The jokes are so stupid and the laugh track is....well, laughable.

I liked last night's episode. Some very creative lines.

Not a laugh track, live audience. This subject was addressed by the producer.

That's actually true, supposedly. The producers swear that they use a live studio audience. I wonder where they find these people, though. This live audience of real humans sounds so artificial, the laughter so forced.

JFC STFU already. You dont like the show. We get it. You 2 cry about this show more than a little girl with skinned knees. ****.

I was defending the show against criticisms of it using a laugh track!

We're not the People's Front of Judea, we're the Judean People's Front!

Last night was better than the previous week.

Depending on the popularity of the show, studio audiences are generally made up of tourists and temp workers.

If it's a popular show like Seinfeld, BBT, Two & Half Men, etc, it's about 80% tourists and 20% temps.

If it's just a medium rated show, it can be as much as 80% temps or more.

Temps as in 'paid to laugh & applaud'?

Yep. It's a very common practice for daytime talk shows and anything filmed before a "live studio audience".

FWIW, there are monitors that instruct the audience to laugh, gasp, etc.

Hmmmm, I've thought that the audience was like a paying audience. I didn't know they were paid to go. Thats crazy.

How much do the tourists pay?

Tapings are free. Some shows allow advance tickets, others require that you wait outside. If there's a big name musical act appearing on Leno, Lopez, Ellen, etc., fans arrive early in the morning. Otherwise, it's usually a two hour wait or so.

Shows that consistently struggle to maintain a live audience hire temps through temp agencies. No one wants a "dead" crowd and often times, the crowd is "coached up" before taping, especially in the case of the more confrontational shows like Springer, etc.

I was offered free beer to be in the audience of The Man Show the last time I was in LA. I didn't really have time as it was going to take about 4 hours out of my day.

Ziggy-socki ziggy-socki oi-oi-oi!!!!

I feel like I should already have known this, but I didn't. Interesting.

The wife and I have just started getting into this show and we really enjoy it. It is really funny and really pretty smart. Not just the jokes, but the actual content of the dialogue when Sheldon starts talking about physics and other assorted scientific facts and principles.

Maybe it was her outfits, or my hatred for her, but Penny has gained a few pounds right?

Hatred? How is that possible?

Maybe a few.

I'd still do wonderful things with her body.

She's one of those girls in which a five pound swing is really noticeable on TV.

But all in all, she's tiny.

Does she look as delicious IRL? :)

I used to love her on the show. Then a few things happened.

I read an interview with her in Watch magazine about her relationship with Johnny Gelecki (Leonard). Basically, he wanted to keep it a secret amongst the cast and crew and no one else. She wanted to be the brad and angelina. Pretty dumb, but I cant blame her for being one of those attention seeking dummies.

Then I read her Maxim spread, how she loved when guys notice her and hit on her blah blah blah. Which is fine, more power to her, except she has a story how she was pissed at the cast for getting mad at an extra that was hitting on her on set. Mind you, this is when she was dating Johnny and the cast knew, tried to put a stop to it and she made a scene of it. I could only imagine how humiliating that was for Johnny. **** her.

Big Bang theory becomes a hit. Everyone holds out. She takes the longest to get a deal done, which is dumb, because she is most replaceable on the cast. Insert, Olivia Munn into her spot, no one bats an eye. So she signs her deal finally, gets more money than God and promptly breaks her foot horseback riding. This causes rewrites and when the shows quality began to suffer. Penny is now a bartender at the cheescake factory.

I think the writers start to hate her too because this is when she dumps Leonard for no reason then becomes jealous he is banging the hot Indian. Its like they intentionally trying to make her unlikeable.

She is pretty dumb in her interviews, but what hot girl isnt?

.... So i have my reasons.

I've never had the pleasure. :(

None of them are replaceable. Once any of them is gone the show is dead.

I was saying back after season 2. Now? You are correct.


In other news, the cast now wants $500,000 per episode in the next seasons.

That was the best episode in years. I really liked the new pairings. Although they were pretty harsh to Raj at the end of it.

They should get it, they have the number 1 comedy ON tv. Its that damned big. CBS is making a ****TON of this show and just killing it in syndication. Its on fox, on tbs and possibly a few others, think its on CW as well.

They had 18million viewers and have a 5.2 in the 18-49. thats HUGE numbers

Who really gives a shit how she is IRL? I want to bang her, I don't want to marry her. She could be the biggest bitch in the world and it wouldn't change that.

Pay them. The cast of Friends got 1 million bucks per episode in their prime, and Sheldon and company are better.

How can anyone possibly be hating on this show? Oh yeah, it's the internet.

Sweeeeet Caroliiiiiine Bah bah baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

I hate that song, but that was funny as hell.

FYP

TO THE NEILMOBILE!

Cause they comin' to America.

The laugh track every time Sheldon talks kills it for me. He could say "we are out of milk" and it would sound like 500 people are laughing

i never said they didnt. I was mentioning it as there could (very likely) be another holdout from the cast. I cant blame them. you are spot on.

It's actually a lot easier than you think.

I like the show, but I can understand why people hate it.

First, the laugh track. Real audience I know, but it makes the show an easy target.
Second, the Flanderization of Sheldon. I read a fascinating article on how Sheldon was a great example of asperger syndrome. Now he is so over the top I can see how people would have issues with the character. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...Flanderization

Third, the theme of the show has completely changes since its humble beginnings. It started as a geek culture sitcom. Now people make the case that it just makes fun of geeks. I dont go that far, but I will say, the last few years it has become a very generic sitcom. The plot lines could have revolved around any characters on tv. This is exceptionally true with the women. The two are doctors, but most plot lines revolve around the same generic tropes most sitcom women have to deal with. That is disappointing.

Finally, it is popular. Nothing is more fun to hate than something popular.

I take back what I said about Penny looking heavy. She looked amazing in that lingerie. That was a pretty good episode. I wish they had more stuff like that Indiana Jones subplot. Definitely a trait from their first 2 seasons.

They also had her in some tight ass jeans which was different. He has a nice ass too lol

Lol she completely ruined Raiders of the lost Ark for Sheldon. That shit made me laugh. Lol

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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jzSTQMx8vSs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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That was quite a hilarious observation.

i must admit, think i drooled a little bit when she was sitting their in that purple lingerie

You're welcome.
http://i.minus.com/ijxqPJLR736fw.gif

I'd love to hit that shit, but Walowitz's bitch is just as hot, if not more so, in my opinion.

I still think she looks like she's put on some weight.

I think her ass is a little bigger, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing to me.

No question she has.

This is from the pilot.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__.../BBT_pilot.png

She's not gonna age well imo. In face or body.

I'm disappointed this show has a thread. Do you guys watch Full House too?

in the Pilot she was also like 20 years old. Most people fill out a little once they hit the late 20's.

She's by no means fat, but she's also, not a kid anymore.

There is no comparison at all. Full House was a stupid show aimed at kids that wasn't funny at all. Big Bang Theory is an intelligent show, and very funny.

I lol when I see buffoonery like this on the internet.

Oh, for sure. She is still bigger than the first few season, but must have starved herself knowing this scene was coming because there is a difference from the previous episodes this season.

This happens a lot on shows. Look at Cobie Smulders. That first season of HIMYM... she was the hottest woman on TV. Then she had a kid. Believe me she is hot now, I just wish she did her Maxim shoot when she was a 10, not a 9.9. Same could be said with cupcake girl all these years later on that show.

And you watch The Big Bang Theory, so there goes your credibility. It's like being insulted by a guy who uses the word buffoonery. oh wait..

That piped in "aww" at the hospital last night was the worst canned audience I have seen on this show in a while. Took me right out of the awesome song that followed it.

I have never really paid much attention to the audience.

I just watch the show.

I can't stand the canned audience but I don't let it stop me from enjoying the show.

They don't use a canned audience. I toured their studio and that was something they were awful proud of. They have several mics over the crowd and the sound guys can zone in one one section over another if they like someone's laugh and such.

That was 1.5 years ago though so things may have changed between then and now.

they did for that scene. It was the same canned aww from the brady bunch. I believe you about the studio tho.

You have evidence of this?

It was the Wilhelm Aww.

LMAO

this is the dumbest debate ever on this forum... and i will enable it:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_bang_th...hat-i-met-you/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_znAGsGqMo
either it is canned, or the whole audience lets out an short aww and they have no idea why.

Let's talk about how much hotter Melissa Rauch is with her hair down and glasses removed.

This is really one of the worst show on television

Really? Have you watched "Two Broke Girls"?

You right... I haven't given enough bad TV a chance I will edit it to "one of" the worse shows on TV

I'm guessing you just don't like sitcoms.

LOL. You posted a single short sentence, then you edited it, and you still can't get the grammar correct. It's not surprising that you don't get Big Bang Theory. It's WAY over your head.

I can get behind some sitcoms... Community is one of my favorite shows on television. for some reason I have always liked How I met your mother even though it got old after awhile. but I cant deal with this show. Its more then likely not worse than most things on TV I just cant stand how it misrepresents nerd culture.

It is way better, way funnier, and way smarter than either of those shows.

Did you hate science in school? Just asking. Maybe the science in the show turns you off.

LOL.....makes you chuckle to hear that people are arguing over whether or not they like a show because of the "canned laughter".

But then again, there are shows that people find hilarious I find idiotic and banal and can't figure out why people watch them.

It's all in your personal taste.

The Big Bang Theory is not a smart show. It's a dumb relationship comedy wearing thick glasses and a pocket protector. The jokes sometimes reference science and geek culture, but rarely in a way that requires you to understand the reference to get the joke (and if you do need to get the reference they explain it).

I read an article that said they added canned laughter in post-production. I saw no reason to question its validity at the time.

This.

I like BBT, but it is not a "science" show.

whoa, pump the brakes there. First two seasons, you may have an argument.