In the US: Thursdays, 9:30/8.30c, NBC In the UK: Not yet acquired
There’s a long tradition of multi-camera US comedies been prefaced by one of the cast members pointing out that it was “filmed in front of a live studio audience”. It’s supposed to make you think that the laughter isn’t canned, which is what the likes of M*A*S*H* had to endure.
M*A*S*H’s Larry Gelbart explains this history of canned laughter and why it is so awful
However, I must confess that with multi-camera comedies now being so rare, I was taken aback when NBC’s new sitcom, Abby’s, rolled out its own disclaimer about having a studio audience. That wasn’t the only reason, though. See if you can work out the other reason I was surprised:
NBC (US)’s Abby’s was filmed in front of a live outdoor audience
Yes, it’s filmed before a live outdoor audience. Have a think about that. An outdoor audience. That’s going to sound different, isn’t yet? No echoes, more diffuse. That sort of thing.
Given the fact that there are no echoes, the cast never leave gaps in the dialogue for when the audience are supposedly laughing and no one’s really delivering lines like they’re expecting anyone 30 metres away to be able to hear them, I’m going to go with the theory that Abby’s was both filmed in front of a live outdoor audience and has canned laughter.
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
The OA – Part II
This week’s reviews
‘Tis the lull before the Easter storm, as there’s a plethora of new and returning shows about to hit the world’s airwaves. Indeed, WHYBW is momentarily shifting to Wednesday and maybe to Tuesday next week to take account of the fact that not only is Wednesday now the busiest TV night of the week (incumbents: The Magicians, Whiskey Cavalier, The Good Fight), a load of shows are joining them tonight (Happy!, What We Do In The Shadows) , so I won’t have time to watch them all tomorrow. I do need to do some work.
Orange Wednesday is taking a break this week, too, since
I haven’t watched any movies yet this week
I can’t do both WHYBW and Orange Wednesday on a Wednesday
Fingers crossed for next week, though, assuming WHYBW moves to Tuesday, which it probably will.
CityTV (Canada)’s The Murders
New shows
After the jump, I’ll be looking at The Murders (Canada: CityTV; UK: Universal). Last week, I did mention Hulu’s The Act; however, I belatedly realise that’s not just an anthology show but a dramatised true crime anthology show, so that’s now off the menu.
Coming our way tonight is FX (US)’s What We Do In The Shadows and later on in the week there’s NBC (US)’s Abby’s, so I’ll definitely be reviewing them. But I suspect there’ll be more shows for me to look at than that.
Friday, for example, should be bringing us Netflix’s French sci-fi original Osmosis and despite last week’s claim to the contrary, Amazon’s Hanna will also be hitting our screens on Friday, so either one of those is likely to be next week’s Boxset Monday.
CBS (US)’s Magnum P.I.
The regulars
Since we’re a day early, I’ve not had time to watch any more episodes of Il Miracolo (The Miracle) and lovely wife hasn’t yet felt the urge to watch the latest Star Trek: Discovery, so they’ll both have to wait until next time.
But Magnum P.I. and The Orville are both back. Can you guess which episode of Star Trek they knocked off this week in The Orville? All will be revealed after the jump.
Joining them are Doom Patrol and The Good Fight. See you in a mo!
