Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen
Yes there are things from life in them. Thats what makes them funny but they are rather exaggerated and OTT. So there is no way you can call them accurate. All sitcoms take real life things and make them a bit OTT. After all its full name is a situation comedy.
Look at some of the classics, Are you being served, The Good Life, Keeping Up appearances, Brittas Empire. Some mother do 'ave em. Yes all real life settings or situations but completly over the top to some degree.
I did actually read an article from a manager at Morrisons when trollied first started and he praised the attention to detail in the supermarket set and remarked that his staff would never use bad language in front of customers.
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2...ian-richardson
So while the setting is true to real life and very accurate characters are greatly OTT. Just what makes most sitcoms what they are. |
TBF, it really is not difficult to knock up a replica supermarket. Boring and bland decor with shelves, stock, freezers, tills and service counters. That is pretty much all you need. As for never swearing in front of a customer, well, even in Waitrose that happens. Thankfully customers don't generally listen to the staff talking, if they did, I would have lost my job a long time ago.
. Admittedly, I have never heard someone swear directly at a customer (other than when they try and hide it by talking fast. I.E. When an annoying customer is expecting to hear "thank you very much" regardless of how annoying they have been, then the "thank" part of that statement becomes a four letter swear word beginning with f.) After hearing numerous people (myself included) deal with awkward customers, and we have listened to what their complaints, told them how we will act on it and they still continue to bang on and moan, then they have been politely informed other local supermarkets may be a better place for them to shop in future, so, in fairness to the show, that does happen. So, for me, his comments seem to be lip service so he can get in a national paper and tell people about how "good" his shop is.
Back to the point in hand, I think am going to try and bow out hope to agree to disagree. I agree some situation comedy is OTT, Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em a prime example. But I have dealt with enough customers and worked with enough people over 20 years, 18 different shops and 4 different retail companies to know there are managers like Mr Brittas, or that some Waitrose customers are exactly like Hyacinth Bucket, or that customers like The Goods' do exist and complain greatly about the price of most things, dealt with market traders haggling for stock, and worked with handicapped people who are very similar Derek in Derek to know that, in my eyes, the characters in many, many sitcoms are not overly OTT. As for some of the sights I have seen, well I could go on for ages about those....... they would certainly been seen as OTT in a sitcom.
. I will be happy to share any if you want.
This is why I would hope we can agree to disagree, purely because of my experiences with the people I have met in my retail career. I appreciate your experiences of people (retail based or otherwise) may be different to mine though.