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Started By
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Most easily swayed audiences in television history
Posted on 2/7/11 at 12:18 am
Posted on 2/7/11 at 12:18 am
I'll leave wrestling out of this, since I uncovered this daring speculation courtesy of the Onion that wrestling fans may be fake.
I've narrowed it down to Real Time with Bill Maher and the United States version of Whose Line is it Anyway. Now, I love the latter and have tolerated the former on occasion, but the most obvious thing to me when watching either was that the audiences must have had caffeine pills taped under their seats or perhaps there was some other happy chemical being leaked in through the air vents.
Whose Line was certainly a hilarious show with some inherently funny performers on it, but something as simple as putting on wigs or posing as Charlie's Angels would have the crowd rolling. The overzealousness wouldn't be complaint-worthy if not for the complacency I think it caused in some cases... I think that at times the performers would go for simple gags like kissing or touching each other because they knew that it was a shortcut to a hearty laugh. And also certain slapstick comedy that probably wouldn't have gone over as well on the UK edition of the show. I'm not saying the UK edition was funnier - in fact, it wasn't mostly because of relative lack of chemistry between the performers, bad scene suggestions, and Clive Anderson's penchant for hitting the buzzer too early. I just think that the US Whose Line performers pandered to the audience rather than showing off their improv chops in some cases.
I'll be brief on the topic of Bill Maher, but anyone who has seen it knows that the typical left-leaning audience will blindly applaud anything anti-Republican or anti-Bush administration. So much so that Maher himself seems annoyed at times that they lend even petty comments the gravitas of scathing wit. It's part of what makes the show hard to watch, for me.
Anyway, this may be an oddly specific point of discussion but I'm curious to know if any others have mentally flagged shows like this as having easily amused/impressed audience members.
I've narrowed it down to Real Time with Bill Maher and the United States version of Whose Line is it Anyway. Now, I love the latter and have tolerated the former on occasion, but the most obvious thing to me when watching either was that the audiences must have had caffeine pills taped under their seats or perhaps there was some other happy chemical being leaked in through the air vents.
Whose Line was certainly a hilarious show with some inherently funny performers on it, but something as simple as putting on wigs or posing as Charlie's Angels would have the crowd rolling. The overzealousness wouldn't be complaint-worthy if not for the complacency I think it caused in some cases... I think that at times the performers would go for simple gags like kissing or touching each other because they knew that it was a shortcut to a hearty laugh. And also certain slapstick comedy that probably wouldn't have gone over as well on the UK edition of the show. I'm not saying the UK edition was funnier - in fact, it wasn't mostly because of relative lack of chemistry between the performers, bad scene suggestions, and Clive Anderson's penchant for hitting the buzzer too early. I just think that the US Whose Line performers pandered to the audience rather than showing off their improv chops in some cases.
I'll be brief on the topic of Bill Maher, but anyone who has seen it knows that the typical left-leaning audience will blindly applaud anything anti-Republican or anti-Bush administration. So much so that Maher himself seems annoyed at times that they lend even petty comments the gravitas of scathing wit. It's part of what makes the show hard to watch, for me.
Anyway, this may be an oddly specific point of discussion but I'm curious to know if any others have mentally flagged shows like this as having easily amused/impressed audience members.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 1:01 am to Muppet
They have audience members who respond correctly to the "applause" sign when it lights up.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 1:09 am to TotesMcGotes
Real Time? It might, I don't know. I know that even the most intelligent, truth-speaking panel member labeled a "Republican" will get a lukewarm response at best.
Whose Line didn't use audience cues.
Whose Line didn't use audience cues.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 8:28 am to Muppet
quote:
I'll be brief on the topic of Bill Maher, but anyone who has seen it knows that the typical left-leaning audience will blindly applaud anything anti-Republican or anti-Bush administration. So much so that Maher himself seems annoyed at times that they lend even petty comments the gravitas of scathing wit.
I wouldn't say Maher doesn't like it...in fact he seemed rather annoyed when Hitch points it out for all to see.
LINK
Posted on 2/7/11 at 8:53 am to Muppet
While I'm no fan of Real Time, wouldn't your description mean the audience is not easily swayed at all? I mean, they bring in their bias and refuse to be moved no matter what.
Just sayin'.
Oprah's audience is the most asily swayed. she could come out in favor of child abuse, and the audience would applaud.
Just sayin'.
Oprah's audience is the most asily swayed. she could come out in favor of child abuse, and the audience would applaud.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 9:08 am to Baloo
Using easily swayed in that sense, I guess so. Probably not the best word choice. Maybe "incitable" would be better. I agree on Oprah too, didn't think of that.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 9:37 am to Muppet
quote:
Most easily swayed audiences in television history
wouldn't any show with an audience, especially a politically slanted one, necessitate that its enthusiasts are already strongly rooted in the beliefs and opinions that are being presented? It's like two mirrors set up to face each other. They will generally agree to infinity.
edit: even further, isn't that the nature of television and human psychology? we gravitate towards our biases. it's almost a redundancy to set a television audience in relation to what it's being sold. that's the double helix of tv.
This post was edited on 2/7/11 at 9:47 am
Posted on 2/7/11 at 9:57 am to GeauxTigerTM
quote:
I wouldn't say Maher doesn't like it...in fact he seemed rather annoyed when Hitch points it out for all to see.
Wow, never saw that before.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:11 am to Muppet
Go ahead and lump The Daily Show audience into that Maher crowd.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:13 am to alajones
the daily show audience ruins tons of interviews because they go crazy anytime stewart makes a point they feel is brilliant
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:24 am to Tactical1
You mean like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity's live audiences? Or do you just feel the need to make some comment?
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:29 am to Baloo
quote:
Oprah's audience is the most asily swayed
winner
This post was edited on 2/7/11 at 10:30 am
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:41 am to alajones
quote:
You mean like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity's live audiences? Or do you just feel the need to make some comment?
Oh live audiences, I figured we were talking about typical viewers.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:45 am to Baloo
quote:
Oprah's audience is the most asily swayed
The only one I'd put up against her was the audience for Emeril Lagasse's show. If he had made cyanide kool-aid and said BAM!, those people would have trampled each other to try it.
Posted on 2/7/11 at 10:50 am to BilJ
Jon Stewart has called out his own audience before. I think it was during his Rick Santorum interview. But sometimes he eggs them on when you can tell he just personally dislikes the guest. There was one lady on once who was a true political hack, and he just tore into her without restraint. It was quite jarring to watch, honestly. He usually doesn't do that.
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