Author Topic: Big Bang Theory - Season 4 (Read 24394 times)

sneakyblueberry · « **Reply #140 on:** March 13, 2011, 05:53:47 AM »

I think the show is great, tbh. I could care less about laugh tracks. Plenty of great, funny shows use/d them. It seems like its really only been post-Curb and similar comedies that people consider them uncool.

orcus116 · « **Reply #141 on:** March 13, 2011, 12:11:32 PM »

It's a way to get cheap laughs out of crappy jokes and non-jokes because "other people are laughing". Case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZ8Hks4gko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzSTQMx8vSs&feature=related

Forgive the shoddy editing but take out that laugh track and shows get infinitely more awkward.

GuineaPig · « **Reply #142 on:** March 13, 2011, 12:18:37 PM »

Quote from: GuineaPig on January 14, 2011, 09:59:23 AM

1. Less comedy
2. More laugh track
3. ? ? ?
4. Profit

jsem · « **Reply #143 on:** March 13, 2011, 04:10:28 PM »

Quote from: orcus116 on March 13, 2011, 12:11:32 PM

It's a way to get cheap laughs out of crappy jokes and non-jokes because "other people are laughing". Case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZ8Hks4gko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzSTQMx8vSs&feature=related

Forgive the shoddy editing but take out that laugh track and shows get infinitely more awkward.

Woah. It's so stale. Nothing happens.

sneakyblueberry · « **Reply #144 on:** March 13, 2011, 08:50:37 PM »

Yeah that was quite bad. Still, I found myself laughing at some parts. I don't think its an inherently bad thing to have a laugh track, its just a different style of comedy is all.

If I find something funny in the show, I'll laugh. Most of the time I'm not laughing along with the laugh track though, I'll be honest.

PetFish · « **Reply #145 on:** March 13, 2011, 10:01:51 PM »

I don't think it's a laugh track and don't know how you can even tell. I've witnessed many times where the actors can't say their next line cuz of audience reactions. I can forgive a laugh track for on-location scenes like paintballing and stuff but I really don't think they'd use one for the on-set stuff which is the university cafeteria, the apartments and elevator and hallway, or the comic book store. I don't know what else is in the studio, if anything.

I do know that they tape the show multiple times and bring in a new audience each time to get new reactions, especially if some lines are flubbed and by the time they get it right it's not funny anymore, but every live-taping show does this kind of thing... Friends, Seinfeld, etc.

It's impossible to film EVERYTHING in-studio so I can forgive laugh tracks for on-location stuff.

sneakyblueberry · « **Reply #146 on:** March 13, 2011, 10:07:14 PM »

I remember seeing a behind the scenes thing for Friends, and they had a live audience; but they would add laugh tracks anyway, depending on whether the audience laughed too little or too long. I'd imagine its the same for most shows with a laugh track.

orcus116 · « **Reply #147 on:** March 13, 2011, 10:07:50 PM »

Laugh track, audience laughing, whatever, I've always felt it was the sitcom equivalent of Failblog putting FAIL on all their pictures: to tell me what is supposed to be funny. Shows should be able to make you laugh on its own merit

kala1928 · « **Reply #148 on:** March 14, 2011, 02:28:15 PM »

Quote from: orcus116 on March 13, 2011, 12:11:32 PM

It's a way to get cheap laughs out of crappy jokes and non-jokes because "other people are laughing". Case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZ8Hks4gko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzSTQMx8vSs&feature=related

Forgive the shoddy editing but take out that laugh track and shows get infinitely more awkward.

Case not in point.

Sure its awkward but its not exactly what the show would be without laughing audience/laugh tracks. By 'not exactly' I mean 'nothing like'.

PetFish · « **Reply #149 on:** April 02, 2011, 09:12:45 PM »

THE ZARNECKI INCURSION

4/5

Finally, an online gaming episode. I think rather than actually confronting the thief they should have done an insane counter-attack on him and counter-hacked and really messed him up then at the end they cut to a shot of him crying at his PC as Sheldon is laughing at him with a viral video message or something. I'm actually shocked that Sheldon allowed his account to be hacked in the first place.

I really don't like the "is Raj gay?" storyline. It's funny when it's Howard and Raj together but now he's talking about other guys and I think it's just another bad move for the show.

Priya and Amy suck. Boobadette rocks.

Global Laziness · « **Reply #150 on:** April 03, 2011, 11:30:43 AM »

I was really disappointed in this week's episode. I found it to be lame and predictable... $:-\$

XJDenton · « **Reply #151 on:** April 03, 2011, 11:31:07 AM »

I spent the last week or so watching through all of the episodes. And I think its hilarious.

Quote from: orcus116 on March 13, 2011, 12:11:32 PM

It's a way to get cheap laughs out of crappy jokes and non-jokes because "other people are laughing". Case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZ8Hks4gko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzSTQMx8vSs&feature=related

Forgive the shoddy editing but take out that laugh track and shows get infinitely more awkward.

Well no shit. By adding a huge amount of incredibly awkward and out of places silences you can make anything unfunny. The dialogue and performances are based around a studio audience type comedy so by removing that element you are killing the timing, which comprises about 90% of comedy.

orcus116 · « **Reply #152 on:** April 03, 2011, 11:51:00 AM »

Relying on a studio audience for your comedic timing is one step above slapstick and blatant referential humor in terms of how bad the writing really is. Those clips are meant to showcase how flat and unfunny the writing is on its own which, in comedy, I find the only true way to measure if it's any good.

XJDenton · « **Reply #153 on:** April 03, 2011, 12:13:08 PM »

They aren't relying on for the timing, they have written and performed the show known that the existence of a studio audience affects the timing. If there was no audience, and therefore no interruptions, the performances would have been alot quicker and fluid, and none of the awkward silences that killed the humour in the above videos would exist.

In any case, the only measure of comedy is how much it makes you laugh. If it succeeds in that then anything else is secondary.

jsem · « **Reply #154 on:** April 03, 2011, 12:22:07 PM »

Still, comedy without laughing tracks is better. Scrubs. The Office.

XJDenton · « **Reply #155 on:** April 03, 2011, 12:25:53 PM »

Monty Python's flying circus had laugh tracks.

GuineaPig · « **Reply #156 on:** April 03, 2011, 12:26:34 PM »

Quote from: jsem on April 03, 2011, 12:22:07 PM

Still, comedy without laughing tracks is better. Scrubs. The Office.

I don't think this is inherently true. I'm one who finds laugh tracks very grating, but a number of classic shows have been written with them. I think the issue is that they can become such a dominant part of a show's structure, it kills any sparks creativity or chemistry. So many sitcoms that utilize laugh tracks have thousands of copy/paste scenes as a result.

pogoowner · « **Reply #157 on:** April 03, 2011, 01:19:35 PM »

Seinfeld used a laugh track. Case closed.

orcus116 · « **Reply #158 on:** April 03, 2011, 01:33:41 PM »

And it happened to have good writing.

jsem · « **Reply #159 on:** April 03, 2011, 01:34:38 PM »

Quote from: GuineaPig on April 03, 2011, 12:26:34 PM

Quote from: jsem on April 03, 2011, 12:22:07 PM
Still, comedy without laughing tracks is better. Scrubs. The Office.

I don't think this is inherently true. I'm one who finds laugh tracks very grating, but a number of classic shows have been written with them. I think the issue is that they can become such a dominant part of a show's structure, it kills any sparks creativity or chemistry. So many sitcoms that utilize laugh tracks have thousands of copy/paste scenes as a result.

No. I'm saying from my own subjective point of view, I can appriciate better those without laugh tracks - they allow me to laugh when I want to.

GuineaPig · « **Reply #160 on:** April 03, 2011, 01:39:49 PM »

I don't even think the laugh track is as bad as the fact that it deliberately limits what the show can be. Watching The Big Bang Theory, with its repetitive scenes and stereotypical plots, seems positively archaic in this day and age, especially compared to the groundbreaking, inventive comedies it's unfortunately crushing in ratings.

Zantera · « **Reply #161 on:** April 03, 2011, 02:15:45 PM »

Quote from: orcus116 on March 13, 2011, 10:07:50 PM

Laugh track, audience laughing, whatever, I've always felt it was the sitcom equivalent of Failblog putting FAIL on all their pictures: to tell me what is supposed to be funny. Shows should be able to make you laugh on its own merit

Pretty much this.
And I still think that this is one of the main reasons why I love Scrubs so much.

PetFish · « **Reply #162 on:** April 09, 2011, 11:39:55 PM »

THE HERB GARDEN GERMINATION

5/5

Science Talk. Check.
Lots of Big Words. Check.
Video Game (Wii Archery). Check.
Reference to Roomate Agreement. Check.
Reference to Sheldon's Anal Retentiveness (Bathroom). Check.
Someone's Parents (Raj). Check.
Science Experiment. Check.
Plot Twist: Check

This episode had just about everything. I even liked Amy this time. I absolutely loved the gossip experiment and the ending tag when Leonard bumps into Amy on the way up as she's on her way down was just gold. It really closed the entire show perfectly. The tension within the group where everyone knew what Boobadette wanted to do but Howard being clueless was awesome.

I was lol'ing pretty much the whole time with this one. Really great episode.

PetFish · « **Reply #163 on:** April 11, 2011, 09:20:29 PM »

Tried to get this thread back on-topic but failed.

So I guess laugh tracks suck.

Carry on.

PetFish · « **Reply #164 on:** April 29, 2011, 10:30:22 PM »

THE AGREEMENT DISSECTION

4/5

Another solid episode. Even though I loved how Priya refuted the roommate agreement (RA), I was also saddened that it might become null and void for the rest of the series. Right now, it's cute whenever something in the RA comes up and there's some fight about it and it's always tongue-in-cheek, but Priya shutting it down all of a sudden made it "real" and "serious" and absolutely not fun. But then Sheldon re-wrote it and did the Star Trek countdown and I thought that was absolutely brilliant.

Nothing else major stuck out to me but overall I enjoyed this one.

PetFish · « **Reply #165 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:21:28 PM »

THE WILDEBEEST IMPLEMENTATION

0.5/5

Nothing really to say about this massive disappointment. It was all bad.

PetFish · « **Reply #166 on:** May 12, 2011, 12:32:36 AM »

Must_make it_to_end_of_season_posting_summaries_here.

reneranucci · « **Reply #167 on:** May 12, 2011, 03:38:09 PM »

Quote from: PetFish on April 09, 2011, 11:39:55 PM

THE HERB GARDEN GERMINATION

5/5

Science Talk. Check.
Lots of Big Words. Check.
Video Game (Wii Archery). Check.
Reference to Roomate Agreement. Check.
Reference to Sheldon's Anal Retentiveness (Bathroom). Check.
Someone's Parents (Raj). Check.
Science Experiment. Check.
Plot Twist: Check

This episode had just about everything. I even liked Amy this time. I absolutely loved the gossip experiment and the ending tag when Leonard bumps into Amy on the way up as she's on her way down was just gold. It really closed the entire show perfectly. The tension within the group where everyone knew what Boobadette wanted to do but Howard being clueless was awesome.

I was lol'ing pretty much the whole time with this one. Really great episode.

Last episode I've watched. The experiment was great

And Leonard's reaction was gold: YOU'RE PREGNANT???!!!

PetFish · « **Reply #168 on:** May 19, 2011, 10:06:36 PM »

THE ROOMMATE TRANSMOGRIFICATION

5/5

Awesome season-ender! The whole show was back-to-back jokes/zingers/burns.

An overall weak season but I'm super happy with the finale. Sheldon was on fire with all his little forms and paperwork and I actually started thinking it's cool that he does all this neat stuff... the luminous paint was sweet. Everything flowed really well. Penny looked hot in this one. I especially loved when Leonard "hung up" on Priya's parents and buh-bye Priya and good riddance.

Penny: "You STILL can't talk to me?!" Gold.

Props to the title for referencing Calvin & Hobbes.

ScioPath · « **Reply #169 on:** May 19, 2011, 11:53:38 PM »

Every second of this episode was gold.

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Author Topic: Big Bang Theory - Season 4 (Read 24394 times)