After being filmed before a live studio audience for eight seasons, All in the Family chose to forgo the audience for its ninth and final season.
The show's creator Norman Lear, however, didn't want to resort to a laugh track for the final season. The phoniness of canned laughter was what made him choose to buck Hollywood conventions and go with a live audience to begin with. How would he get real reactions without a live audience?
The answer was found on another Norman Lear program- One Day at a Time. All in the Family would borrow their live audience by showing a videotape of a previously filmed All in the Family episode to an audience that had just watched a live One Day at a Time filming. Their reactions were recorded and added to the All in the Family episode in post-production.
