Following the disaster that was Lab Rats....why is there a desire by TV companies to get "back" to studio based sitcom? Is a Gavin & Stacey, an Extras or an Office not as big (if not bigger) money earner despite the production costs? Is an single location based single cam show that much more expensive anyway?
I don't see the appeal?
More accessible to the general audience. The presence of people in the studio creates a different atmosphere. That type of humour tends to have greater longevity and more open to more people. Etc.
Oh, and much funnier. But that's personal opinion of course.
After Lab Rats that particular band wagon might have slowed.
I suspect that the studio sitcom might be a bit of a lost art. A shame, because I do think they can be sharper if well done. I recall that with Yes Minister the original intention was to film without an audience, but Eddington and Hawthorne argued that they could time the lines better if they had an audience to bounce off.
Thank God for that. I can't imagine it as a closed-set show. The magic would have been totally drained from the programme.
Studio based sitcom is much, much cheaper. And easier to control.
Quote: Timbo @ July 11 2008, 12:43 AM BSTI recall that with Yes Minister the original intention was to film without an audience, but Eddington and Hawthorne argued that they could time the lines better if they had an audience to bounce off.
I recall seeing somewhere that in this case having a studio audience was a strong argument for actually releasing the series, as BBC supposedly had doubts about the show. Therefore the creators wanted the audience, just to prove that this show IS funny. "See, those people are laughing. Therefore the public will laugh as well" 
I can't remember where I saw it exactly.
Quote: Timbo @ July 11 2008, 12:43 AM BSTAfter Lab Rats that particular band wagon might have slowed.
I suspect that the studio sitcom might be a bit of a lost art. A shame, because I do think they can be sharper if well done.
I'm sure they can be great - i expect the BBC would love a Friends/seinfeild level show...i just wasn't sure why they prefered it to the single cam stuff which seems to rack up the baftas, the video sales and the exports.
Quote: Aaron @ July 11 2008, 12:08 AM BSTOh, and much funnier. But that's personal opinion of course.
That doesnt make any sense....its like saying movies are funnier than plays.
Friends is funnier than lead ballon and extras is funnier that lab rats......the most funny is most funny, not where it's filmed.
There is a difference to laughing out loud and smiling. The studio sitcom is geared more towards getting people to laugh out loud - a lot, hopefully. The single camera sitcom doesn't have that requirement built in.
Studio sitcoms also have a kind of security blanket quality to them - there's a three-walled set, people saying funny lines, you know what to expect. From there, the writers can often go as surreal or dark or weird as they like without alienating the audience, because at the end of the day its still a studio sitcom. If the studio audience finds it funny, then quite often the viewer will laugh out of a kind of 'shared experience' mentality.
Single camera sitcoms don't have that quality to them, so they sometimes have to work harder to get the laughs. On the plus side, you can sometimes lure the viewer into a false sense of security and spring the laughs on them - like those people that thought The Office was a real docudrama. (NOTE: did this actually happen or am I just believing an urban myth?) Single camera sitcoms also allow the programme-makers to be more creative with the visual style, like with Spaced.
Personally speaking, since I've got back into sitcom writing, I've made a conscious decision to scale back my projects (as far a sets and characters are concerned) so that they may work equally well as studio-bound or single camera sitcoms.
Quote: glaikit @ July 11 2008, 9:34 AM BST(NOTE: did this actually happen or am I just believing an urban myth?)
I'd have thought anyone thinking it was real for more than 5 seconds is a bt too stupid to turn a tv on by themselves!
I'm off to watch clone being filmed tonight -by one of the guys behind Friends and produced by Rough Cuts (The Office, ash attall) so i have a fear its like taking a wonderful desert and a wonderful main course and mashing them together to create poo. (at least i can only be pleased!)
Personally, I think the studio sitcom is a slightly purer, and consequently harder format for the writer.
A bit like a stage-play you only have words(ie character)to express mood and drive the plot.
Think how the sheer boredom of office life was expressed filmically in 'The Office'...photo-copiers grinding out paper, slow pans across a dreary office etc etc.
In the studio you have to say it, not show it - the polar opposite to the way you write a screenplay for instance.
It takes a better, more disciplined, writer, in my opinion.
Historically these sort of writers had no 'filmic' ambitions (more likely to produce a novel than a screenplay) and so spent all their time honing their studio craft.
Today, sadly, many have their eyes on Hollywood - the 'movie' is the holy grail for a lot of writers these days - so are more likely to go the single-camera route.
Quote: Pete @ July 11 2008, 9:44 AM BSTI'd have thought anyone thinking it was real for more than 5 seconds is a bt too stupid to turn a tv on by themselves!
Alas there are plenty of stupid people out there and all of them can work the TV - hence Big Brother's viewing figures. But the daddy of mockumentaries "This Is Spinal Tap" infamously fooled Liam Gallagher who had to be told by his brother that they weren't a real band.
Quote: Pete @ July 11 2008, 9:44 AM BSTI'm off to watch clone being filmed tonight -by one of the guys behind Friends and produced by Rough Cuts (The Office, ash attall) so i have a fear its like taking a wonderful desert and a wonderful main course and mashing them together to create poo. (at least i can only be pleased!)
I hope it's good - if not for your sake, but cos its got the great Jonathan Pryce in it. It would be heart-breaking to see him in some dross ('Tommorow Never Dies', excepted, of course!)
Everyone makes good points above. The more basic answer as to why studio sitcoms are making a comeback is that, about 12 months ago, the BBC made it clear to all production companies that it is the format they want to commission more of. This is because studio-based sitcoms are generally deemed to be more family friendly than closed set comedies (you see the BBC have been criticised for not making enough comedies that the whole family can enjoy... hence Lab Rats' attempt).
If you don't like studio sitcoms you better brace yourself - BBC1 and BBC3 are both are about to show their enthusiasm for the sub-genre - the flagship channel has more Not Going Out, After You've Gone, My Family and The Green Green Grass later in the year, whilst the digital channel gives us stuff like Coming of Age and Clone.
Quote: Mark @ July 11 2008, 10:17 AM BSTThis is because studio-based sitcoms are generally deemed to be more family friendly than closed set comedies (you see the BBC have been criticised for not making enough comedies that the whole family can enjoy... hence Lab Rats' attempt).
Except Lab Rats was post watershed - you wouldn't watch it with your kids.
Quote: glaikit @ July 11 2008, 10:10 AM BSTthe daddy of mockumentaries "This Is Spinal Tap" infamously fooled Liam Gallagher.
I imagine there are harder people to fool!
Quote: Mark @ July 11 2008, 10:17 AM BSTThe more basic answer as to why studio sitcoms are making a comeback is that, about 12 months ago, the BBC made it clear to all production companies that it is the format they want to commission more of. This is because studio-based sitcoms are generally deemed to be more family friendly than closed set comedies (you see the BBC have been criticised for not making enough comedies that the whole family can enjoy... hence Lab Rats' attempt).
If you don't like studio sitcoms you better brace yourself - BBC1 and BBC3 are both are about to show their enthusiasm for the sub-genre - the flagship channel has more Not Going Out, After You've Gone, My Family and The Green Green Grass later in the year, whilst the digital channel gives us stuff like Coming of Age and Clone.
Isn't that just like a large public organisation? Respond to legitimate criticism with an ill-thought out lurch in the opposite direction?