Seinfeld's Audience

Perhaps this has already been asked and answered: Is SEINFELD filmed before a live, laughing audience, or is that canned laughter? Or is it screened before an audience whose laughter is recorded and dubbed in?

Despite the seemingly unreal-sounding laughter this season, Seinfeld always has been and still is filmed before an audience. Outdoor scenes are taped in advance and shown to the audience for the purpose of recording their laughter.

Most likely

live

In article , [email] says...

Some of the whole episodes are not filmed in front of an audience, but are later edited and put together and then are shown on tv monitors to an audience where they record their laughter for the final product.

The same thing happens for location scenes that are not filmed in front of an audience. On nights where they are filming in front of an audience, they do "run throughs" of the location scenes usually between Jerry's apartment set and the audience and record the laughter then.

It doesn't happen very often, but does happen occasionally where they won't film in front of a studio audience.

Does anyone know how the actors are paid when syndication episodes are aired. Do they get a percentage of what they originally were paid or do they all get a flat rate? Do they get paid for as long as the sydications run or do they stop after a certain number of times an episode has played? Just curious.

Jim McKinley wrote in article ...

I think every performer has a unique deal as part of the original contract, they are very explicit and detailed. I think there are services that do nothing but monitor what is aired when and where! William Shatner is still getting small checks from the ORIGINAL Trek!

This is the one thing that REALLY irritates me about the show. I've sort of tuned it out, but I think having an audience laugh at a show that's obviously not filmed (or is it taped?) in front of a live studio audience really makes it seem cheap. "Married With Children", despite the 5 minutes audience laughs (that I hated) could get away with it (because it was live in front of an audience [I even saw a mistake or two]), but in Seinfeld it is an insult to us as an at home audience - we know damn well when to laugh! I wish they'd just cut it. I mean - would the ratings go down too much if they cut the damn canned-seeming laughter?! (I say "canned-seeming" because canned laughter is used when there is no live audience at the tapings [or is it filmings?].) Dan