A key component to dramatic television is comedic banter. I look at the great dramas out there and they have comedy in them, light moments to remind us of the characters’ humanity, that aid in the overall weight and drama of the show. I am currently five episodes into The West Wing and while it is definitely a drama, the episodes are frequently cut with office banter between the White House colleagues. Toby, one of the communication directors, is under scrutiny for the one stock he has that went from being worth $5000 to $125,000. He is looking at being crucified by the press, not a good thing for a head staffer, but C.J., the White House press secretary, cannot help but ask if he can loan her some money for lunch, she’s 125k short. These moments of humor are so important because they are real. Human lives are a mixture of all the genres we have on television, comedy and drama and horror and romance, yet so often in dramatic shows there is no humor at all. Producers seem to think that dramatic shows don’t need humorous banter, because it will lessen the drama. I don’t think Jack Bauer said a single light-hearted thing through 8 ½ seasons of singled-handedly saving America.

Yet Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and the rest of the team behind one of my favorite shows of all time, Band of Brothers, were able to find the balance between drama and humor. If you have not watched this miniseries before (shame on you), it follows Easy Company, a group of paratroopers from the 101^st Airborne Division, from their formation in 1942 to the end of the war. This dramatization of actual events and people shows much of the horror of WWII including the D-Day invasion and liberation of a concentration camp. This is an incredibly dramatic and moving show, however, it is ultimately about how a group of men became brothers. Within the death and the violence, the soldiers joke with each other about the wounds they have received and the officers they endured. A particularly humorous moment happens in the 7^th episode during the company’s time at Bastogne. Amid being bombed by German artillery, senior members of the company explain the difference between being injured and being wounded to brand new recruits. They talk about all the members of the company who have been wounded, including First Sergeant Lipton who is standing quietly eating nearby. He was hit in Normandy by shrapnel in the groin which could have cut off his testicles. So on the sergeants says, “Hey, Lip how are those balls?” And Lip responds, “They’re fine. Thanks for asking.” It is such a light moment of banter, of breaking in the rookies within a tense episode where we watch several main characters (not the best term for real life people) either permanently maimed by artillery or killed.

Comedic banter is a beautiful thing. We banter throughout the day and even when our lives are dramatic. It’s hard for me to watch a drama without banter, it feels like the creators don’t know what real life is like.