• atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    MASH never had a laugh track. It was added in syndication and I believe the episodes, like Seinfeld, were sped up by small percentage to make them a couple minutes shorter.

    I fully disagree with you though that there is no place left for classic sitcoms and that they haven’t aged well. While a little old still (but newer than Scrubs) I will refer to The IT Crowd as an example.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That’s British TV. They make it work by averaging like 3 hours a year of programming to focus on quality. A single season of an American-style 3-wall sitcom has a longer runtime than most British sitcoms have in their entire run.

      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        averaging like 3 hours a year of programming to focus on quality

        I’d like to know more about this. Is there a name for this technique? A Wikipedia or blog page about the phenomenon? Some example shows that follow that rule?

      • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        I don’t feel like the origin makes the argument that classic style sitcoms aren’t past their prime any less relevant. But okay; The Conners is a US show that was recorded in front of a live audience and got 7 seasons that ended just this past April.