If You'll Let Me Direct Your Attention... // Regular Show

Due to holidays, etc. I'm going to be cheating once again and posting one of my blog posts from this past semester, from my Television class. Enjoy!

Trade articles are one of the best ways to find out what is going on behind the scenes with various television channels and programs. Yet, the content in these articles is often focused on a specific aspect that the publisher or the network wanted to emphasize. For example, this article (entitled “Cartoon Network’s ‘Regular Show’ To Step Up Half-Hours”) spends about a fourth of the article focusing on Regular Show’s popularity and emphasis on friendship and fun, a point the creator J.G. Quintel feels is one of the reason it’s so well received by parents as well as kids. This confliction between the title’s focus and the actual content of the article helps to emphasis who’s being privileged in the publication of trade articles. Trade articles, while useful for finding information about a show from behind-the-scenes, should be read knowing that they tend to be biased toward the agendas of the network and the creators of a particular show, as well as the desires of the publication.

Regular Show is undeniably one of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows at present. It’s popular with not just younger kids, but also with their parents, older kids, and other adults and young adults. It does, as one can easily see in this clip, contain themes of friendship. However, it’s important to notice that the “friendship” in, at least in this specific clip, is a little warped in a way that might concern parents with younger kids. One prominent way is that Mordecai pushes Rigby at one particular instance, and this passes with no consequences (other than Rigby crying, which even that doesn't have any consequences). This reinforcement of physically violent interactions between friends may not be the kind of “friendship” that parents want to emphasize. This notion conflicts with Quintel’s statement that the show is popular with parents and kids due to its portrayal of friendships.

If the content of the show is at odds with the creator’s comments on the show in the trade journal, why is this still such a huge emphasis in the article that is supposed to be focused, according to the title, on the timeslot expansion of the show? The answer lies at the heart of trade journalism: the network’s agenda. Cartoon Network, while definitely pandering to young adult and adult audiences with its content (as discussed by many of the previous Cartoon Network blog posts), they still pride themselves on being a cartoon channel for kids and families. Therefore, the network wants to promote the concepts that appeal to parents, such as the emphasis on friendship in their shows, even if they aren't always completely accurate or ideal. In this way, this trade article, amongst other articles, effectively ignore the perspectives of audiences of television, choosing to emphasize the networks’ and creators’ agendas for a show or channel.

In this way, this trade article seems to reflect the efforts made on-screen in shows throughout Cartoon Network. That is, they choose to publicly emphasize the positive, family-friendly qualities that are included in their shows in attempts to win over parents. It’s the other content that attracts other audiences and forms such a wide following.

That being said, I really must say Regular Show is one of Cartoon Networks best shows right now, and I (being a twenty year old male) thoroughly enjoy the show. I'd recommend it to young adult audiences and whatnot, though I'd encourage parental discretion when it comes to younger audiences.

Until next time, when I'll hopefully have an original post for the first time in too long, 

I’m Michael, and this is my life.