A Graduate Thesis Project By Jenelle Lynn Riley University of Oregon School of Journalism Fall 1995 Unannotated Public Version Acknowledgments In assembling this project, I have become greatly indebted to several individuals. I offer thanks to my roommates, Kristy Wakerlig and Cory Meiner, for never complaining about my odd hours or unhealthy relationship with the VCR. I thank Rachelle Layton-Fowler of KLSR-TV for the chance she took on a 19 year-old college junior who thought it would be glamorous to work in television. I thank my parents, who didn't say a word when I announced I would be taking my $40,000 education and using it to pursue a graduate degree in Television Analysis. I thank Professor Ronald Sheriffs for approving my project and finally putting my degree within sight. I thank my best friend / psychiatrist / role model Michelle Coleman for being the most important person in my life. And finally, I thank the immense talents of Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garafalo, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross and Judd Apatow for divine inspiration. Let's hope that what most people would consider "stalking," they can view as "admiration." Abstract In studying this project, I was intrigued as to why exactly "The Ben Stiller Show" failed in the ratings. Was it poor marketing on behalf of Fox Television? Was the show simply too far ahead of its time? Or was it just too intelligent for a typical American audience to enjoy? To examine what kind of appeal "Ben Stiller" has when actually viewed on a regular basis, I assembled a small focus group of individuals who had never seen the show before. Varied by race, age and education, I will often refer to this group in my analyses of the program. Participants were asked to observe seven episodes of the series and offer feedback to each individual sketch. Participants were as follows: Joy.................Caucasian Female.................Age 34..............Occupation: Musician Kevin..............Caucasian Male....................Age 25..............Occupation: Sales Richard...........Asian Male...........................Age 52..............Occupation: School Administrator Laura..............Afro-American Female.........Age 21..............Occupation: Electrician Kristy.............American Indian Female.......Age 24..............Occupation: Law Student Disclaimer This essay is an educational project written by the student for the sole purpose of receiving a graduate degree from the University of Oregon. It is in no way endorsed or approved by Fox Broadcasting. The purpose of this project is to explore a particular aspect of media, and the grade will be based primarily upon the writing quality displayed by the student, rather than the research. Due to the limited amount of resources and Fox Television's refusal to cooperate with this project, all character names have been spelled phonetically. This analysis comes with a fully annotated bibliography. Criteria agreed to by Jenelle Lynn Riley Author Next Section