Comedy-drama (dramedy^[1] or seriocomedy) is a genre of theatre, film, and television that combines elements of comedy and drama, having both humorous and serious content.^[2][3]

History[link]

Theatre[link]

Traditional Western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy. A tragedy typically ended with the death or destruction of a fictional or historical hero, whereas a comedy focused on the lives of middle to lower class characters and ended with their success.^[4] The term drama was used to describe all the action of a play. Beginning in the 19th century, authors such as Anton Chekhov, George Bernard Shaw, and Henrik Ibsen^[5][6] blurred the line between comedy and drama.

Early television[link]

The advent of radio drama, cinema, and in particular television created greater pressure in marketing to clearly define a product as either comedy or drama. While in live theatre the difference became less and less significant, in mass media comedy and drama were clearly divided. Comedies were expected to keep a consistently light tone and not challenge the viewer by introducing more serious content.

By the early 1960s, television companies commonly presented half-hour-long "comedy" series or hour-long "dramas". Half-hour series were mostly restricted to situation comedy (sitcoms) or family comedy and were usually aired with either a live or overdubbed laugh track. One-hour dramas included such shows as police and detective series, westerns, science fiction, and serialized prime time soap operas.

While sitcoms would occasionally balance their humor with more dramatic and humanistic moments, these remained the exception to the rule as the 1960s progressed. Beginning around 1969 in the US, however, there was a brief spate of half-hour shows that purposely alternated between comedy and drama and aired without a laugh track, as well as some hour-long shows such as CHiPs in the late 70s to early 80s. These were known as "comedy-dramas". Another example was The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, which aired from 1987–1991.

These early shows influenced how general TV comedies and series (especially family themed sitcoms) were developed. They often included brief dramatic interludes and more serious subject matter. An example of a successful comedy-drama series that distinguished this genre in television was the series Moonlighting. It generated critical acclaim and was a highly rated series worldwide. Another example of a successful comedy-drama was the television series Eight is Enough. The show was distinct, because it was not a comedy-drama in the traditional sense. It was an hour-long series that utilized a laugh track, which was very unusual, but is considered a comedy-drama for the fact that it alternated between drama and comedy.

In the United Kingdom, the format first appeared successfully in 1979 with the long-running series Minder, along with other notable comedy-dramas such as Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Big Deal.

In addition, comedy-drama series have been associated with the single-camera production format.

Attributes of comedy-dramas on TV sitcoms[link]

In a comedy-drama, there is often an absence of a pre-recorded laughing track. Episodes can be either half an hour or an hour long. However, shows that use a 30-minute format tend to be more comedic with dramatic elements that keep storylines going forward, while shows that use a 60-minute format tend to be more dramatically based with humour used throughout the show either as comic relief or to punctuate certain scenes.

Storylines tend to be more serialized in comedy-dramas, with events taking place in earlier episodes being referred to or having an effect in later episodes. This can be compared to more traditional sitcoms, which focus on telling one standalone story every week. The continuity of character development and storylines are more relevant in comedy-dramas than in traditional sitcoms. Characters' backstories tend to have a greater overall effect on storyline. Something a character has done in the past will often catch up with him or her, as opposed to more traditional sitcoms, where a character's backstory is unlikely to be referenced by the story of the week.

See also[link]

References[link]

Notes

Jahangir Khan during the 2009 Kuwait Open held in Safarat, Kuwait City.
Country	Pakistan
Residence	Karachi, Pakistan
Born	(1963-12-10) December 10, 1963 (age 48) Karachi, Pakistan
Retired	1993
Men's singles
Highest ranking	No. 1
World Open	W (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988)
Last updated on: September 19, 2010.

Jahangir Khan, HI, (born 10 December 1963, in Karachi, Pakistan^[1]) (sometimes spelled "Jehangir Khan") is a former World No. 1 professional squash player from Pakistan, who is considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of the game.^[2][3][4] Jahangir Khan is an ethnic Pashtun, originally from Neway Kelay, Peshawar.^[5] During his career he won the World Open six times and the British Open a record ten times. Between 1981 and 1986, he was unbeaten in competitive play for five years. During that time he won 555 games consecutively, the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sports as recorded by Guinness World Records.^[6] He retired as a player in 1993, and has served as President of the World Squash Federation since 2002.

Playing career[link]

Jahangir was coached initially by his father, Roshan Khan, the 1957 British Open champion, and then by his late brother Torsam Khan. After his brother's sudden death he was coached by his cousin Rehmat Khan, who guided Jahangir through most of his career. Ironically, during his earlier years, Jahangir was a sickly child and physically very weak. Though the doctors had advised him not to take part in any sort of physical activity, after undergoing a couple of hernia operations his father let him play and try out their family game.

In 1979, the Pakistan selectors decided not to select Jahangir to play in the world championships in Australia, judging him too weak from a recent illness. Jahangir decided instead to enter himself in the World Amateur Individual Championship and, at the age of 15, became the youngest-ever winner of that event.

In November 1979, Jahangir's older brother Torsam Khan, who had been one of the leading international squash players in the 1970s, died suddenly of a heart attack during a tournament match in Australia. Torsam's death affected Jahangir profoundly. He considered quitting the game, but decided to pursue a career in the sport as a tribute to his brother.

Five-year unbeaten run[link]

In 1981, when he was 17, Jahangir became the youngest winner of the World Open, beating Australia's Geoff Hunt (the game's dominant player in the late-1970s) in the final. That tournament marked the start of an unbeaten run which lasted for five years and 555 matches. The hallmark of his play was his incredible fitness and stamina, which Rehmat Khan helped him build-up through a punishing training and conditioning regime. Jahangir was quite simply the fittest player in the game, and would wear his opponents down through long rallies played at a furious pace.

In 1982, Jahangir astonished everyone by winning the International Squash Players Association Championship without losing a single point.

The unbeaten run finally came to end in the final of the World Open in 1986 in Toulouse, France, when Jahangir lost to New Zealand's Ross Norman. Norman had been in pursuit of Jahangir's unbeaten streak, being beaten time and time again. "One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him", he vowed for five years.

Speaking about his unbeaten streak, Jahangir said: "It wasn't my plan to create such a record. All I did was put in the effort to win every match I played and it went on for weeks, months and years until my defeat to Ross Norman in Toulouse in 1986."

"The pressure began to mount as I kept winning every time and people were anxious to see if I could be beaten. In that World Open final, Ross got me. It was exactly five years and eight months. I was unbeaten for another nine months after that defeat."

Success in the hardball game[link]

With his dominance over the international squash game in the first half of the 1980s secure, Jahangir decided to test his ability on the North American hardball squash circuit in 1983–1986. (Hardball squash is a North American variant of the game, played on smaller courts with a faster-moving ball.) Jahangir played in 13 top-level hardball tournaments during this period, winning 12 of them. He faced the leading American player on the circuit at the time, Mark Talbott, on 11 occasions (all in tournament finals), and won 10 of their encounters. With his domination of both the softball and hardball versions of the game, Jahangir truly cemented his reputation as the world's greatest squash player. His success in North America is considered by some observers to be among the factors which led to growing interest in the international "softball" version of squash in the continent, and the demise of the hardball game in the late-1980s and 1990s.

Rivalry with Jansher Khan[link]

At the end of 1986 another Pakistani squash player, Jansher Khan, appeared on the international scene to challenge Jahangir's domination. (Jansher is not known to be directly related to Jahangir, but their families originate from the same village in the Peshawar region of northern Pakistan, so they may be distantly related.) Jahangir won their first few encounters in late-1986 and early-1987. But Jansher scored his first win over Jahangir in September 1987, beating him in straight games in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open. Jansher then went on to beat Jahangir in their next eight consecutive encounters and capture the 1987 World Open title.

Jahangir ended Jansher's winning streak in March 1988, and went on to win 11 of their next 15 encounters. The pair met in the 1988 World Open final, with Jahangir emerging the victor. But by that point it had become clear that squash now had two dominant players. The pair would continue to dominate the game for the rest of the decade. Jansher and Jahangir met a total of 37 times in tournament play. Jansher won 19 matches (74 games and 1,426 points), and Jahangir 18 matches (79 games and 1,459 points). This record doesn't include exhibition matches and league matches between them.

Jahangir did not win the World Open again after 1988, but he continued a stranglehold over the British Open title which he captured a record ten successive times between 1982 and 1991.

World Open final appearances[link]

British Open final appearances[link]

Training regime[link]

In a documentary on himself telecast on GEO Super, Jahangir revealed that he never had any fixed training regime particularly designed for him, nor had he any specially formulated diet - he would eat anything hygienic but never miss two glasses of milk every day.

For his training, he would often start his day with a 9-mile (14 km) jog which he would complete in 60–120 minutes at a moderate pace, followed by short bursts of timed sprints. Later he would weight train in the gym finally cooling down in the pools. He would follow this routine 5 days a week. On the 6th day he would match practice and rest on the 7th day.

He also said that he has experienced running on every surface - from custom-built tracks to asphalt roads, grass & farm fields to sea shores & knee-deep waters. Sometimes he would also visit the northern areas of Pakistan to train in high altitude fields under low oxygen conditions. All in all it made Jahangir one of the most physically and mentally fit athletes in the world.

Awards, services and recognition[link]

Jahangir retired as a player in 1993 after helping Pakistan win the World Team Championship in Karachi. The Government of Pakistan honoured Jahangir with the awards of Pride of Performance and civil award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of Distinction) for his achievements in squash. They also awarded him the title of Sportsman of the Millennium.

In 1990, Jahangir was elected Chairman of the Professional Squash Association, and in 1997, Vice-President of the Pakistan Squash Federation. He was elected as Vice-President of the World Squash Federation in November 1998, and in October 2002 was elected WSF President. In 2004, he was again unanimously re-elected as President of the World Squash Federation at the International Federation's 33rd Annual General Meeting in Casa Noyale, Mauritius.

Time Magazine has named Jahangir as one of Asia's Heroes in the last 60 years.^[8]

Jahangir Khan was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by London Metropolitan University for his contributions to the sport.

Due to his immense and absolute dominance in squash he was nicknamed "The Conqueror" (a loose translation of his first name).^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Jahangir is of Pashtun ethnicity. His family originated from a village near Peshawar named Nawakille (sometimes spelled "Noakili").^[9] Jahangir currently lives in Karachi with his wife, Rubina, and their children, Omar and Marium. Musician Natasha Khan, better known as Bat for Lashes, is Jahangir's cousin.^[10]

See also[link]

• List of squash players
• Jansher Khan
• World Open
• British Open Squash Championships
• Roshan Khan
• Torsam Khan
• Rehmat Khan
• World Squash Federation
• List of Pakistanis

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jahangir Khan

• Jahangir Khan profile on the PSA official website
• Jahangir Khan profile on SquashInfo
• The Incredible Khans of Squash: Part III Jahangir
• The Khan Family, A Squash Dynasty Part III
• Pakistan Squash - The Khan Supremacy Part VII
• Jahangir Khan page at Squashpics.com
• Details of Jahangir's rivalry with Jansher Khan
• Article on Jahangir's hardball squash rivalry with Mark Talbott
• World Squash Awards
• The KhanSquash Management Group - (archived)