The Inbetweeners is well made to suit its audience and it gives pleasures that are suited to that audience, which is teenagers. One pleasure it gives is familiarity, for example the characters are stereotypes who we are familiar with: we all know someone who is like Simon or Will etc.

Also the audience is made to feel part of the group. The programme does this by using shot/ reverse-shot: we see something from a character’s point of view, and this makes us feel like we are involved. We also laugh with the characters as they laugh at each other, and this makes us feel like part of the group. The voice over also adds to this effect.

There are also different types of humour in the programme, which offers audience pleasures in different ways. For example, there are a lot of sexual jokes and crude language: this is why the programme is on after the watershed, and the crude language is well suited to appeal to the teenage audience. There is also some physical and visual humour: the way the characters behave, walk and pose is ridiculous and makes us laugh at them. I also like how the characters are physically funny looking: Will looks like a geek, and Neil is goofy, and this helps the audience to stereotype the characters and identify even more with them. This all makes the characters and situations easier to relate to, which is an audience pleasure.

The Inbetweeners is targeted at an older teenage audience (15-19), and it is created in a way that offers pleasures that are well suited to this audience. I will focus on the episode called Girlfriend and examine the pleasures offered in this episode.

One pleasure it gives is familiarity. The characters are based upon stereotypes who the audience can relate to. For example, when Jay makes up ridiculous stories about sex and a rugby team, the audience recognises the character type of a lying show off and can relate this to people they know in real life. Also, the way Will stutters and is nervous around girls is something that many of the target audience can relate to. Furthermore, the situations are familiar to the audience: the awkward house party in the episode is a familiar Sixth Form experience, and is therefore something the audience might identify with (or aspire to, if they are a younger age).

The audience are also made to feel like part of the group. The programme uses shot/ reverse-shot in the scene where Simon is staring at the girls at the party: this puts us in his position and makes us feel involved. Another example can be seen when the characters mock Jay by putting up their thumbs and saying “Friend” in a silly voice: the camera shows the characters reactions and it feels like we are in the circle with

Which is better?