Coronation Street has always stood out as the soap that does
comedy best. With new producer Kate Oates promising to keep this at the
forefront of the show, we should be getting laughs from Corrie for many more
years to come. Recent episodes have shown us that the writers are already embracing
this approach, with fewer life and death scenarios in favour of the more light
hearted storylines and a great deal of innuendo. That’s not to say the drama isn’t there, but they are
certainly keeping the gags front and centre, especially with the older
characters.
But what would Coronation Street be like without all the jeopardy
and heartache? What if we plucked out all punch ups, murders and terminal
illnesses and replaced them with rounds of applause and belly laughs to accompany the remaining comedy scenes?
I took some random scenes from the last few years of
Coronation Street and added some laughter, creating a fictional episode of the show as a studio
sitcom. Here’s the result:
Could Corrie's future be entirely in comedy? I tried to watch the video as if I'd never seen the show before, and I think it works. Let me know your thoughts...
@StevieDawson
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Love it! The laughter track really changes the dynamic. So funny. Bravo Stevie!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely does alter the ambiance considerably, but I for one am glad this was just a bit of fun. I find I cannot watch new sit-come with live audiences or canned laughter tracks any more, they just seem so fake & dated. Weirdly though it doesn't apply to old sitcoms, like Faulty Towers, where the laughter doesn't bother me.
ReplyDeleteI agree Cobblestone, although that's probably just because the comedy was better back then :)
ReplyDeleteHard to hear the cast speaking when laugh tracks were added on at the same time....however.....did enjoy those tracks when speaking was done...just too distracting overall for me..... Thanks for putting that together for us, though!
ReplyDeleteLaughter tracks were more or less the norm before groundbreaking sitcoms such as the Royal Family and The Office dispensed with them to create something new, innovative, and more suited to our times. Peep Show, Pulling, Car Share, Extras - none of these contemporary sitcoms have a laughter track, and they wouldn't work if they did. The absence of one is something we're very much used to now. Indeed, in Extras, the sitcom within the sitcom shows how dated the traditional format had become.
ReplyDeleteThere has been a throw back with the likes of Mrs Brown's Boys which is more like the older sitcom in many ways, so we're more likely to accept its use there, but it jars nowadays on anything else. I think this is why what Stevie has done is so interesting. The laughter track over Corrie ages it while showing that the humour wouldn't be all that out of place in an old sitcom, but that it works in the contemporary era without us being told when to laugh.
The combination of Corrie and canned laughter is comedy in itself as we look on with our postmodern eye. I loved it!
Sorry? Comedy is at the forefront of the show right now? I don't think so. A couple of giggles each episode is not the same quota as used to be in the programme in the 1970s glory days.
ReplyDeleteThanks Emma. I found myself laughing at the way Audrey and Gail were standing in the bedroom. When you look at it in a completely different context you get a whole different type of enjoyment out of it. It's a great little experiment. Maybe next time I'll do sad scenes with dramatic music!
ReplyDeleteBest episode I've seen in years.
ReplyDeleteLOL! A different perspective for sure. Loved the Sally & Tim scenes. Would love to see some Wagner played during some of the most dramatic episodes like the latest tram crash, or the van crash with Steve hiding in the woods and Tracy deciding to save Carla after all.
ReplyDeleteGood work, Stevie. :))
Thanks for putting this together. It shows me exactly why I love to watch Corrie, as it has NO fake, canned laughter. If it did, I would stop watching.
ReplyDelete