Gavin and Stacey - Genre

Gavin and Stacey both conforms to a traditional sitcom but also breaks the generic conventions of a traditional sitcom and can be seen as more modern.

One aspect of Gavin and Stacey which conforms to the conventions of British situation comedy is the lines of dialogue from comedic characters. This is mainly evident through the character of Bryn in episode one when Stacey, Nessa and Gwen are discussing rape and Bryn says “I don’t want anyone in this room being raped, myself included” this is a typical expectation if the genre as it takes a serious topic such as rape and makes a light hearted joke out of it. This is also done with Pam as she refers to herself as “three steaks Pam” this is comedic as it shows she has weight issues but her husband gossips at the golf club and allows her to be made a joke of. This reinforces the themes of society and social issues such as weight of women and rape but creates a joke out of them. These show sitcoms aim to address issues in society and make a comment on them but they do this in an innocent and light hearted way. These one liners are part of the structure of sitcoms and allow the narrative to move along like action codes.

The main reason why Gavin and Stacey conforms to genre conventions is the fact it takes the rhythms of everyday life and works with them. Gavin and Stacey take relevant issues within society and just regular issues within life and make them seem less relevant. The TV programme makes trivial matter and daily hassles seem like it is nothing to worry about and focuses more on the will they won’t they scenario and make the audience want Gavin and Stacey to work out and be together much like many other traditional sitcoms such as Friends.

However due to the advancement in technology there is much more going on in Gavin and Stacey than a traditional sitcom as it is not a typical three camera set up and the TV programme uses editing to create humour. This is shown them Smithy says that he does not want Stacey’s friend to be a “minger” and then the camera cuts to a shot where the rape alarm is going off and Nessa has Bryn pinned up against the wall. This shows how sitcom has evolved and become much more than the simple three camera set up. Gavin and Stacey is much more cinematic and hand many filmic elements encompassed into it.

In addition to this Gavin and Stacey focuses much more on the juxtaposition of characters to create humour and laughs. The show juxtaposes not only characters but also region and work making it much more relatable and funny. The juxtaposition of Stacey and Nessa is the main one when they are travailing to see Gavin and Smithy as we can clearly see Nessa packs light compared to Stacey who decides she needs a whole suitcase for one night, this created humour in a new way that traditional sitcoms do not do.

Overall Gavin and Stacey can be seen as both modern and traditional sitcom as it incorporates the best parts of a traditional sitcom and gives it a modern twist.