Sitcom Research and Analysis- The Inbetweeners

The Inbetweeners is a British sitcom running from 2008-2010. The narrative of the show follows the life of Will Mckenzie and his venture of starting a public school after being in private education all of his life. Along the way, he makes new friends Simon, Neil and Jay. The shows narrative refers to teenage issues such as bullying, a disrupted family life and male bonding.

The format of this show is organised into 3 series; 6 episodes in each series. The show was broadcasted on Channel 4/E4. This channel is noteworthy for broadcasting many sitcoms and shows with comedic content. I believe that the format of this show is conventional of the genre as often the story unfold over the series, with a recurring narrative. However, each episode of The Inbetweeners showcases a different storyline from the last episode, although the narrative of the series follows a chronological timeline.

The appeals of this genre are different for each audience member. The uses and gratifications model suggests that audience members engage with the media for four reasons; for personal identification, entertainment, social interaction and information. This show provides the comedic value for entertainment, it provides personal identification for both those who are currently the same age as the characters and those older as they have once been at that age.
I believe that this show is quite conventional to its genre as it uses quite dry, relatable humour to entertain its audience. Its use of very possible but extremely funny situations and comedic language makes it conventional to the genre. Also, its use of many stereotypical character arcs. For example, Will being 'the Geek', Neil being 'the Buffoon', Jay being 'the Big-shot' and Simon being 'the strong-silent type'. However, it can be argued to be unconventional due to its high school/sixth form setting, as sitcoms are mostly set in more adult oriented environments.

I believe that this show has numerous audiences. In reference to the 4C's model, I believe that the main audience is the mainstreamer. This show had phenomenal success, by serious 3 having weekly rating of over 3 million people per episode. This provides a large basis for social interaction as it is likely that somebody you interact with has watched the show.

The opening sequence of this show provides a plain background with moving silhouettes of the character. This provides the audience with visual information of the height, shape and some physical details of the characters. The music in the title sequence of the show is very fast paced and upbeat. This shows the viewers that the show is likely to have the same upbeat tone. To match this, the pace of editing in the title sequence is also very quick, this may represent the fast pace of the narrative that is fit into 6, 25 minute episodes.



The typical settings for a comedy are often bright places, often places that are used to socialise. This may include offices, homes, clubs. In this show, we see the characters interact with each-other in school, in their homes and in other social settings such as pubs and public parks. Comedies are often set in cities, towns and urban areas. This is significant, as it is in these areas that people are more likely to have typical working days or attend school, going along with the rest of society. For this example, filming was done on location in order to keep the series feeling as realistic as possible. However, many the comedies are set in the controlled environment of a studio, often as setting is the only setting involved in the show.


Most camera shots for comedies are naturalistic, often using a lot of close ups in order to focus on the characters emotions. Furthermore, there is an exaggerated use of establishing shots in order to show a change in setting. The Inbetweeners is what I would describe as a mostly slap-stick comedy, its humour is often over exaggerated by the actions of the characters. Therefore, the pace of editing is neither too slow that the joke becomes 'un-funny' but not too quick that the audience have no time to understand the joke.