[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Mar 12 2005, 10:29 PM\'][quote name=\'jmangin\' date=\'Mar 13 2005, 01:05 AM\']Why would they tape the same show twice?
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To get the best moments from both tapings presumably. (I.E. A prop malfunctions one taping but works fine in another, the audience for one taping laughs harder for a particular bit than the audience for the other, an ad-lib from somebody makes a piece funnier). This isn't as rare a practice as you think. Most sitcoms have done this for decades. Many of the classic "Carol Burnette Show" bloopers stemmed from a skit being done right at the first taping and the cast deciding to just have fun with it at the second taping. And David Letterman's NBC anniversary shows were all taped twice (I have both tapings of his 6th anniversary show on DVD-R, for example).
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Kudos to Adam! He speak truth.
Most of the Norman Lear sitcoms were among the many shows that taped that way. Inspired by theatrical presentations and harkening back to the origins of sitcom filming as devised by Lucy and Desi, they performed the episodes in sequence for the live audience, without pre-taped segments, and without many re-takes. While the scripts for "All In The Family" were usually brilliant, there is a classic story of a scene playing terribly to the first audience. The cast rewrote the scene in the few hours between tapings and saved the episode. In its later years for reasons that remain unclear to me, the show reverted to taping without an audience. The edited episodes were then played on monitors to a live audience at TV City for their reaction. I can be heard guffawing on several.
Sitcoms these days usually do not tape twice; they have the audience warm-up babysit the audience while the writers huddle and rewrite jokes before trying a scene again. If you've been, you know, some sitcoms have tried to keep audiences past midnight as they tinkered and tinkered. An honorable mention to "The Nanny" for respecting their live audiences; it was a great place to work. Unfortunately, there are no weekly variety shows to report on.
Game show pilots have traditionally taped several episodes, sometimes 4 or more, to capture compelling game play and bonus round wins without manipulating the competition.
But as to this particular game show special, I still feel it inappropriate to comment right now. Details to follow.
Randy
tvrandywest.com
