(SPOILER ALERT)

OK, so it’s a few days late, but I just watched this week’s episode of Prison Break, and I am truly stunned. Most of you probably already know about what happened. Scofield’s love interest, Sara Tancredi was killed. Apparently there were issues with the actor’s (Sarah Wayne Callies) contract, she was having a baby, they were going to kill her off but have her come shoot a few episodes, she didn’t like that idea, or something. The issue is well laid out over at MeeVee.

I agree with this article in the way this story arc was handled:
It’s going to alienate a lot of fans. The show gets some guys who tune in for the action, but female viewers in many cases stick around for Wentworth Miller as Michael. Killing off the love of his TV life seems to make as much sense as Jim strangling Pam in a quiet corner at Dunder Mifflin. Especially after Michael and Dr. Sarah spent most of last season risking life and limb for the chance to be together.

What a sad character arc. Recovering drug addict Dr. Sarah tries to make amends with a job helping inmates at the prison run by her dad. Ends up falling in love with Michael and helping him escape. Exposed, she becomes a national pariah. Relapses. Her dad ends up dead – a murder made to look like suicide, if I remember correctly. Dr. Sarah is tortured by remorse and Agent Kellerman. She finally reunites with Michael in the season-ender only to have him take the fall so she can go free. After which she falls into the hands of kidnappers. Who decapitate her to send a message to the boyfriend. Which doesn’t even get delivered because Linc can’t bear to tell Michael what’s happened.

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I am one of the fans that has been alienated. Out of loyalty, however, I will be watching at least to see what Michael’s reaction to the news ends up being, although that doesn’t make the way this was handled. I mean, if you HAD to kill Sara off, OK, but at least make it dramatic and moving with at least an emotional payoff of some sort.

I am convinced that unless they end up hiring another great looking, voluptuous, vulnerable-looking female actor and somehow get us to want her and Scofield to get together, this show is doomed. Since the odds of that happening in only 17 or so episodes is…actually, wait a sec…that’s a lot of episodes, especially at the pace the whole story this season has been changing, so I guess anything could happen. Hmmm. Maybe the show will live. I’m still very pissed off, though. Bastards.

On a side note, did you know that the actress Sarah Wayne Callies grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii like me? And her parents were professors at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, just like my dad? But she went to Punahou High whereas I went to McKinley High. Interesting tidbit of info there.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think laugh tracks on sitcoms are condescending. I was reminded of this while watching the latest episode of Back To You last night. I think this is the only sitcom that I watch right now, because I all but swore off sitcoms for the reason of the laugh tracks. BUT, since it’s Kelsey Grammer AND Patricia Heaton (two people I think are excellent comedic actors), I had to give this show a try.

The show is actually very funny, albeit slapstick at times. The newsroom setting is also near and dear to my heart, coming from a TV news background myself. The jokes resound that much more with me.

But why, oh why must we still include the hokey, cheesy, unnecessary laugh tracks in these shows? Do you hear any laughing on The Office? My Name is Earl? No! Do you miss it? Did you even know it wasn’t there before you just read about it here?

What is the origin of the laugh track anyway? I guess I can understand it’s usefulness for decades past, but today’s audiences are much more savvy to what goes into making a show and also able to follow plot lines and jokes better than previous audiences. And it really irks me when the canned laughter is really loud during non-funny moments. I think I’ll decide what’s funny or not, thank you very much.

Which shows do you think should have their laugh tracks removed?