Task 3 - Stereotypes presented in e4's shows

The teen stereotypes presented in Skins are:

• drug addicts
• rebellious
• stop outs
• lazy
• uncontrollable
• selfish
• sexual
• have no morals

the teen stereotypes in Misfits are:

• ASBO (anti-social behaviour) - rebellion
• sex
• rudeness
• strong and independent

the teen stereotypes in The Inbetweeners are:

• outcasts
• nerds/geeks
• embarrassing

Task 1- Research

Misfits

• The show went out on Thursday 11th November 2010 on Channel 4's digital offshoot E4, garnered impressive figures with 1.1 million viewers watching the broadcast at 9pm, giving it the biggest audience on the niche channel this month.

• Petra Fried (producer) claims that Misfits is not guilty of glamorising violence. On the contrary, she believes that, in playing with the pariah status of these teenagers by giving them superhuman powers, Overman's writing has made room for the idea that these asbo kids are no more or less unusual than any other confused and contradictory adolescent, although they may have fewer advantages.

• British reviews have been very positive. The Times gave it four out of five stars, calling it "a new union — salty British street humour with whizz-bang special effects" which should "keep E4's core audience happy".

• An online review by The Guardian said that it was "confident enough to operate in its own universe and set up something new" and that it was aimed at showing us "real people" rather than the stereotype of the "ASBO teenager".

• The Daily Telegraph drew special attention to Howard Overman's script which, it said, "sparkled from the off, introducing his posse of social outcasts as a bunch of total losers, but each one distinctively and memorably so."

Awards:

• The series won the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series.
• Both the series and its writer Howard Overman were nominated for RTS Awards in March 2010.

Skins

• Premiered on E4 on 25 January 2007.

• The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness (including eating disorders),sexual orientation identity, substance abuse and death

• The show was created by father and son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures.

• The first series received positive reviews, although some critics complained that the series depicts teenagers unrealistically and stereotypically.

• Others criticised the excessive promotion of the show (specifically in the UK) and having relatively mediocre writing in comparison to other similarly themed shows. Actor Nicholas Hoult defended the extreme storylines, saying they would not reflect "everyone's teenage life", adding "it is maybe heightened for entertainment but all of it is believable."

• The pilot episode of Skins averaged 1.5 million viewers. The series finale attracted an audience of 740,000 on E4, equating to a 4.65% share of the audience. Series 4 premiered with 1.5 million viewers across E4 and E4+1, the highest rated episode since series 1.

• "I hope it will feel as authentic because it's genuinely inspired by, driven by, and directed by young people," says the head of E4, Danny Cohen

• Skins follows the lives of nine teenagers from the same Bristol sixth-form college. Each hour-long episode is devoted to a different character. All the cinematic tropes of high school are here: pretty boys and girls, geeks, sidekicks and outcasts.

• It believes 17-year-old viewers will be more interested in seeing their own age group reflected on screen (arguably it is thirtysomething Fast Show fans who will relish Enfield playing a porky, middle-aged dad), plus the drama is filmed from a teen perspective. The adults only appear on the periphery of their children's lives - which feels pretty true to life
• "We're not attempting to help or instruct anyone," says Elsley. "What we're trying to do is write a show about relationships. It's not about whether or not you should have sex, or whether or not you should take drugs." - Bryan Elsey

Awards:

• The show won the Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony
• won the Best Production Design (Drama) for Amelia Shankland's work on "Cassie", at the Royal Television Society Awards 2007 and nominated for Best Photography (Drama).
• Tal Rosner's graphics for Skins won a BAFTA for Best Title Sequence at the British Academy Television Craft Awards in May 2008.
• In March 2008, the show was nominated for Best Drama Series in the British Academy Television Awards 2008.
• The show's innovative marketing was awarded Best Advertising Campaign at the MediaGuardian Awards for Innovation in 2008.
• The viral marketing preluding the second series won the Entertainment category at the Interactive Marketing and Advertising Awards 2008.
• Skins won the Philips Audience Award at the BAFTAs 2009.
• The series Director of Photography, Nick Dance has been nominated for a BAFTA and an RTS Award for Photography and Lighting for his work on the series.
• In 2010, Skins was nominated for aGLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Drama Series" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.
• In 2011, the series won Best TV Show at the NME Awards 2011.

C4's most important decision was to push programming which is distinctively British. Part of the thinking behind commissioning Skins and Misfits was that the teenage audience had been badly under-served until then with homegrown drama, providing little to watch apart from glossy soap Hollyoaks, also on C4.


The Inbetweeners

• The Inbetweeners is a British sitcom which aired for three series from 2008 on E4. Written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, the show follows the life of suburban teenager Will (Simon Bird), and three of his friends at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive.

• The first series began on 1 May 2008, with the pilot episode garnering 238,000 viewers.The series averaged 459,000 viewers.

• Joe McNally, writing for The Independent, commends an "exquisitely accurate dialogue, capturing the feel of adolescence perfectly"

• "It's puerile, base, crude and entirely lacking in sophistication, The Inbetweeners is all those things but there is more to it than that. Sure, it's got that gross-out, cringey element that ensures people will talk about it around the kettle (the British equivalent of the water-cooler), but there are also moments of pathos, fully drawn minor characters (Greg Davies's Mr Gilbert is to the show what Sue Sylvester is to Glee) and even the odd underplayed insightful observation about society both inside and outside school walls (for all their sexist chatter, while the boys spend their lives desperately striving to be "cool", the girls, who couldn't care less about such things, innately are)." - the independent

• "It is funny because you will have met blokes with elements of Will, Simon, Jay and Neil; lovable losers who use bravado and jokes to disguise the inner turmoil they are ill-equipped to deal with." - the independent.  It therefore reaches a wide variety of ages.
• 
  

Awards: 

• Nominated for 'Best Situation Comedy' at BAFTA twice, in 2009 and 2010. 
• British Academy Television Awards 2010, it won the Audience Award, the only award voted for by viewers 
• In 2011 the show won the Best Sitcom award at the British Comedy Awards

Task 2-Identify the main areas of concern and the corresponding arguments FOR and AGAINST the US version of ‘Skins’.

Against:

• poor acting and casting of characters
• poor adaptation of British version, has been said to be a shot by shot copy of the original, with "cop out" adaptations such as the gay male character being changed to a lesbian.
• "The American version of "Skins" has fallen below the standard that the original set — failing because of its lack of edge and authenticity. Through its purposeless acting and misfit cast, the show produces a soirée of disappointment. If there were a Razzie Award for television, this show would win." - Alex Kaufman: TV Review.

•  Quote From Kaya Scodelario's Twitter  (played Effy in British Skins): "Hi every1.Still on holiday with the girls in beautiful jamaica!We watched the American skins… Na mate! Brits did it better… Can't believe it was bleeped!That's not what skins is about.And making effy blonde? WTF!but good luck 2 them anyway,not about being a hater.

But I did quite like the us shameless…"

• "THANK YOU TACO BELL FOR SENDING A MESSAGE WE ALL NEED TO HEAR. IF ONLY OTHERS WOULD DO THE SAME BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE AND WE END UP BEING A SOCIETY WITH FEW OR NO MORALS." - Anonymous  comment on Taco Bell pulling there advertising for the show. 

Wikipedia:

Critical response

Metacritic gives the series a weighted average score of 57% based on reviews from 17 critics, half of which are only based on the first episode, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

James Poniewozik of Time magazine concluded that the show is tamer than the British original, but believes if the controversial subject matter leaves parents reaching for antacid, then the show is doing its job. Although the show is raunchy Poniewozik judges Skins to have "more sweetness than snarky teen soaps like Gossip Girl". He questions if this Canadian remake of a British show will be able to find its American voice, but commends the strong source material. He calls the show "unsettling, flawed but ambitious" and credits it with the secret that "it wears its heart on its skin".

Troy Patterson of Slate describes the show as a "sporadically excellent adaption" that is "superior teensploitation, enabling youth to rejoice in the fantasy of their corruption". He admonishes those who call the show child pornography, scolding them for "trivializing terrible crimes with flabby language" and judges it to be more an indication of the show's success that it angers some parents and sets itself on the far side of a generation gap.

Comparisons to original

The show has been met with fierce backlash from fans of the UK version, who have criticized the show for employing story lines nearly identical to those of the original, being either upset that the show has not invented its own characters and story lines, or that it has not honoured its source material well enough. Both producers and cast members have responded by insisting viewers see the North American version as its own show with its own characters, and not to compare it detail for detail with the UK version.

Controversy

The show has been criticized for its "racy" teenage depictions of casual sex and drug use, especially in regard to underage actors. In the wake of a mounting scandal over a possible child pornography investigation of MTV as a result of the show's raciness, Yum! Brands (Taco Bell), Mars, Incorporated (Wrigley), General Motors, Doctor's Associates (Subway), Foot Locker, H&R Block, Schick, Guthy-Renker (Proactiv), L'Oréal, Reckitt Benckiser (Clearasil) and Kraft have all opted to pull their advertising from the program. Additionally, the television activist group the Parents Television Council filed a letter to the Department of Justice, asking them to bring a child pornography charge against the series, alleging a violation of 18 USC 1466A. Due to the controversy in the U.S. and because the show is made in Canada, Bob Tarantino, an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer, reviewed section 163.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada and found that "it would be exceedingly unlikely that Skins would be found to constitute "child pornography" for purposes of Canadian criminal law."

In 2011, MTV branded the show "TV-MA" rated, meaning that it is unsuitable for viewers under 17. Nielsen They also defended the show, stating that it addresses "real-world issues" teenagers are confronted with on a daily basis, and in a "frank" way. "We are confident that the episodes of Skins will not only comply with all applicable legal requirements, but also with our responsibilities to our viewers," they said. reported that 1.2 million of the premiere episode's 3 million viewers were under 18. MTV told advertisers, "Now is the time to influence their choices." 




For:

• "Attention to viewers against SKINS. Believe it or not, some kids actually behave like this. Drugs and alcohol are developing staples in teenage life. If they're not doing it, they're seeing it. Removing this show, ridding of sponsors, won't change what your child witnesses. It starts with you, the parent, the guardian. If individual have a problem with this show simply turn off your television. If you're having problems with your teenager, talk to them- you'd be surprised what they are willing to say." - Anonymous comment from The Hollywood Reporter

• it addresses real life issues - sex, drugs, relationships.

• Skins is a show that addresses real-world issues confronting teens in a frank way,' - Jeannie Kedas: MTV's spokesperson.

• "America the Prudiful. Seriously, they will show absolutely horrific violence on regular TV here, but sex? Nuh uh." - Kate, Key West, Florida

controversy caused by American Skins

Criticism:

• poor acting and casting of characters
• poor adaptation of British version, has been said to be a shot by shot copy of the original, with "cop out" adaptations such as the gay male character being changed to a lesbian.
• "The American version of "Skins" has fallen below the standard that the original set — failing because of its lack of edge and authenticity. Through its purposeless acting and misfit cast, the show produces a soirée of disappointment. If there were a Razzie Award for television, this show would win." - Alex Kaufman: TV Review.

•  Quote From Kaya Scodelario's Twitter  (played Effy in British Skins):

Wikipedia:

Reception

Critical response

Metacritic gives the series a weighted average score of 57% based on reviews from 17 critics, half of which are only based on the first episode, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

James Poniewozik of Time magazine concluded that the show is tamer than the British original, but believes if the controversial subject matter leaves parents reaching for antacid, then the show is doing its job. Although the show is raunchy Poniewozik judges Skins to have "more sweetness than snarky teen soaps like Gossip Girl". He questions if this Canadian remake of a British show will be able to find its American voice, but commends the strong source material. He calls the show "unsettling, flawed but ambitious" and credits it with the secret that "it wears its heart on its skin".

Troy Patterson of Slate describes the show as a "sporadically excellent adaption" that is "superior teensploitation, enabling youth to rejoice in the fantasy of their corruption". He admonishes those who call the show child pornography, scolding them for "trivializing terrible crimes with flabby language" and judges it to be more an indication of the show's success that it angers some parents and sets itself on the far side of a generation gap.

Comparisons to original

The show has been met with fierce backlash from fans of the UK version, who have criticized the show for employing story lines nearly identical to those of the original, being either upset that the show has not invented its own characters and story lines, or that it has not honoured its source material well enough. Both producers and cast members have responded by insisting viewers see the North American version as its own show with its own characters, and not to compare it detail for detail with the UK version.

Controversy

The show has been criticized for its "racy" teenage depictions of casual sex and drug use, especially in regard to underage actors. In the wake of a mounting scandal over a possible child pornography investigation of MTV as a result of the show's raciness, Yum! Brands (Taco Bell), Mars, Incorporated (Wrigley), General Motors, Doctor's Associates (Subway), Foot Locker, H&R Block, Schick, Guthy-Renker (Proactiv), L'Oréal, Reckitt Benckiser (Clearasil) and Kraft have all opted to pull their advertising from the program. Additionally, the television activist group the Parents Television Council filed a letter to the Department of Justice, asking them to bring a child pornography charge against the series, alleging a violation of 18 USC 1466A. Due to the controversy in the U.S. and because the show is made in Canada, Bob Tarantino, an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer, reviewed section 163.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada and found that "it would be exceedingly unlikely that Skins would be found to constitute "child pornography" for purposes of Canadian criminal law."

In 2011, MTV branded the show "TV-MA" rated, meaning that it is unsuitable for viewers under 17. Nielsen They also defended the show, stating that it addresses "real-world issues" teenagers are confronted with on a daily basis, and in a "frank" way. "We are confident that the episodes of Skins will not only comply with all applicable legal requirements, but also with our responsibilities to our viewers," they said. reported that 1.2 million of the premiere episode's 3 million viewers were under 18. MTV told advertisers, "Now is the time to influence their choices."

"Hi every1.Still on holiday with the girls in beautiful jamaica!We watched the American skins… Na mate! Brits did it better…
Can't believe it was bleeped!That's not what skins is about.And making effy blonde? WTF!but good luck 2 them anyway,not about being a hater.
But I did quite like the us shameless…"

Collective Identity 1980s

1980s Collect. Id