Lessons of Brazilian television to build a concept of quality TV: focus, the TV program Pânico na TV!

Abstract

When specialists from the whole world are invited to think over «the television we want», we can’t stop thinking, once more, about the mannerism of Brazilian television, created in 1950, thanks to the efforts of Assis Chateaubriand, and widely broadcast since 1965, with the foundation of Rede Globo, that had become a real phenomenon of mass communication, capable to contribute to form a national identity beating private capital interests. Not leaving behind all the critics that commercial television in Brazil may deserve, we cannot deny the role of comprehension and acquisition of a «quality TV», though. We find on it, with effect, the success and the national role of a great television watched by every social class, and for its program variety constituting a powerful social integration factor (Wolton, 1996). To understand the role that television takes in our society, we propose a movement to close up Communication, Education and Culture, making educators and professionals linked to educative communication think about television as a reference to build new ethics and as a producer of stetics slightly noticed, yet. To try to take this proposition on, we have chosen a TV program of REDETV! nowadays an audience phenomenon in Brazil, surprising even experienced professionals of television, to analysis and reflection: Pânico na TV! (Panic on TV!). The TV program lasts 90 minutes and it is on at 6 p.m. on Sundays, with a repeat on Fridays (11p.m.).Some sketches are steady and new ones come every week.Besides the creativity and spontaneity of the hosts and a chaotic scenario, the show surprises for the intelligent sense of humor, but politically incorrect and tolerated for the audience.Satires, tricks, news comments, news outside the studio like parties break ins or people approach in the streets, are some of the strategies of the show.Images of the daily show on Jovem Pan radio are also used on TV. According to our point of view, the success of the TV program Pânico na TV! is the expression of a society based on oral communication and image, and not on knowledge and rationality speech.The acquisition of knowledge by the image and its oral broadcast are the origin of a kind of different intersubjectivity of that based on speech and reason.In the field of information, just like the field of advertising and entertainment, the social effects of the television can be better understood from the logic of the emotions, the triggers of unconsciousness and inadvertent communications. (Ferrés, 1998).This would be the key to figure out the Brazilian TV phenomenon. And these are the aspects that we intend to discuss in this debate on the TV quality we want..