There’s a difference between made for nerds and nerdface.
You can tell BBT was not made for nerds, because all the supposed nerd in-jokes get trampled into ground in the service of explaining them to normies.
The one episode I saw had them refer to The One Ring as “a Lord of the Rings ring”, and then had them quote the inscription in English rather than the original Black Speech… you can almost hear some dickhead in the writers’ room saying “I don’t think the audience are going to know what that is, you need to make it clear”. You don’t see the IT Crowd explaining to the audience why Windows Vista is bad or what any of the posters in the set mean.
IT crowd did have that one gag where the character said he’s putting this fire with the rest of the fire when that should be a self-explanatory step when sorting out a fire. You have to sort it before you can out it (for any lost non-nerds that somehow ended up in here).
That’s the thing. IT Crowd or Office Space etc, ask youto laugh at the action because they are absurd, not laugh at the people. Thats why TBBT is so bad.
Like most British TV comedy series, it was recorded with a live studio audience, rather than a “laugh track” added later - so there’s probably no versions that exist without it.
There’s a chance that it’s a 5:1 mix rather than stereo, and might have the audience on a different channel to the main dialogue - which would then be fairly easily to remove in something like Audacity.
Otherwise your options are turning the sound off and reading text subtitles, or using an “llm-powered” vocal remover.
We definitely get “[Dramatic music plays]”, and everything of that ilk, but I’ve not noticed it for studio-audience-laughter (though it is included if a character laughs).
Bear in mind that me not noticing isn’t the same as it not being there :)
Not to mention how awkward laugh track comedies usually are when you get rid of the laughter, with everyone just standing in silence for a few seconds any time something funny happens.
That’s why you get about twenty retirees and sit them in front of your tv. Then you tickle them with a feather duster when you want them to laugh, that way you have your own live studio audience. Just remember to press record on the camera you’re filming the tv with
Would not recommend. If you’ve seen shows like that with the laugh tracks removed, they’re dreadful. Full of dead pauses while the characters wait between their lines for the laughs to end.
Fun fact: a half hour comedy script is 22 pages (22 minutes of content, after the ad breaks). But a half hour comedy script for a show with laugh tracks is 11 pages, 11 minutes. Literally half the show’s runtime is taken up by laugh tracks.
There’s a sad set of shows from before I got tired of laugh tracks. Sad because they are harder to enjoy now that I understand the laugh track is pretty much just there to dumb down the humour.
Though that could be an interesting remake formula: take some existing show then redo it but without a laugh track or live audience. I hated how live audience shows needed a pause after each main character’s first appearance while the people present did the whole “scream because you see a new celebrity”.
I’m about to blow your mind: the IT Crowd has a live studio audience. One of the specials goes over each cast member and shows bloopers and such, and you can see them in several shots. I believe they also talk briefly about the audience, though it’s been a while. If I remember right, they would take the audience reactions of two takes and sort of merge them together.
Can’t recommend anything I’m afraid. But I will warn - I’ve seen edits that remove the laughing from I think it was Friends? It really ratchets the awkwardness to 200% with all the actors pausing for silence, I’m not sure what’s worse.
I don’t understand the struggle some people have with laugh tracks. You can just use your own judgement and decide for yourself if you find the things funny or not.
Not sure about others, but for me if the comedy is largely unfunny I find the laugh track to reflect an overscaled and nonsensical appreciation of this comedy which is somewhat grating. It makes the whole scene dumber to a varying degree.
On the other hand, if the comedy is good I can very easily overlook a laugh track as it paces the laughter more closely which seems to bother me far less.
Hm, only other coming to mind is Mythic Quest, maybe. I don’t think it reaches the same heights of funny but still balances around nerd culture. I also have a sweet spot for Superstore but that might just stem from my time in retail.
But I actually do like that - it just needs to be IT Crowd or Office Space or Silicon Valley or literally anything is fucking better than BBT gah.
There’s a difference between made for nerds and nerdface.
You can tell BBT was not made for nerds, because all the supposed nerd in-jokes get trampled into ground in the service of explaining them to normies.
The one episode I saw had them refer to The One Ring as “a Lord of the Rings ring”, and then had them quote the inscription in English rather than the original Black Speech… you can almost hear some dickhead in the writers’ room saying “I don’t think the audience are going to know what that is, you need to make it clear”. You don’t see the IT Crowd explaining to the audience why Windows Vista is bad or what any of the posters in the set mean.
IT crowd did have that one gag where the character said he’s putting this fire with the rest of the fire when that should be a self-explanatory step when sorting out a fire. You have to sort it before you can out it (for any lost non-nerds that somehow ended up in here).
That’s the thing. IT Crowd or Office Space etc, ask youto laugh at the action because they are absurd, not laugh at the people. Thats why TBBT is so bad.
I want to watch IT Crowd but anything with laugh tracks loses me immediately :/
Is there a tool for removing laugh tracks on shows that are good but need to tell you when they did a funny?
Like most British TV comedy series, it was recorded with a live studio audience, rather than a “laugh track” added later - so there’s probably no versions that exist without it.
There’s a chance that it’s a 5:1 mix rather than stereo, and might have the audience on a different channel to the main dialogue - which would then be fairly easily to remove in something like Audacity.
Otherwise your options are turning the sound off and reading text subtitles, or using an “llm-powered” vocal remover.
[Laughter]
Oh god, they wouldn’t subtitle that, would they?
Maybe they don’t do that in the UK?
I’ve seen it all the time here in hell (bet you can guess where that is).
Also this gem: “[Dramatic music plays]”
We definitely get “[Dramatic music plays]”, and everything of that ilk, but I’ve not noticed it for studio-audience-laughter (though it is included if a character laughs).
Bear in mind that me not noticing isn’t the same as it not being there :)
Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, sometimes they even add adjectives. I’ve seen everything from “[mild laughter]” to “[raucous laughter]”
Not to mention how awkward laugh track comedies usually are when you get rid of the laughter, with everyone just standing in silence for a few seconds any time something funny happens.
That’s why you get about twenty retirees and sit them in front of your tv. Then you tickle them with a feather duster when you want them to laugh, that way you have your own live studio audience. Just remember to press record on the camera you’re filming the tv with
Would not recommend. If you’ve seen shows like that with the laugh tracks removed, they’re dreadful. Full of dead pauses while the characters wait between their lines for the laughs to end.
Fun fact: a half hour comedy script is 22 pages (22 minutes of content, after the ad breaks). But a half hour comedy script for a show with laugh tracks is 11 pages, 11 minutes. Literally half the show’s runtime is taken up by laugh tracks.
There’s a sad set of shows from before I got tired of laugh tracks. Sad because they are harder to enjoy now that I understand the laugh track is pretty much just there to dumb down the humour.
Though that could be an interesting remake formula: take some existing show then redo it but without a laugh track or live audience. I hated how live audience shows needed a pause after each main character’s first appearance while the people present did the whole “scream because you see a new celebrity”.
I’m about to blow your mind: the IT Crowd has a live studio audience. One of the specials goes over each cast member and shows bloopers and such, and you can see them in several shots. I believe they also talk briefly about the audience, though it’s been a while. If I remember right, they would take the audience reactions of two takes and sort of merge them together.
Can’t recommend anything I’m afraid. But I will warn - I’ve seen edits that remove the laughing from I think it was Friends? It really ratchets the awkwardness to 200% with all the actors pausing for silence, I’m not sure what’s worse.
I don’t understand the struggle some people have with laugh tracks. You can just use your own judgement and decide for yourself if you find the things funny or not.
Not sure about others, but for me if the comedy is largely unfunny I find the laugh track to reflect an overscaled and nonsensical appreciation of this comedy which is somewhat grating. It makes the whole scene dumber to a varying degree.
On the other hand, if the comedy is good I can very easily overlook a laugh track as it paces the laughter more closely which seems to bother me far less.
[audience murmurs]
The original BBC IT crowdbdidntnhave a laugh track, did it?
I love all 3 of those - any more similar recommendations?
Hm, only other coming to mind is Mythic Quest, maybe. I don’t think it reaches the same heights of funny but still balances around nerd culture. I also have a sweet spot for Superstore but that might just stem from my time in retail.
Superstore just went too long. Fun show mostly.