# Laugh tracks are they really necessary?



## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

I have been watching a lot of UK comedies like The Inbetweeners and Free Agents and have been laughing so hard at how brilliantly funny they are. I just noticed there is no laugh track as is the norm on US comedies like Big Bang Theory. Is the laugh track really needed? If it is truly funny we are going to laugh any ways. Maybe the UK shows have an edge due to lax decency standards. Neither The Inbetweeners no the UK Free Agents could run on broadcast TV here unedited as is.

I don't know it was just a thought I had. I am trying really hard to remember more US comedies that do and don't have those laugh tracks. I don't think arrested development had one and they really pushed the edge of decency with all the off colored humor. I don't think Modern Family has a laugh track if they do I never noticed it. Any way I just thought I would toss this out there......


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

There's others...Off the top of my head
Community 
Parks & Rec
30 Rock
The Office 
The Middle
Modern Family (as you said)
My Name Is Earl (syndication/ended)
Family Guy
Happy Endings
Mr. Sunshine 
Cougar Town
Scrubs (syndication/ended)
Up All Night (new)


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

_Is the laugh track really needed? _

No. It's annoying.

What's worse is the live audience laughing so loud (and long) that you miss some of the dialog, or the cast stands there waiting to say their next line. Put the audience behind some kind of sound barrier so they don't get recorded.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

There are some clips on YouTube of some scenes with the laugh track absent (one I have seen is of Big Bang Theory). It is amazingly creepy to watch sometimes without it. Amazing how dependant some shows are in the laugh track. 

I definitely prefer shows that don't use it.


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## theedger (Mar 31, 2008)

I bought the first couple seasons of MASH on DVD. There was an option to watch without a laugh track. I liked it better without. More powerful.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> There's others...Off the top of my head
> Community
> Parks & Rec
> 30 Rock
> ...


That list don't bode well with what they really must think of us as viewers :nono2:


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

oldschoolecw said:


> That list don't bode well with what they really must think of us as viewers :nono2:


 There's some really good shows on that list, IMO. Comedies are pretty rare nowadays.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

doesn't


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

I find all can annoying.


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## balboadave (Mar 3, 2010)

hilmar2k said:


> There are some clips on YouTube of some scenes with the laugh track absent (one I have seen is of Big Bang Theory). It is amazingly creepy to watch sometimes without it. Amazing how dependant some shows are in the laugh track.
> 
> I definitely prefer shows that don't use it.


That is a poor and misleading example. _Big Bang Theory_ is performed in front of a live audience, and is paced around it. Removing their feedback, which is mostly laughter, is like listening to half of a conversation. Of course it's going to sound weird.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

Nick said:


> doesn't


I think you should teach me proper Etiquette with posting


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> There's some really good shows on that list, IMO. Comedies are pretty rare nowadays.


They obviously don't think we know whats funny and when to laugh, that's what I was trying to say


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## Getteau (Dec 20, 2007)

I was watching a Friends marathon last week and couldn’t believe how obnoxious the laugh track was on the show. If you ever watched Scrubs, there was an episode where they acted like it was a 70's comedy (I think one of their patients was a director from Mash or something). In that episode, they overplayed the laugh track to make it seem like a really cheesy comedy from the past. All I could think of when I was watching the Friends marathon was that Scrubs episode. That and how whiney Chandler sounded. Was his voice always that high pitched and whiney? Man, after watching a few episodes, I can’t believe that I really used to like that show.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

In shows that record only the "live audience" response laughter I see a pacing and cast feedback behavior change that can be beneficial, not always but usually. On the other hand, in a show that uses only canned laugh tracks or supplements with canned laugh tracks generally I see no benefit and sometimes it just emphasizes how unfunny the script is, not always but frequently.

It's interesting how production changes over the years. Fewer comedy shows seem to use canned laugh tracks. On the other hand, after "Northern Exposure" more popular music is used in drama series, so much so that on some shows it's becoming annoying, particularly on The CW.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"balboadave" said:


> That is a poor and misleading example. Big Bang Theory is performed in front of a live audience, and is paced around it. Removing their feedback, which is mostly laughter, is like listening to half of a conversation. Of course it's going to sound weird.


I've heard numerous complaints about BBTs laugh track. I guess Chuck Lorre did as well, which prompted him to put audience picture as a vanity card one episode.


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## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

All in the Family was filmed in front of a live studio audience ( as opposed to a dead studio audience, I always used to think that when I was a kid) and it was annoying because as SayWhat? mentioned the audience would laugh so hard because it was so funny you could not hear what was being said. This can be seen in the episode when Archie gives and editorial reply on gun control. Carol O'Connor being a great actor kept on delivering his lines as the audience was laughing it up. 

I think single camera comedies such as My Name is Earl is done with out the laughter because I do not think there is a live studio audience. An audience would get bored real quick having to watch a single camera comedy being filmed. Also I noticed single camera comedies have more location shoots because they are not limited to a sound stage and 3 or 4 cameras catching the action all at once.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)




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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

hilmar2k said:


>


Which ever way they did that segment, I wouldn't find it funny. I actually find it disturbing and very disgusting


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

I can't even watch my favorite old Cheers and Mash episodes because of canned laughter. Amazing that anyone could ever stand it. Wanted to see what all the hype was with the 2 1/2 men craze and made it 15 seconds into it, until the laugh track.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

armophob said:


> I can't even watch my favorite old Cheers and Mash episodes because of canned laughter. Amazing that anyone could ever stand it. Wanted to see what all the hype was with the 2 1/2 men craze and made it 15 seconds into it, until the laugh track.


I thought Cheers was filmed before an audience?


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

paulman182 said:


> I thought Cheers was filmed before an audience?


"Cheers" was filmed before an audience, as are 99% of shows that have a "laugh track" -- but they all "sweeten" the audio to some extent; probably the two most common reasons are because they didn't get enough laughter from the audience, or because they need to "cover" an edit. ("Cheers" was probably more in the latter case.)

When I worked as a closed-captioner, we would usually get tapes of shows that were dubbed for us before the audio mix was fully completed. That meant, on most sitcoms with a laugh track, we got them before the audio was sweetened and we'd only be hearing what they'd recorded from the live audience. It changed many of those shows quite a bit -- they seemed less funny when there was less laughter. 

At any rate, there _are_ sitcoms with a laugh track in the UK as well. The one I've seen most recently is "The IT Crowd" (which I thought was funny enough that I could ignore the laugh track).


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## B Newt (Aug 12, 2007)

Its worse when a cartoon has a laugh track.


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## Kentstater (Jun 18, 2004)

paulman182 said:


> I thought Cheers was filmed before an audience?


As opposed to a dead studio audience? 
(Sorry CJ9788)


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## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

Kentstater said:


> As opposed to a dead studio audience?
> (Sorry CJ9788)


!rolling


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## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track#Usage_in_America.2C_post-1990

_"One of the last single-camera broadcast network shows to employ a laugh track was Sports Night (ABC, 1998-2000), which shot its early with an audience present. While it abandoned the audience and moved toward a single-camera method of production, the network insisted that the show use a laugh track to create continuity with the style of those early scenes. Due to the objections of creator Aaron Sorkin, the laugh track became more subtle as the season progressed and was completely removed at the start of the second season. [22]

Laugh tracks are still sometimes used for multi-camera sitcoms that shoot without live audiences. How I Met Your Mother, which uses the multi-camera format but no audience, uses a laugh track assembled from the sounds of audiences watching completed episodes early in the show's run. The game show Merv Griffin's Crosswords, which ran from 2007 to 2008 and, unlike most game shows, did not tape in front of a studio audience, used a laugh track as well."_


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Definitely overdone in the Big Bang pilot. It even sounds canned, as in from the bottom of a metal barrel.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

paulman182 said:


> I thought Cheers was filmed before an audience?


That was what they said. And even if true, neither are desirable. The live audience is getting cued by a flashing sign. 
I even suspect comedy central of tweaking up the audience response in some of the specials. Demitri Martin's show has definite audience laughter enhancement.

It was years ago when I saw an interview with a professional laugh-er. She was placed strategically in the audience to induce laughter. You can pick them out sometimes when you listen.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

Some horrible examples, Real People, Funniest Videos with Bob Saget, and now that awful Tosh show.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

armophob said:


> Some horrible examples, Real People, Funniest Videos with Bob Saget, and now that awful Tosh show.


Tosh.0 is one my favorite shows.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Trying out "The Exes" (Kristen Johnson, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight) on Comedy Central. It was heavily hyped on TVLand, so I'm not sure it's on CC, but anyways .....

Laugh track is already annoying and distracting. It's in too many places that don't even seem to be meant to be funny.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

SayWhat? said:


> Trying out "The Exes" (Kristen Johnson, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight) on Comedy Central. It was heavily hyped on TVLand, so I'm not sure it's on CC, but anyways .....
> 
> Laugh track is already annoying and distracting. It's in too many places that don't even seem to be meant to be funny.


Yeah. The show looks like it might actually work - we laughed some. And it's filmed before a live audience. But they just can help but add that stupid laugh track.


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## renbutler (Oct 17, 2008)

Best: No audience or laugh track
Okay: Live audience
Bad: Laugh track
Worst: Laugh track for a show that isn't funny


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

A laugh track that one is unaware of is O.K.

However, since reading this thread, there's no laugh track that fits that definition.:nono2:


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## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

I used to get a kick when watching I Love Lucy reruns to try and determine how many times the laugh track "looped". On the the track they used, at one point you can hear a woman say something sorta like "uh oh". It's very distinct, so was easy to pick out every time it came around. I remember one episode where I heard it 8 times.......


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

*Laugh tracks: are they really necessary? *

Yes. How else would you know when to laugh? :shrug:


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## koji68 (Jun 21, 2004)

Kentstater said:


> As opposed to a dead studio audience?
> (Sorry CJ9788)


That joke needed a laugh track. Here it is :lol::lol::lol:


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

I just realized that I do not watch any shows with a laugh track.


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## pablo (Oct 11, 2007)

Nick said:


> *Laugh tracks: are they really necessary? *
> 
> Yes. How else would you know when to laugh? :shrug:


While flipping through channels I landed on some teen series on one of the Nick channels. The audience (or the track) laughed after nearly every line the actors spoke. It was weird. And it wasn't even funny.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

In today's digital TV world, laugh tracks could be toggle-able, not unlike CC. Won't happen, but it's a thought. Actually it could be implemented right now without a lot of change: Make one SAP the track without the canned joy. 

Still won't happen.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I'm beginning to dislike live audiences as much as laugh tracks.

Must they interrupt after nearly every line from any character in the Big Bang Theory? Isn't there some way to mute the audience while they tape?


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

SayWhat? said:


> Isn't there some way to mute the audience while they tape?


Even if they didn't have the audience area miked, some sound would still get picked up by the mikes being used for the actors -- and the actors would pause anyway to wait for the audience reaction.

I guess, instead of having someone warm up the audience before the taping, they could instead have someone _cool down_ the audience, maybe tell a story about his dog dying or something like that.

But if you don't want a live audience's reaction to be heard, then there's no point to having a live audience.


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