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.
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.
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.
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?
Most British comedies that I’ve seen have 6 or 7 episodes per series.
Some of my favorites that follow the rule …
The Black Adder
Red Dwarf
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
The Mighty Boosh (9 episodes in series 1)
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
Peep Show
That Mitchell and Webb Look
The Cleaner
Upstart Crow
Black Books
The IT Crowd
Fawlty Towers
Even Monty Python’s Flying Circus only had 13 episodes per series. The Carol Burnett Show, which ran in the US at the same time, had 24 to 30 episodes each season.
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.
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.
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.
Last Man Standing ran for 10 years and was shit.
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?
Most British comedies that I’ve seen have 6 or 7 episodes per series.
Some of my favorites that follow the rule …
Even Monty Python’s Flying Circus only had 13 episodes per series. The Carol Burnett Show, which ran in the US at the same time, had 24 to 30 episodes each season.