# Ever been in a sitcom's studio audience? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-in-a-sitcoms-studio-audience/351764 "2006-04-07T19:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-in-a-sitcoms-studio-audience/351764/21 "2006-04-09T10:39:23Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > BTW, you didn’t ask, but America’s Funniest Videos actually hires extras to sit in the audience (hence the suits and ties on guys and nice dresses on the women) and pays them $50 to sit there for hours on end, and laugh over and over at the constant re-taping of the unfunny, scripted “ad libs”…I know as I was once on an extra call list and they were always calling me to go there…I was never that hungry or desperate to sit for hours on end and laugh at those stale jokes. I always thought there was something odd about the audience on that show. Everyone looked like tourists from the midwest wearing their church clothes. I couldn’t imagine people bringing clothes like that on vacation, so I guess the extras had to go through wardrobe. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-in-a-sitcoms-studio-audience/351764/22 "2006-04-09T11:24:52Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > BTW, you didn’t ask, but America’s Funniest Videos actually hires extras to sit in the audience (hence the suits and ties on guys and nice dresses on the women) and pays them $50 to sit there for hours on end, and laugh over and over at the constant re-taping of the unfunny, scripted “ad libs”…I know as I was once on an extra call list and they were always calling me to go there…I was never that hungry or desperate to sit for hours on end and laugh at those stale jokes. Some of the third-string talk shows during the glut did this too. When I was with CenEx one of the first offers was to be an audience member on _Rolonda_ or _Leeza_ or one of those. I also worked on two sitcoms. The second, _Getting Personal_ (Vivica A. Fox, Jon Cryer, Elliot Gould) was so bad, they hired professional laughers to sit in the audience. I had read about them in Time magazine years earlier, but had forgotten about them until I sat in the holding area thinking “There are about three or four people out there laughing really loud who sound like they’re faking it…” ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-in-a-sitcoms-studio-audience/351764/23 "2006-04-09T13:40:16Z")
I did a couple travel assignments in LA, and was housed in apartments a across the street from Burbank studio (Now, Sony, I believe) It was a regular thing to go stand in line for Johnny Carson. Since they always gave out more tickets than they could ever fit in to the studio, they would sometimes hawk tickets to other tapings. I saw Taxi 3 or 4 times. I went to a taping of Cheers, before it was actually on the air. I also say Wheel of Fortune. We were trying to get into see Jeopardy! That was our consulation prize :dubious: We would also get tickets to watch “mock-ups” of proposed shows. Kind of like a pilot, but never actually intended to air. They were just for opinion gathering. Many were very very bad. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-in-a-sitcoms-studio-audience/351764/24 "2006-04-09T14:45:21Z")
Never actually did, but definitely aspired to. Back in 1984 when I was 18, Michael J Fox was da bomb for me. Dirty dreams and all. A friend and I drove down to LA with the intent of attending a taping. We waited in line for hours (it seemed) and were told once we hit the desk that 3 people prior had gotten the last tickets. I cried. Really. They offered tix to some other show that I can’t remember now, perhaps the one with Gary Coleman (brain fart!). No thanks. I swear, SWEAR, I tell you, that MJF drove down the street while we were waiting in line and gestured and yelled to the crowd. My friend, of course, missed it. I had such the plan. I had a crisp $100 bill that I was prepared to bribe anyone with to get near MJF. I figured I’d arrive in his dressing room, immediately strip, and that he would ravish my young firm body. Dayum but it didn’t work that way. I coulda been Tracey Pollan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-in-a-sitcoms-studio-audience/351764.md?page=1)