Removing the backgrounds

[imthegun]

I need help with a few photos, I wanna try to take out a few people in some photos and put them together into one huge photo.
I've tried to do the old remove background way, but I can't get it smooth enough, I've also tried the Layer mask, burn levels way I saw on TechTV's Call for help.

Does anyone know how to do it the best way. they don't cover it in PS CS for dummies.

 

[sPECtre]

Without seeing the pictures, and without a clear explanation as to why the masking/extraction did not work, I fear that it might be quite difficult to help you.
The extract filter is said to add some color decontamination.
Some users prefer to use the pen tool, but it won't work for hairs...
others use the color channels as the starting point of their masking work...

See the masking tuts at http://www.adobeevangelists.com/photoshop/index.html for more help on the topic!