Re: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

[Richard Halegua Comic Art]

there are other reasons also Phil

one major aspect being that TV shows are intended 
to be over quickly (30 minutes), so the pace has 
to be fast. While most good comedy writers are 
intellectuals, the audiences are not. Urban 
audiences are more intelligent than rural 
(generally speaking) and because many people will 
not get a joke right away, the laugh track 
induces them to laugh, making those around them 
laugh - whether they got the joke or not. The 
more you laugh, the more you are likely to enjoy 
the show and the higher the Neilsen ratings are 
and therefore, the more the station can ask for advertising

70s & 80s tv to me was the worst, most pedestrian 
era in TV. Frequently, a joke would be told and 
then, after the laugh track faded,  the joke 
would be explained!! Of course, it was explained 
for those who just weren't smart enough, or 
didn't have enough cultural knowledge to 
understand why that joke about New York was funny 
to the guy in New Jersey, but not to the guy in Oshkosh

I always thought that TV - in 95% of all cases - 
was a true dumbing-down of culture. It's largely 
made for those who aren't smart enough to get off 
the couch for much more than another bag of 
potato chips and who don't read lots of books

I may have the TV on alot when I work, but I 
don't stop working. Very often, the TV is on more 
for a feeling that someone is in the room and I'm 
not isolated in my office than it is for entertainment reasons

another factor why laugh tracks are still used so 
widely is the studios got so used to them, they 
are now part of the studio lexicon and the 
concept of working without them is alien



At 12:33 PM 3/9/2011, Phillip W. Ayling wrote:
"But all live audiences are not created equal 
and all sitcoms are definitely not created equal"


There are and were differences in those formats 
and it wasn't just about bigger budgets and 
backlots and a variety of sets. There were and 
are issues that relate to Union jurisdiction. 
Generally live TV sitcom shows (including 
videotape)  were an outgrowth of radio and AFTRA 
union jurisdiction. Film TV shows like Get Smart 
and The Monkees were SAG jurisdiction. That also 
resulted in different rules regarding what is 
called sweetening, other overdubbing issues, 
timespread and what are called "pickups". On 
Videotape shows that are done before a Live 
audience, if a joke goes over really well and 
there is some technical glitch, the scene will 
need to be done over. In that case the audience 
is hearing the joke for the 2nd time or the 
pickup is done after the audience leaves. In 
those cases a real legitimate point could me 
made for inserting the real first-time laughter 
from "Take 1" into Take 2 for continuity. Like 
all things Hollywood, that got subverted into 
"Let's make the home audience think our show is 
as funny as the show taping next door by dubbing-in their laughter".
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:hah...@sympatico.ca>Dave Rosen
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

Rich:

Yeah, after I sent my email I remembered I Love 
Lucy was filmed (not taped) in front of a live 
audience and, of course, The Jack Benny Show, 
etc, etc. I simply forgot. But in the 60s a lot 
more sitcoms (Get Smart, The Munsters, The 
Monkees) had bigger budgets and so were shot 
like movies, on film on a variety of sets and 
backlots without a live audience. So the laugh 
track just totally took over. No real humans were reacting to the gags.

The practice of shooting with a three-camera 
setup in front of a live audience became common 
again in the 70s, thanks to the ease-of-use and low cost of videotape.

Also, I never said laugh tracks didn't exist 
earlier, in fact, starting in the 50s and 
especially in the 60s, they were over-used. 
That's why, when taping sitcoms in front of a 
live audience came back into vogue again in the 
early 70s (Norman Lear was instrumental in 
making the practice popular again), "taped 
before a live audience" became a selling point.

But all live audiences are not created equal and 
all sitcoms are definitely not created equal. So 
the sweetening got heavier and heavier till we 
are where we are today, with mediocre shows 
"taped in front of a live audience" but in fact 
drowning in phony sweetened laughs.

Ultimately my point is this: If a show is truly 
funny it doesn't need a laugh track.

Dave

----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:sa...@comic-art.com>Richard Halegua Comic Art
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 1:27 PM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

Dave

Live audiences have been in front of the stage 
for almost all the history of television and 
laugh tracks - if you recall - we available 
during the 1950s from a machine that Rudy 
Franchi evaluated on Antiques Roadshow

Rich


At 05:39 AM 3/9/2011, Dave Rosen wrote:

I had no idea a version of MASH without a laugh 
track existed. I'd love to see it.

In the 70s, the practice of taping sitcoms in 
front of a live audience started (except for 
MASH, which was shot on film without an 
audience), supposedly as a reaction against the 
over-use of "dead" (ie, taped) laugh tracks. 
The idea was to get a live audience reaction to 
the comedy. The problem was, a lot of the 
comedy wasn't (and still isn't) funny, so 
producers soon started to "sweeten" the live 
audience laughter, if there was any, with recorded laughs.

Flash forward to today and virtually all the 
"taped before a live audience" shows are 
totally sweetened. In other words, virtually 
NONE of the laughs you hear are real. Why? 
Because the shows aren't funny. The best test 
of a comedy is to watch it without the laugh 
track, if you can. If you don't laugh, it ain't funny. It's that simple.

Best sitcom ever on US TV?  For me, it was The 
Larry Sanders Show. Hands down. And no laugh track.

Dave

Message -----
From: <mailto:p...@cinemarts.com>Phil Edwards
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 3:43 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

Yes, buit only the UK edition of MASH which the 
BBC insisted did not have the laugh track.
Without the ghastly laugh track, MASH was quite a different show altogether.

Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:jboh...@aol.com>Adrian Cowdry
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 7:05 PM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

Two and a Half Men for me is as Peter says 
medicore at best I'd say it was tosh.
I will name a few sitcoms that have been 
imported to the UK that I feel had an excellent 
team of writers that kept the viewers coming 
back for more. Some might be classed as Comedy Drama.
Boston Legal (one of the best US Comedy Drama's ever)
Scrubs
Friends
Frasier
Cheers
All in the Family
Roseanne had some very good high peaks.
The Office
And of course MASH
There are many more that I cannot think of just 
yet but there is an awful lot of dross which 
doesn't deserve to be high rating winners.
There was one series about 15 years ago made by 
HBO that was a little near the knuckle and it 
involved carnal activities of a young bachelor 
it had only one series but it was funny.
I also think Cougar Town has potential.
I will say that I think when the US writers 
come up with something and it's good - it is 
really good. But things like Will and Grace, 
Two and Half Men, Dharma and Greg and this new 
one Hot in Cleveland are truly poor examples of American Comedy.
I do feel that sitcoms at their best nothing 
comes close to Fawlty Towers, probably The 
Office (UK version), and there are several that 
I will not name as they really are purely 
British that do not export well but truly are so funny that your ribs ache.
It is such a shame that Sheen has come out of 
the closet as such an idiot but hey...if he had 
any sense his bank account will be quite full 
that he can put the bulk of it in a high 
interest account and sniff the interest!

[]
  This never happened to the other fella.

-----Original Message-----
From: peter contarino <pcontar...@triad.rr.com>
To: 'Adrian Cowdry' <jboh...@aol.com>
CC: mopo-l@listserv.american.edu
Sent: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 16:40
Subject: RE: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN
I have to agree with Ade on this. I don’t 
tend to jump into threads but this guy is so 
annoying I feel the need to vent. First, with 
the world blowing up around us, I can’t 
fathom how this is newsworthy. It’s speaks 
poorly for the media and the public in general. 
Secondly, Two and a Half men is a really 
mediocre, low-brow show. Thirdly, I don’t 
know Sheen but he seems like a real scumbag and 
is marginally talented at best.

I will depart with Ade on his comment that it 
is not up to US sitcom standards. I think it is 
completely on par with the absolute dreck that 
dominates the airwaves. I can scarcely think of 
a comedy that is any more interesting than the 
commercials funding them. There are several 
decent comedies on some of the pay channels but 
the Majors have set the bar so low that it is 
scarcely worth the trouble to watch.

I feel better now…

-peter


From: MoPo List [ 
mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Adrian Cowdry
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 2:55 AM
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

Charlie Sheen has made a right charlie of himself.
He was never the greatest actor...he was never 
the best comedian. Obviously he was in the 
right place at the right time and had a great 
formula with an exceptionally good team of 
writers that made him the focal point of a TV 
series that was mediacore at best.
There I said it. Two and a Half Men was not 
fantastic. Better sitcoms have been produced in 
the US. This series was based, lets face it, 
loosely around Sheen's actual hell raising lifestyle.
How this series could have garnered awards I 
cannot fathom. The acting was stilted, the 
comedy was transparent. It was not up to the standards of US sitcom writing.
It would be nice if now the networks cast 
around and get down to something a lot better 
and classier. Sheen has killed his career, if 
he ever works in Hollywood again it will be a 
cold day in hell I suspect. I think the man was 
stupid to kill the Golden Goose but I do not 
think his brand of sitcom will be missed. I am 
sure that the writing team that backs Two and a 
Half Men will come up with a formula as good - 
hopefully better - and not be saddled with an 
over indulged actor to lead the troops.



[]
  This never happened to the other fella.


-----Original Message-----
From: Kirby McDaniel <<mailto:ki...@movieart.net>ki...@movieart.net>
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 21:55
Subject: [MOPO] ONE AND A HALF MEN

<http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/charlie-sheen-fired-from-two-and-a-half-men/?emc=na>http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/charlie-sheen-fired-from-two-and-a-half-men/?emc=na 































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