# Laugh, and the tape laughs with you **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350 "2000-01-19T03:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/1 "2000-01-19T03:09:00Z")
- - - Cry, and you’re watching The Real World. - - - - Are there any network prime-time TV programs that do not use a laugh track? - - - - Alternately, which shows could have _most_ used a laugh track? I nominate: Mary Hartman,Mary Hartman - Runner Up: Prisoner:Cell Block H. - MC, feelin’ lucky ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/2 "2000-01-19T04:10:00Z")
Wah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! * * * An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/3 "2000-01-19T05:45:00Z")
Well, disregarding the hour dramas, “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill” come to mind. Want to exclude animated shows, too? I think “Newsradio” doesn’t use a laugh track, but I may be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/4 "2000-01-19T06:37:00Z")
“Malcolm in the Middle” has no laugh track. “Sports Night” uses one very rarely (it’s a point of contention between the network and the producers.) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/5 "2000-01-19T15:15:00Z")
I heard that the makers of MASH (the TV series) didn’t want a laugh track, but the network made them use one. They compromised and didn’t use a laugh track in the OR. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/6 "2000-01-19T15:39:00Z")
Didn’t M_A_S\*H quit using a laugh track in its later years? 'course, they weren’t quite as comical near the end either. * * * I looked in the mirror today/My eyes just didn’t seem so bright I’ve lost a few more hairs/I think I’m going bald - Rush ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/7 "2000-01-19T15:40:00Z")
_MC: Are there any network prime-time TV programs that do not use a laugh track?_ ER, Law & Order, Star Trek: Voyager, Providence… * * * I looked in the mirror today/My eyes just didn’t seem so bright I’ve lost a few more hairs/I think I’m going bald - Rush ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/8 "2000-01-19T16:00:00Z")
Are we making a distinction here between canned laughter and the response of a live audience? I think it’s fairly easy to tell when laughter is generated or “enhanced”. I recall reading that Sports Night occasionally has audible laughter but it’s the crew. There’s a show on Showtime about a recovering alcoholic with no track or audience, and it’s almost jarring. It follows every sitcom convention but that, and the absolute _silence_ is disturbing. For some reason, that doesn’t bother me on Sports Night. The deft use of ambient office noise and music more than makes up for it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent4mmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/34f0e0/32.png) [@Kent4mmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent4mmy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/9 "2000-01-19T16:04:00Z")
Roc Live did not use a laugh track for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![smarks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@smarks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smarks)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/10 "2000-01-19T16:12:00Z")
remember when scooby doo and a bunch of those hanna barbara cartoons in the 70’s had laugh tracks? I mean, what was the point? * * * The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/11 "2000-01-19T17:31:00Z")
I remember Dinosaurs tried it both ways, and was (I thought) much better without it. * * * Mayor of [Snerdville](http://fathom.org/snerdville), the home of Mortimer Snerd “I’m just too much for human existence – I should be animated.” –Wayne Knight ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/12 "2000-01-19T17:43:00Z")
The makers of the television show M_A_S_H_ agreed to the use of a laugh track except that it wasn’t used in the operating room scenes. (The thought of a laugh track while blood is spurting seemed distasteful to some.) To see primetime shows without laugh tracks, watch primetime shows from other countries. Most of those don’t have laugh tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/13 "2000-01-19T17:45:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by MC: > > - > - > - Are there any network prime-time TV programs that do not use a laugh track? Forgot to answer the original post. Most of the prime-time news programs do not use a laugh track. e.g. Nightline. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/14 "2000-01-19T17:46:00Z")
$$%#%! And what I posted about M_A_S_H_ had already been said by **Revtim**. I’m slinking away now. ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/15 "2000-01-19T19:36:00Z")
The point of the laugh track on Scooby Doo… and most other Hanna-Barbara cartoons… is to alert the viewer that one of the characters has just said or done something that was intended to be funny. Without this vital service, the viewer would have no hope of identifying these occasions and might conclude that it was intended as a drama or a sort of animated newsreel. I _can_ think of reasons why someone over the age of, say, 8 would voluntarily watch Scooby Doo, but they’re pretty specialized and certainly “entertainment” would not be one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/16 "2000-01-19T21:51:00Z")
Ally McBeal doesn’t use a laugh track IIRC. * * * -Frankie Lack of charisma can be fatal ---
**Author:** ![Surgoshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Surgoshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surgoshan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laugh-and-the-tape-laughs-with-you/6350/17 "2000-01-19T23:02:00Z")
The Simpsons do **not** use a laugh track! The only time you’ll hear any laughing on that show is if the characters do it. A laugh track is only used on those foul, peon shows that **need** it. The Simpsons using a laugh track. Phah! The nerve of you people.