The Big [Censored] Theory

Side note: the article mentions canned laughter in TBBT rather early. TBBT actually doesn't use canned laughter but uses laughter from the live audience for its laugh track.

I pity that I didn't have the chance to visit the studios and be part of that laugh track :(

It's normally a mix of both. All such shows will heavily edit/enhance the audience laugh track during post production.

Most shows that use canned laughter (Friends, Seinfeld etc.) were filmed in front of an audience. It’s not worth the hassle to set up audio recoding for the audience, especially because people aren’t reliable. They might not laugh at the right moment, one or two audience members might have a weird laugh, they might be too soft or loud.

The audience reaction is useful feedback for the actors, but the laughter is canned.

Well, TBBT is especially known for recording and using the audience laughter. That's why I explicitly mentioned it and it creates some interesting moments the producers didn't even intend to be funny. You can find multiple sources for that like point 10 here [1]. There are some YouTube videos giving deeper insight into the process but I don't have them at hand.

[1] https://www.cbr.com/big-bang-theory-annoyed-anger-fans/

I've done a studio tour of TBBT set, and they have mics set up for audience recording.

I'm not sure what your "worth the hassle" is about, they rented the same sound stage for YEARS to record the show. They're hardly tearing it down and setting it up daily!

Seinfeld didn't use canned laughter except to mask editing cuts as is the norm for shows with an audience.

Also scenes are occasionally filmed outside the studio where there is no live audience.

No modern sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience uses canned laughter. They may sweeten laughter with overdubs, but they're not throwing away the real thing for the fake stuff.

Live audience laughter completely changes the timing for 3-camera sitcoms, because the actors have to wait for it to finish. Setting up audio recording for the audience is trivial.

I think they must actually use bottled laughter, bottles of nitrous oxide positioned strategically around their studio audience.

> TBBT actually doesn't use canned laughter

I don't believe that one bit. Just because they have an audience, doesn't mean they don't edit the laugh track. And just because the laugh happened in real time, it doesn't mean it's authentic.

Even for live TV shows, they prod the audience into laughing. This is made clear when they laugh at awkward times, when nothing funny is being said.

If you've ever experienced a group of tv/movie enthusiasts watching something you would believe that laughs happening at awkward times are not just possible, but I would rather see them as a supporting argument for real laughter than a rebuttal.

One of my favorite moments was watching Kick Ass in a sneak preview. No one knew which movie would be shown and Kick Ass starts with a shock moment of a guy shooting a little girl with a revolver. One guy in the back started laughing so hard and it was so inappropriate that the whole theater burst into laughter.

Doing a bit of post production on the real laughter doesn't make it canned laughter.

Afaik they prefilm these and show them on a screen to the audience at the right moment of the episode and then capture that reaction.