If "The Golden Girls" HAD NOT

[Rezny@gmail.com]

Been filmed before a live audience(and I presume it was)and had been filmed without a laugh track,would it have been the classic that it is today,and would it have been funny?I don't think so.What do the rest of you think?Feel free to post.

[Dorothyfan1997]

accually it was filmed with a laugh track it wasnt fillmed in front of a live audiecne

[WishfulDreamer]

Actually, it was filmed in front of a live audience. I've spoken to people who attended tapings in the early 90s. You can also tell by the diversity of the laughter (one lady screams, for example, as her laugh) that it's not a laugh track. One great example is in the Monkey Show, when in the psychiatrist's office. You can clearly hear one man in the audience laugh by going "he he he!"

[GoldenBob]

I was in Los Angeles a few times in the late 80s and early 90s, and I recall on at least one visit to NBC Studios, that GG was one of the shows you could get tickets to watch. Sadly I didn't ever get to see a taping as I always wound up there on days when they did not tape.

Also, here's something interesting. It's from a now offline Bea Arthur fan website where Bea was asked if her shows Maude and GG were filmed in front of a live audience, and you can read her response.

http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question72000.html

[JR1]

it sounded like a laugh track was used- i.e. the Christmas episode. Some of the laughs sounded out of place. it never said "filmed in front of a live studio audience," but who knows.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by JR1

it sounded like a laugh track was used- i.e. the Christmas episode. Some of the laughs sounded out of place. it never said "filmed in front of a live studio audience," but who knows.

Most shows never say that they're filmed in front of a studio audience but they are. Most of the shows from the 1970's until the present were filmed in front of an audience. A few exceptions were shows like MASH which you could tell wasn't.

[dynoguy88]

There was an outtake from the GG's 2002 reunion special that showed an old scene of Blance, Rose and Dorothy sitting at the kitchen table. Betty says the line, "I can't help it, Dorothy. I haven't felt this bad since I was rejected by Uncle Sam." Then there's dead silence for a couple seconds. Rue then smirks and says, "I'm sorry. I was waiting for the audience to laugh and they didn't." At this point, the audience starts laughing and Betty pretends to flash them, which makes them laugh more.

Only extreme circumstances were apparently not filmed in front of a studio audience. Rue mentioned in her book that towards the final seasons, when Estelle had trouble remembering her lines, she also started to suffer from stage fright which made some of her scenes not so memorable. For instance, when Sophia had a Sicily story to tell, Estelle would struggle through the scene in front of the audience. Then later that night, after the audience had left the studio, the actresses would go back to the scene where Sophia is telling her story and film it again with just the directors and camera crew. Estelle would knock it out of the park and then a laugh track was recorded over the scene. I don't think that happened very often but I remember being amazed when I read it.

[Sophia's Wrinkles]

The writing would still be funny, but it wouldn't be the same show.

[shipoopi]

Without a live studio response we wouldn't get Dorothy's double take or slow stare into the "audience" in almost every ep.

[Marko723]

Oh yes it was filmed with an audience at Ren-Mar studios in Hollywood. I attended 3 tapings! Had allot of fun too! also saved my tickets!

[OH Nuts!]

The Golden Girl had superb writers and even better actors (or should I say actresses). All of them wonderful. The show was a hoot with or without a sound track. Esp. Sophia who always cracked me up.