Critically reviled. Hopelessly dated. Forever near extinction. Yet in a TV landscape full of brutally realistic hits, sitcoms with background laughter are not only still popular, but have become cozily weird.
The studio laughter (or canned laughter) still adds something. I’m not a fan of any multi cam sitcoms since Seinfeld ended, but as the article mentioned, it still does something for shows like SNL.
COVID showed that some variety type shows normally filmed before an audience still benefit from having an audience. John Oliver’s show without laughter seemed weird. Some standup comics have played around with the genre without an audience, and it’s really interesting.
So I’m with this article. It’s a legitimate style of show that uses the laughter.
The studio laughter (or canned laughter) still adds something. I’m not a fan of any multi cam sitcoms since Seinfeld ended, but as the article mentioned, it still does something for shows like SNL.
COVID showed that some variety type shows normally filmed before an audience still benefit from having an audience. John Oliver’s show without laughter seemed weird. Some standup comics have played around with the genre without an audience, and it’s really interesting.
So I’m with this article. It’s a legitimate style of show that uses the laughter.