Outnumbered

The family orientated sit-coms have been popular for years, however one of my favorites at the moment is 'Outnumbered'. Although I did watch some episodes of 'Outnumbered' when it first aired on BBC1 I found it difficult to keep up with watching it as the schedule seemed slightly odd. The first series aired over a period of two weeks, one episode a night after 9pm. Series two however had a slightly more conventional schedule which I found easier to keep up with. However I was really happy this Christmas when I received series two of Outnumbered on DVD. I watched all seven episodes within two days and enjoyed it even more than I remembered.

One thing that i think is really interesting about 'Outnumbered' is the fact that it is semi-improvised. Most of the improvised aspects of the script are given to the three children, who in my opinion are what gives the program its major strength. The improvisation gives the children the ability to speak in a natural way rather than talking like an adult who writes the script. Many funny moments can be seen to arise through this improvisation, it is interesting to watch the two parents interact with the children as you can sometimes hear the surprise in their voices when the kids say something unexpected. I think that the children in Outnumbered seem very natural, they do not behave like typical children in other sit-coms. For example in 'Everybody Loves Raymond' The three children are barely present, and are all well behaved. This is in contrast to the realistic representation of children in outnumbered who are loud, talkative, fight with each other, spill things, get dirty and chew their hair.

One reason why the children are able to display a natural and realistic performance may be due to the fact that they are relaxed in their surroundings. Instead of shooting in a TV studio the producers of Outnumbered have opted to shoot in an actual house. This would make the children feel at ease, along with creating a more realistic, cramped and mundane setting instead of a brightly lit studio which does not actually look like a real house.

It is also interesting to see a couple who are not in the middle of a battle for power. They represent a modern couple, most dated sit-coms would see the father of the head of the family, in charge and demanding the power in the relationship. However after the feminist movement many more TV programs represented the woman's more dominant role in the family, not always as a housewife answering to her husband, but also as a working woman. However now in 2010, it feels as though men and women are portrayed not only more accurately, but also more equally on television. For example the character of the mother in Outnumbered called Sue is not only a housewife, but can also be seen going out to work and doing other tasks that would have previously been shown being done by males. The same is apparent for the father Pete, who can be seen cooking in the kitchen and taking care of the children, a task that would only have been done by females on television.

Overall I think that 'Outnumbered' is a witty, unique and very funny sit-com that I can see appealing to a wide demographic due to its focus on everyday problems and activities and clever dialogue. The characters are all very endearing and each episode has a very light-hearted vibe whilst dealing with some darker undertones such as a granddad suffering with dementia and money problems. I think that 'Outnumbered' is one of the best modern sit-coms which I cant wait to see more of i the coming year.