The laugh track

[Hunter's]

I don't care what Cahn says. I think I Love Lucy has a laugh track. It may not be the traditional post production laugh track, but it is there, the laughs are recycled. That's not the problem I have with it, though. The problem I have is laughs on cue, for unfunny things.

Then there are the inexplicable laughs on cue for camera movements in the same scene. For example, in "California Here we Come" Fred packs the car with all the junk the women wanted to bring. The cast step out onto the stairs, close shot. Then as soon as the camera changes to the wide shot, laughter erupts. Well? Was the car not funny until the camera switched, or was it in the dark until the camera moved?

Or how about in "Second Honeymoon?" Lucy gets stuck in a porthole and Ricky sings to her in a shawl, close shot. The camera zooms out, showing him standing on the lounge chair, sudden laughter. Then on the other side of the wall, the torch cutting resumes. So, the audience can't be on both sides of this wall, but as soon as the camera reaches the cabin side of the wall, laughter. Well, why wasn't it funny before that point? Was it in the dark? How did the audience even see both sides?

I know there's other unfunny dancing around in the apartment where there is laughter right on cue. People don't laugh like that...

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Hunter's

Then there are the inexplicable laughs on cue for camera movements in the same scene. For example, in "California Here we Come" Fred packs the car with all the junk the women wanted to bring. The cast step out onto the stairs, close shot. Then as soon as the camera changes to the wide shot, laughter erupts. Well? Was the car not funny until the camera switched, or was it in the dark until the camera moved?

Or how about in "Second Honeymoon?" Lucy gets stuck in a porthole and Ricky sings to her in a shawl, close shot. The camera zooms out, showing him standing on the lounge chair, sudden laughter. Then on the other side of the wall, the torch cutting resumes. So, the audience can't be on both sides of this wall, but as soon as the camera reaches the cabin side of the wall, laughter. Well, why wasn't it funny before that point? Was it in the dark?

I forget the name of the device, but it's a contraption usually on wheels with a curtain or board that hides things from the view of the studio audience. And sometimes it's simply a big curtain. Then at the opportune moment, it is moved at which point it is revealed to the studio audience what had been hidden from their view. If you go see a live play, you will sometimes see these things used.

Originally Posted by Hunter's

How did the audience even see both sides?

You need to keep in mind where the invisible "fourth" wall was. It would be like Lucy being in her kitchen in the apartment and sticking her head through the opening where the louver shutters are and looking into the living room. The studio audience is able to see her upper body in the living room and lower body in the kitchen. To better explain it, here's a snapshot from that very episode, "Second Honeymoon" from the studio audience perspective:

[Hunter's]

Oh, all right. A curtain type thing. That begins to explain it.

The 90 degree view makes sense, although they would need multiple barriers for each revelation on set. It's interesting that the performance keeps going no matter where the camera is. Thanks for the picture.

I wonder if there are any pictures of these veils.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Hunter's

I wonder if there are any pictures of these veils.

On one of the DVDs of The Lucy Show, there is some behind-the-scenes bonus material where I seem to recall that you can see stagehands wheeling one of these things across the stage to reveal (I think) Mr. Mooney behind it.

Incidentally, here are a couple shots from the actual "Second Honeymoon" episode so you can compare what the TV viewer sees with what the studio audience saw (the picture above).

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Hunter's

Oh, all right. A curtain type thing. That begins to explain it.

I wonder if there are any pictures of these veils.

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

On one of the DVDs of The Lucy Show, there is some behind-the-scenes bonus material where I seem to recall that you can see stagehands wheeling one of these things across the stage to reveal (I think) Mr. Mooney behind it.

I found it. Go to this link and you'll see one at 3:45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD2GCG_qmYU

Here's a screen capture:

[Hunter's]

Thanks, that was interesting.

I had no idea they went through so much trouble for the laughs.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Hunter's

Thanks, that was interesting.

I had no idea they went through so much trouble for the laughs.

It was a lot of work when you think about it. They had to constantly be thinking ahead to what was going to be on film and what the television viewers were going to be seeing at home, and make sure the laughs were in the right place. So it was necessary to hide things from the studio audience so they wouldn't react too soon. Like the "Second Honeymoon" episode, if nothing was hidden, a studio audience could be laughing at the same time about what was going on at both ends of Lucy. Unless they did an awkward split screen, the camera was only going to focus on one thing at a time. So for the sake of the TV viewers, they would need to hide half of the action from the studio audience until they were ready for the camera to capture that half.

[ILuvCarolBurnett]

Originally Posted by Hunter's

I don't care what Cahn says. I think I Love Lucy has a laugh track. It may not be the traditional post production laugh track, but it is there, the laughs are recycled. That's not the problem I have with it, though. The problem I have is laughs on cue, for unfunny things.

Then there are the inexplicable laughs on cue for camera movements in the same scene. For example, in "California Here we Come" Fred packs the car with all the junk the women wanted to bring. The cast step out onto the stairs, close shot. Then as soon as the camera changes to the wide shot, laughter erupts. Well? Was the car not funny until the camera switched, or was it in the dark until the camera moved?

Or how about in "Second Honeymoon?" Lucy gets stuck in a porthole and Ricky sings to her in a shawl, close shot. The camera zooms out, showing him standing on the lounge chair, sudden laughter. Then on the other side of the wall, the torch cutting resumes. So, the audience can't be on both sides of this wall, but as soon as the camera reaches the cabin side of the wall, laughter. Well, why wasn't it funny before that point? Was it in the dark? How did the audience even see both sides?

I know there's other unfunny dancing around in the apartment where there is laughter right on cue. People don't laugh like that...

I Love Lucy was indeed shot in front of a live audience. Over the six-year run of the show, there were a couple of episodes NOT filmed in front of an audience due to technical reasons. I think one of the baby Little Ricky's was being difficult, so they sent the audience home and shot the episode in a "cold" studio. I also recall one of the European shows was not filmed before a live audience either.

There are shows that are shot in front of live audiences, but the sound editors and producers take great liberty with either punching up laughter on jokes that fall flat, or even cutting out laughter all together.

Where you might be getting confused and thinking I Love Lucy used a laugh track, is because the laughter recorded from I Love Lucy audiences was incorporated into laugh tracks used on other shows. Frasier from the 1990s supposedly used laugher from Lucy shows for its laugh track.

[Hunter's]

Originally Posted by ILuvCarolBurnett

Where you might be getting confused and thinking I Love Lucy used a laugh track, is because the laughter recorded from I Love Lucy audiences was incorporated into laugh tracks used on other shows. Frasier from the 1990s supposedly used laugher from Lucy shows for its laugh track.

I'm not disputing that there was an audience. And I am not referring to any other show. Unfortunately there is a laugh track on "I Love Lucy," which you can't always distinguish from authentic audience reactions, but at times it can be definitely identified as canned.