Stopped filming live? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

rich2 · 01-17-2005, 10:03 AM

At some point did the show stop filming in front of an audience? I know the first few seasons they didn't. Then they did for a while. But this morning I was watching 2 episodes that both had canned laughter. One was the first Mork episode, and Richie was on it. The other had Lori Beth and Richie, and Fonzie was dating a ballerina.

anglemark10 · 01-17-2005, 11:24 AM

There may have been certain scenes of certain episodes that had to use canned laughter because having an audience either wasn't practical or possible. I'm not sure if the two episodes you mentioned would figure into one of those scenarios. Otherwise, all episodes after season two were filmed live before a studio audience.

pscisme · 01-17-2005, 12:40 PM

also, keep in mind that "canned" laughter is routinely added to sitcom soundtracks when the live audience doesn't supply the amount of reaction desired.

rich2 · 01-17-2005, 02:31 PM

That's the feeling I got. It seemed like it was filmed live by the way they were acting, but the laughter was definitely canned.

The odd thing about canned laughter is that it was real recorded audience laughter at some time in the past. But the same recordings were used over and over again until it acquired a familiar sound to us.

anglemark10 · 01-17-2005, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pscisme

also, keep in mind that "canned" laughter is routinely added to sitcom soundtracks when the live audience doesn't supply the amount of reaction desired.

I didn't even think about that. They probably should have employed that tactic more during the last season of Happy Days because I remember quite a few times where there were jokes that received absolutely zero reaction from the audience.

01-17-2005, 10:03 AM	#1
rich2 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 07, 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 65	Stopped filming live? At some point did the show stop filming in front of an audience? I know the first few seasons they didn't. Then they did for a while. But this morning I was watching 2 episodes that both had canned laughter. One was the first Mork episode, and Richie was on it. The other had Lori Beth and Richie, and Fonzie was dating a ballerina.

01-17-2005, 11:24 AM	#2
anglemark10 Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 06, 2004 Location: United States Posts: 787	There may have been certain scenes of certain episodes that had to use canned laughter because having an audience either wasn't practical or possible. I'm not sure if the two episodes you mentioned would figure into one of those scenarios. Otherwise, all episodes after season two were filmed live before a studio audience.

01-17-2005, 12:40 PM	#3
pscisme Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 08, 2005 Posts: 230	also, keep in mind that "canned" laughter is routinely added to sitcom soundtracks when the live audience doesn't supply the amount of reaction desired.

01-17-2005, 02:31 PM	#4
rich2 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 07, 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 65	That's the feeling I got. It seemed like it was filmed live by the way they were acting, but the laughter was definitely canned. The odd thing about canned laughter is that it was real recorded audience laughter at some time in the past. But the same recordings were used over and over again until it acquired a familiar sound to us.