Every year, it's the same thing: members of the party in power stans and applaud at every line of the president's State of the Union address, and members of the opposing party sit in stone-faced disapproval. Oh, but if leaked reports are to be believed, next year is going to be different!
Yes, reportedly next year Democratic Party operatives are planning to install the Percepto shock gadgets William Castle used to make people scream in his movie The Tingler. These units supposedly shocked, or at least joy-buzzed, the seats, causing audience members to stand and scream.
Hopefully the Republicans will stand each time the gadgets jolt their chairs, making it appear the president has the full support of Congress, and providing a uniform standing ovation look for television audiences. Of course, Republicans may end up screaming instead of clapping, but it's a reaction of some sort, which is at least a beginning, and arguably an improvement over the sit & scowl approach.
And if this doesn't work to achieve the desired result, I have it on good authority that networks will simple use CGI to fake a full standing ovation from Republicans during each applause line of the 2016 State of the Union speech. (Hey, they news spins and fabricates so much already, so why not just go all the way?)
This is Percepto:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tingler#Percepto:_.22Scream_for_your_lives.21.22
Hmm, you know, they could also try using retractable needles in the seats of the chairs; deploying those into some backsides ought to jolt people up out of their chairs.
