"The New Adventures of Old Christine" Same OLD Sitcom

A few posts ago, I wrote:

From the marketing it looks it may take the Dramedy route. Knowing CBS however with the pattern of its half hour sitcoms (Love Monkey does not count since it was an hour. 40 minutes without commercials) that may not happen. It will be just like everyone else. Multi-Camera shots, sound stage sets (EVEN Outdoors), and YES that wonderful canned laughter track (hopefully its done live).

No surprises here, CBS takes the same path. Recent promos show that it is exactly as I discribed it. Multi-CamerashotsSoundstageSetsCannedLaughter.

Now that is a mouthful. How I hate CBS in the sitcom department. Look the days of Norman Lear are long gone, film has gotten better or (making look like film) and more/less we are going back to the 60's in someways regarding the sitcom. Does anyone want to make more Earls and Malcom's, and Chris's. Well CBS's sister network does (UPN) and FOX and NBC are open to it now. I heard CBS might have this kind of show in the wings for the fall, and we have yet to hear from ABC about this.

And the Denver Post wants MORE sitcoms??? Not if its the same canned laughter crap over and over.

The ideal of a laugh track was to give the home viewer that same feel as being at something live or at the picture show, or at a radio broadcast (yes a Radio broadcast). They felt that watching something like "I Love Lucy" without laughter would not be so good. If I am not mistaken I think they used the real audience for that one. Remember TV was brand new in the 1950's and it would be years until the computer would be as great as it is now. During the 1960's even into the 80's the cannned laughter was taken a bit too far.

The laugh track was used on shows that did not have a live audience and on animated series like The Flintstones, Pink Panther (after the original live action movie proved to be a Box Office hit), Scooby-Doo etc.

Logic would tell you that is impossible for a Cartoon show to be done in a live audience, unless you brought in a audience to watch it and get the laughs or you records those laughs far in advance and insert them as needed. Some faught the laugh track during this time and lost. One of those was Larry Gelbart who created the TV Series M*A*S*H in the 70's. Say what you want about it being Anti-War (Using the Korean War to make Vietnam look bad) cause I do myself, but Gelbart did not want the laugh track at all. However he lost, but CBS allowed him not to use it during scenes in Operation Room, and certain episodes when a laugh was not appropriate. However certain syndcation packages did omit the canned laughter and the DVD releases of M*A*S*H give the viewer a choice of watching the episodes with or without the canned laughter.

American TV really took the laugh track way too far. At least in Great Britain they knew how to use it and use it right. They did too use a live audience, and for the exterior shots they shots those in advance and played them in the studio when needed. You still got the real laughter and thats what counts.