Reminds me of the story of someone who tried to watch Parks and Recreation with a visiting grandparent, who reportedly said, "If this is supposed to be funny, why isn't the TV laughing?"

I imagine NewsRadio as a single-cam being similar to Better Off Ted - still brilliant but with a much different feel.

Agreed, this season of Eagleheart is really, really good, destined to become a cult classic.

Back in the day, the idea of having a TV comedy without some kind of laughter on the soundtrack was absolutely unthinkable, since it was thought that comedy demanded a sense of group laughter to be enjoyed at home. That's the original primary reason for a live audience for any show that chose not to use a laugh track.

But where else will future adult sitcom viewers learn to laugh reflexively at stuff that sort of sounds like jokes but aren't, if not from shows like Dog with a Blog?

On Lucky Louie, C.K. intentionally tried to bring back the low-budget, stage-play feeling of shows such as The Honeymooners and All in the Family, but with brutal honesty and cursing that could only be done on cable.

The fact that it's been passed around networks and Fox's spotty history with multi-cams aren't the most promising signs, but let's hope for the best.

Since after mentioning the classics he wrote, "you love all of those shows", so I assumed he meant that we shouldn't instantly rule out a modern sitcom just because of the presence of studio audience laughs.

And I am sadly 100% confident that there will never again be a multi-cam as good as Frasier, because the combination of writers, directors and actors that are capable of pulling that format off so brilliantly just don't seem to exist on broadcast TV any more.

That was the point when the contestants realized, "Hey, what the hell made us think we knew anything about TV comedy? Let's try another category, shall we?"

Yes, they sweetened the laughs back then, too. But at least on the best shows they didn't go over the top with it, because they didn't have to. When the real laughs came, you could tell the difference.

Henry Winkler singlehandedly saved that baby subplot from being a complete waste of time. He just knows how to get every possible laugh from whatever material he's given.

And why the fuck isn't Enlightened three years old?

"For the love of all that is seriously funny if you just give it a chance: Don’t run screaming from studio-audience laughter."

Jeopardy! thread for Thur., Jan. 9 - Seth opened a sizable lead in the first round, but after Marika took a small advantage midway through DJ, Seth hit a DD and regained the top spot heading into this Final:

There's always a lot of crap on TV. But the best of 70s TV comedy was groundbreaking, important and unforgettable. Can't say that about the sitcoms the broadcast networks are doing now, although a few are very good.

I'm just mystified (but very pleased) that TCM has held true to its original mission, when all others with highbrow ambitions have abandoned theirs.

That did seem really random, didn't it? Then once he had the lead after running the Maine category, he seemed determined to blow it. Strange game.

The ability of Jeopardy! contestants to be unaware of pop culture that came into being more than three decades ago, even that which is still widely popular today, cannot be underestimated.

My understanding is that if you get 35 correct, that puts you in the pool from which potential contestants are randomly invited for in-person tryouts.