# Sitcom formats (laugh tracks suck) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991 "2005-01-10T04:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/21 "2005-01-10T19:00:16Z")
Laugh tracks work if the show is designed with a lot of big laughs: **Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Cheers, Two-and-a-half Men, Dharma & Greg, The Cosby Show** , etc. were all perfectly fine with a laugh track. But you have to pace the show for them: once the line is given, the actors need to pause for the laughs. Shows without laugh tracks work if the jokes come very quickly. A laugh track on **Arrested Development, The Simpsons, Sporst Night, Scrubs** , etc. would be distracting mainly because you’d miss the many tiny jokes that get tossed at you in rapid succession. The big problem with laugh tracks are that mediocre comedies use them as a substitute for good writing ( **Yes, Dear, According to Jim, Full House** , etc.). There are plenty of good sitcoms that use laugh tracks, but bad sitcoms \*always \* use them. Essentially, all bad sitcoms use laugh tracks, but not all sitcoms with laugh tracks are bad. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/22 "2005-01-10T19:11:26Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Um, according to this thread, the great majority of them on today have laugh tracks, hence the OP’s reason for posting the thread. I know some of the biggest sitcoms ever, like Seinfeld, Friends, and Frasier all had them. A [laugh track](http://www.tvbarn.com/archives/011162.html) is the **artificial addition of pre-recorded laughter** to a show that was not filmed or taped before a live audience ([more here](http://www.tvparty.com/laugh.html)). [The Hank McCune Show](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0174394/combined) (1950), _Mister Ed_ (1961), _Gilligan’s Island_ (1963), _Bewitched_ (1964), _The Brady Bunch_ (1969), _M_A_S_H\* (1972) (outside the operating theater), the first two seasons of _Happy Days_ (1974), _The Love Boat_ (1976), and _Eight Is Enough_ (1977) had laugh tracks. _I Love Lucy_ (1951), _The Honeymooners_ (1955), _The Dick Van Dyke Show_ (1961), _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ (1970), _All in the Family_ (1971), _Seinfeld_ (1990), and _Friends_ (1994) did not have laugh tracks — they were made before live audiences. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/23 "2005-01-10T19:21:13Z")
About Sledge Hammer’s laugh track, I’m going from memory here but it was my favorite show while it was on… It was originally supposed to be a “Police Squad” style series, and started off with no laugh track. This was a big deal at the time and considered very risky for a main network show. Too risky apparantly, because after a few shows a horrible canned laugh track was added in. I had many rants with my geek friends back in the day about the “selling out” of Sledge Hammer. We eventually boycotted the show and endlessly rewatched our Betamax’s of Max Headroom. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/24 "2005-01-10T20:18:23Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > A [laugh track](http://www.tvbarn.com/archives/011162.html) is the **artificial addition of pre-recorded laughter** to a show that was not filmed or taped before a live audience ([more here](http://www.tvparty.com/laugh.html)). [The Hank McCune Show](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0174394/combined) (1950), _Mister Ed_ (1961), _Gilligan’s Island_ (1963), _Bewitched_ (1964), _The Brady Bunch_ (1969), _M_A_S_H\* (1972) (outside the operating theater), the first two seasons of _Happy Days_ (1974), _The Love Boat_ (1976), and _Eight Is Enough_ (1977) had laugh tracks. > > _I Love Lucy_ (1951), _The Honeymooners_ (1955), _The Dick Van Dyke Show_ (1961), _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ (1970), _All in the Family_ (1971), _Seinfeld_ (1990), and _Friends_ (1994) did not have laugh tracks — they were made before live audiences. With a laugh track added later. Though “Taped before a live audience” is true, the laughter you hear on those shows is a laugh track. Live laughter is too sparse and erratic. Though there was a change in laugh track style in the 70s (with the “taped before a live audience” shows) to make a more “natural” sound, laugh tracks were still used on nearly all “taped before a live audience” shows. ---
**Author:** ![audreyayn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@audreyayn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audreyayn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/25 "2005-01-10T20:26:46Z")
Laugh tracks have weaned me of the need to laugh when others are laughing. (Not my little brothers, though. They’ll repeat jokes they don’t understand if it was presented as funny on TV.) Now, instead of laughing, laugh tracks with unfunny shows tend to make me uncomfortable. It’s like watching alien television. I think one of the problems is that the actors are divorced from the laughter. I’ve heard comedians aren’t supposed to laugh on stage, but they do have to pause to let laughter die out, and if it goes on long enough they respond to it. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/26 "2005-01-10T20:33:39Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > If you want irritating in a laugh track, check out That 70’s Show. Damn … they literally laugh after almost every line. Once you notice it, it starts to drive you crazy. You said it. I was just going to mention That 70’s Show as well. That show is really the only one that the laugh tracks bugs me on. It seems so damn forced; it detracts from the (albeit little) humor the show actually does have. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/27 "2005-01-10T20:38:32Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t remember a laugh track on Sledge Hammer. Did we get a different version? I believe the first thirteen episodes had a laugh track, and the others didn’t. In a related note, it’s worth pointing out that the introduction to the **Sledge Hammer!** DVD set has creator Alan Spencer describing it as “_Sledge Hammer!_ has never sounded better – because we got rid of the stupid laugh track.” Made me do a big 😃 the first time I saw it… ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/28 "2005-01-11T03:26:25Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t remember a laugh track on Sledge Hammer. Did we get a different version? I really don’t remember the laugh track when it originally aired. Alan Spencer mentions on the DVD that the track was taken out and that he thought it was much better. The DVD also had showed some scenes with the laugh track, and it just felt way out of place. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/29 "2005-01-11T03:37:13Z")
> [@Othersider](#): > > I’m of the opinion that everyone should watch _Scrubs_; it is hilarious. The show not having a laugh track is just an added bonus. 🙂 Scrubs? Although the show sends me into a coma, does it really need that cheesy kinda what I dub ‘warm milk’ kinda song, when theres a sappy scene? Maybe its the song which sent me to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/30 "2005-01-11T03:50:51Z")
Shows that are filmed before an actual audience, like Married with Children and Red Dwarf, are much more tolerable than shows with laugh tracks, mainly vecause the actors acknowledge and interact with the laughter. For example, when Al Bundy would be giving one of his great speeches, he would pause and nod, and generally pace his lines according to the laughter. It sets up an interplay between actors and audience, and gives it much more of the feel of watching live comedy rather than piped-in laughter over actors going through their motions. Those producer-types who force shows to use canned laughter should be locked in a small metal room for the rest of their life with the laugh tracks perpetually playing. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/31 "2005-01-11T03:52:49Z")
Recently there was a new sitcom that debuted. I couldn’t tell you much about it I had it on but I wasn’t paying attention (probably reading and posting on the SDMB, that damned time waster). One thing I did remember about it is that it was all laugh track. That’s all I heard for the entire time it was on was the annoying laugh track. After that I knew it wasn’t worth watching again. ---
**Author:** ![Barqalounger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@Barqalounger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barqalounger)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/32 "2005-01-11T11:13:02Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > I can understand why laugh tracks were “invented.” Most people will agree that it’s a lot more fun watching something funny (TV show, movie, stand-up comedian, or whatever) with a group of people who are enjoying and laughing at it than it is to watch alone. Laughter is infectious. I agree with this. Seeing a funny movie in a packed theater can be a lot more enjoyable than seeing it at home alone. But in general, the laughter on sitcoms doesn’t do this for me. Maybe because there’s no _real_ sharing of the experience. What about talk shows: Leno, Letterman, Conan, and the like? The laughter on those doesn’t bother me at all. In the monologue and desk bits, the host is actually talking to the audience, so it doesn’t seem out of place. And with the guest interviews, obviously they’re talking for the benefit of the audience. Maybe I don’t like it on sitcoms because in the reality of the show, there is no audience, so having one ruins my suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/33 "2005-01-11T12:59:54Z")
> [@Max Carnage](#): > > Actually I believe every episode of MASH had a laugh track, but it was never used in the operating tent. And I’m sure the last episode didn’t use a laugh track at all since it was more drama than anything. No, I meant, if you were outside the U.S. and you watched MASH, chances are you never heard a laugh track at all. Ever. There’s a few other threads on this board that talk about the differences between TV shows released in the U.S. and elsewhere that brings this up. I htink someone made a more detailed post about it being different in the UK or soemthing. I grew up watching MASH with no laugh track. The show never had one at all. When we got cable with American stations, we heard the laugh track for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/34 "2005-01-11T13:11:41Z")
Getting to be even more annoying is the “Kiss Track” - whenever two people kiss on a sitcom, there is the inevitable “Wooooo” from the soundtrack. It’s like the “audience” has never seen two people kiss before and has to make special note of it when it happens. _ **Git yer gun, ma, they’s kissin’** _ :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/35 "2005-01-11T13:31:36Z")
> [@SavageNarce](#): > > Getting to be even more annoying is the “Kiss Track” - whenever two people kiss on a sitcom, there is the inevitable “Wooooo” from the soundtrack. It’s like the “audience” has never seen two people kiss before and has to make special note of it when it happens. Or the “Awwwwww.” Has anyone noticed that even the laugh/woohoo/awww tracks are getting more crass? Two people kissing used to get the _“Oh, well, isn’t that just lovely?”_ kind of polite applause of approval back in the 70s and now it’s _“whistle Woohoo! bark! bark! bark”_. Geez, if the studio audience was like that in real life, I’d walk off the set in disgust if I was one of the actors. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/36 "2005-01-11T15:06:33Z")
Speaking of **Scrubs** , is it me or does the pacing / comedic style of the show remind you of the old show **Parker Lewis Can’t Lose**? It has that same fast pace, quirky sound effects, spliced in daydream sequences. I’d swear it was made by the same producers. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/37 "2005-01-11T15:38:05Z")
> [@SavageNarce](#): > > Another trackless but funny show is Corner Gas Only in Canada? Pity. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/38 "2005-01-11T15:48:33Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > Or the “Awwwwww.” > > Has anyone noticed that even the laugh/woohoo/awww tracks are getting more crass? Two people kissing used to get the _“Oh, well, isn’t that just lovely?”_ kind of polite applause of approval back in the 70s and now it’s _“whistle Woohoo! bark! bark! bark”_. I blame Married With Children for this. Actually most early Fox sitcoms were bad about it. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/39 "2005-01-11T17:02:31Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > _Friends_ (1994) did not have laugh tracks — they were made before live audiences. I specifically remember seeing a “Making of…” documentary on Friends and it showed you a sound editor picking out a laugh wav file from a large list of them, and dubbing it into a particular point of the videoed episode. He explained they do this when the studio laugh isn’t big enough, or short enough, or too big, or in the wrong place. So it most definitely has a laugh track. Maybe a bit more sophisticated than older TV, but canned laughter all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991/40 "2005-01-11T21:04:49Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > I specifically remember seeing a “Making of…” documentary on Friends and it showed you a sound editor picking out a laugh wav file from a large list of them, and dubbing it into a particular point of the videoed episode. He explained they do this when the studio laugh isn’t big enough, or short enough, or too big, or in the wrong place. > > So it most definitely has a laugh track. Maybe a bit more sophisticated than older TV, but canned laughter all the same. I heard a story on NPR about this a while back. They had the guy in who is prettymuch the current gawdfather of this stuff. Remember Ferris Bueller and his puking synthesizer? Same thing, only with laughs instead. -Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-formats-laugh-tracks-suck/283991.md?page=3)