Laverne & Shirley –
“Not Quite New York”
Original air dates:
11/18/1980
When reviewing this assignment I
thought what I could possibly watch that I typically don’t. I honestly just
flipped through the channels and where it landed is what I decided to watch. I
do believe that my remote controlled landed on one of the best sitcoms to air
during the 70’s to early 80’s. This was the
perfect show to watch and observe the reactions, body language and expression
of the characters.
Watching
this show with no audio was a very interesting experience. Being that I am very
inquisitive about those in my surrounding this is something I do often. I often
find myself observing others who might be in deep communication or an altercation
making assumptions according to their body language and some lip reading. In
real life my assumption are often right for the most part but in the case of
interpreting what is going on during this episode of Laverne & Shirley-“Not
Quite New York” I was completely wrong.
Being that I
know very little about the show I assumed that the two ladies were sisters who
had just moved in to a new apartment with each other. The show begins with a
visit from what I thought were there parents who themselves had just come from
a visit. In this portion of the show it
appeared that one the girls was upset because she was given a small instrument
and the other girl was given a large guitar. The
girl that was given the small instrument about the size of a handheld maraca was
so excited until the other girl received her guitar. The girl who received the small instrument face
instantly went from excited to an expression of disappointment. As the show goes
on I quickly came to the conclusion that these two were friends who were comfortable
with sharing their emotions with one another. Watching the on mute I consistently
observed a lot of smiles and excitement. There was even a time when the two
girls witness a guy falling from the window. They immediately comforted each other
with hugs, shoulders, and patting’s of the back. The show
continues on with what appears to be an earthquake and from here I become
really lost with the plot.
Watching the
show with audio was a really fun show which helped better depict the emotions
and the body language that I read.
For me my
aha moment was that body language-nonverbal communication says a lot and it
speaks just as loud as verbal language.
While
watching the show on mute there was also a scene in which a friend grabs one of
the stuff animals off the sofa. Instantly the reaction of I believe it to be Shirley
changed, kind of a snarling look. She became very territorial and Laverne
immediately picked up her facial expression and removed it from the friends hand
and handed it over to Shirley.
This was
another great example of nonverbal code that sent a message without words.
You said it, Stephanie! This is a classic and it was even easy to get lost in the plot while watching it years ago with audio! But you are right, there is so much chemistry between these two friends that just a look spoke volumes and quite often they were the only ones in the room who knew what the heck was going on!
ReplyDeleteThat whole era was fraught with sitcoms that were almost slapstick in nature but were certainly very expressive.
Thanks for the memories :)
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI used to love this show. I agree that the show allows viewers to see how nonverbal cues and expressions are used in communication. This also helps us to understand how to relate nonverbal cues with verbal messages.
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteReally, body language and non-verbal expressions can help us to understand people and situations even though words were not used, because we all tend to be emotional and highly passionate with the the expression of points.
Body language and all the other non-verbal communications are crucial to the manager's role and possession. We need to be deliberate with how we express ourselves because our mouth may be saying something while the look on our face, smile and others mean something. and