‘Still Game’ is a sitcom set in a fictional council estate in
Glasgow. The episode ‘Swottin’ is a typical one from the
series and follows the lives of a group of elderly
pensioners as they go about their day to day lives. The
series was a spin off from the hugely popular sketch show
‘Chewin’ the Fat’ and as such had a very wide target
audience. The representations in the episode are very
clearly designed to target a number of different
mainstream audiences who, because of their intertextual
knowledge of this form of entertainment, are comfortable,
and entertained by the strictly structured form.
One of the most obvious target audiences must surely be
the elderly. The basic foundation of the entire series is the
life of Jack, Victor and their friends all of whom are
pensioners. Their way of life is part and parcel of the
action.
Unlike the stereotypical OAP the characters in the episode
are seen to have spirit and life in them. The preferred
reading is obviously one that says they are not the
downtrodden old people often portrayed; in fact in many of
the episodes they defeat much younger, more powerful
groups. In this particular episode Jack and Victor take on
a group of students, stereotypically big drinkers, and drink
them under the table.
They also have a desire to do something with their lives.
The episode opens with them asleep in the afternoon in
front of the telly. This again feeds in to the stereotypical
OAP whose life has little meaning and who has nothing to
aim for any more. An elderly audience may see aspects
of their own lives in this initial portrayal, however Jack and
Victor awake and decide this is no way to spend their lives
and decide to take a course in order to extend their
knowledge. This kind of aspiration is not typically
associated with OAP’s but the writers build a
representation of old age that makes it clear that this
group still have the ability to live life to the full. This is a
representation that is likely to be very attractive to an
elderly audience who can imagine themselves in this
situation even if it is currently unavailable to them. They
may also enjoy such a representation being part of a
mainstream TV programme sending out the message that
they are not pathetic has beens to be pitied, but a force to
be reckoned with.
There are elderly people within the audience who might
however, take an oppositional reading of this
representation. Those for whom life is curtailed by
disability or illness may see the lives of the characters as
unreal and fuelling the argument that says there is no real
need for elderly people to be given care in their homes to
deal with day to day living. Winston, for example, has only
one leg yet, other than a slight limp, this does not seem to
affect his life at all. This is unlikely to be the experience of
the average disabled pensioner and may well lead to this
oppositional reading.
As the series was initially only broadcast in Scotland it is
obviously essential that this audience is catered for. The
representation of Scotland itself is not at first glance a
particularly positive one. The fictional Craiglang is an area
in which there seems to be a lot of deprivation. Many of
the shops seen in ‘Swottin’ are boarded up and the only
thriving businesses are the corner shop, bookies and pub.
The high rise where Jack and Victor live is ironically
named Osprey Heights, reminding the audience of the
Scotland advertised by the Scottish Tourist Board with its
mountains and glens. The lives of the characters are far
removed from this idyllic scene but much closer to the
lives of the vast majority of Scottish audiences who live
mainly in the central belt where there are many council
estates not unlike Osprey Heights. To some extent this
representation feeds into the stereotypical image of
Glasgow where life is hard and poverty common. There
are audiences who may take an oppositional reading of
this representation. Such audiences may be angered by
the constant representation of Scotland as a grim, hard
place that is often in the media. Glaswegians themselves
know that there are many wealthy, leafy parts of the city
and may not enjoy this representation of their home.
As is typical in sitcoms, the characters appear trapped in
this situation. Jack and Victor try to change their lives by
taking a first aid course, but ultimately return to how they
were, when they fail. This circular narrative is easily
understood by a mainstream audience as it is common to
this kind of sitcom. It also allows audiences to watch the
episodes out of sync as the lives of the characters rarely
change and each episode is a contained narrative. This is
also useful to the broadcasters who can show episodes at
different times in the scheduling which allows them much
more flexibility.
This representation of Scotland includes the
representation of the population and in some ways Jack
and Victor are very stereotypically Scottish. On their first
visit to the University their main interest seems to be in
where the Student Union is and how much a pint costs.
The community of Craiglang also seems to centre on the
local pub, The Clansman, where the regulars are mainly
men who use moderately foul language, the programme
was broadcast pre watershed so strong language had to
be avoided. Some of the Scottish male audience may well
recognise their own lives in this scenario and gain
pleasure from this, others may see a lifestyle that allows
people to visit the pub whenever they want, free from the
constraints of work and family. This could be attractive,
particularly to young men who currently have all the
responsibilities that the characters in the episode lack and
they may enjoy imagining themselves in this situation.
The genre of sitcom is well known to a mainstream telly
audience as there are numerous sitcoms on all channels.
‘Swottin’ is approximately 30 minutes long. This is the
normal length of a TV sitcom and audiences with busy
lives know that they will need no more than this to watch
the episode. This may be attractive to working people.
The humour in sitcoms is generally fairly gentle.
Difficulties will arise but by the end of the episode nothing
permanently bad will have happened. In the episode Jack
and Victor fail their course but at the end they are
surrounded by their friends and are still part of the
community. Audiences enjoy this because they may feel
reassured that failing in something you try isn’t too bad.
This sense of community is also common in sitcom. Jack
and Victor are almost like parents surrounded by their
children. Audiences recognise this through their
intertextual knowledge of this genre.
Canned laughter is also common in sitcoms and ‘Swottin’
is no exception. Audiences understand that laughter
means they should be amused and keeps their attention
on the action.
The humour in ‘Swottin’ revolves around everyday
problems and this is common in all sitcoms. Bobby needs
to find a quiz master for the pub and Jack and Victor want
to get a first aid certificate. A mainstream TV audience
might well encounter these situations in their everyday
lives and this makes it all the more amusing.