its so ubiquitous it feels like it was a requirement…
It is actually a completely different kind of production. A modern TV show is made in hundreds of takes in any order with loads of repeats, and the result is then cut to make the final show.
Filmed with a live audience implies one more or less continuous take, in order, no repeats, and each actor has to be able to run his or her part perfectly, know every position and line.
That is quite tough in comparison to modern methods, and I am convinced that most modern TV or movie actors would have difficulties with that concept.
In friends the writers and producers are present during the live audience shoots they look at how the live audience reacts to the jokes. If the reactions are mild they take a break and brainstorm on how to make the punchline better. They even asked the audience what went wrong with the joke. I don’t think they shoot in sequence either.
Here’s the documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBScomgeX5E
There were accusations of using a laugh track - recorded laughter added in post-production - so having authentic laughter was a selling point if you’d stumbled across a show coming on after something else.
I’m sure those ones also used laugh tracks, because they didn’t say “Actual audience laughter.”
They’d mix in laughter from earlier takes into later takes. Obviously people are going to laugh more the first time they hear a joke than on the second or third time hearing it. So that seems reasonable to me.
Saying “actual audience laughter” wouldn’t mean it isn’t a laugh track, ie. actual audience laughter recorded from something else. In the end it’s all recorded laughter no matter what they did. So “filmed before a live studio audience” would be the best way to describe it.
In addition to making the show sound more authentic, there’s a bonus tourism boosting angle: “filmed before a live studio audience” that could include YOU!
One fun thing to do when visiting relatives come to Los Angeles is to go be part of the studio audience of a favorite show. And it’s free. (Maybe not some shows, I haven’t done research.) We took my cousin to “Jeopardy!” back when Trebek was host. Watching later we could hear his distinctive laugh. And it was fun to know the winner ahead of time.
The formation of television in the USA was different than for movies. The early cameras were incredibly large, required close access to transmission equipment, and needed high ends technical staff to maintain it. Also, Rockefeller Center was built in NYC for the express purpose of being a television studio, the first of its kind in the world.
So, a lot of early television was done on various stages. Since Broadway was nearby, TV companies pulled a lot of theatre acting talent to make television shows. Because these people were used to performing in front of an audience, they brought audiences with them.
Scripted comedies ended up being holdouts in switching to non-audience filming because it was thought that the live audience made the viewing experience better for the television audience. People watching alone could laugh with the audience.
Authenticity.
Shows with a laugh track are basically telling you that the writers producers think certain jokes are funny. And fuck that noise.
Shows without a laugh track generally get laughs because an audience is having fun.
Just because a show was “filmed in front of a live studio audience” that doesn’t meant it didn’t have a laugh track as well. Lots of shows filmed in front of a studio audience ALSO added tons of laugh track
