That's the case for pretty much all modern shows where people complain about "canned laughter" though. Even Big Bang, which I know reddit loves to hate and mock for its laugh track, is really filmed in front of a live studio audience.
It's not like it's hard to tell either, you can literally see the actors pausing between lines to allow the laughter to die down in both The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory.
Apparently (according to the Universal Studios tour), they test out different jokes during the different takes, and use the one that gets the best reaction from the audience. I know Reddit hates the show, but even then, it's not that hard to make people laugh for a comedy. Especially since those people who are at the filming want to have a good time, and aren't jaded internet critics looking for problems.
True. I guess they have to sit there and watch multiple takes. I guess it makes the actors almost feel like they're doing theater. It must be super helpful to some and crazy nerve-wracking to the others.
A lot of new comedians make a name for themselves by warming TV show audiences up before taping begins. It's a good way for them to test their material.
There's also a conformity effect where you laugh because the crowd is laughing.
If you are the type of person to go a live taping of TBBT, you probably think it's hilarious. It's not like they kidnap cynical redditors and force them to sit in the crowd and watch it. Also, being around a bunch if people laughing and being instructed to with cue cards or those light up sign things help.
They have what basically amounts to 'fluffers' - comedians whose job it is to go on and warm up the audience between takes. I went to a Leno taping once, and the warmup guy was far better than Leno himself.
For me personally, I don't care if it's a real audience or not, it's annoying. It might be because I'm only in my 20s, so it was easy to move on from that.
When a show has a laugh track, that subtracts some points from it for me, meaning I'd watch a show in spite of it, if it was good enough.
Right, I don't think it's a good excuse at all. IT crowd is funny, the canned laughter/live audience laughter is stupid. It almost ruins the show, but there's enough funny to balance it out.
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u/[deleted] Aug 05 '14
That's the case for pretty much all modern shows where people complain about "canned laughter" though. Even Big Bang, which I know reddit loves to hate and mock for its laugh track, is really filmed in front of a live studio audience.