Studio Audiences 

What's it like to be in the audience when a television programme is being made? Cosmo Landesman found out. 

Like technical difficulties,studio audiences are just another common feature of television life,and yet to many of us they remain a mystery. Watching them getting excited on game shows, for example, we sit back and ask ourselves - just who are these people? 
Of all the audiences for live entertainment, the studio variety is widely considered to be the lowest of the low. I have heard it said that even people who work in television treat studio audiences with scorn - or, as one cameraman put it,'like cattle'. 
I had assumed that studio audiences were made up of silly people desperate for two seconds of fame. But there's no such thing as a typical studio audience. They come from all classes, professions and income groups. Television tries to attract different types of people for different types of programme. 
Those of us who prefer to watch television from home can't see why anyone would want to watch television from a studio. Why would anyone bother to apply for tickets, travel long distances, and suffer hours of boredom in the discomfort of a studio just to watch what they can see at home? 
One theory is that people hope that for a second they might appear on television. I didn't believe this until I spoke to Angela: ‘Why had she come?’ It was a chance to appear on television.' Another theory is that people are curious to take a look behind the scenes. But the most common explanation I heard was simply a case of 'a friend gave me a ticket'. 
Few of us have ever sat in a studio audience, yet we think we can imagine what it is like. You sit there, squashed among strangers, while someone flashes cards with APPLAUD or LAUGH on them - and you clap or laugh accordingly. This may reflect the reality of some television, but not all by any means. As one studio manager puts it, 'We always assume a show will be good enough not to need these signs.' 
But is there any real difference between what you experience in a studio and what you see on your television at home? For Claire, sitting in a studio is 'more exciting', while Charlotte liked the feeling of involvement with live television. 'Last year I saw my favourite comedian. When you see him on television at home you miss out on a lot.' 
What I missed out on was the sight of live actors - from where I was sitting all I could see was the back of somebody's head. The opening scenes were shot so far from where I sat that I ended up watching the show on a studio monitor. Going to a studio may be a terrible way to watch television, but that's not what's important. For most of the audience it was simply fun and a free night of entertainment.