Did these classic TV sitcoms film in front of a live studio audience?

It's a tough quiz, but it's good for a laugh!

One of the trademark attributes of a sitcom is the use of laughter within the show. Dating back to the 1950s, television executives were looking for a way to regulate the laughter in their programs. Live audiences provided authenticity and interesting comedic beats for viewer to follow, but weren't always laughing at the jokes that needed to land. Alternatively, tracks with prerecorded laughter helped to inform the audience of laughing points and helped jokes land better, but didn't always sound authentic.

After relying on laugh tracks for much of the 1960s, the 1970s brought an era of mixing the live laughter and the fake, a technique known as "sweetening"; live studio audiences would provide the base laughter, and the tracks would be used to fill in the gaps.

We've compiled a list of shows and we want to know; even if the final edit of these programs was sweetened, did the shows film in front of a live studio audience? Give it your best shot!

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  1. The Ed Sullivan Show
  2. The Munsters
  3. I Love Lucy
  4. The Andy Griffith Show
  5. Rhoda
  6. The Dick Van Dyke Show
  7. All in the Family
  8. The Beverley Hillbillies
  9. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  10. The Flintstones
  11. The Brady Bunch
  12. Mork & Mindy
  13. M*A*S*H

Did these classic TV sitcoms film in front of a live studio audience?

Your Result...

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53 Comments

CaptainDunsel 28 months ago
12/13
I missed on Rhoda.
Now. I just want to know if *anyone* answered "yes" on #10.
Snickers CaptainDunsel 22 months ago
If they did there not going to say so.
DerekBird 29 months ago
You got 13 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done!
Tammy 29 months ago
You got 12 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done!
ChrisThomas 38 months ago
Funny but three of those my father produced while another four of them only happened because my dad had given the writers and creators of those shows their start on the three shows from the list which his company produced.
Don 47 months ago
13/13.

"The Ed Sullivan Show" was not a sitcom, and "The Flintstones" was an animated comedy.
Tammy 48 months ago
You got 10 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done! missed MTM Rhoda and Dick Van Dyke Did not know they were live
Kaydee 48 months ago
11/13 Guess I knew a fake laugh from a real laugh LOL
Lacey 48 months ago
12/13 I did not know Dick Van Dyke was in front of a live audience.
Angie Lacey 48 months ago
Same. 12/13 also.
Kaydee Lacey 48 months ago
Neither did I
Tammy Lacey 48 months ago
same
djw1120 48 months ago
9 out of 13
My finger slipped on the last one.
I knew M*A*S*H was not done in front of a live audience, but I hit yes instead.
All the others were genuine wrong answers.
JDnHuntsvilleAL 49 months ago
It's pretty easy to tell. Those shot in front of a live episode have very few location changes.
Runeshaper 49 months ago
You got 11 out of 13
Not even the smallest sweetened laugh can trick you! Well done!

AWESOME!!!
Corey 49 months ago
Ed Sullivan was a variety show.
JDnHuntsvilleAL Corey 49 months ago
Good point. The MeTV Millennials did it again.
SheriHeffner 49 months ago
13 out of 13. I knew the answers to them all. Barry Livingston was a guest star on The Dick Van Dyke Show and revealed whether or not they had a live studio audience. No spoilers for fans.
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