(I just thought I'd start this thread as a minor rant and opportunity for further discussion.)

Does anyone else here absolutely hate the laughing tracks used in sitcoms and other TV shows? Personally I find them insulting to at least my sense of humor. Why do I need a TV producer or anyone else to let me know that something is funny and that I should laugh?

Canned laughter is probably one of the reasons I generally steer clear of any kind of sitcom show.

I realize that it is used for psychological reasons to make the audience feel more "comfortable" and what not, but that still won't keep me from absolutely hating laugh tracks! :mad:

Your thoughts?

Here is a link to a Wikipedia article on canned laughter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track

Influence (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/0688128165) has a good section about that.

It doesn't just make the audience more comfortable, but it makes you think the show was significantly more funny than you would have otherwise.

You see the same thing with stand up comedy. Go to a full club, where everyone's laughing, and you'll think the comedian is hilarious. Listen to their CD with someone that wasn't there, and they'll probably give you a blank look.

That's how morons like Dane Cook can seem funny, just by virtue of the crowd's social proof.

Reminds me of Michael Palin on Monty Python's Flying Circus, sitting at a desk with a little switch he would hit after introducing various film clips of people doing "stunts". The switch turned on canned applause.

You are right, though. I also hate canned laughter, and sitcoms in general..

It's corny and so noticeable but for the mindless masses it must work. It also sounds like the same audience in every sitcom, or so it seems.

I think it would be more funny if they had canned vomiting.

There was a time when I was young that I didn't mind canned (or real) laughter. Some form of laughter was included with nearly every show that I watched, so I just accepted it as "normal".

These days, the shows that I watch on a regular basis are:
* Scrubs
* Futurama
* The Venture Bros.
* Firefly

None of those shows have laughter included, except for rare occasions when the laughter itself is part of a joke. As a result, canned laughter really sticks out to me now, and it annoys me.

Scrubs seems to be the perfect example of how a sitcom can be hilarious without a laugh track or studio audience.

Arrested Development is another good example. No laugh track there.

You actually have to pay attention and think to know when to laugh. The horror!

Ooh, that's right, I had forgotten all about Arrested Development.

Just like with Firefly, when it was still on TV I watched it casually but never paid enough attention to really get into it. So I found it somewhat entertaining but otherwise didn't give it much thought. It was only when I started watching Firefly on DVD (as a result of having enjoyed Serenity) that I got hooked.

I'll have to give Arrested Development a second look.

**WARNING**

An "old" moment is coming.


This very discussion was held in my teenage years, when Laugh-In was the newest thing on television, and had the nation in stitches every Monday night. About a half dozen of us started getting irritated with the laugh tracks, and started watching specifically to see if the jokes were actually funny without the laughing, or if it was the laughing that was funny. Now the show was indeed funnier than hell, being cutting edge comedy for the times (it was still unheard of to say something disparaging of the country's leader on television in those days), but we resented the implication that we were to follow the shows' lead on what we found funny.

And yes, I will admit we were enhancing our viewing experience in varied methods.

I still love Walnetto's!

For the younger peeps on the board.....
Laugh-In was like Saturday Night Live, except it came on Mondays, and was actually funny......

Scrubs seems to be the perfect example of how a sitcom can be hilarious without a laugh track or studio audience

Very true. The My Sitcom episode was very funny though. I wish Carla and Eliot wore those outfits all the time :rolleyes: