# Are laugh tracks really 'dead people laughing'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932 "2008-07-18T06:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/21 "2008-07-18T18:51:59Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] There’s no doubt in my mind that was Desi laughing off stage. It’s the exact same laugh he used in front of the camera. [/QUOTE] This naturally raises the question: Is there any moment in _I Love Lucy_ when Desi Arnaz, in the laugh track, is laughing at Desi Arnaz on screen? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/22 "2008-07-18T18:54:40Z")
In all the times I noticed it, he was not on screen. I don’t think his laugh was on the laugh track, I think he was off camera, watching Lucy do her thing and his laugh was loud enough (and distinct enough) to be picked up by the microphones. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/23 "2008-07-18T20:11:08Z")
[QUOTE=Tripler] I think it’s kinda creepy to use 20+ year old laugh tracks. I mean, that assumes that people from 20 years ago find today’s comedy funny . . . and that my friends, is a stretch. [/QUOTE] Heck, using laugh tracks is a bit creepy. It assumes the TV viewers think the show is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/24 "2008-07-18T20:37:42Z")
If that creeps you out you should watch old episodes of Johnny Carson. That whole show is HOSTED by a dead guy. ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/25 "2008-07-18T21:14:21Z")
I laugh at dead people. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/26 "2008-07-18T23:27:14Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] What was the name of the Harlan Ellison story where a guy discovers his dead aunt’s (?) laugh on an old laugh track? [/QUOTE] The story is “Laugh Track,” from the Ellison collection [Angry Candy](http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Candy-Harlan-Ellison/dp/0395924812). ---
**Author:** ![scrambledeggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@scrambledeggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scrambledeggs)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932/27 "2008-07-19T19:55:09Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] If that creeps you out you should watch old episodes of Johnny Carson. That whole show is HOSTED by a dead guy. [/QUOTE] No, not for me–that’s different, because we know that he died, and it is not a shock – anymore than to look at a picture of abraham lincoln or JFK. The laugh track on the other hand implies that someone in the audience is laughing, right now, unseen, but in fact it is canned from 1950’s people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-laugh-tracks-really-dead-people-laughing/456932.md?page=1)