Thursday, October 15, 2009



What better example to use than my favorite, ever popular game show, "The Price is Right." This show is extremely well known, having been on the air since the 1950's, and is a great example of media and advertising because it is essentially an hour long bidding show for various advertised products. Companies donate "prizes" such as cars, food, or even trips to the show so that they are raffled off to the closest bidder, and hence get their company's name and product out there on live tv.
The mode of address for this show, or "the way in which a particular text will address or speak to its audience" is the announcer, Rod Roddy, who jovially introduces the host, Drew Carey, at the beginning of the show, as well as the next contestant called to contestant row after each bidding game is played. Rod keeps up the excitement of the show with his auction-like, upbeat announcing tone and also regulates the viewers of the show by narrating the background of the products in the games while keeping the audience clued into what's going on. Next, I believe you could say Drew Carey uses engimas, or "a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle to be solved" when he introduces a game, along with the prize the contestant is elligible to win, and describes to the contestant the game they have to beat in order to win the prize. So, essentially he presents them with a game, "the puzzle," because they are not given directions on how to beat it, and they are "teased" with the prize, or the product they could win. And it's a struggle for them to get to the point where they beat the game and take home the prize, or walk off stage empty-handed. Finally, an action code exists after the contestant is given the directions, and beings to participate in the game. The audience is engaged with the text, or the contestant up on stage, and this usually makes for very exciting entertainment. At least I find myself yelling at the tv shouting out what I think is the right price

1 comment:

  1. This is definitely a great example of narrative being used in a television show! I think another good example is wheel of fortune, because it also involves an enigma code where the contestants must guess the word that is being presented and the audience can also be very engaged in the show.

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