Did these classic TV sitcoms film in front of a live studio audience?

It's a tough quiz, but it's good for a laugh!

 

One of the trademark attributes of a sitcom is the use of laughter within the show. Dating back to the 1950s, television executives were looking for a way to regulate the laughter in their programs. Live audiences provided authenticity and interesting comedic beats for viewer to follow, but weren't always laughing at the jokes that needed to land. Alternatively, tracks with prerecorded laughter helped to inform the audience of laughing points and helped jokes land better, but didn't always sound authentic.

After relying on laugh tracks for much of the 1960s, the 1970s brought an era of mixing the live laughter and the fake, a technique known as "sweetening"; live studio audiences would provide the base laughter, and the tracks would be used to fill in the gaps.

We've compiled a list of shows and we want to know; even if the final edit of these programs was sweetened, did the shows film in front of a live studio audience? Give it your best shot!

Watch The Flintstones on MeTV!

Sundays at 10 AM

*available in most MeTV markets
  1. The Ed Sullivan Show
  2. The Munsters
  3. I Love Lucy
  4. The Andy Griffith Show
  5. Rhoda
  6. The Dick Van Dyke Show
  7. All in the Family
  8. The Beverley Hillbillies
  9. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  10. The Flintstones
  11. The Brady Bunch
  12. Mork & Mindy
  13. M*A*S*H

Did these classic TV sitcoms film in front of a live studio audience?

Your Result...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque nec ante ipsum. Mauris viverra, urna et porta sagittis, lorem diam dapibus diam, et lacinia libero quam id risus.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

64 Comments

KrisD 2 months ago
11/13 who would've thought that the Mary Tyler Show would have an audience & i didn't watch Rhoda
wanderer2575 KrisD 2 months ago
In an interview, Ed Asner said the script for "Chuckles Bites the Dust" was a few minutes too short. But when filming the scene where he and Gavin MacLeod sat in Lou's office and told bad jokes, their own laughter got the audience laughing for long periods and it filled up the missing minutes.
Moverfan 3 months ago
12/13 (missed Rhoda). Would've been interesting to see how The Flintstones could be filmed in front of a live audience...
cperrynaples Moverfan 3 months ago
Yep, remember when a Simpsons episode was "filmed before a live audience"? That's when Homer & Marge became Archie & Edith!
CaptainDunsel 33 months ago
12/13
I missed on Rhoda.
Now. I just want to know if *anyone* answered "yes" on #10.
Snickers CaptainDunsel 27 months ago
If they did there not going to say so.
DerekBird 34 months ago
You got 13 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done!
Tammy 34 months ago
You got 12 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done!
ChrisThomas 43 months ago
Funny but three of those my father produced while another four of them only happened because my dad had given the writers and creators of those shows their start on the three shows from the list which his company produced.
Don 51 months ago
13/13.

"The Ed Sullivan Show" was not a sitcom, and "The Flintstones" was an animated comedy.
Tammy 53 months ago
You got 10 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done! missed MTM Rhoda and Dick Van Dyke Did not know they were live
Kaydee 53 months ago
11/13 Guess I knew a fake laugh from a real laugh LOL
Lacey 53 months ago
12/13 I did not know Dick Van Dyke was in front of a live audience.
Angie Lacey 53 months ago
Same. 12/13 also.
Kaydee Lacey 53 months ago
Neither did I
Tammy Lacey 53 months ago
same
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?