When choosing a topic for this blog as a whole, I was drawn towards comedy because of its ability to cheer me up after a bad day and make me laugh when I needed it. Most comedies are bright, cheerful escapes from reality. Take Parks and Recreation, for example. Sure, Leslie and the parks department gang may get into some minor troubles, but overall, they go through their days with a positive attitude that rubs off on the viewer.

However, comedy can be also be used in a darker context. While the concept of “black” or “dark” comedy has been used to describe literature that dates back to the time of Ancient Greeks, it has once again surged in popularity to augment dramatic TV series in order to form a new genre, sometimes called a “dramedy.” One popular example of this is Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, a show that transformed the television landscape by not only being one of the first original programs produced by a streaming service but also by popularizing the modern era of dramedies in the mid-2010s. The show’s interspersion of humorous sequences into the dreary life of prisoners captured the audience’s attention, better allowing them to sympathize with criminals who initially seem scary, but are softened by the inclusion of lighter moments.

Due in part to the popularity of Orange is the New Black, many TV shows with a more serious plotline were including elements of comedies that served to put a lighter spin on what would otherwise be a dark topic. A more recent addition to this genre is End of the F***ing World, a British miniseries that also streams on Netflix. EotFW combines extremely upsetting topics such as sexual assault and murder with an upbeat retro-pop soundtrack and dry humor. The show could easily be depressing, but by using humor, the show is able to keep viewers from drowning under the dark subject matter.

Still, the show is not laugh-out-loud funny. Instead, humorous scenes and lines serve to brighten the overall tone while maintaining focus on the more dramatic aspects of the story. Because of this, EotFW is able to appeal to a younger audience that may not want to watch such a dark show and increases its “bingeability” by keeping the audience excited to watch the next episode.

Both shows use dark humor to augment an otherwise serious plot, creating a unique genre of television that bridges the gap between comedy and drama.

Michael makes a “that’s what she said” joke or says something weird, the camera pans to Jim, and he gives one of his signature bemused smiles.

This is a recurring joke format found on NBC’s The Office. Jim stands in for the viewer, providing a subdued but amused reaction to Michael’s antics. What makes this style of joke so unique to The Office is that Jim stares directly at the camera, breaking the fourth wall. It’s almost if he’s looking right at the viewer as if to say, “You see this guy?”. This creates a common link between the viewer and the character, creating a more personal connection than a viewer might have to characters in other types of TV shows.

In The Office, the existence of a documentary crew is front and center. The documentary is a named part of the story, making it central to the plot. Characters often speak right to the camera in “talking head” interviews, and the use of camera pans is utilized to give the show an authentic documentary feel.

While The Office may be the most popular and well-known mockumentary, it’s not the only one. Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation and Modern Family are also popular comedies that take on the mockumentary format, but it is less explicit. While they use many of the same joke styles and camera techniques, there is no mention of a documentary crew like in The Office. Therefore, viewers are still connected to characters and the sense of reality is preserved, but the link between the style of the show and its content is less obvious.

These comedies all parody a less serious style of daily life documentaries. On the other hand, Netflix’s American Vandal spoofs it’s own Making a Murderer and other true-crime shows. It stays very true to the documentary format, using not only one-on-one interviews but also models of events, suspensful music, and evidence to allow the audience to follow the documentary makers, who are also characters in the show, to a conclusion. By taking a silly high-school prank and examining it to the level of a violent crime or mysterious disappearance, the show parodies the true-crime genre in a humorous way.

Overall, the mockumentary genre provides a way for audiences to feel more connected to the characters they see on screen, allowing for increased realism of the show. In addition, the use of parody makes these shows entertaining to watch.

Do you know who Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow is?

No?

He’s the president of Turkmenistan, a horse enthusiast, and a recent topic of comedian John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight.

Last Week Tonight is a 30-minute comedy show in which Oliver does a deep dive into a non-headline piece of news, often informing viewers about a topic they originally knew nothing about.

Take the episode on Berdimuhamedow for instance. Most Americans are likely not aware of Turkmen politics, but with Oliver’s explainer, viewers are able to become aware of the president’s corruption and human rights abuses.

While this topic may seem boring or upsetting at first, Oliver is able to make jokes about a serious topic without it losing any of its weight or impact. As he says at the beginning of the episode “This story is going to get very weird. I promise you, in 20 minutes, you’re not so much going to be wondering about why we talked about Turkmenistan, as why’d we’d ever talk about anything ever again.” This statement underlines the premise of Oliver’s show: talking about something unfamiliar to most watching yet important nonetheless, and finding a way to make it interesting and humorous.

Not only does Oliver teach his viewers something new, he also often inspires movements for change. For instance, after a 2014 story in which he covered Miss America’s inflated claim of giving out large amounts of scholarship money, he encouraged viewers to donate to other female-centric scholarship programs, like the Society of Women Engineers. In just two days, they raised 15% of their expected amount for the whole year.

Although Oliver is arguably the most influential, he is not the only late night host with a similar “infotainment” style. Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj is a newer show on Netflix with a very similar format. Every Sunday, Minhaj breaks down a topic many American viewers may not know much about. However, as TV in general moves into the modern age, so does this particular genre. Patriot Act makes use of dynamic graphics and features a Muslim Indian-American host, something not seen before on TV.

However, The Daily Show, which has been on the air since 1996, is the basis for the “infotainment” genre. The show has desk segments where the host (since 2015, Trevor Noah) presents a monologue of that day’s news and field segments where correspondents humorously interview someone about a lesser-known topic. While The Daily Show is more focused on day-to-day news and thus does less deep dives, it still makes the news humorous and is the place where Oliver and Minhaj got their start.

The rising popularity of shows like Last Week Tonight and Patriot Act just goes to show that as regular news coverage grows increasingly pessimistic, viewers are turning to ways to make that coverage a little more humorous.