The Family in TV comedy

Oluyinka A. Esan, University College Winchester

The family has traditionally been regarded as the place of primary influence. The general assumption is that there will be a transmission of positive values and socially approved norms, making the family an agency of social control as well. Whilst this may still be so, the manifest changes in the structure of society, and the greater media presence require a revision of our understanding of the family and its influences. In this paper, we shall explore some of these, looking at the mediated experience of family life. We shall examine different ways in which the family is constituted on television and the prevalent messages from these. We shall examine how congruent these are with the population ideals set out in the ICPD and the MDGs. For this exercise, we shall use a sample of popular TV comedies available to global audiences