

This approach was subsequently adopted by most U.S. This approach produced a marriage between cinema and theater television and plays. This implementation allowed the show to benefit from the strengths of both stage plays (live audience) and film (camera angle options, point of view, etc.). This was made possible by the idea of Desi Arnaz to use multi-camera setup, a concept which had been pioneered by Jerry Fairbanks, and which had been used on The Silver Theater, Truth or Consequences and Amos ‘n’ Andy.
LIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE SERIES
Premiering in 1951, I Love Lucy was the first television series to be filmed in front of an audience. Thus, these plays were now directed towards both the live audience and those watching from home. Starting in the 1940s, these plays were broadcast live. Stage veterans were experienced in performing for a crowd. In its earliest days, most television broadcasts stemmed from the world of New York theater. Most early radio shows in the United States were recorded in the presence of a studio audience, including comedies such as The Jack Benny Program, The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, and Fibber McGee and Molly, as well as anthology series like The Mercury Theatre and Lux Radio Theatre.

Shows like The Red Green Show, meanwhile, actually make the audience a part of the show, since that show is supposedly a television broadcast made from the (fictional) Possum Lodge, cast members react and speak directly to the audience as if they were talking to the viewers at home. Some game shows, such as Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right, select contestants directly from the studio audience.įor sitcom/ sketch comedy shows like All in the Family, Saturday Night Live and Happy Days (for indoor scenes), the use of a live studio audiences essentially turns them into de facto stage productions while shooting individual scenes, with minor problems like the audience applauding or uproariously whooping (the latter since becoming a satirical cliché in shows which mock the format and tropes of traditional sitcoms) when their favorite performers enter the stage. However, as an enticement to attend, one or more members of the audience may be selected to win a prize, which is usually provided by a manufacturer in exchange for an advertisement, usually at the end of the show. In the United States, tickets to be a part of a studio audience are usually given away. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canned laughter). Studio audience at Hunan Television, ChinaĪ studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program.
