Does CBS have any sitcoms without a laugh track? Have they ever?

Cafe Society
1

The recent thread about single-camera sitcoms vs one-camera sitcoms got me to thinking: CBS really does love the laugh track. Just about every sitcom I can ever remember on CBS seems to have it turned up to 11. Do they now or have they ever had a sitcom that did not have a laugh track?

About the closest I can think of is MAS*H. As I recall, the show’s producers did not want a laugh track, but CBS insisted on having one. If I remember right, they compromised and had a laugh track on about half of the episodes (and it was never used on scenes in the O.R.).

2

No, they had a chuckle track, which was kind of a laugh track. You are right that no laughs were allowed in the OR, though.

3

Someone is bound to come in to show you that most of the Chuck Lorre CBS comedies don’t use a laugh track - they use a live studio audience (as do most shows you watch where you hear what most people refer to as a “laugh track”). What those people don’t realize is that the sound track of the live studio audience laughing can be manipulated to exactly the same extent a laugh track can be.

4

The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams was a single-camera sitcom.

5

Another series by Larry Gelbart (who developed MASH for TV) was United States, which ran without a laugh track. But it was on NBC.

6

Damn, I should have remembered that one. I watched it every week until it got cancelled.

7

I (vaguely) remember that show. It was very unusual for the time in that it was shot on videotape, three camera, yet without an audience or laugh track. Actually I more remember this promo for it more than the actual show itself!

8

I didn’t recall that AfterMASH (another CBS show created by Gelbart) had a track, but on review of the pilot episode on Youtube, it has a mild chuckle track. I don’t know about later episodes, but they’re there for review.

9

Frank’s Place (1987-88) might count – it had 30-minute episodes and got nominated for a Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy. Looking at Wikipedia turned up Worst Week, which got a season in 2008-09. Other than that – maybe you’d count Northern Exposure, but I wouldn’t.