Sitcoms come in many flavors, from single camera to mockumentary style. There’s a different feel between a sitcom like Modern Family, which employs a single-camera mockumentary style format, and one like The Conners, filmed in front of a live studio audience. However, each presentation is different, and audiences love it for different reasons.
However, one strategy is being employed for the Young Sheldon spinoff series Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, and most fans aren’t happy about it.
The Laugh Track Is Coming Back in the Young Sheldon Spinoff
Laugh tracks were commonplace for sitcoms, especially during the ‘90s. These involve pre-recorded canned laughs played whenever a joke is told, or something funny happens on the show. They had a certain appeal back then and still work for some shows. But fans don’t think it belongs with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
Despite the backlash, creators have confirmed that laugh tracks will be part of the mix for this spinoff series focused on Sheldon Cooper’s (Iain Armitage) older brother Georgie (Montana Jordan) and his wife Mandy (Emily Osment). The show will also reportedly be filmed with a multi-camera format and a live studio audience.
According to Cinemablend, creators Chuck Lorre and Steve Holland aren’t worried about embracing this old multi-camera tactic, despite the fact that many consider it to be “dead.” The pair say that even though many think the format is on the outs, “all it takes is something the audience connects with, and it’s not true anymore.” This is a strategy, after all, that was employed in The Big Bang Theory, for which Young Sheldon served as a spinoff.
However, Young Sheldon did away with the laugh tracks and live audience and shifted to a more dramatic tone. With Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage serving as a direct spinoff to that series (which itself was a prequel to The Big Bang Theory), fans don’t believe it fits. Lorre, however, stands firm on his decision. “Did you make people laugh?” he asks about the concept of creating a show. “That’s not a bad day. What the industry perceived as viable, that’s none of my business, actually. I try to stay focused on doing things that I love.”
Considering how things left off in Young Sheldon, with the somber final episode focusing on the aftermath of George Sr.’s (Lance Barber) tragic death, the live studio audience and laugh track could be just the uplifting thing this series needs to reinforce that it’s a sitcom, not a drama. Georgie is known for cracking jokes and saying silly things. In fact, he was often the comic relief during more tense scenes in Young Sheldon.
Mandy, meanwhile, has a sarcastic humor about her that will play well in this format. The same goes for Missy (Raegan Revord), who is confirmed to be appearing in this new show, reprising the role of Sheldon’s twin sister and Georgie’s younger sibling. It will be a different direction, but this may be precisely what the creators hope to accomplish.
What Fans Have to Say About the Georgie & Mandy Laugh Track
Nonetheless, the reception has been polarizing from fans looking forward to seeing a continued journey with these beloved characters delivered in a similar tone. Some outright say they won’t watch if this is the approach that the show takes. Redditor The_PoliticianTCWS believes that being a live audience show means the series is “so over” before it has even begun. Snoo-8954 says the laugh track is the reason they couldn’t continue to watch The Big Bang Theory.
ExtensionCake6 finds that laugh tracks make a show “feel like a theater play. I’m watching the show to escape from reality for a little bit, and when it feels like the entire thing is a set and the actors are actually acting in front of an audience of people, it just completely draws me out of it.”
Putting it succinctly, DiamondFiveYT declares that if this spinoff is a multi-cam, it has “basically ruined any excitement for me.” But not everyone is against this format. Redditor oktobeokk says they are “fine with it, despite everyone’s disdain for the laughing, it doesn’t bother me. My mind brain automatically blocks it out during the episode. It’s only when someone on Reddit brings it up that I remember the laughter exists.”
Captain_Aids reminds viewers that since the show is going to be run by the “guys who’s had some of the most successful sitcoms ever created, I think it will do alright.” While he’s right about Lorre, who is behind massive hits like The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon and other successes like Two and a Half Men and Mom, he isn’t immune to shows that don’t do well. United States of Al, for example, a sitcom Lorre released in 2021, only lasted two seasons before getting canceled. B Positive, another one of his shows released in 2020, met the same fate.
Could This Be a Generational Thing?
The backlash may be more of a generational thing than a knock on multi-camera, laugh-track sitcoms. Anyone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s is familiar with the format. And there’s no denying that those decades produced some of the most iconic sitcoms ever. Many of these sitcoms, in fact, inspired the ones today and have been resurrected, spun off, or returned in some fashion. Clearly, they were doing something right.
Younger generation viewers who grew up with Young Sheldon and even The Big Bang Theory view the format as archaic and “old-school.” It comes across as something that their parents or grandparents watched. There’s a staleness to the format they can’t wrap their heads around. But there’s a bit of a retro feel to it, too.
A laugh track and live studio audience make it inherently obvious that there’s a set and actors. Of course, this is a reality everyone knows already. But it puts it front and center, making it difficult to be invested in the characters and stories. It also, however, opens the door for moments like characters breaking the fourth wall (Will Smith did this often in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, to desirable effect). Yes, laugh tracks can cheapen how fans get invested in the characters and plots. But they can also make viewers at home feel like they are somehow in on the joke, too.
If Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is anything like The Big Bang Theory, it’s not necessarily about the plot. It’s about the writing, the delivery of the lines, including memorable one-liners and catchphrases, and the humor in every episode. This series may be focused on the relatability of family dynamics, young parents trying to get by, and invasive parents giving their two cents. Fans watching at home may appreciate the encouragement to laugh at some of the lighter moments.
The King of Queens, Will & Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Two and a Half Men, Cheers, How I Met Your Mother, and so many other shows all contained laugh tracks and/or live studio audiences. And they’re all icons of the genre. Lorre is never one to back down from his beliefs and desires for a show, and he has hit it out of the park more times than he hasn’t. Is adding a laugh track to the show the wrong move? Fans really can’t decide until they watch and learn the approach the series is taking.
This isn’t The Big Bang Theory, and it isn’t Young Sheldon. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage may sit neatly between these shows, carving a path of its own with characters who just so happen to be familiar. Laugh track or not, all fans can do is wait and see if the shows elicit laughs back home because that’s what really counts. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage premieres on October 17, 2024 on CBS, with episodes streaming on Paramount+ after they air.
