Laugh Track Experiment
#1
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Laugh Track Experiment
So many shows get trashed here for the laugh tracks. The Big Bang Theory thread in particular
It got me to thinking it would be good for a network to do a second audio track with no canned laughter, and allow viewers to access it through SAP. I wonder how much the added costs would be to the network?
It got me to thinking it would be good for a network to do a second audio track with no canned laughter, and allow viewers to access it through SAP. I wonder how much the added costs would be to the network?
#2
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Interesting thought.
I don't think laugh tracks are awful. They worked well recently in Seinfeld and in Everybody Loves Raymond. They worked in a lot of classic shows like Three's Company where they most certainly enhanced it, because it was like watching a play and hearing the audience heightened the moment.
What bugs me about a laughing audience is when the material clearly isn't laugh-worthy and there's a huge audience guffaw every time someone slams another character or says something stupid.
Basically, I think there are three kinds of sitcom writing:
1. Writing which is well done and doesn't need a laugh track (The Office, Arrested Development)
2. Writing which is well done, but specifically written to support a audience (Three's Company)
3. Writing which is poor and therefore has a laugh track added to compensate (most sitcoms)
The latter is so prevalent that anymore I find myself turned off by any show where a laugh track is involved. We live in a different time than the last three decades and we don't want to be told where to laugh anymore. We figure if it's funny, we'll find out ourselves.
I don't think laugh tracks are awful. They worked well recently in Seinfeld and in Everybody Loves Raymond. They worked in a lot of classic shows like Three's Company where they most certainly enhanced it, because it was like watching a play and hearing the audience heightened the moment.
What bugs me about a laughing audience is when the material clearly isn't laugh-worthy and there's a huge audience guffaw every time someone slams another character or says something stupid.
Basically, I think there are three kinds of sitcom writing:
1. Writing which is well done and doesn't need a laugh track (The Office, Arrested Development)
2. Writing which is well done, but specifically written to support a audience (Three's Company)
3. Writing which is poor and therefore has a laugh track added to compensate (most sitcoms)
The latter is so prevalent that anymore I find myself turned off by any show where a laugh track is involved. We live in a different time than the last three decades and we don't want to be told where to laugh anymore. We figure if it's funny, we'll find out ourselves.
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Originally Posted by JuryDuty
What bugs me about a laughing audience is when the material clearly isn't laugh-worthy and there's a huge audience guffaw every time someone slams another character or says something stupid.
Originally Posted by Bobby Shalom
It got me to thinking it would be good for a network to do a second audio track with no canned laughter, and allow viewers to access it through SAP. I wonder how much the added costs would be to the network?
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Originally Posted by JuryDuty
We live in a different time than the last three decades and we don't want to be told where to laugh anymore. We figure if it's funny, we'll find out ourselves.
#5
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They still use laugh tracks? I guess I don't watch enough modern sitcoms, the concept seems so dated now.
#6
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The laugh track is taking its sweet time, but its definitely dying. Out of the more critically-acclaimed comedies, there's:
30 Rock
The Office
Entourage
Ugly Betty
Curb Your Enthusiasm
My Name Is Earl
Two And A Half Men
Scrubs
How I Met Your Mother
Rules of Engagement
Only the ones in italics use laugh tracks (clearly CBS is to blame ... ).
30 Rock
The Office
Entourage
Ugly Betty
Curb Your Enthusiasm
My Name Is Earl
Two And A Half Men
Scrubs
How I Met Your Mother
Rules of Engagement
Only the ones in italics use laugh tracks (clearly CBS is to blame ... ).
#7
DVD Talk Legend
My issue with it is that generally it means the show has to stop and wait for the laughter to subside before getting on with the next part. It was good on Seinfeld because the show was so funny and outrageous that you were laughing along with it and needed to take in the moment. It just wouldn't have worked on Arrested Development, where the gags were so quick that you might miss them the first time. So, the pacing of the show really determines whether a laugh track can work or not.
#8
DVD Talk Hero
I love How I Met Your Mother but hate laugh tracks, it is the only thing really holding the show back.
#9
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by Achtung
Two And A Half Men
How I Met Your Mother
Rules of Engagement
How I Met Your Mother
Rules of Engagement
http://www.audiencesunlimited.com/
Likewise, Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond were shot in front of a live studio audience as well.
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Tapings/
http://www.studioaudiences.com/
I feel it's an important distinction to make between those that had an audience present while filming, meaning that the laughter is genuinely for the performances, and a "laugh track" or "canned laughter" that is previously recorded laughter mixed into a show's original laughter-free soundtrack. Genuine in-studio laughter can provide a beneficial experience; a laugh track is just speaking down to the audience.
#10
Originally Posted by Bobby Shalom
So many shows get trashed here for the laugh tracks. The Big Bang Theory thread in particular
It got me to thinking it would be good for a network to do a second audio track with no canned laughter, and allow viewers to access it through SAP. I wonder how much the added costs would be to the network?
It got me to thinking it would be good for a network to do a second audio track with no canned laughter, and allow viewers to access it through SAP. I wonder how much the added costs would be to the network?
#11
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Jay G.
Two And A Half Men and Rules of Engagement tape in front of a live studio audience, which is different from a sitcom that has a laugh track.
http://www.audiencesunlimited.com/
Likewise, Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond were shot in front of a live studio audience as well.
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Tapings/
http://www.studioaudiences.com/
I feel it's an important distinction to make between those that had an audience present while filming, meaning that the laughter is genuinely for the performances, and a "laugh track" or "canned laughter" that is previously recorded laughter mixed into a show's original laughter-free soundtrack. Genuine in-studio laughter can provide a beneficial experience; a laugh track is just speaking down to the audience.
http://www.audiencesunlimited.com/
Likewise, Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond were shot in front of a live studio audience as well.
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Tapings/
http://www.studioaudiences.com/
I feel it's an important distinction to make between those that had an audience present while filming, meaning that the laughter is genuinely for the performances, and a "laugh track" or "canned laughter" that is previously recorded laughter mixed into a show's original laughter-free soundtrack. Genuine in-studio laughter can provide a beneficial experience; a laugh track is just speaking down to the audience.
They mention it some on the Seinfeld DVDs where the audience would just get really loud laughing at certain parts.
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I don't think it would work because in sitcoms with laugh tracks or studio audiences the jokes are written for the audible laugh. Set-up -> punchline -> laugh. Erasing the laugh track would just make the timing all weird.
The laugh tracks aren't the problem, bad jokes are the problem. As mentioned, Seinfeld had studio laughter (not a big difference from a laugh track), and that's an almost universally acclaimed show. If you took away the laughing it would hurt the show. It just has good jokes.
People should search around for a really interesting 1 hour program of Ricky Gervais interviewing Larry David. They make a lot of really interesting observations about comedy. They go into one bit where they talk about what's wrong with most sitcoms is that the characters stand around cracking jokes for the audience, and the characters themselves never react to the jokes. In the good sitcoms (i.e. ones without laugh tracks) the characters interact with and crack jokes for themselves.
But of course Seinfeld was one of the former.
The laugh tracks aren't the problem, bad jokes are the problem. As mentioned, Seinfeld had studio laughter (not a big difference from a laugh track), and that's an almost universally acclaimed show. If you took away the laughing it would hurt the show. It just has good jokes.
People should search around for a really interesting 1 hour program of Ricky Gervais interviewing Larry David. They make a lot of really interesting observations about comedy. They go into one bit where they talk about what's wrong with most sitcoms is that the characters stand around cracking jokes for the audience, and the characters themselves never react to the jokes. In the good sitcoms (i.e. ones without laugh tracks) the characters interact with and crack jokes for themselves.
But of course Seinfeld was one of the former.
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I remember watching an episode of Scooby Doo that used a laugh track. A laugh track for an animated cartoon. Made no sense to me then, nor does it to this day.
#15
Originally Posted by Matt925
People should search around for a really interesting 1 hour program of Ricky Gervais interviewing Larry David. They make a lot of really interesting observations about comedy. They go into one bit where they talk about what's wrong with most sitcoms is that the characters stand around cracking jokes for the audience, and the characters themselves never react to the jokes. In the good sitcoms (i.e. ones without laugh tracks) the characters interact with and crack jokes for themselves.
#16
DVD Talk Legend
I can live with the laugh track if it feels like an audience reaction and fits the type of sitcom it is. I absolutely hate it when they put laugh tracks on single camera shows that couldn't possibly have a studio audience. The short lived Oliver Beene was one that comes to mind. At least with the multiple camera shows it can give a live show feel if not used too egregiously. Four Kings was horrible in this regard, as it used the laugh track to make it seem like jokes that weren't even remotely funny had the "audience members" wetting themselves with laughter.
#17
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Originally Posted by Ayre
Just because a show has a live studio audience, doesn't mean it wasn't augmented with a laugh track. I would bet all those shows use them.
#18
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
You forgot Everybody Hates Chris and Always Sunny in Philadelphia!
I have to interject about the "middle ground" that is "live studio audience". I think I remember seeing tapings on DVD (maybe of Friends?) where the first take will get a HUGE laugh from the audience but will have to be reshot because something was off (line flub, actor giggles, etc.). When they do another take, the audience reaction is never going to be AS boisterous as the first time. So they REDUB the original laughter over the final take for that scene. Which is also IMHO kind of cheating although not so much as say The Brady Bunch which only seemed to have like 12 different very DISTINCTIVE laughter tracks... yeck!
I have to interject about the "middle ground" that is "live studio audience". I think I remember seeing tapings on DVD (maybe of Friends?) where the first take will get a HUGE laugh from the audience but will have to be reshot because something was off (line flub, actor giggles, etc.). When they do another take, the audience reaction is never going to be AS boisterous as the first time. So they REDUB the original laughter over the final take for that scene. Which is also IMHO kind of cheating although not so much as say The Brady Bunch which only seemed to have like 12 different very DISTINCTIVE laughter tracks... yeck!
#19
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Jay G.
Likewise, Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond were shot in front of a live studio audience as well.
Listen for yourself:
Another great show that used a laugh track - M*A*S*H. Always a laugh track (except in the operating room). People didn't seem to mind. Not to mention all the classic sitcoms like Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, The Munsters, etc., etc.
Laugh tracks themselves are fine. But, as others have stated, they underscore how unfunny something is when used inappropriately.
#20
DVD Talk Special Edition
Can you imagine I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke show, or even some of Carol Burnett's sketches without a laugh track (or studio audience as the case was)?
An honest reaction can take the comedy a lot further, but it can also point out a crappy show.
I didn't even notice the laughs on How I Met Your Mother, but they stood out like a sore thumb on Big Bang Theory. Simply because they were laughing & I wasn't.
An honest reaction can take the comedy a lot further, but it can also point out a crappy show.
I didn't even notice the laughs on How I Met Your Mother, but they stood out like a sore thumb on Big Bang Theory. Simply because they were laughing & I wasn't.
#21
DVD Talk Gold Edition
I've always made a distinction between live studio audience laughter and the "canned" laugh track. I liked the live studio audience shows. I don't recall ever liking the latter and always thought it ruined shows like MASH.
Today there's a lot of shows without laughter, so it now seems odd when I watch an older sitcom and hear an imaginary group of people in my living room laughing with me. I never could understand why movies don't have laugh tracks, but Americans want laugh tracks on their TV shows to let them know when they just heard a joke.
So I think I've really come to despise all varieties of the laugh track. I think shows like The Office and My Name is Earl are even funnier without them. Whenever you hear something politically incorrect, for a moment you hesitate thinking "Oh that is so wrong!" and then you laugh even harder because you know you're not supposed to.
I can't think of any comedy from 25-30 years ago without a laugh track except Police Squad. I loved it, but I guess America wasn't ready for it so it only lasted six episodes. Looks like it was ahead of its time.
Today there's a lot of shows without laughter, so it now seems odd when I watch an older sitcom and hear an imaginary group of people in my living room laughing with me. I never could understand why movies don't have laugh tracks, but Americans want laugh tracks on their TV shows to let them know when they just heard a joke.
So I think I've really come to despise all varieties of the laugh track. I think shows like The Office and My Name is Earl are even funnier without them. Whenever you hear something politically incorrect, for a moment you hesitate thinking "Oh that is so wrong!" and then you laugh even harder because you know you're not supposed to.
I can't think of any comedy from 25-30 years ago without a laugh track except Police Squad. I loved it, but I guess America wasn't ready for it so it only lasted six episodes. Looks like it was ahead of its time.
#22
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Numanoid
A good deal of Seinfeld was filmed on location, and even the parts on set used a laugh track quite often. Seinfeld's use of a laugh track is really very obvious when you're looking for it. Yet people never think of it as having one, for some reason.
Listen for yourself:
Another great show that used a laugh track - M*A*S*H. Always a laugh track (except in the operating room). People didn't seem to mind. Not to mention all the classic sitcoms like Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, The Munsters, etc., etc.
Laugh tracks themselves are fine. But, as others have stated, they underscore how unfunny something is when used inappropriately.
Listen for yourself:
Another great show that used a laugh track - M*A*S*H. Always a laugh track (except in the operating room). People didn't seem to mind. Not to mention all the classic sitcoms like Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, The Munsters, etc., etc.
Laugh tracks themselves are fine. But, as others have stated, they underscore how unfunny something is when used inappropriately.
#23
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Originally Posted by rennervision
I can't think of any comedy from 25-30 years ago without a laugh track except Police Squad. I loved it, but I guess America wasn't ready for it so it only lasted six episodes. Looks like it was ahead of its time.
#24
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by clckworang
The stuff that was filmed on location was shown to the live studio audience. If you watch the DVD extra features (can't remember for sure which season), they talk about quite a bit of this.
#25
DVD Talk Godfather
Just check out the MASH DVDs if you are interested in hearing a show with and without, you can turn off the laugh track.
At first it was odd watching it without the laughter as that's the only way it's been known for 30 years. Then you get used to it and realize how lame the laugh track was. They were in the middle of Korea. It just kinda kills it once you see/hear the difference.
At first it was odd watching it without the laughter as that's the only way it's been known for 30 years. Then you get used to it and realize how lame the laugh track was. They were in the middle of Korea. It just kinda kills it once you see/hear the difference.