral interludes bear a strong resemblance to the program’s theme song in tone and pitch. It is important to note that the music itself does not construct the space within each scene; the program never utilizes any background music to set a specific mood, evoke emotion within the audience, or act as an indication of the specific setting of a scene. Rather, My Favorite Husband utilizes music to indicate the beginning and ending of a scene, thus also indicating that a change has taken place in both the spatial and temporal elements of the program.
In addition to music, sound effects are utilized throughout the radio program.

Of these effects, the most prominent and frequent sound is the studio laugh track that is played consistently throughout each episode. Adhering to its typical usage, the laugh track is played after a set of lines that is meant to be received as a joke. Though the track does vary in length, volume, and intensity, these variances do not act as indicators that certain lines are more significant to the program than others. The frequent use of the laugh track throughout the episode serves as a constant reminder to the audience that they are listening to a comedic program. This reminder is especially useful in scenes in which a character’s voice makes it difficult to decipher whether their lines are meant to be taken seriously or in jest. For example, in the scene that starts at 00:10:18, Liz gets into a heated conversation with the police officer in charge of issuing driver’s licenses. The police officer is shouting angrily at Liz at a high volume and intensity. Without the addition of the laugh track after each of his lines, this scene would sound quite alarming to its audience, and it would be difficult to identity that his lines are supposed to be comic in nature. In addition, sound effects that are typically characteristic to cars, such as the starting and running of an engine, are utilized sporadically throughout the episode. However, these effects are simply responses to the characters’ verbal

descriptions of their actions and observations, and they do not convey additional information.
Because both the music and sound effects are not utilized to construct the narrative and the space in which it resides, verbal communication plays a critical role in the program. The first instance of this communication can be found at the beginning of the episode, in which a male announcer introduces the program to the audience, stating its title, the starring characters and their actors, as well as the novel that the program is based upon. The announcer’s voice is a medium tone and mid-tempo, and he speaks in a friendly, lighthearted manner that is coherent to the genre of the porgram. After the theme song, he then takes on the role of the narrator for the first scene, in which he describes its setting and positions the characters within it. There is no narrator present throughout the rest of the episode, but he returns after its conclusion to provide the program credits and inform the listeners of the next program.
The remaining narrative is constructed through the verbal communication that takes place between the characters. Spatial elements are created through their direct descriptions of their setting, and their dialogue is utilized to move the narrative forward. Variations in a character’s volume, tone and pitch convey their emotions, which then set the mood for various parts of the scene. Each character’s actions are illustrated through sufficiently detailed descriptions to create an accurate image within the audience’s minds.
The significance of verbal communication in the creation of a narrative is particularly evident in the scene that begins 00:05:56, in which George is gives Liz a driving lesson in the family car. There is a large amount of action and movement that take place within this scene, which involves the pushing of buttons, movements in various directions, and so forth. The characters indicate that an action has taken place through pauses between lines, such as when Liz attempts to press the starter button, and through the use of words that indicate direction, for example in Liz’s use of “up here” to indicate the different directions in which she shifts the gear. Furthermore, detailed descriptions are also utilized to portray the actions that have taken place, especially when no sound effects are involved; this is evident at 00:07:47 in which George exclaims and then describes the cause of his exclamation – Liz had accidentally pressed a switch to make his car seat flip backwards.
Though there is no music present, the ever-present studio laugh track and various car sound effects are utilized throughout the scene. However, they are secondary in importance, for they do not disrupt the sound hierarch by overpowering the voices, and the narrative would still be able to function and be understandable even if these sound effects did not exist. This ability for the narrative to remain coherent despite the absence of sound effects, proves that the scene is built solely from the verbal communication between its characters.
As mentioned before, emotions are conveyed through changes in the sound quality of the voice.

For example, when Liz or George want to convey that they are annoyed, there tone is noticeably flattened and their words sound strained, whereas shock and exasperation are conveyed through a sudden increase of pitch and volume. Throughout the majority of this scene George’s tone towards Liz is either annoyed, authoritative, which is conveyed through the hard accenting of words, or exhausted. The manner in which he speaks combines with the content of his lines, to set his character up as the knowledgeable, capable man who is forced to help an incapable woman with her foolish whims. In contrast, Liz speaks in a much more even tone, with less variations in volume and pitch. However, when these variations do occur, it usually conveys that she is uncertain, through the wavering of her voice and the lowering of her volume. In the cases in which she is able to speak in the authoritative manner of George, she is usually making a statement that is incorrect. Therefore, this incoherency between her tone and the content of her lines, sets Liz up as a character that is foolish, stubborn and

incapable.
My Favorite Husband began airing only a few years after the end of the Second World War. During the war, American society was restructured to focus all its resources and manpower to support the war effort. Numerous men left America to serve as soldiers overseas, vacating their positions of work, as well as their positions in the family. As a result, a shift in gender roles took place. Women began to participate in occupations that had once been viewed as “male-only”, taking on the responsibilities of supporting the family and the war effort by managing businesses and farms, working in factories, taking on professional occupations, and so forth. For the time being, society’s definition of womanhood and its prescriptions were no longer constricted to the traditional roles of motherhood, caregiver and homemaker.
However, with the conclusion of the war in 1945, there was an overall desire to return to normal by restoring American society to its pre-war state. A significant portion of this normalcy consisted of the reestablishment of the traditional gender roles of the male breadwinner and the female homemaker; the figure of the independent woman, who was smart, self-supporting and capable of succeeding in the jobs that the men had left behind, was no longer desired by society. This desire then allows for My Favorite Husband to be viewed as a sort of template that the audience could follow to restore the traditional gender roles and norms portrayed by the characters of Liz and George. Thus, the program fulfills the coordination function of Charles Wright’s Media theory, because it assists its audience with adapting to the changes that occurred in their post-war society.
Though is it tempting to then make the conclusion that My Favorite Husband is supporting the oppression of women by the patriarchy, there is another side to the story. Despite making mistakes along the way, Liz’s conviction to obtain a driver’s license is proven to be fruitful. She successfully passes her driving test and receives her driver’s licence in the end. Therefore, her efforts throughout the episode are not wasted, and she achieves the freedom of mobility. Thus, through the character of Liz, the audience is provided with the image of the independent, capable American woman that was prevalent throughout World War II, which fulfills Wright’s continuity function of media; the social value that was formed during the war is passed down to the next generation. Finally, because the program falls in the genre of a comedy, these messages are transmitted in a manner that will provide entertainment to its audience.
The radio program episode “Learning to Drive” utilizes verbal communication to build a colourful diegesis within the minds of its listeners. Music is utilized to signify changes in space and time, while sound effects, such as the audience laugh track, compliment the program and add to the overall mood of the scene. Variations in tone work to convey emotion, combining with the detailed content of each character’s line, to create each scene’s setting and the episode’s narrative. Through the successful creation of a diegesis, the program fulfills the continuity, coordination and entertainment functions Charles Wright’s media theory, thus providing evidence of the power and importance of radio in society.