Scenes We’d Like to See - More Women on Comedy Panel Shows (DONE) PDF

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A referenced blog of which discusses gender on the comedy panel programme 'Mock the Week' and how rule to ensure at least one woman is present on every show has had both good and bad connotations for female comedians. ...

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Assignment Cover Sheet College of Liberal Arts The Digital Academy

To be completed by the student and submitted with each piece of work:

Module Name: Television, Representation and Gender Module Code: MC5004/FL5003. Assignment Title: 2500 Word Feature Article. Marking Tutor: Dr. Rebecca Feasey. Student Name: Faye Oakenfold Student Number: 320884

In submitting this assignment, I am confirming that I have read and understood the regulations for assessment, and I am aware of the seriousness with which the University regards unfair practice.

Date of Submission: 03/11/17

Student Signature: Faye Oakenfold

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Scenes We’d Like to See: More Women on Comedy Panel Shows Over the past 25 years, the comedy panel show has nestled itself comfortably into the everyday viewing habits of the British public. So much so, that we did not ever seem to question the all-male line-ups appearing again and again. Watching these male comedians having a chat and churning out jokes, is essentially like watching my dad and his mates down the pub. The only time a woman’s frequent absence acknowledged, is when she is present, and for that, a comedienne is often chastised. The amount of times I’ve clicked on a Youtube clip for a panel show, just to be faced with comments like “the woman is the least funny, she shouldn’t be on here” or the equally problematic line, “she’s hot and actually funny” is alarming, and these familiar remarks were – and unfortunately still are – incredibly common. However, the findings of data analysist Stewart Lowe prompted a change for panel shows in 2014. Lowe trawled through the BBC television and radio archives and the discoveries he made deducted that exactly 1,488 of the panel shows produced since 1987 have been made up purely of men. Further findings disclose that women on these shows account for merely 31% of panelists. I, like many reading this, find these statistics appalling, especially when you take into account that the BBC’s main responsibility is to represent the nation. In light of this research, the BBC chief (at the time) Danny Cohen, placed a ban on ‘allmale panels’, deciding that they were “not acceptable” in a bid to get more comediennes present on television. Since the rule was implemented, no BBC comedy panel show has been broadcasted without at least one female guest. It is worth us recognizing some of the other channels of which have consistently represented the female audience through their panelists. This includes Channel 4 shows such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats (2005-) which has Aisling Bee as a team captain, along with E4’s Virtually Famous (2014-) who welcomes a steady flow of women panelists. These shows are incredibly successful and effectively represent a female audience. The BBC needs to follow suit. Since its humble beginnings in 2005, BBC2’s Mock The Week has propelled itself into the epitome of the ‘panel show’ and has become one of the most popular shows in the UK drawing in, on average, 1.77 million viewers. The programme made up of all male panelists feat. the occasional woman who often gets forgotten, or interrupted – in a nutshell. Despite lack of female presence on Mock The Week, Dara O'Briain, the host, openly welcomes

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comediennes. However, he does disagree with the ban on all-male panels, claiming that the panel show should have “evolved” without implementing the rule. For him, there was always a concern that female panelists would potentially perceive themselves as being the “token woman” who is there to fill the quota, and that the decision to bring them onto the show was not based upon their comedic skill. I can’t help but agree with him, as great talent such as Katherine Ryan and Shappi Khorsandi who were frequent guests on the show (before the rule and now) may internally question the BBC’s motive every time themselves and other female comedians are invited to appear on the show. This could lead rule becoming more of a hindrance than being beneficial. O’Briain continued by saying that tackling gender inequalities in other “more important” areas would be a more effective use of time, whereas The Guardian’s Deborah Orr believes that the lack of women on TV panel shows may not be the worst injustice but it matters. She highlights how women making progress within all fields is important. The decision made by the BBC shouldn’t be overlooked or belittled. O’Briain explains, the female comedians that are booked by Mock The Week are far less experienced, which in his words “makes it even tougher for them” but Orr argues that saying that a woman has to be experienced on the comedy circuit before they can be ‘funny’ on a panel show is ridiculous, and describes how it’s a skill that comes naturally. It’s difficult for me to argue that a comedian who is far less experienced trying to battle it out with some of the top comics on the circuit would not put her at a disadvantage, but at the same time gives them more of an opportunity to grow and progress. Orr’s claim that comedic ability comes naturally is disagreeable in itself, as it takes a lot of skill to write material that flows consistently and that can resonate with an audience. Labelling humour as a natural skill demeans the difficulty (and importance) of a comedic occupation, and not only does it demean a man’s role in comedy but it also demeans women, who Orr set out to defend. Lowe’s research puts into context the drastic differences between the number of female and male guests present on Mock The Week which show the small amount of progress made since the no-all male rule was introduced. However, it is worth noting 162 episodes after Mock The Weeks 12 year reign, two female comics were present on the programme for the first time, Kerry Godiman and Angela Barnes. It has taken years for Mock The Week to include more than one woman and you can’t help but question to why it took so long to make such a minute step forward. Perhaps the show is merely just stuck in its ways? Though, for the show to continue being successful, it must adapt. Audiences are open to change, especially when it comes to a variety of different comics (eg. Women, ethnic minorities) approaching a subject from a different perspective. This, in itself, would expand the shows 3

audience because they would be watching a comedian that they could relate to, which would also help to reduce the hugely male perspective on the panel show. There are also alternative, and faster ways to get more women on panel shows, as Orr suggests that the BBC should start creating panel shows that are female-dominated, with female presenters, script-writers and team captains that will provide more talent for other panel shows. Therefore, a new show such as Where’s the F in News (2018-) prompts an incredibly important shift in a woman’s presence comedy. The panel show, due to be released in 2018 on BBC Radio 4 is the female equivalent to Mock the Week. It will be led by Have I got News for You (1990-) producer, Jo Bunting. The all-female panel will use events and trends through a number of news related challenges. Bunting says, “Apparently if a woman speaks in a meeting for 50% of the time a man speaks, he genuinely thinks she’s spoken the exact same amount he has.” which prompted her to create a show that features only women. Comediennes should not have to battle to speak, so through encouraging talent on shows similar to Bunting’s it shows viewers how successful, and funny women truly are. It is also a matter of women feeling comfortable on panel shows, and often to the audience, it’s as though the woman is there for an interview, and her performance dictates whether she will be back on the programme again. As well as this, she often seems to “act” as a representative for all female comics. This seems like an awful lot of pressure for women to deal with, whereas men purely just assume their position on the panel, and blend in. The comedienne Sara Pascoe is aware of the prominent judgements that female comics face on panel shows, and despite efforts to make women more accepted, she is still hesitant to take part in one. Similar reservations are held by Isy Suttie, who feels that a woman guest is often viewed as the “Stupid one”. These are two of the sharpest stand-ups on the comedy circuit right now, yet they do not feel comfortable enough to take part in panel shows. When Stewart Lowe Looked at Chortles comedian database he estimated that about 18% of stand-ups are women. I considered, that maybe the comedy circuit is the initial issue, however from these statistics it suggests that shows that have refused to budge from having just one female guest should at least have two or three present, but this just isn’t happening. In terms of comedy in stand-up and panel shows, I believe that broadcasters and viewers are still far behind. The matter of changing the rules surrounding appearances may have been made with the right intentions, but rather than just forcing change on the gender balance, there should be more of an attempt to change the culture surrounding women and comedy. With the panel show being such a male dominated platform, the format holds a predominantly male perspective, which makes the shows such as Mock The Week appear all 4

the more ridged to young women such as myself. It’s also a really competitive platform, and this is most prevalent in Mock The Week’s stand-up sections ‘Scenes we'd like to see’ where comedians battle to voice their jokes, and in the segment ‘If this is the answer, what is the question?’ where it is often difficult for one person to get an word in edgeways without being consistently interrupted. As a viewer I feel that uncomfortable tension that occurs again and again, with (often) the resident comedians choosing to glaze over the awkwardness with a barrage of jokes. Comic Sue Teddern noticed the competitiveness and also highlights how the gag world is “quite blokey”. The quieter you were, and the longer you were quiet the more self-conscious you would become and you would just end up not contributing. For this reason, Teddern struggles with appearing on Panel shows (S.Teddern cited in Mills.B, Ralph.S, 2015). Sandi Toksvig, the relatively new presenter of QI also questioned the ‘no allmale rule’ purely because there was only a focus on providing female guests, but she believes that by having more female hosts would encourage more comediennes to take part. The comic Tiff Stevenson has described that she took a while to adjust to comedy panel visitations. She like many women she would feel more comfortable with another female guest, which would also add a different tone, making comediennes feel more comfortable about participating (S.Teddern cited in Mills.B, Ralph.S, 2015). This suggestion is likely to work, but I can imagine that the progress will be relatively slow. So, for the time being comics such as Claire Stonham have managed to adapt when taking part in panel shows, and she puts this down to her manly sense of humour, which fits in well with the masculine environment. As long as she didn’t disrupt the masculine space she was welcomed and invited back regularly (C.Stonham cited in Mills.B, Ralph.S, 2015). But really, it should not be like that and though deciphering whether there is ‘male’ or ‘female’ humour is flawed, research shows that women learn how to use humour in slightly different ways to men (Kotthoff 2006). More women have a want and a need to be comfortable within comedy, however they have to deal with the uncomfortable concept of ‘feminine comedy’ everyday, which limits their outlets and public views of their work (Mills.B, Ralph.S, 2015). Often, the male audience assumes that a female stand-up would not appeal to them, nor be particularly funny, but this means that often the comedienne is almost completely avoided. If the male audience chose to watch a woman’s stand-up, they are likely to enjoy it as equally as they would when viewing a man’s routine, even though they may differ in style in particular areas. Generally, a woman’s sense of humour is more observational and mindful. Women often present something harmful, harmlessly, whereas the majority of humour is often “associated with the glorification of the self” and is usually at the expense of someone else, which is an 5

approach often adopted by men women are often more self-deprecating (Thomas Hobbes, 2012 cited in L.Denninson, 2015). There is also that outdated and ridiculous theory that women have no sense of humour, and Robin Lakeoff’s study on ‘woman’s language’ confirms societies assumption that women can’t tell jokes, that they are bound to ruin the punchline and purely just don’t ‘get jokes’ which purely isn’t the case. Some of the funniest people I know are women, and just because humour may vary from time to time, it does not mean that women don’t possess any sort of comedic skill. Humour is just occasionally applied in different ways. There are some issues that men can relate to, and vice versa, therefore a woman’s sense of humour cannot be downgraded. I think that it essentially drops back down to the fundamental argument “just because you don’t find it funny, doesn’t mean that it isn’t funny” and this is an issue that Mock The Week and some of the shows viewers cannot move past. Panel shows are almost a “staple” of British television for over 25 years and if the format was dropped, it would leave a gaping hole in the comedy landscape. It’s also worth taking note of the launch-pad that panel shows provide. Many comics have gone on to have stratospheric careers after making themselves known on panel shows, so would it be right to end them? Where would these opportunities come from? I can’t even argue that the panel show was an effective platform in the first place. Many of those who appear on shows such as Mock The Week, have roughly 4 permanent comedians, and the rest are normally filled by well-known male comics. When new comedians are introduced, especially women, they are essentially competing with regulars who are already loved by the audience. This might be a good way to prove themselves and gain popularity and exposure, however, familiarity is what tends to lead to success. It’s hard to make it if you’re only on a panel show once a year, and if a show sticks to a one-woman rule it’s as though they are being put up against other women comedians for the opportunity. However, some progress is being made and in recent years more women have been encouraged and applauded for their work in comedy. The Funny Women Awards were founded in 2003 and they act as a starting point for comedians ranging from stand-ups to script-writers, aiding them to progress through their comedy career. The awards are held yearly and have a number of well-known comedians taking part, some of which have appeared on panel shows. They are applauded within their own expertise. Hopefully, with the growing success of these awards, there will be a more prominent recognition of women and their comedic ability. However, one of the biggest changes that need to be made is how women are viewed within wider society. Once a gradual acceptance is made, there will be a step forward in panel shows. 6...