Cool News
Fired COMMUNITY Mastermind Dan Harmon Headed To Fox??
Wanda Two Saints over at E! is reporting that Dan Harmon is nearing a deal for a new sitcom pilot at Fox.
Harmon, of course, is the creator and former showrunner of “Community” whom NBC replaced subsequent to the show’s acclaimed third season.
Now the bad news. E! reports that Harmon’s Fox project may be “multi-camera,” which is network-speak for “laugh track.”
No word on what the new Harmon sitcom would be about, but 13 years ago Harmon co-created another pilot for Fox, a vehicle for Jack Black and the voice of Owen Wilson titled “Heat Vision and Jack.”
Find all of E!’s story on the matter here.
Readers Talkback
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SUCK MY COCK
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July 26, 2012, 5:11 p.m. CST
Does "laugh track" automatically mean bad now? Almost all the top comedies of all time had "laugh tracks".
by Coughlins Laws
Very few of these documentary style comedies beside Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Office are that funny...
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July 26, 2012, 5:12 p.m. CST
Arrested Development would have been better with a laugh track.
by Metroid_Fetish
I'm a genius.
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July 26, 2012, 5:31 p.m. CST
can't remember the last comedy I watched that had a laugh track
by Lando Griffin
but if this is as funny as community I'll give it a shot
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July 26, 2012, 5:35 p.m. CST
Laugh tracks have been a great indication that shows will be terrible, for a long time now. Welcome to the year 2000. They are highly annoying
by happybunni
Perhaps I shouldn't say terrible, but laugh tracks make the shows incredibly cheesy and lame. To the point where the laugh track gets overused, and becomes such an annoyance that you no longer want to watch the show
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What's the matter, feel like you're trippin'?
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...it was the third season, not fourth. Just FYI.
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audiences are smart....we know when to laff
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But maybe it's multi-camera because it'll be live? Just a thought.
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I'm worried it'll just feel like a cheap imitation. I know all the cast are saying the right things but has replacing a showrunner ever meant an increase in popularity or quality? I suppose Falling Skies is a lot better this season but that's not saying much.
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But I've seen a good number of comments that say the show improved quite a bit following Darabont's ousting. What's weird about Harmon's firing though is NBC has clearly written Community off. Short season airing Friday nights? It's not going to pull I any kind of numbers, the extra 13 episodes wont get them to the magic syndication number of 100 (not that thats a necessary benchmark anyways). I really wonder why NBC renewed it at all? My conspiracy theory is that it was renewed solely so someone could fire Harmon, someone at NBC just satisfying a grudge.
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to inform morons when something "funny" is happening otherwise they may get scared off.
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I would watch that show. Or at the very least pirate it.
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Just as Conan O'Brien, Norm MacDonald, and David Letterman were before him. He joins a great tradition of people that NBC has screwed over.
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that they insult the audience by assuming we're too slow to understand when the show is supposed to be funny. If not that, then I guess the intent would be to make it seem like you're watching the show with several other people instead of just being alone, and well...that could be a whole different problem.
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It would be cool to see a sitcom character do crowd work. I'd guess that is where Harmon would go with it. I guess It's Gary Shandling came close to that. Laugh track sitcoms include Seinfeld, Get a Life. Most great sketch shows have a laugh track. You can go in a lot of directions with a show in front of an audience.
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No network would have let Heat Vision and Jack finish a season. It was too good for tv.
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July 26, 2012, 9:47 p.m. CST
How about this: Film it before a live studio audience so you have the energy of a live theatrical performance, but don't sweeten the crowd reactions.
by Greggers
Shoot the show's narrative in order, so the audience is seeing a play. Don't give the audience a warm-up guy telling them they're "part of the show." Have it be a natural theatrical experience - win or lose. Of course, there's no fucking way they'd do that. I can't tell you how much respect for SNL I lost when I realized that they sweeten the laughs. I remember watching John Malkovich's first SNL appearance when he was in a sketch that bombed, and they let it air with the crowd not laughing. That was interesting in its own right. Now it seems like all SNL sketches get laughs like you're watching Two and a Half Men.
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July 26, 2012, 10:30 p.m. CST
SCUD THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN! THE CARTOON! THAT WOULD BE THE FUCKING SHIT! DO IT DOUG!
by Gus
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The only thing that can save NBC right now would be a SEINFELD, FRIENDS, COSBY SHOW (Seasons 1-4) or CHEERS type of comedy. It would have to be "modern" and "edgy," so that would probably leave out a family comedy. However, a tenth season of SEINFELD would result in immediate first place finish for NBC.
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Its just another one of those shows with some rabbi exec head that gets it renewed while nobody actually watches the thing.
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...another "show about nothing." SEINFELD, CHEERS, FRIENDS and other successful comedies were more about human interaction -- and the comedy from it -- than plot-driven series. You simply need a premise with a location/job/apartment where 20 or 30 somethings interact. It can be a bar, a studio, a house, an office, a school, a grocery store, a hotel, the basement, the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the DMV, the ghetto, the suburbs, etc... Then, you need 4-8 major characters and 4-8 minor characters from a wide range of backgrounds. Of course, you need some attractive stars. Hmmm. What will be the setting of the next great show?
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Jesus Christ, the internet's dire need to rebel against laugh tracks is ridiculous. Just because a lot of shit these days relies on laugh tracks doesn't mean they're no good. The literal best of representations of the form had laugh tracks. Both single and multi-cam. Sanford and Son. All In The Family. Cheers. Seinfeld. Friends. The Cosby Show. I Love Lucy. Dick Van Dyke. Married With Children. The Jeffersons. Good Times. The Honeymooners. Happy Days. Roseanne. Lavern and Shirley. The Fresh Prince. MASH. Mary Tyler Moore. NewsRadio. Golden Girls. Frasier. Family Ties. Three's Company. Taxi. The Andy Griffith Show. Gilligan's Island. Nightcourt. Newhart. Wings. Family Matters. WKRP. Third Rock From The Sun. Get Smart. In summation: Shut the fuck up about laugh tracks.
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Jesus Christ, the internet's dire need to rebel against laugh tracks is ridiculous. Just because a lot of shit these days relies on laugh tracks doesn't mean they're no good. The literal best of representations of the form had laugh tracks. Both single and multi-cam. Sanford and Son. All In The Family. Cheers. Seinfeld. Friends. The Cosby Show. I Love Lucy. Dick Van Dyke. Married With Children. The Jeffersons. Good Times. The Honeymooners. Happy Days. Roseanne. Lavern and Shirley. The Fresh Prince. MASH. Mary Tyler Moore. NewsRadio. Golden Girls. Frasier. Family Ties. Three's Company. Taxi. The Andy Griffith Show. Gilligan's Island. Nightcourt. Newhart. Wings. Family Matters. WKRP. Third Rock From The Sun. Get Smart. In summation: Shut the fuck up about laugh tracks.
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All of them. That means the really shitty shows had them too, so yes, of course the top tier shows had laughtracks. Almost all of them would be improved without some dumb audience members chuckling over everything that happens. Think to yourself, would Wonder Years be better with laughing machines? Would Arrested Development? What about geek-bait Firefly? It was a comedy, so it should have one too, right?
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July 26, 2012, 11:29 p.m. CST
Let's go back to black and white TV and deny women the right to vote.
by Metroid_Fetish
Things were better back then. Especially that second thing. Fucking uppity bitches with their "opinions".
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...I'll watch it, if it's anywhere near as good and batshit insane as Community.
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Sure would love an edit button.
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From what he said, seems like it was all Chevy's doing but he could have been joking.
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I watch all 3 seasons of Community, then I repeat. I love it. Can't wait to see what he does next.
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... and I wouldn't mind another show like that one.
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... and not in a good way, either. No wonder it never made it to series.
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Most of the shows you listed were filmed before a live audience (or the majority was) the most obvious of which was The Honeymooners. Live Audience =|= Laugh Track ie a seperate soundtrack of recorded laughter used in place of an audience. Live Audience- All In The Family. Dick Van Dyke. The Honeymooners. I Love Lucy. Happy Days. Lavern and Shirley. Mary Tyler Moore. Frasier. Cheers. Taxi. Friends. Seinfeld. Married With Children. Sanford and Son. The Jeffersons. Good Times. The Fresh Prince. Roseanne. The Golden Girls. The Cosby Show. NewsRadio. Family Ties. Three's Company. Nightcourt. Newhart. Wings. Family Matters. WKRP in Cincinnati. Third Rock From The Sun. Laugh Track- MASH. The Andy Griffith Show. Gilligan's Island. Get Smart.
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and use it like they used to in old Scooby Doo episodes. <p> 'Daphne says 'Oh Scoob' with a disapproving frown' <p> (AUDIENCE HAS LAUGHING FIT THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD CAUSE HEART FAILURE)
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...not. If there's one network worse than NBC at recognizing quality in their own programming, it's Fox.
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Now **there's** a series that's in dire need of a laugh track.
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Fox is the smooth talking, come over here i'll treat you right, player - that turns into a domestic abuser once you've given up the cinnemon ring to his infected cock.
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Out of the frying pan, into the fire!
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First, have you tried to watch many of those as an adult? Most of them are really not that funny any more. And by the way, this isn't new. People have been complaining about laugh tracks since the 60s. The biggest problem with laugh tracks is they slow the pacing of the show down. Arrested Development could never have been done the way it was with a live audience. People on here like to bash TBBT, especially when they use that clip with the laugh track [and audience sounds] removed. However, when there is an audience you have to allow time for audience reactions. Shows without laugh tracks can be much more dense with the comedy.
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July 27, 2012, 6 a.m. CST
I would love a 4th wall breaking sitcom ala It's Gary Shandling.
by hst666
That was a great show.
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All those live audience sitcoms used laugh tracks as well. They have too. When you're on the 5th take, the audience just doesn't have the same enthusiasm.
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Beautiful Dawn Cody needs some prime time network love. Also, Rob Schrab needs to be involved heavily. Dan Harmon may be a little abrasive, but he shits gold.
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.....Season 4 of community isnt shit
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July 27, 2012, 8:53 a.m. CST
The problem is with a laugh "track." Filiming in front of and recording an audiences reaction is totally fine. It just needs to be organic.
by JediRob
It's those phony ones that are the worst.
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Should be abolished and left in antiquity where they belong, like slavery. Laugh tracks are something that may have seemed essential at one point, but are truly unnecessary and wrong.
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The perfect combo of creative vision, cast, and writers. But NBC smashed that bottle. Dan Harmon might be able to catch that magic again, but it wont be easy.
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July 28, 2012, 12:36 a.m. CST
even GOOD British Comedies have laugh tracks
by DukieMichaelNamondRandy
although it detracts from the jokes at times, there are a few contemporary brit-coms that are original and interesting and funny. Even if all the jokes don't hit their mark. Red Dwarf, the I.T. Crowd, Mr. Bean (guilty pleasure) all had laugh tracks and unique voices.
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July 28, 2012, 12:12 p.m. CST
I look forward to enjoying the first season, then being disappointed with every episode after that.
by Fries Against
Remember when Community used to be a sitcom?
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