# I can't watch sitcoms with a laugh track/studio audience **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271 "2011-08-11T00:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/1 "2011-08-11T00:17:11Z")
I can’t watch sitcoms that feature a laugh track or studio audience anymore. I don’t really know why; I can still watch old shows like _Seinfeld_ with no loss of enjoyment. But for some reason it seems jarring when it’s done on new shows; it doesn’t help that the current shows I’ve seen that have them are all (IMO) hacky and bland series that may as well have been aired in the '80s - not that there aren’t sitcoms without laugh tracks that don’t fall into this category. To stave off the “So what shows _do_ you like?” comments, I’m a fan of _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Community, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie_ and, to a lesser extent, _30 Rock_ and _The Office_. Anybody else have this kind of aversion to laughter on sitcoms? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/2 "2011-08-11T00:24:46Z")
Yes. On top of being incredibly dull and annoying, laugh tracks are insulting to the viewer, really. It’s as if it’s telling the viewer when to laugh or when comedy is taking place. If it’s funny, I’ll know it, thanks automated asshole. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/3 "2011-08-11T15:41:22Z")
Guess it’s just the 2 of us. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/4 "2011-08-11T15:46:46Z")
you are not alone ---
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/5 "2011-08-11T15:53:12Z")
I can’t either, but I never could. Canned laughter is wrong for so many reasons. I’ve never seen a sitcom that gave me real laughs. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/6 "2011-08-11T15:55:22Z")
It’s falling out of style, for sure, but I can still appreciate it in a solid situation-driven show like “Everybody Loves Raymond.” When you can feel like you’re laughing along with people, it can make the show more enjoyable. Watching reruns of “How I Met your Mother” is painful, because the cheap laugh track just highlights how slow the show is. You end up waiting 5 seconds in between non-funny jokes for the fake laughter to die out. In those cases, the show just isn’t funny to begin with, so no amount of other-people-laughing can save it. Shows like the early Simpsons and Community can get away with not having laugh tracks because the jokes are less about the situation, and more about just being funny jokes. They can cram in more jokes and have less dead time in between them. The show has to be designed around not having a laugh track though. Otherwise you get dreck like Sports Night, which was a show that desperately need a laugh track, but instead filled the long pauses in between jokes with uncomfortable silences. As an experiment, someone should filter out all the laughter from a stand-up routine. It’s amazing how quickly something can seem non-funny when nobody else is laughing. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/7 "2011-08-11T16:07:26Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > As an experiment, someone should filter out all the laughter from a stand-up routine. It’s amazing how quickly something can seem non-funny when nobody else is laughing. I would love to see how episodes of Seinfeld would play without a laugh track. I’d almost think the characters would come off as whiney or creepy or bitchy rather than humorous. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/8 "2011-08-11T16:11:48Z")
Are there any examples of successful movies with a laugh track? I’ve never seen one. Why do they work (apparently) on TV but not in Hollywood? ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/9 "2011-08-11T16:13:23Z")
because the movie theater has a real audience laughing so they don’t need it ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/10 "2011-08-11T16:26:11Z")
I agree entirely. Weirdly enough, I also find myself still laughing my ass off at old _Seinfeld_ episodes that I’ve seen a dozen times, and that show has a laugh track. I’ve been playing around with a hypothesis that it’s because the _actors themselves_ often chuckle (in character) at what’s being said. I dunno if it’s a Larry David trademark – he does it on _Curb_, but that’s only pseudo-scripted – but I think it helps. It makes the show more realistic: Jerry says something clever that a roomful of writers crafted, and Elaine laughs in response. It beats Doogie Howser saying something clever that a roomful of writers crafted, and all that chick from Buffy does in response is just kinda stand there frozen for four seconds while she waits for the laugh track to die. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/11 "2011-08-11T16:28:38Z")
I can’t watch them anymore either. I was tickled pink when my daughter gave me a _Soap_ DVD – loved that show. Couldn’t watch the damn thing! I’m so glad _Raising Hope_, _My Name Is Earl_, and _Modern Family_ don’t have the track/audience. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/12 "2011-08-11T16:34:03Z")
Oh, _Modern Family_ is another one I watch that I forgot to mention. **steronz** , I agree with everything in your post. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/13 "2011-08-11T16:58:14Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > As an experiment, someone should filter out all the laughter from a stand-up routine. It’s amazing how quickly something can seem non-funny when nobody else is laughing. Interesting example. Here’s another: what if they broadcast a ball game (on TV or radio) without any of the crowd noise? Would a touchdown or a home run be as exciting to watch without hearing the spectators’ reaction? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/14 "2011-08-11T17:21:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I would love to see how episodes of Seinfeld would play without a laugh track. > I’d almost think the characters would come off as whiney or creepy or bitchy rather than humorous. Or without the ironically-themed music which punctuated every strange occurence in the show. “Dumm dumm DUH DUH dumm…” which basically equates to “Once again a bunch of selfish idiots get what they deserve.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/15 "2011-08-11T17:23:58Z")
Another vote for hating laugh tracks. This is why I can’t really watch _The Big Bang Theory_, which I think I’d quite enjoy if it weren’t for the hyuck-hyuck-hyucks all the time. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/16 "2011-08-11T17:58:25Z")
I’m kind of ambivalent on the laugh track vs. no laugh track question. On some shows that are clearly shot in front of an audience (like _Frasier_ or _Seinfeld_) I don’t have an issue with a laugh track since it makes you feel like you’re part of the audience. Some shows like _The Office_ and what I’m currently watching, _Wilfred_ and _Louie_, a laugh track just won’t work since the humor on those shows are based more on the situation than a series of one-liners. I think that sitcoms are generally pretty savvy about which shows should have laugh tracks and when to use it within an episode. Laugh tracks should not be used when they are clearly intrusive such as in the early seasons of M.A.S.H. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/17 "2011-08-11T18:40:15Z")
Oh, I can’t either. Neither can my wife. MASH is much better on DVD, where you can turn the track off. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/18 "2011-08-11T18:45:48Z")
They never bothered me growing up, but not watching TV for a few years and coming back, they were jarring. I refuse to watch anything with a laugh track now. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/19 "2011-08-11T19:15:04Z")
Basically, I think if a show is funny, a laugh track doesn’t hurt, and if it’s not funny, a laugh track doesn’t help. For instance, I enjoy _How I Met Your Mother_, and when I read **steronz** ’s post above I had to stop and think about whether that show even _had_ a laugh track. I guess the fact that I’m laughing as well makes it less obtrusive. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271/20 "2011-08-11T19:31:17Z")
When “Malcolm in the Middle” first started airing, I enjoyed watching it for a while. I couldn’t put my finger on _why_ exactly I liked it so much until I realized the show had no laugh track. It seemed fairly similar to other sitcoms, albeit without the voice-over narration, it just didn’t have that one annoying aspect of automated laughter. It seemed to give the show a much more authentic feel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-watch-sitcoms-with-a-laugh-track-studio-audience/592271.md?page=2)