Observing Communication in a Sitcom

For this assignment, I chose to watch the Dick Van Dyke Show.  I love Dick Van Dyke especially in his role as Bert in Mary Poppins. When I was scrolling through Netflix to find a show to watch for the blog assignment, I ran across this one. I honestly am not sure why I have never watched it before, but really enjoyed it!

While watching it with the sound off, I could see the relationship between a mom and a son, a husband and wife and co-workers. I could see the relationship between mother and son by the way  the woman was caring for the boy, looking at him and offering him a snack etc. She showed concern for him that I could see in her facial expressions, eyes and overall demeanor. I could see the man and woman were husband and wife because of the expressions of love, hugging, kissing and the look in their eyes. ;) Co-workers were easy to see because of the environment that the sitcom presented. They were in an office space and their body language showed irritation and angst when the man who I can only assume was the boss walked into the room.

During the course of the show, I was able to see love, concern, enjoyment and irritation in the non-verbal communication. The wife would roll her eyes at the husband at certain points, the boss was unaware of the looks on his employees faces when he walked into the room and probably would have been upset if he had seen them! Enjoyment was seen as there was a lot of smiling and laughing. At one point it seemed as if the husband and wife were having an argument or at least a heated discussion!
When I watched it with the sound on, I found I was correct in the assumptions I made about the relationships between the cast. There was an argument between the husband and wife about going to a party at the boss's house while their son was sick. The concern for the son the mother was showing was because she thought he was sick because he did not want a cupcake! The sound made it easier to follow the plot, but I was correct in my assumptions about what they were communicating non-verbally. I do believe that I would have known more if this had been a show that I normally watch. This was season 1 episode 1, so I am not sure that I would have known the characters any better than I do now since watching it.

I have learned through this experience that while non-verbal communication shows a lot, it is best partnered with verbal communication, especially when assessing a sitcom. I do not know the people in the sitcom, they are pretend, with pretend scenarios. In a real life communication situation, non-verbal cues can speak volumes before the verbal communication even begins to come into play. I come away from this assignment with a realization that relationships are even more vital than I already thought. I know the look on my husband's face when he is "done" at a party or event. I know the tone of voice from my best friend that says, "I need a break". Non-verbal and verbal communication go hand-in-hand and relationship extends a person's ability to "read" said communication.