Module 6: Film/television genres
There are a wide range of different types of film genres:
detective, action/adventure, mystery, science fiction, horror, gangster, romance,
comedy, musical, comedy, animation, detective, spy thriller, as well as specific
television genres: game show, prime-time drama, sports broadcast, soap opera,
musical, medical drama, news, pro-wrestling, reality-television, talk-show.
It is often difficult to identify a particular movie or television show as a
primary example of a particular genre because a movie or show may contain elements
reflecting different genres. The television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer
contains elements of science fiction, horror, action-adventure, and comedy.
(For links to television shows:http://www.specialweb.com/tv/shows.html)
A genre may also have itsown original format invented
for or original to a movie or show (Creeber, 2001). While genres are not original,
format is "a production category with relatively rigid boundaries that
are difficult to transgress without coming up with a new format" (p. 7).
For example, certain talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show or wrestling
shows exploit the format of "live" television-the spontaneity of unpredictable
action that occurs when a show is broadcast live.