How does a sitcom with a LSA work?

[Deleted]

LSA standing for Live Studio Audience.

Obviously the LSA does not get to witness the finished product but gets to view how it is made with all the bloopers, set changes etc. that it brings.

How do the makers keep the audience from getting burned out?
How many episodes are usually taped per day?
Is there a way for the producers to ensure that the audience laughs at the right moments or is there always the danger of having an audience being the equivalent of a cricket army?

Just something that just now came to me and that I find fascinating.

[DiBiase is Good]

I’ve been to a few here in the UK, so I can only say how it works here (and that was a while ago).
There is a warm-up guy. He tells jokes before the taping starts, he also comes on during scene changes of any work on the set needing to be done. A good warm-up guy can be the key to avoiding audience burn-out.
The stage normally has a couple of different sets, the front room and maybe the bedroom. Depends on the show really.
The ones I went to filmed one episode a day. It was a 30 minutes episode and we were there for between 2-3 hours.
They can’t control how much and when the audience laughs but there’s always canned laughter if they need a bit more or less.

[cjh]

Normally, taping are done one episode at a time.  On Seinfeld DVDs, it was even said they would tape two-part episodes separately a week apart in front of different audiences.

There are usually people in the cast or a comedian interacting with the audience during down time.

[Paul]

There's a warm-up comedian and the audience is expected to sit there for 3 or 4 hours. There are often a lot of re-takes.

[wildojinx]

Mar 1, 2019 15:13:43 GMT -5 cjh said:

Normally, taping are done one episode at a time.  On Seinfeld DVDs, it was even said they would tape two-part episodes separately a week apart in front of different audiences.

There are usually people in the cast or a comedian interacting with the audience during down time.

I wonder how they handled the scenes which took place outside (like the scenes with them on the street and such).

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Mar 1, 2019 15:38:01 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Mar 1, 2019 15:13:43 GMT -5 cjh said:

Normally, taping are done one episode at a time.  On Seinfeld DVDs, it was even said they would tape two-part episodes separately a week apart in front of different audiences.

There are usually people in the cast or a comedian interacting with the audience during down time.

I wonder how they handled the scenes which took place outside (like the scenes with them on the street and such).

Crowd was on a double decker bus.

[DiBiase is Good]

Scenes outside the studio are usually pre-filmed and shown to the studio audience during the studio taping.

[The Captain]

While not a sitcom, I went to a Daily Show w/Jon Stewart taping and we were encouraged to laugh louder than we normally would at jokes. Basically, go into a belly laugh for something that'd normally elicit a chuckle. Also helped that Jon himself was a very uh, visceral laugher. He'd be cracking up during some points at a pre-taped segments and that was honestly as funny as the jokes being made.

There was also a warm-up guy beforehand to get everyone loosened up.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Mar 1, 2019 15:38:01 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Mar 1, 2019 15:13:43 GMT -5 cjh said:

Normally, taping are done one episode at a time.  On Seinfeld DVDs, it was even said they would tape two-part episodes separately a week apart in front of different audiences.

There are usually people in the cast or a comedian interacting with the audience during down time.

I wonder how they handled the scenes which took place outside (like the scenes with them on the street and such).

They’d just act them out on set to get the laughter.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Some times (like I know the Big bang Theory does this) they use the recording of a take that got the best reaction and then place it over a different one.

Mar 1, 2019 16:15:16 GMT -5 The Captain said:

While not a sitcom, I went to a Daily Show w/Jon Stewart taping and we were encouraged to laugh louder than we normally would at jokes. Basically, go into a belly laugh for something that'd normally elicit a chuckle. Also helped that Jon himself was a very uh, visceral laugher. He'd be cracking up during some points at a pre-taped segments and that was honestly as funny as the jokes being made.

There was also a warm-up guy beforehand to get everyone loosened up.

Yeah, I went to a taping of the Daily Show.

Teh belly laugh thing was because the Mics were on the ceiling... and a chuckle would be registered as awkward silence

[Cela]

Slightly different, but I worked iCarly once, and the crew force laughed at every joke. It was creepy yet impressive.

[G✇JI☈A]

Mar 1, 2019 16:15:16 GMT -5 The Captain said:

While not a sitcom, I went to a Daily Show w/Jon Stewart taping and we were encouraged to laugh louder than we normally would at jokes. Basically, go into a belly laugh for something that'd normally elicit a chuckle. Also helped that Jon himself was a very uh, visceral laugher. He'd be cracking up during some points at a pre-taped segments and that was honestly as funny as the jokes being made.

There was also a warm-up guy beforehand to get everyone loosened up.

That would explain why the audience on those shows were the most obnoxious.

[The Captain]

Mar 1, 2019 17:20:59 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

Some times (like I know the Big bang Theory does this) they use the recording of a take that got the best reaction and then place it over a different one.

Mar 1, 2019 16:15:16 GMT -5 The Captain said:

While not a sitcom, I went to a Daily Show w/Jon Stewart taping and we were encouraged to laugh louder than we normally would at jokes. Basically, go into a belly laugh for something that'd normally elicit a chuckle. Also helped that Jon himself was a very uh, visceral laugher. He'd be cracking up during some points at a pre-taped segments and that was honestly as funny as the jokes being made.

There was also a warm-up guy beforehand to get everyone loosened up.

Yeah, I went to a taping of the Daily Show.

Teh belly laugh thing was because the Mics were on the ceiling... and a chuckle would be registered as awkward silence

We didn't get told where the mics were, but they did say that the embellished laughs were so they would get picked up on the mics. One of the mics picked up a "whoo!" I made during the first segment lol.

We also got seats front and center because my mom needed handicap seating due to her knee and those were the handicap seats. Only things between Jon and us were the cameras.

[The Barber]

Mar 1, 2019 15:46:09 GMT -5 YAKMAN is ICHIBAN said:

Mar 1, 2019 15:38:01 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

I wonder how they handled the scenes which took place outside (like the scenes with them on the street and such).

Crowd was on a double decker bus.

[Brandon Walsh is Insane.]

TV tapings I went to would break up the louder portions of the audience to get a more rounded laughter.

By the time you are on retake 5, forced laughter is your friend.

Also, kinda interesting how large sets can be, and how you have a whole outdoor set on a stage.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I know during the Seinfeld tapings, they do would a small Q&A before the taping, a woman stood up and asked if the show they’d be seeing was a re-run.

[Deleted]

Mar 2, 2019 12:49:58 GMT -5 Brandon Walsh is Insane. said:

Also, kinda interesting how large sets can be, and how you have a whole outdoor set on a stage.

Always loved this:

[BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps]

I read this for a moment as “How does a sitcom with a LISA work?”, and I was going to state about three decades and 30+ seasons’ worth.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Mar 1, 2019 14:57:42 GMT -5 @desertassassin said:

Is there a way for the producers to ensure that the audience laughs at the right moments or is there always the danger of having an audience being the equivalent of a cricket army?

Be funny?

[G✇JI☈A]

If you want to see a sitcom that actually incorporates the LSA into the show .. check out “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show”