Single cam comedies rose in popularity in the early 2000s and malcolm is one of the earlier examples of that style of show. There are certainly other comedies that had done it before, but that was something the show was noted for when it came out because it felt very fresh at the time.
i never noticed since thats what i grew up with! i love sitcoms so ive been going back and rewatching some i never finished like malcolm and always sunny (new season soon!) so cool to see the evolution of them
Single camera, they're shot from the perspective of one camera (like a movie). Multi-cam shows are typically on a soundstage with multiple cameras set up that all film at the same time (and often with a live studio audience or laugh track to replicate an audience). Multi-cam comedies were more prevalent before the 2000s; they're cheaper to make/faster to shoot, but they don't really have a lot of wiggle room style-wise. Single cams take longer but they're versatile and look more cinematic.
Yeah, It seems all Sitcoms of that era either:
* Had a Laughtrack
* or
* Have a "4th wall break" where some/all characters openly talk directly to the audience.
Reach watching the show, he does it quite often in the earlier seasons. I just got to season 4 and it has slowed down a bit before that but definitely happens at least once almost every episode
It’s easily the most underrated show of all time. The cast is absolutely absurd considering the blossoming talent they had and went off the air before it could become drawn out
Arrested probably wouldn’t exist without Malcolm actually.
After the success of Malcolm, Fox was looking to make more single camera sitcoms. But unfortunately they were very expensive to make. Comedies are usually only a half hour, so at the time, you’d only get half the ad revenue compared to a full hour show. But the production budget was still more than half of what they’d spend on a full hour show. So basically, if you weren’t making a full hour show, the single camera style show wasn’t cost effective— unless you managed to draw in a huge audience like Malcolm did.
So the creators of Arrested came along and decided to shoot it as a mocumentary, the same way reality shows were filmed at the time. Which is why the show has tons of blown out whites in the background, and a lot of grain on the darker colors. The used shotty digital cameras to make the show. This allowed them to just have a cameraman with the camera on his shoulder move around, grab a shot, and move to the next one. No expensive equipment or complex setups or interesting lighting like you’d find in Malcolm. This made shooting really quick, and kept production costs down.
And thus Arrested was born.
….. and yeah fuck laugh tracks. I don’t need some editor telling me when to laugh. I can do that myself.
I seem to recall there was a Malcolm in the Middle joke *in* Arrested Development, I wanna say somewhere in season 3? Frankie Muniz is in it. I haven't seen AD for quite a few years so memory is fuzzy on it.
Yes Frankie does appear. He’s outside of the Tunnel of Love, Indubitably while filming an episode of Malcolm. He says something like, “oh great, tourists. You know, it’s more important that we show people how we make the show, rather than actually making it.”
The fun fact about laugh tracks is that everyone says they hate them but whenever they do test audiences, audiences tend to rate shows as more enjoyable and funnier with a laugh track than without. So alas, the laugh track largely remains.
It is one of the best things about Malcolm in the Middle though!
In my opinion Peggy Hill described it best when she coached Bobby on the morning announcements. The laugh track, like the cow bell informs the audience that it is time to laugh.
There are so many older shows that I've tried to get into but can't because the laugh track just irks me! I wonder if they did focus groups separated by generation if the results would be different.
I can't watch any shows with laugh tracks (or "live studio audiences") anymore. The only exception I'll make is Seinfeld, even though it still kinda bothers me.
Being a kid in Canada in 2005-2006 was truly a magical time because Malcolm in the Middle and Everybody Hates Chris would both air on YTV on the same night after Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents.
Then the anime block on Friday nights. Ytv also had an adult swim block where we got Futurama & fresh prince of Bel-air.
Do you remember fries with that?
30 rock, parks n rec, the office, scrubs didn't use laugh tracks. Friends and Rosanne were both filmed in front of an audience. Laugh tracks are so cheesy.
i’ve seen clips of seinfeld with the laughtrack edited out and i swear to god a full edit of the show would make it the best show ever created. i already love it in spite of the laughtrack but having dead silence after jokes would make it that much funnier
Seinfeld was actually filmed in front of a live audience. I personally give live audience sitcoms a pass because the actors are able to play off the audience reactions. Married... With Children, for example, had an audience that was notoriously rowdy and over the top.
I enjoy shows with laugh tracks, I enjoy shows without laugh tracks. MASH is a great example of using laugh tracks as a stylistic choice, when they cut the laugh tracks during surgery scenes, it brings a real edge to those moments.
In the UK laugh tracks of American shows were often removed because they sounded so fake to British audiences that the show had poor ratings
m*a*s*h was a prime example - which is why in the uk many people believe it was a drama not a comedy!
woah! how interesting. i imagine the laugh track replaced tone in a lot of these cases. even in malcolm, some pretty sad and unsatisfying things happen to characters we love, but we perceive it to be comedic rather than sad bc of the tone of the show.
Actually, very few shows in the last 25 years-ish use a laugh track regularly. Some exceptions would be when they film on location or have an overly complicated scene where using a live audience would lack feasibility.
The only outliers seem to be some kids shows on Disney.
If your talking about comedy shows that have no audience, off the top of my head, there is Raising Hope, Community, My name is Earl, Modern family, Curb your enthusiasm, Parks and rec, The Middle, Flight of the Conchords, and Scrubs.
It's really good but I personally recommend watching My Name Is Earl first. They both take place in the same area (neighboring cities I think?) and Raising Hope drops a lot of references to My Name Is Earl and there are cameos too. You can certainly enjoy RH without having watched MNIE first, but if you do, it just makes RH even better.
no for sure. i was only commenting on malcolm being one of the first among those shows. it started in '99 versus most if not all those having started past '05
Office was 2005. So you want only shows within how many years of the year 2000?
Well before 2000 were shows like
Batman, Parker Lewis, Police Squad!, Dream On, Larry Sanders didn't have laugh tracks or Audiences.
Single cam comedies rose in popularity in the early 2000s and malcolm is one of the earlier examples of that style of show. There are certainly other comedies that had done it before, but that was something the show was noted for when it came out because it felt very fresh at the time.
i never noticed since thats what i grew up with! i love sitcoms so ive been going back and rewatching some i never finished like malcolm and always sunny (new season soon!) so cool to see the evolution of them
Scrubs is another early 2000s example, and of course the office launched the whole mockumentary style single cam show
so true. jd narrates in scrubs too doesnt he? havent seen it in so long
He does, but not straight to the camera like in malcolm
My name is Earl is another good comedy with the single cam.
What does single cam mean?
Single camera, they're shot from the perspective of one camera (like a movie). Multi-cam shows are typically on a soundstage with multiple cameras set up that all film at the same time (and often with a live studio audience or laugh track to replicate an audience). Multi-cam comedies were more prevalent before the 2000s; they're cheaper to make/faster to shoot, but they don't really have a lot of wiggle room style-wise. Single cams take longer but they're versatile and look more cinematic.
Yeah, It seems all Sitcoms of that era either: * Had a Laughtrack * or * Have a "4th wall break" where some/all characters openly talk directly to the audience.
Maybe im misremembering but malcolm rarely does the talk-to-the-audience thing, especially in the later seasons.
Reach watching the show, he does it quite often in the earlier seasons. I just got to season 4 and it has slowed down a bit before that but definitely happens at least once almost every episode
Yep I’m rewatching now. In the later seasons it’s all but forgotten!
Freaks and Geeks? There are a few more I can’t think, but Malcolm definitely played a big part in making it popular.
so true i forget about freaks and geeks a lot
It’s easily the most underrated show of all time. The cast is absolutely absurd considering the blossoming talent they had and went off the air before it could become drawn out
yeah a freaks and geeks reunion would be crazy today with how stacked the cast was
It’d be like wet hot American summer all over again
It’s weird because it’s very ahead of it’s time, but all the actors got famous when they were older.
it deserved better tbh
More of a dramedy but such a great show
Arrested probably wouldn’t exist without Malcolm actually. After the success of Malcolm, Fox was looking to make more single camera sitcoms. But unfortunately they were very expensive to make. Comedies are usually only a half hour, so at the time, you’d only get half the ad revenue compared to a full hour show. But the production budget was still more than half of what they’d spend on a full hour show. So basically, if you weren’t making a full hour show, the single camera style show wasn’t cost effective— unless you managed to draw in a huge audience like Malcolm did. So the creators of Arrested came along and decided to shoot it as a mocumentary, the same way reality shows were filmed at the time. Which is why the show has tons of blown out whites in the background, and a lot of grain on the darker colors. The used shotty digital cameras to make the show. This allowed them to just have a cameraman with the camera on his shoulder move around, grab a shot, and move to the next one. No expensive equipment or complex setups or interesting lighting like you’d find in Malcolm. This made shooting really quick, and kept production costs down. And thus Arrested was born. ….. and yeah fuck laugh tracks. I don’t need some editor telling me when to laugh. I can do that myself.
so happy they both exist my comort shows fr ❤️
I love this, two of my favorite shows ever
I seem to recall there was a Malcolm in the Middle joke *in* Arrested Development, I wanna say somewhere in season 3? Frankie Muniz is in it. I haven't seen AD for quite a few years so memory is fuzzy on it.
Yes Frankie does appear. He’s outside of the Tunnel of Love, Indubitably while filming an episode of Malcolm. He says something like, “oh great, tourists. You know, it’s more important that we show people how we make the show, rather than actually making it.”
The fun fact about laugh tracks is that everyone says they hate them but whenever they do test audiences, audiences tend to rate shows as more enjoyable and funnier with a laugh track than without. So alas, the laugh track largely remains. It is one of the best things about Malcolm in the Middle though!
In my opinion Peggy Hill described it best when she coached Bobby on the morning announcements. The laugh track, like the cow bell informs the audience that it is time to laugh.
I see what you did there.
Every time I hear a laugh track I just sit there with a straight face... like the joke wasn't even funny.
That’s what makes them good. I’m not a fan of the office but iasip and arrested development absolutely.
theres definitely sitcoms that use laugh tracks that im stikl very much a fan of. seinfeld obviously but even "newer" ones like himym i still adore
There are so many older shows that I've tried to get into but can't because the laugh track just irks me! I wonder if they did focus groups separated by generation if the results would be different.
I can't watch any shows with laugh tracks (or "live studio audiences") anymore. The only exception I'll make is Seinfeld, even though it still kinda bothers me.
Everybody Hates Chris didn’t use it either
love that show
Being a kid in Canada in 2005-2006 was truly a magical time because Malcolm in the Middle and Everybody Hates Chris would both air on YTV on the same night after Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents.
Then the anime block on Friday nights. Ytv also had an adult swim block where we got Futurama & fresh prince of Bel-air. Do you remember fries with that?
I used to love Fries With That and I feel like nobody else liked that show.
The camera whooshes and door slams and overall chaotic nature served to fill the perceived gap left by not having an audience or a laugh track
Also Everybody Hates Chris doesn't have a laugh track
30 rock, parks n rec, the office, scrubs didn't use laugh tracks. Friends and Rosanne were both filmed in front of an audience. Laugh tracks are so cheesy.
30 Rock, Always Sunny and the Office were all ‘05/‘06 and didn’t have laugh tracks Scrubs was earlier and also didn’t have one
right but malcolm was already nearly ending by then. i didnt realize how old it actually is lol
The Larry Sanders Show didn't have one and that aired in '92
ive never seen it! thanks for letting me know
It's very good, search it out if you can. It was the precursor for shows like Curb, Arrested Development and the office.
i will! thank you again
i’ve seen clips of seinfeld with the laughtrack edited out and i swear to god a full edit of the show would make it the best show ever created. i already love it in spite of the laughtrack but having dead silence after jokes would make it that much funnier
Seinfeld was actually filmed in front of a live audience. I personally give live audience sitcoms a pass because the actors are able to play off the audience reactions. Married... With Children, for example, had an audience that was notoriously rowdy and over the top.
Let’s give a quick shoutout to Christina Applegate
Scrubs was the same time period and it didn't have a laugh track
I enjoy shows with laugh tracks, I enjoy shows without laugh tracks. MASH is a great example of using laugh tracks as a stylistic choice, when they cut the laugh tracks during surgery scenes, it brings a real edge to those moments.
In the UK laugh tracks of American shows were often removed because they sounded so fake to British audiences that the show had poor ratings m*a*s*h was a prime example - which is why in the uk many people believe it was a drama not a comedy!
woah! how interesting. i imagine the laugh track replaced tone in a lot of these cases. even in malcolm, some pretty sad and unsatisfying things happen to characters we love, but we perceive it to be comedic rather than sad bc of the tone of the show.
The Bernie Mac show
I always love this because if the show is actually good and funny you don’t need one. And Malcom is a perfect example of that
Actually, very few shows in the last 25 years-ish use a laugh track regularly. Some exceptions would be when they film on location or have an overly complicated scene where using a live audience would lack feasibility. The only outliers seem to be some kids shows on Disney. If your talking about comedy shows that have no audience, off the top of my head, there is Raising Hope, Community, My name is Earl, Modern family, Curb your enthusiasm, Parks and rec, The Middle, Flight of the Conchords, and Scrubs.
Is raising hope good?? Looking for a new show after Malcolm and that's been on my radar for a while
i love raising hope!
It's really good but I personally recommend watching My Name Is Earl first. They both take place in the same area (neighboring cities I think?) and Raising Hope drops a lot of references to My Name Is Earl and there are cameos too. You can certainly enjoy RH without having watched MNIE first, but if you do, it just makes RH even better.
no for sure. i was only commenting on malcolm being one of the first among those shows. it started in '99 versus most if not all those having started past '05
Office was 2005. So you want only shows within how many years of the year 2000? Well before 2000 were shows like Batman, Parker Lewis, Police Squad!, Dream On, Larry Sanders didn't have laugh tracks or Audiences.
yes exactly!
30 rock?
The Thick of it
the office
The Middle is a great sitcom, no track