10 Tired Sitcom Clichés That Really Need To Die

10. The Whooping Audience

Hey, everybody. Whooo! This bit’s all about the studio audience. Whooo! And it’s not going to be positive. Whooo! See? Even in writing, that’s annoying.

The live studio audience and how their laughter is edited have taken a lot of flak ever since single camera sitcoms became more popular. But then, laughter isn’t the real problem, the occasional whooping and cheering is.

Laughter is less intrusive because it’s a natural reaction, and, in theory at least, comes at the same time as the audience at home laughing. Shouting out “whooo” when your favourite character comes on is not a natural reaction. It being so manufactured, and often being in response to something as mundane as an actor walking through a door (aherm, 2 Broke Girls) really takes you out of the experience when you’re watching at home.

It’s a bit like at concerts and musicals when some of the audience feel the need to cheer and clap when their favourite song starts. So since multi-camera sitcoms are basically recorded theatre, with the exception of laughter, let’s see if the studio audience can start to follow theatre etiquette and keep it zipped.

Bonus Points If: A specific character ends up consistently getting this response.