Yes, that laughter is live.
Chuck Lorre is known as the King of Sitcoms for good reason, as he created or co-created a long list of shows including Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, Mom, Bob Hearts Abishola (which ended earlier in the 2024 TV schedule), and of course The Big Bang Theory. Most of his series are multi-cam sitcoms with finished episodes that include audience laughter in the audio. Despite what some might think, Lorre doesn’t use canned laugh tracks for his shows. Live studio audiences can be tough when a joke doesn’t hit, but he also sees a perk out of gags that flop on set.
Lorre spoke with The Wrap about the status of sitcoms, including why he doesn’t believe that multi-cams are dying off. He also addressed the use of live studio audiences for multi-cam shows, saying:
If you’ve been to tapings, you know that silence is horrifying. But it tells you that you’ve made a mistake.
It’s hard to imagine more immediate feedback to a joke than an audience that’s not so much as chuckling, and apparently that can help Lorre address missteps. His shows also aren’t the only ones keeping multi-cams with studio audiences alive, as NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez and Extended Family both did the same. In fact, the Lopez vs. Lopez creator went out of the way to set the record straight about not using a laugh track, and Donald Faison raved about switching to a live studio audience for Extended Family after nine seasons of Scrubs. Clearly, the format is not dead for Lorre and others in the industry.
That’s not to say that it’s without risk, though. Lorre joked that it’s a “wonderful guessing game that involves millions of dollars” to not use fake laughter, then explained:
To be truthful, you’re not supposed to hear the laughter in the four camera sitcom because you’re laughing.
Interestingly, Chuck Lorre has branched out from his usual format with some of his most recent shows. Ahead of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, he explained that the importance is finding a way to connect with audiences. The Young Sheldon spinoff will be a multi-cam, whereas Young Sheldon itself was a single cam without a studio audience. Bookie (which is available streaming with a Max subscription) is a single cam as well. Still, if anybody’s word can be trusted about what works and doesn’t when it comes to comedy on the small screen, I think Lorre more than qualifies after all of his success.
It remains to be seen if Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage will join the ranks of other Chuck Lorre shows to become huge and long-running hits. Big Bang Theory canon suggests that Georgie and Mandy’s marriage really shouldn’t last all that long, but TBBT continuity may be more guidelines than actual rules after changes that Young Sheldon made.
If you’re among the many looking forward to the Georgie and Mandy spinoff when it premieres this fall on CBS, you can always revisit the earlier chapters of Cooper family lore in the meantime. All twelve seasons of The Big Bang Theory and the first six seasons of Young Sheldon are streaming on Max.
