What TV series are you currently watching?

[Spotted Horses]

Arguably a journey I ought to have undertaken sooner: M*A*S*H.

I haven't watched M*A*S*H since it was on network television. Time for a revisit. I have the complete series on DVD, maybe time to revisit. The DVD set gives the option of watching with or without the laugh track.

[Karl Henning]

I haven't watched M*A*S*H since it was on network television. Time for a revisit. I have the complete series on DVD, maybe time to revisit. The DVD set gives the option of watching with or without the laugh track.

Nice!

[Brian]

Kristen Bell plays a woman who is killed in a freak accident and arrives in an afterlife hosted by an "architect," played by Ted Danson. He assures her she is in "The Good Place." Problem is, when he praises her for her virtuous life on earth, it seems to be a case of mistaken identity, perhaps she is supposed to be in "The Bad Place." Dark comedy and musings on moral philosophy ensue.

This is a show that I think could have ended after a perfect first season. I found the second season a let down and declined to watch the third. There are four seasons overall.

Agreed. I made it maybe one or two episodes into the third season, but by that point, the tone of the show had clearly shifted from the satirical comedy of the beginning to a soft-hearted "let's find the good in all these people and teach the audience a lesson." No thanks.

[SimonNZ]

I haven't watched M*A*S*H since it was on network television. Time for a revisit. I have the complete series on DVD, maybe time to revisit. The DVD set gives the option of watching with or without the laugh track.

The very heavyhanded laugh track is what has put me off a full rewatch whenever I've dipped into a scene.

As I understand it the "without" option isn't so much a remix as a reedit where they snip out that second or two from the scene after every punchline. I've heard people complain that it changes the rhythm of the conversations in strange or unnatural ways.

I'd be interested to know if that's your take if you watch some.

[KevinP]

It's been a long time since I watch the MASH DVDs, but I remember it differently, that the option merely changed the audio track. And that took me out of it too, as there were moments were actors were waiting for the laugh to die down (the laugh that, from their point of view, hadn't even been added yet), which is potentially even worse.

Perhaps I'm mis-remembering, or maybe some episodes were one way and some the other.

[Mister Sharpe]

Mythic as much as it is murderous (even the Erlkönig has a cameo), lurid and lugubrious as it is alluring, my wife and I were held captive by the Dublin Murders and its two leads, Killian Scott and Sarah Greene. Not for everyone; the twisty-turny complexities of the narrative and the grievous loss of children can be double whammies. For those who can deal, it's a memorable and powerful experience. 

[Karl Henning]

The very heavyhanded laugh track is what has put me off a full rewatch whenever I've dipped into a scene.

As I understand it the "without" option isn't so much a remix as a reedit where they snip out that second or two from the scene after every punchline. I've heard people complain that it changes the rhythm of the conversations in strange or unnatural ways.

I'd be interested to know if that's your take if you watch some.

Thanks to @Spotted Horses for the alert. I switched audio tracks after the first laugh-track incident in my current episode. Heaven!

[Spotted Horses]

The very heavyhanded laugh track is what has put me off a full rewatch whenever I've dipped into a scene.

As I understand it the "without" option isn't so much a remix as a reedit where they snip out that second or two from the scene after every punchline. I've heard people complain that it changes the rhythm of the conversations in strange or unnatural ways.

I'd be interested to know if that's your take if you watch some.

There's nothing clipped out. The soundtrack is altered to suppress the canned laughter, resulting in moments of silence. (I don't know how it was implemented, if they had the laughter on a separate track that they could omit, if if they had to do some digital editing of the audio to suppress it.)

It has an effect on the comedic timing, and the result is less jokey, more acerbic or surreal. I rather like it, based on the little I've watched so far.

[SimonNZ]

Thanks. That's good to know.

[KevinP]

If you guys fail to laugh at something funny, it's entirely on you.