Decker

I'm curious, because most of the popular comedies posted on this thread are about shows without a laugh track (My Name Is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, Arrested Development, The Simpsons, etc). I was thinking about it and frankly since the two biggies left NBC a couple of years ago (Friends and Fraiser), I don't think I've watched a single episode of a comedy with a laugh track. It's not that I have a specific problem with them, just one of those things where the shows I enjoy just don't have one I guess. Well, that and Will & Grace going right down the drain.

So what's your experience?

Michael Corvin

I noticed the same thing in my viewing habits when trying to watch something like Two & a Half men or Teachers or anything. I'm laugh track free:

Scrubs
My Name is Earl
the Office
Arrested Development

Those are the only regular comedies I watch.

And even watching MASH on DVD is infinately better sans laugh track, despite not being how it originally aired.

Ayre

When the comedy is bad, then you really notice the laugh track.

I tried to watch the episode before the series finale of That 70's Show on Thursday.

It was a horrible horrible show, but that didn't stop the laugh track.

ryuryu2949

Wow, I didnt even notice that my 3 favorite shows on tv now (The Office, My Name is Earl, and Scrubs) are laughtrack-free.

I guess my 4th fav. still has a laughtrack (SNL) because it can't be possible that the live audience is actually laughing at this season's drivel.

j123vt_99

Interesting point... All the shows I look forward to watching don't have a laugh track

Red Dog

Yep.

I don't have a problem with a laughtrack. If the show is funny, you wont really notice it.

Patman

Hmm... I don't go out of my way to avoid sitcoms with laugh tracks, but I guess there's a mix between the two for my viewing habits:

How I Met Your Mother
Two and a Half Men
The New Adventures of Christine
House (come on, no one would watch if it wasn't so damn funny)
Scrubs
Teachers (unless it's been dumped by now)
Sons and Daughters (so-so, but hitting its stride 10 episodes in)
Freddie
Everybody Hates Chris
Will and Grace
My Name Is Earl
The Office
The Loop

Drexl

I would be watching one now if a certain comedian hadn't bailed out of his show after signing a $50 million contract.

Decker

Well, I don't think a live sketch comedy show really counts as a "laugh track". Yeah, it's a subtle distinction, but I was referring to the laugh track in the background of sitcoms and the like. You can't tell jokes in front of an live audience and not have them laugh. Or if you do, you won't be on the air very long...

Jadzia

The only one I watch with a laugh track is How I Met Your Mother.

I usually avoid laugh traack/conventional sitcoms. I think this show would be a lot better if it was a single-camera, no -laugh track show, but it is not bad.

chino77

king of queens and yes dear...though this season has been pretty weak for both of them.

Decker

Yes Dear once had a strong season?

Matthew Chmiel

Most of Chappelle's Show is taped segments, thus laugh track. The only "live" aspect of the show is when Chappelle is on stage talking, which is around 10% of the show.

MrX

Just the first 3 Monday Night CBS comedies

atlantamoi

Think I started a thread on this a couple of years ago because it drives me insane. The only sitcom I can handle with a laugh track is Seinfeld, but I honestly do avoid shows that have them. It's like they can't trust the audience to make up their own minds.

sven

How I met Your Mother is the only one for me.

chino77

for cheap stupid laughs i like it. it was never a great show by any means though. i thought the show was decent for what it was up untill this season.

Jay G.

A lot of people on this thread are confusing the phrase "laugh track" with shows recorded in front of a live studio audience, original poster included. A "laugh track" specifically refers to laughter that is added to a show that wasn't recorded in front of an audience. For example, "Seinfeld" and "Fraiser" were recorded in front of a live studio audience, thus the laughter heard on those shows isn't from a "laugh track," but the spontaneous response from the audience in the studio watching the show being recorded.

http://www.answers.com/laugh+track&r=67
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track
http://www.tvparty.com/laugh.html

For the record, I don't currently watch any comedies with a laugh track. I do watch a few shows with audience laughter though, namely The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

clckworang

Yep, I agree. How I Met Your Mother is the only one that I can think of that I watch, and I don't think I had watched any show with a laugh track in a few years. By and large, I just find laugh tracks to be distracting, and depending on the show, they can be a little insulting. Despite how great it is, I even find it a little difficult to watch Sports Night before they ditched the laugh track.

lukewarmwater

Yeah but there really isnt a difference. Whenever you watch a show like the daily show or snl or leno the audience has this fake canned laugh. Dont they pay people to sit in the audience and laugh at all their jokes now? Or at least hold signs that say laugh, booo, or clap?

Doughboy

Not me. I watch The Office, My Name Is Earl, Arrested Development(R.I.P.), and Curb Your Enthusiasm. No laugh tracks, but plenty of laughs.

The Cow

I think it's just that they are gone.

Two of my favorites have laugh tracks, but they don't distract from the show (don't really add either)

M*A*S*H
Married With Children

Jay G.

No and no. I've been in the audience twice for the Daily Show, and wasn't paid to attend. Tickets are usually free for TV shows, but can still sell out months in advance. The people in the audience want to be in the audience because they are fans of the show.

Also, there weren't any signs held up, although after commercial breaks the crew would prompt for applause to start back up. Otherwise there were no prompts for any response, which is why some jokes genuinely bomb.

There usually is a comic who does a "warmup" for the audience, so that they are in a mood to be entertained. And audiences know what is expected of them, so this may play a part in why the responses seem "canned." However, I think the similarity between real audience laughter and a laugh track is due to the skill and ingenuity of today's laugh tracks. They're sounding closer and closer to the real thing, which ironically makes some people mistake the real thing as fake.

lukewarmwater

So no and no for leno, snl, and daily show or just daily show? Have you seen any of these shows recently? Every joke, good or bad gets laughs. Unless the audience is retarded or high I doubt those are genuine laughs.

Big Boy Laroux

just How I met Your Mother for me. I tried Teachers, but it just wasn't funny.

in HIMYM, i sometimes don't notice the laugh track... but damn i wish it were gone. it's better to see the characters react to the jokes, like normal friends would.