It’s happened to me a couple times, I think folks use it instead of the term quirky or autistic because because the only thing I share in common is autism. In contrast I am a violent misanthropic redneck who radiates trauma and depression in ambient enough quantities that I can instantly pack bond with veterans and Slavs.
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.
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).
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.
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
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 :)
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.
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 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.
I know nerds who love the show. Well, they’re people who made being a nerdconsuming pop culture their whole personality. Not terribly great at analyzing said media though.
Ungh I had some professor give me a bad grade on a paper for ripping to shreds the portrayal of specific characters (it was entirely appropriate for the class). They were like “maybe you just don’t understand, its supposed to be kinda offensive, but these are great representations of (thing)!”
BBT, turns out, was prof’s favorite show, like you said, their personality.
No. Absolutely no. In fact, quite the opposite of good portrayals. I lost all respect for their opinions or teaching credentials, as both are clearly worthless.
The fun things about losing respect for one teacher’s credentials is it also casts doubt on every teacher’s credentials. It was pretty depressing to learn that academia is driven more by ego than by knowledge and education.
What’s annoying about the ones I know is that they’re holier than thou “woke” types that like to remind you about how problematic your media is, but have huge blind spots for the things they like. How do they not pick up on the issues with BBT?
OMFG cop procedurals. My parents watched so many of those fucking things that I sarcastically wrote an episode of one. Turns out that Federal Agent With Speaking Role IS Mr. Diddit.
ugh I really like that show, it’s one of my comfort shows, and I really like the extended Big Bang Universe. It’s sad the show gets such a bad rap but it’s also not entirely unwarranted. The characters do feel really fleshed out, like they’re actual people who are the result of their life experiences. But if you can’t stand the way that Sheldon is, or the laugh track, or any combination thereof, the show really is impenetrable.
And annoyingly Young Sheldon goes on to be a really amazing prequel, but you need to watch and enjoy BBT first to get the most out of YS.
Honestly I hated BBT for the longest time too. Only a few years ago could I actually get into it.
Hating on big bang theory is how you signal your superiority online, it’s the same on lemmy as it was on reddit. Liking big bang (or friends, or…) is for normies, and sheep, and people here are /r/verysmart.
For what it’s worth I also enjoyed it, and sometimes put on a random episode (just like with friends). Haven’t seen young Sheldon tho, I don’t like prequels for some reason (same as better call Saul).
Fair. YS really is to BBT what BCS is to BB. So if you already don’t like BCS then YS is a hard sell.
Do keep an eye out for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe tho. Sci-fi sequel to BBT, sadly weekly episodes but quite enjoyable from the 2 episodes I’ve watched.
My face watching Big Bang Theory
The worst part of Big Bang Theory is how bad it makes you feel when people you know recommend it to you.
“What kind of person do you think I am, exactly? And who do you think this show is for?”
Anytime someone told me I “reminded them of Sheldon” I cut that person out of my life.
If this happens to you often, then you might actually be like Sheldon…
It’s happened to me a couple times, I think folks use it instead of the term quirky or autistic because because the only thing I share in common is autism. In contrast I am a violent misanthropic redneck who radiates trauma and depression in ambient enough quantities that I can instantly pack bond with veterans and Slavs.
Sounds very…sheldon of you… wonder why they may have made that comparison…
God, have I been there.
I just assumed they thought that’s what science people are like and meant well.
You don’t like watching nerdface performances played for derisive laughter?!
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.
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.
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).
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.
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
[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 :)
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.
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”.
The original BBC IT crowdbdidntnhave a laugh track, did it?
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]
I love all 3 of those - any more similar recommendations?
Better off Ted is in the similar vein of Office Space in satirizing big corporations
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.
I know nerds who love the show. Well, they’re people who made being a
nerdconsuming pop culture their whole personality. Not terribly great at analyzing said media though.Ungh I had some professor give me a bad grade on a paper for ripping to shreds the portrayal of specific characters (it was entirely appropriate for the class). They were like “maybe you just don’t understand, its supposed to be kinda offensive, but these are great representations of (thing)!”
BBT, turns out, was prof’s favorite show, like you said, their personality.
No. Absolutely no. In fact, quite the opposite of good portrayals. I lost all respect for their opinions or teaching credentials, as both are clearly worthless.
The fun things about losing respect for one teacher’s credentials is it also casts doubt on every teacher’s credentials. It was pretty depressing to learn that academia is driven more by ego than by knowledge and education.
What’s annoying about the ones I know is that they’re holier than thou “woke” types that like to remind you about how problematic your media is, but have huge blind spots for the things they like. How do they not pick up on the issues with BBT?
And you don’t like sexual assault jokes played for the same canned laughter?
friends, big bang theory, two and a half men then you switch the channel to find reskin 3737267 of the same old boring ass police show
stuff like this running all the time is why i stopped watching tv ages ago
OMFG cop procedurals. My parents watched so many of those fucking things that I sarcastically wrote an episode of one. Turns out that Federal Agent With Speaking Role IS Mr. Diddit.
I refuse to watch that shit and know the spin off is garbage because my Maga loving dad loves that show.
ugh I really like that show, it’s one of my comfort shows, and I really like the extended Big Bang Universe. It’s sad the show gets such a bad rap but it’s also not entirely unwarranted. The characters do feel really fleshed out, like they’re actual people who are the result of their life experiences. But if you can’t stand the way that Sheldon is, or the laugh track, or any combination thereof, the show really is impenetrable.
And annoyingly Young Sheldon goes on to be a really amazing prequel, but you need to watch and enjoy BBT first to get the most out of YS.
Honestly I hated BBT for the longest time too. Only a few years ago could I actually get into it.
Hating on big bang theory is how you signal your superiority online, it’s the same on lemmy as it was on reddit. Liking big bang (or friends, or…) is for normies, and sheep, and people here are /r/verysmart.
For what it’s worth I also enjoyed it, and sometimes put on a random episode (just like with friends). Haven’t seen young Sheldon tho, I don’t like prequels for some reason (same as better call Saul).
Fair. YS really is to BBT what BCS is to BB. So if you already don’t like BCS then YS is a hard sell.
Do keep an eye out for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe tho. Sci-fi sequel to BBT, sadly weekly episodes but quite enjoyable from the 2 episodes I’ve watched.
Yeah that show sucks too. I never got thru an episode…
I didn’t watch The Big Bang Theory but I’ll recommend Young Sheldon, funny and good story.
Idk why you’re downvoted, reportedly ‘Young Sheldon’ is way better. Partly because it was made without live audience.
I don’t even know that I waa being downvoted, maybe it doesn’t show in thunder ig. But Young Sheldon is funny.
Young Sheldon Suggests Communism
Its a show blud.