20 Things You Didn't Know About The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Though the entire point of test screenings is for studios to offer feedback to filmmakers to make their movies "better," Judd Apatow came up with a novel approach to measure the film's comedic power without needing to read studio notes.

During the first test screening, Apatow used a tape recorder to capture the audience's reactions to the entire movie.

And so, when he went back into the editing room to re-cut the movie, he used the recording as a guide, trimming or entirely cutting gags which didn't seem to garner much of a response from the crowd.

As dangerous as it is to concede entirely to the whims of elusive test audiences - who, if we're honest, don't always know much about what makes a good movie - clearly it paid off in Apatow's case.

As for the cut content? It was restored for the unrated home video edition, adding 17 minutes to the theatrical runtime.