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Weekend Estimates | TF4 - 100M (Paramount sticking to 100M for the Wknd Est)| More Numbers on Page 1

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Rudolf Box Office Gold

Rudolf

Posted
Posted

No, you don't get it. The laugh track IS overused. That's the point. It's a parody of how, say, The Big Bang Theory, the laugh track is the only reason you laugh and said track laughs at everything.In real life, I'm not a fan of laugh tracks, but for the sake of a sitcom parody, it felt necessary, so I had fun with it. That's why it breaks down coughing at a point (even though it's not in the final cut hanks to a poor editor)

Perhaps I am elitist, but I think most people would not get a lot of the jokes on BBT, if it were not for the laugh track.

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Dementeleus Cinematic Universe

Dementeleus

Posted
Posted

I always thought Seinfeld had the best studio audiences. For example, I don't think this scene would have been nearly as great without them:

 

 

You realize that some of those laughs (in whole or in part) were 40 years old when they taped that episode, right? ;)

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Spidey Freak Global Phenomenon

Spidey Freak

Posted
Posted (edited)

You know what?

Here you go, my audition for BOF sitcom: a ten minute skit I wrote for English class involving five literary characters (Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye, Piggy from Lord of the Flies, Dante from Dante's Inferno, Siddhartha from Siddhartha, and Wen-Fu from The Kitchen God's Wife) living together. EVERYBODY MODERATELY DISLIKES PIGGY

INT. HOME- AFTERNOON

Opening wide shot of Dante and Siddhartha sitting on a couch chatting. Siddhartha wears workout clothes (yoga pants etc.) Dante wears normal clothes (Jesus related shirt, crosses?) The door opens and Piggy comes in from a long day at school. He has a book bag and is dressed in his school uniform.

SFX: AUDIENCE CHEERS

PIGGY (sighing)

Gee willikers! What a tiring day at school! All I did was get bullied!

SIDDHARTHA (worried)

You poor thing. You should report them.

DANTE (dejected)

Leave them to God, Piggy. They will suffer in Hell for their sins.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

Stop saying things like that!! People will talk, and we’ll have to move again.

SFX: AUDIENCE OOHS

The door slams open and Holden enters, smoking an e-cigarette. He also wears a school uniform but is much more disheveled/laid-back. He’s wearing his trademark hat.

SFX: AUDIENCE CHEERS

SIDDHARTHA

How was your day at school, Holden?

HOLDEN

School? Only phonies go to school. I spent all day watching the ducks.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

He does that everyday.

SIDDHARTHA (scolding)

Your studies are just as important as appreciating nature, Holden.

HOLDEN

Yeah but no where near as fun.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

And no smoking in the house! You know what it does to Piggy’s asthma.

HOLDEN

Sucks to his asthma. Besides it’s a Blu e-cig. Only phonies who want tar filled lungs smoke normal cigarettes.

SIDDHARTHA

Well that’s true, but don’t do it in here.

Holden, annoyed, turns off his cigarette.

PIGGY

Today at school, I had an asthma attack.

SFX: AUDIENCE OOHS

SIDDHARTHA (worried)

Oh, my! Are you okay?

PIGGY

I’m fine. They made us run laps in gym today. You know what running does to me. But, my friend, Jack, hit me in the back a lot and it stopped!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

HOLDEN

Piggy’s friends are all phonies. They should kiss my ass-mar.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

DANTE

Kissing can lead to lust. That is sinful, Holden. I’m ashamed you brought that up.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

HOLDEN

Shut up, you goddamn sonuvabitch.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

Now where is-

Wen Fu enters with a deranged expression and a steering wheel in his hands. His clothing, average/fashionable, is disheveled. All others look surprised and/or worried.

SFX: AUDIENCE CHEERS

SIDDHARTHA

WHAT HAPPENED?

DANTE (faints)

oh…

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU

I crashed a car.

PIGGY

That’s the sixth one this week!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU (slaps Piggy)

SHUT UP!

SFX: AUDIENCE OOHS

HOLDEN

Yeah, goddammit, Piggy stop being a phony.

DANTE (suddenly revives)

Don’t take the lord’s name in vain Holden!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

HOLDEN (angry arm bump thing at Dante)

PIGGY (sadly)

Can’t we all get along? No one ever listens to me about how we need more order in this family.

WEN FU

I’m fine. The car’s not. But, it’s not like I killed anybody this time!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU (cont)

Besides I got new car insurance from some guy in a park. He said it was called No State and I’d save 50% or more.

SIDDHARTHA (comforting Piggy)/(Excitedly)

Now that the whole family’s here, I have a big announcement to make.

PIGGY

Are we getting a candy store?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA (confused)

...No...

PIGGY

Good. Auntie said I can’t own a candy store on accounts of my ass-mar.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU (punches Piggy)

SUCKS TO YOUR ASS-MAR!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

I’m going to become a famous yoga instructor! We’ll be rich!

HOLDEN

You mean you’re going to be a phony?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

The theme song, “Big Time” by Peter Gabriel, plays as various scenes from previous/future episodes play as credits roll over them. Scenes include the gang sitting around at a table playing cards, Piggy playing catch with Holden and getting hit in the face, Dante handing out “The End is Near” fliers/signs, etc.

SFX: THEME HOLD OVER

DANTE

Sid, we’ve all seen you do yoga. I must tell the truth lest I go to Hell. You’re really not that great.

SIDDHARTHA

Well, I bought these new yoga pants *shows off pants*. They’re supposed to make me super flexible *starts bending*.

PIGGY (looks quizzical)

You do look more bendy.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

Then they work!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

DANTE

So what’s your plan?

SIDDHARTHA

My plan was to make a video promoting my teachings.

HOLDEN

Like a Youtube video? How phony.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

I was thinking something flashy and eye-catching to make people pay attention.

HOLDEN

Phony…

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

Like one of those viral videos with all the sparkle and pizazz?

SIDDHARTHA

Exactly!

WEN FU (stands up from couch)

That sounds like a lot of work to me.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU (cont)

Anyone want a Coke? Its crisp favor is sure to refresh.

They all make noises of agreement and Wen Fu leaves to get Cokes.

PIGGY

I’m actually pretty hungry. I could go for some Ruffles. Their ridges make them perfect for dipping.

WEN FU (off camera)

I’m not your slave. Get it yourself!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

Piggy (scoffing) leaves to join Wen Fu in the kitchen.

HOLDEN

So what’s the plan? Make it worth my time by the way.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

Well I figured we could just film a video that highlights my abilities.

HOLDEN

What abilities?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

DANTE

Don’t question him. That’s not respectful. Disrespecting your elders is a sin.

SFX: AUDIENCE OOHS

HOLDEN

Your face is a sin.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

We must all get along if we want to succeed.

Dante and Holden cross their arms and are angry with each other.

SIDDHARTHA

Anyway, I think we should include all the flashy things we can; beautiful women, modern dance moves, and of course we need to show off my Yoga skills.

Siddhartha does a weird movement with his arms that looks nothing like Yoga.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

HOLDEN

So we’re making a viral video?

SIDDHARTHA

Exactly!

INT: KITCHEN

SFX: RECALL TO THEME

Siddhartha is sitting dejectedly at the kitchen table, with a laptop in front of him. Piggy comes in munching on something.

PIGGY

Why the long face Sid?

SIDDHARTHA (sighing)

My video only has 50 likes…

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

Well that’s not so bad! Maybe you’ll get 50 new customers.

SIDDHARTHA

You don’t understand, Piggy. I have 50 likes but 50,000 dislikes.

SFX: AUDIENCE OOHS, EXCEPT FOR ONE GUY WHO LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY

PIGGY

Yeesh.

SIDDHARTHA

Yeesh indeed.

PIGGY

I don’t get how they couldn’t like it! It had everything that people love in a viral video!

Wen Fu enters and smacks Piggy in the back of the head.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU

What’s up losers?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

Siddhartha’s video has 50,000 dislikes on Youtube.

WEN FU

Wow. It must have really sucked.

SIDDHARTHA

You weren’t there when we filmed it. It was perfect and had everything a video needed.

WEN FU

Did you get naked in it?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

No… why would I do that?

PIGGY

My auntie always said I can’t get naked on accounts of my ass-mar.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU

Geez, you people don’t know anything about viral videos.

SIDDHARTHA

But we did everything that a viral video needed! We even got dancing girls!

INT. Gilligan cut to dancing girls from the video

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

So I have no idea what went wrong

WEN FU

Well you still suck at yoga. Those tight pants did nothing.

SIDDHARTHA

I thought I looked nice in them, right Piggy?

PIGGY

… I can’t give you my opinion on accounts of my ass-mar

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU (heavy eye roll)

Well they made your butt look especially round but your yoga still was horrible.

Dante and Holden enter the kitchen, Siddhartha and Piggy still look dejected.

DANTE

So how’d you like that movie? Heaven is for Real, only in theaters this spring?

HOLDEN

Jesus was such a phony.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

HOLDEN (CONT.)

Besides there were far too many crying ladies in the audience. Anyway why do you all look like Wen Fu hit you with a car?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

A TV spot for TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES starring Megan Fox scrolls across the bottom of the screen.

WEN FU

Hey! I take offence to that!

SIDDHARTHA

Our plan has backfired.

DANTE

Well of course it did. Vanity is a sin.

HOLDEN (mocking Dante)

Vanity leads to sin, sin leads to hate, hate leads to suffering

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

SUFFERING? WHERE?

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

CAN’T WE ALL GET ALONG??

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

HOLDEN

Kiss my ass-mar!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

That doesn’t even make sense!

SFX: LAUGH TRACK THAT IS CUT OFF BY LOUD COUGHING BECAUSE THE STUDIO AUDIENCE IS TIRED OF LAUGHING

DANTE (clearly annoyed at their insolence)

Your plan, Sid. How’d it fail? Lack of faith in our Lord?

WEN FU

Well it failed because Siddhartha has no talent and the people could see that. But, fixing it is simple…. We blow up Youtube.

SFX: COUGHING LOUDLY

HOLDEN

You can’t blow up Youtube. That’s such a phony idea.

PIGGY

I’m not allowed near pyrokinetics on accounts of my ass-mar.

SFX: CLEARS THROAT, LAUGH TRACK

SIDDHARTHA

Perhaps our video, while entertaining, did falsely describe my yoga abilities.

HOLDEN

Well yeah, you can’t polish a turd.

DANTE

But you do eat them on the third layer of HELL.

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

WEN FU (to Dante)

What is /wrong/ with you?

SFX: AUDIENCE OOHS

SIDDHARTHA

We lied to the people and they found out… They responded correctly to our lies.

DANTE (coughs)

Sinners

SFX: LAUGH TRACK

PIGGY

Isn’t all advertising inherently false? They show us the good so we don’t see the bad?

Ensemble looks thoughtful and then sad as they all realize their products aren’t as great as they thought they were.

HOLDEN

Well I guess that’s somewhat true. My Blu e-cig still is still giving me lung cancer. Only phonies have lung cancer.

PIGGY

Ruffles’ ridges really don’t hold up in heavier dips…

WEN FU

That car insurance I bought from that guy in the park ended up costing me 50% more… Surprise we’re in debt… again.

DANTE

I’ll admit the film Holden and I went to see was actually incredibly boring and poorly made… Although Greg Kinnear was hot.

WEN FU

Once again… What is /wrong/ with you?

DANTE (cryptically)

Many things.

SFX: AWKWARD MIX OF OOHS AND LAUGHTER

SIDDHARTHA

So I guess we’ve learned that not all advertising is beneficial and true?

PIGGY

My auntie was right all along!

HOLDEN

Sonuvabitch.

SFX: PEPPY THEME MUSIC PLAYS OVER CREDITS

if this post gets ten likes, I'll post a vid of my group's performance tomorrow.

It was really good, Blank. You've got a strong grasp on each chacter's voice. Reminded me of why I love Holden so much and run away from anything Dante-related. :P Poor Sid. Edited by Spidey Freak
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Fancyarcher Global Phenomenon

Fancyarcher

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Posted (edited)

it's aight. The only thing 8 ever filmed with it was a live action remake of DANGERESQUE 1 DANGERESQUE TOO?

 

Dear Blanks, "When are you going to make Dangersgue Three"?

 

Sincerely,Dan.

 

PS: This message is not for Strong Bad.

Edited by Fancyarcher
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Blankments Global Phenomenon

Blankments

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Posted

Perhaps I am elitist, but I think most people would not get a lot of the jokes on BBT, if it were not for the laugh track.

I think that without the laugh track, no one would know there ARE jokes :P
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kitik Global Phenomenon

kitik

Posted
Posted

Just found out that there is a LA Galaxy vs Manchester United match at the Rose Bowl on July 23rd. Wondering if I should get tickets for that one. I don't like watching friendlies normally since the teams just won't try as hard as an actual league or cup match.

 

Well if you're a big Man U fan, this is about as good a chance as you're likely to get to see them locally. And if Donovan and Keane play (and that's far from a guarantee), they usually like to bust out a good performance for an opponent like that.

 

If you don't care about the Galaxy and only want to see Man U, the whole point of those preseason friendlies is for all the players to play to get ready for the season. The only ones who wouldn't play (other than anyone injured) would be anybody who played deep into the World Cup.

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Dementeleus Cinematic Universe

Dementeleus

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Posted (edited)

Perhaps I am elitist, but I think most people would not get a lot of the jokes on BBT, if it were not for the laugh track.

 

It's the difference between communal entertainment (where you're encouraged to laugh along with friends, similar to watching a theatrical comedy) or sacrificing that in favor of pacing (or to play up awkwardness). Arrested Development wouldn't work as well with a live studio audience because the show is designed for lightning-fast quips and wordplay that'd be lost if you opened up the dialogue to make room for the laughs; obviously The Office and others like it go for the faux-documentary approach that plays up the awkwardness between characters (but The Larry Sanders Show did it first, and pretty much better than almost anyone else since then).

 

The Disney and Nick shows are aimed squarely at 6-14-year-olds. The jokes are obvious and the laughs are hammered home. If a joke gets too clever or requires too much thinking, it's ditched. That being said, there's still funny stuff here and there -- you have veteran comedy writers working on 'em, after all.

 

edit: speaking of which, Blanks, if you're looking for non-laugh track comedy that's meta, biting, a bit savage, and very very funny, (and on Netflix), watch The Larry Sanders Show.

Edited by Telemachos
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Blankments Global Phenomenon

Blankments

Posted
Posted

It was really good, Blank. You've got a strong grasp on each chacter's voice. Reminded me of why I love Holden so much and run away from anything Dante-related. :P Poor Sid.

Thanks! This is like the only dialogue driven humor I've ever written so that's great to hearBreakeven
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Blankments Global Phenomenon

Blankments

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Posted

Dear Blanks, "When are you going to make Dangersgue Three"?Sincerely,Dan.PS: This message is not for Strong Bad.

this is really random but trueBut I blame myself for Strong Bads hiatus. I sent a really entitled email to the creators after no one believed me when I said one of his last few emails was from meIt's stupid to blame myself though I guess. Should just be happy he answered one of my emails
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Fancyarcher Global Phenomenon

Fancyarcher

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Posted

I prefer my dinging in this vid from two weeks ago ;)http://youtube.com/watch?v=kIcwarogBNwBut yeah the vid quality definitely sucks. I have a good copy of Grinding Nemo available through. Just need to grab itPumped up Kicks

 

You should definitely post it when you get the chance. Would love to see it.

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Blankments Global Phenomenon

Blankments

Posted
Posted

It's the difference between communal entertainment (where you're encouraged to laugh along with friends, similar to watching a theatrical comedy) or sacrificing that in favor of pacing (or to play up awkwardness). Arrested Development wouldn't work as well with a live studio audience because the show is designed for lightning-fast quips and wordplay that'd be lost if you opened up the dialogue to make room for the laughs; obviously The Office and others like it go for the faux-documentary approach that plays up the awkwardness between characters (but The Larry Sanders Show did it first, and pretty much better than almost anyone else since then).The Disney and Nick shows are aimed squarely at 6-14-year-olds. The jokes are obvious and the laughs are hammered home. If a joke gets too clever or requires too much thinking, it's ditched. That being said, there's still funny stuff here and there -- you have veteran comedy writers working on 'em, after all.edit: speaking of which, Blanks, if you're looking for non-laugh track comedy that's meta, biting, a bit savage, and very very funny, (and on Netflix), watch The Larry Sanders Show.

hmmmmm I'll try it out, but I'm first trying to get through Arrested Development for the first time. I'll add it to my queue though:)Seasons of Love
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