Television, Analysis
“Insecure”: A Show for You and Me
Uncovering the Unique Elements Found in HBO’s Re-envisioned Sitcom
For centuries, the comedic form has undergone revisions upon revisions despite maintaining its core principles of humor. Compared to earlier eras of history, contemporary consumers are aflush with more entertainment options than ever before and this expansion appears to be in a stasis of continual growth. The question of what viewers ‘like’ is very much so the interest of producers, especially those trying to ingrain themselves into the psyches of target demographics. More so, this question has been informed by viewer consumption via the instant-reward availability of stream-on-demand content (Hogan, 2010). Streaming services have become ubiquitous with mainstream media culture. For instance, Netflix membership surpassed 40 million worldwide by the end of 2013 (Siegert, 2015). Home Box Office, known colloquially and henceforth in this post, as HBO, is one such premium network that has employed varying means in order to cement itself as a site for quality, engaging content. This was made possible, according to author Lisa Williamson, through HBO’s production techniques, narrative content, and audience address.
Much of HBO’s content is markedly and reliably different from traditional television…