The entertainment genre

"Entertainment" or "variety" television programs are those that lack argumentative dietary
elements and do not require the intellectual participation of the viewer , since it will be their
emotional involvement that is most affected . Entertainment content seeks to provoke a series
of emotions in the viewer , from surprise or feeling to emotion and humor.

Pedro Sangro considers that television entertainment works by "openly pointing out the
distance between the world it presents (the television world) and the real one its viewers
inhabit" and highlights humor as one of the essential elements when contemplating the
events. hypergenre entertainment programs.

There are three discursive mechanisms present in many entertainment spaces:

Humor: Comedy, jokes, the search for laughter and laughter are common elements in many
entertainment programs,

Competition: The fight to achieve an objective based on the contest between two or more
people or between teams of athletes or contestants corresponds to a common narrative
formula in entertainment programs.

The show constitutes the basic and even the only component of many programs. The
exhibition of artistic, sporting, bullfighting or circus abilities has a minimal narrative
component that is compensated by the extraordinary spectacular value.

Typology of entertainment formats

The classic subgenres of entertainment are magazine shows, game shows, and variety shows.

Types of entertainment programs:

Magazines . Television magazines characterized by constituting a program of varied topics,

fragmented in terms of themes and genres.

Competitions. They are constant in the programming of all channels and periods, although
they can be very different in nature, marked by their orientation towards questions and
answers, the competition of skills, abilities or the intervention of chance.

Musicals. They include live or delayed concerts, performance spaces where interviews or
reports about singers and groups can be included, broadcasts that show lists of the latest hits,
tele formula or music video programs, national or international musical competitions, etc.

Humor. Comedian performances, sketch shows, jokes, parodies and satirical journalism are
some of the common formats.

Varieties . They are shows inherited from the musical revue, the operetta, the theater and
other scenographic genres, which is why they include elements of a diverse and varied nature:
from circus acts to musical performances or interventions by comedians, clowns,
ventriloquists, puppets, sketches with actors,

Thematic galas. They are special programs organized on the occasion of a special event, such
as beauty contests (misses or misters galas), sponsorship or fundraising marathons, the
presentation of the programming of a new season on a television channel, the tribute to a
popular artist or personality, film, television or awards ceremony

Sports broadcasts . Sports information programs, analyzed within the news genre, are not the
only ways in which sport reaches the television viewer. Major sporting events, such as world
championships , Olympics, live or delayed broadcasts of football, basketball, motor racing,
tennis, etc., constitute the great entertainment spectacles of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Broadcasts of bullfighting shows can be included here.

The television magazine is a genre with a long history that goes back to the origins of the
medium. Its permanence and success are driven by the hybrid nature of its composition, which
has allowed it to adapt and evolve over the years, including content elements that could adapt
to the fashions and tastes of the public. Precisely this mutable condition defines the variety
programs of the 70s and becomes a true structural macrogenre with the containers of the 80s.
Its origin is radio based on variety programs that brought together fragments of various kinds:
musicals, contests , interviews, advertising segments, telephone interventions by radio
listeners, etc. Based on such a flexible formula, the television show is organized as a hybrid
discourse that presents different content possibilities: current news, reports, interviews,
musical performances, debates, fictional sketches, heart news sections, fashion, beauty,
events, contests, docudramas, advertising formats, etc. Thus, all television genres -
information, fiction, docudrama and advertising - can appear within a magazine. The resulting
heterogeneous set of elements is organized around a main presenter, who is usually
accompanied by secondary presenters and collaborators in the different sections (regular
speakers in the debates, journalists who provide current news, actors for fictional sketches,
etc. ).

Taxonomy
Depending on the time slot - morning, afternoon or night - and the programming day - daily or
weekend - in which the show is broadcast, it will have specific characteristics that configure
very different types of programs. Thus, they can be distinguished

Four subgenres:

Morning magazine: The morning magazines are characterized by a theme designed to interest
a specific audience: on the one hand, the housewife who, while doing housework, has the
television on and, on the other, an interested audience. in years, since retirement allows him
to be at home in the mornings. For this reason, among its themes, sections on fashion, beauty,
health and other related topics usually appear. The rhythm is usually dynamic although calm
and soft. The presenter, a great figure in communication as we will see later, is usually a
woman and the tone of the program is calm, friendly and relaxed. It is made up of fragments
of a playful nature, without large doses of spectacularity, such as contests, social gatherings or
comic sketches, and others of a more serious nature, related to information (reports on
events, debates on current news).

Afternoon magazine: In the afternoon, the magazines are aimed at the whole family and,
although they are usually relaxed and friendly, they can sometimes include more sensational
content. . Again, it is more common to find a woman as the presenter-host of the program,
with regular collaborators. Themes of the heart and events generally constitute stable
sections, although the treatment is usually different from morning magazines, since the and
ease. It seeks, as in tomorrow's magazines, a serious treatment of the topics, and a dynamic
and agile pace.

Night magazine or late show: The night magazine (late night/early morning) has a much more
sensational and ironic treatment than the daytime ones, using a more daring and extra vague
tone, sometimes reaching the transgressive "to the point of bordering on the rugged, the
creation of provocative eyesores that revel in the repetition of their expected and celebrated
topics and the sensationalist treatment of current issues. In late shows, although exceptions
can be found, the most common thing is that the host-presenter is a man, with regular
collaborators of both sexes. The pace becomes dizzying, frenetic, without respite for a viewer
whose hours of sleep are stolen. Interviews, debates on current affairs, daring humor,
comments on reality from the same television network, etc., are common topics.

Weekend magazine It is usually a program characterized, above all, by its content, much larger
than any of the other three subgenres. Its broad and varied theme can bring together any type
of content, although those of a recreational nature predominate (musical performances,
contests, varieties, sketches, etc.), to organize a program suitable for all types of audiences.
Serious topics (political, social, economic) hardly have a place, so the informative genre will be
the least common in these formats. The presenter must have a strong personality to manage
the pace of the live broadcast of the different sections. Generally, the audience on the set
acquires a high level of participation.

The most important characteristics of the magazine are two: on the one hand, the generic and
thematic fragmentation that all programs offer as an essential particularity of the genre, and
on the other - to give cohesion to this amalgam of elements - the presence of a "star"
presenter. .

Generic and thematic fragmentation. The magazine is a mosaic program, characterized by

various themes and genres with a fragmentary structure and great diversity in terms of genres,
themes and approaches. It covers a wide area of the programming (it usually always lasts more
than two hours and can even reach four or more) so the contents must be abundant and
varied, although creating the impression of formal homogeneity. Its offer usually incorporates
both diverse themes and genres, so it can be considered that the magazine reproduces in
miniature the programming offer for part or all of a day. (Reports, opinion comments,
gatherings, debates with the public, humorous sketches)
Presence of a star presenter. The unity and continuity between the variety of content and
genres that have been indicated are possible thanks to the presence of a main presenter, as in
the daily news programs. The presenter has a primary role, acting as the guiding, plot and
thematic thread of the program.

Magazines can be considered "author's programs", since the personality of the presenter is
usually a stylistic feature that differentiates some magazines from others, despite the
proximity of content in similar time slots.

The contest

The television contest, inherited from the formulas used on radio, has been a constant
throughout the history of the medium. It belongs to the hypergenre of entertainment and has
various formats unified by a common playful spirit. Television contests are competitive games
where, individually or in groups, several people - the contestants - compete by facing a set of
tests of different kinds with the aim of achieving a goal. In the past, the contests were based
on radio, based on the question-answer scheme. Hypertelevision turns the contest - organized
as a hybrid product between competition and docudrama - into a star product.

Television contests, from a discursive point of view, are formulas based on repetition,
therefore, the most outstanding narrative element and the characteristic that unifies the
different modalities of contests is the use of multiple frequency based on the recurring
representation of a typologized mode of actions, that is, a specific type of function: the test.

Taxonomy

Taking into account that television contests try, at all times, to look for innovative formulas - a
fact that makes any attempt to develop typologies difficult - it is convenient to develop a
taxonomic scheme that allows most of them to be located. It will be necessary, then, to
differentiate contests based on chance versus those that depend on the skill and strategy or
knowledge of the contestant.

Chance shows: The contestant will not have to demonstrate any special merit, they will just
need a little good luck to get the program prize. Choosing numbers or other elements at
random (from several rivers on a panel, roulette, etc.), rolling dice, or taking an envelope from
several offered are some of the models of this type of contest.

Knowledge contests (quiz shows). The contestant must measure their knowledge on a specific
topic or on several unspecified topics based on a series of questions that the program host
asks them. It is perhaps the most popular contest format and due to its cultural nature and its
question and answer system, it is a television classic.

In skill contests (game shows) participants measure their physical prowess or their ability to
solve certain tests, or also the possibility of showing a special skill or expertise. If they are
artistic abilities such as dancing or singing, they are called ta/ent shows.
Docudramatic contests (docugames). Outside of the classic modalities, the evolution of quizzes
on television in the 11th century has given rise to formats of different shapes, which combine
diverse elements and allow us to overcome the classic dichotomy between quizzes and games.
With the appearance of a type of reality show, with the spectacularization and participation of
ordinary people as a basis and whose core is the contest, this genre undergoes a true
revolution. Skills, strategies, tests and other possibilities are combined within a hybrid generic
modality that is organized, above all, within the hypergenre of docudrama.

Docugames: they can be about coexistence, survival and improvement. There is also the quiz
show modality, which consists of a hybridization of the talk show and the contest. Participants
must tell or show their privacy to win the prize.

Mixed formulas. There are contests that organize combinatorics between all the classic
possibilities and the most current ones. Thus, we can find contests that combine chance and
the knowledge of the contestant, or knowledge and skills, personal abilities and learning
capacity.

Psychotension contest or humiliation games. It consists of applying to quizzes (knowledge,

question and answer contests) some elements that come from games, such as different
functions for the contest presenter: "these are programs in which the presenter adds
comments to his traditional function aggressive, impertinent or unkind about the contestants'
responses.

The confidence contests. As has been pointed out, its contents are close to talk shows, since
the key to the contest would be intimate confidence regarding the contestant's private life.

The interest of the contest, with the identification or projection processes, is increased by
the morbidity of the private and personal life of the contestant in extremely intimate topics.

Showcase contests: The contestants, based on their skills, knowledge and wisdom, are
distinguished from the average audience. The viewer identifies with them as he does with the
heroes of a film or television series, from admiration and emotion, due to their exploits.

Mirror contests: The contestant does not have any aspect that distinguishes him or her from
the public who attends the contest or who watches it from their homes. He is not a contestant
with special knowledge or skills, but rather, due to the characteristics of the contest -
coexistence realities or random contests - he is a representative of the normal viewer. Thus,
the viewer sees himself reflected in the mirror

The humor
The traditional comedy genre, so popular in theater and cinema, also has an important place
in television programming. In addition to sitcoms, mainly represented by the situation comedy
subgenre, and cartoons, there are other comedic or humorous programs that cannot be
included within television fiction, and that belong to the hypergenre of entertainment.
Consolidated models:

Live comedy or Stand-up Comedy . It is the performance of a comedian before a live audience,
in front of which he displays a comic monologue. Generally it goes beyond a set of disjointed
and unrelated jokes, since the protagonist's speech generates a comic narrative situation,
longer and more complex than the mere collection of loose jokes.

Sketch programs, around a comedian, couple or group. The gag, the quick joke, the simple
comic situation are the usual mechanisms in these formats.

The various sketches usually focus on:

Imitations and parodies of famous people, such as actors, television presenters, singers
(musical performances), or media fragments.

Creation of original characters and presentation of them on a recurring basis

Invitation from a popular character , who is integrated as another actor in the sketches, in
addition to being interviewed in a humorous tone.

Hidden camera programs that reflect pranks on unknown people , popular characters or
mockery of famous people on ordinary people.

Joke programs. With a contest format or a simple exhibition, several comedians take turns
telling jokes.

Home video programs, with tragicomic situations.

Zapping programs, organized from outtakes or comic situations from different television
programs . Waste material is used in series or entertainment programs, or ridiculous, funny or
surprising programming moments.

Challenge programs for anonymous people who are found: Casually on the street, or asking
uncomfortable, rude or absurd questions.

Hybrid formats

Humor is maintained in hypertelevision through the repetition of classic formulas, their

hybridization or combinations with other elements such as contests or news programs.

Comedy skill contests: Some skill contests subject contestants to comical situations and are
accompanied by humorous comments. Generally in them the contestants are barely identified
and individualized.

Comedy sketch or joke contests: The joke or sketch show can be combined with other
ingredients such as competition and reward. In this way, a type of contest appears where the
elements of rivalry are not very consistent and the components are comic and playful.

"Satirical pseudojournalism: The light-hearted treatment of current events, humorous

interviews, and with a decidedly transgressive will." Although it uses journalistic techniques,
the objective is never to inform, but to amuse and entertain by provoking comedy in formal
situations and with common characters in informative speeches. The information is a minimal
component, almost circumstantial, and will always be at the service of the humorous show.
Lnfoentertaiment of imitations : Humor is combined with elements of current information,
although this always appears decontextualized and simplified. It is not, then, any variety of
infoshow, but rather a type of program where parody, imitation and satire are the
predominant elements.

Live broadcasts: They usually include some event of a sporting, political, solidarity, or cultural
nature, such as Olympics, tennis competitions, football, cycling, motorsports and other sports;
galas, awards ceremonies, elections and competitions. Its scope can be local, national or
universal.

Sports broadcasts: The main sporting events have become the great spectacles of
contemporary society, constituting a true sociological phenomenon
The universal rules, the international diffusion of important events and the audience that large
competitions entail make sport a succulent vein for the television medium.
Sports broadcasts become emotional dramas of an almost cathartic nature. Athletes become
media stars, television heroes, and their struggles, tensions and sufferings during the sporting
event are described with sensationalism and drama.