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Message
Laughing as part of audio on TV shows (laugh tracks, studio audiences)
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:37 pm
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:37 pm
What's the M/TV Board think about laugh tracks and laughter from studio audiences?
I was watching The Colbert Report, which has a live audience, last night, and there was one woman with a very distinct, and very annoying, laugh. It was distracting and really got under my skin for some reason.
The laugh track on Everybody Loves Raymond is also ridiculous. Someone pointed it out to me, and now I can't not notice it.
Shows like Always Sunny and The Office, which don't have the laugh tracks, are better, imho.
What laugh tracks or studio audiences always annoy you? Are some bad enough to where you can't watch the show? Do you mind laugh tracks or think it helps ease tension and boost comedic value of a show?
Why are laugh tracks common with TV shows but not used in movies?
I was watching The Colbert Report, which has a live audience, last night, and there was one woman with a very distinct, and very annoying, laugh. It was distracting and really got under my skin for some reason.
The laugh track on Everybody Loves Raymond is also ridiculous. Someone pointed it out to me, and now I can't not notice it.
Shows like Always Sunny and The Office, which don't have the laugh tracks, are better, imho.
What laugh tracks or studio audiences always annoy you? Are some bad enough to where you can't watch the show? Do you mind laugh tracks or think it helps ease tension and boost comedic value of a show?
Why are laugh tracks common with TV shows but not used in movies?
8
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:40 pm to npersa1
quote:
Why are laugh tracks common with TV shows but not used in movies?
They're used in TV shows to provide the illusion of a phantom audience enjoying the wit of the program. They're not used in movies because every viewer is part of the audience.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:40 pm to npersa1
I started a thread like this a while ago without much response - LINK
This was my post:
These sitcoms that are set up with the 4th wall (the camera isn't "in the room" like in The Office, Always Sunny. etc.) - would they really work without the laugh track now that we are so used to seeing it? Also since it is set up for the most part like a theater (same settings with the 4th wall) would it feel out of place not to have the vocal response of an audience? Thoughts?
This was my post:
These sitcoms that are set up with the 4th wall (the camera isn't "in the room" like in The Office, Always Sunny. etc.) - would they really work without the laugh track now that we are so used to seeing it? Also since it is set up for the most part like a theater (same settings with the 4th wall) would it feel out of place not to have the vocal response of an audience? Thoughts?
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:43 pm to etm512
Want to really get annoyed, put it on the Disney channel and let one of those teen shows come on. The laugh track happens after ever sentence.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:44 pm to npersa1
laugh tracks come from the "dumb people" thing in the other thread. right or not, executives think that the masses don't know when to laugh, or where the jokes are. this is usually true, because with laugh track shows the jokes are readily apparent, but not good.
sitcoms that use laugh tracks...well they're dinosaurs...which is why they're all on CBS which is watched by dinosaurs. you can't really fault "live shows" (Colbert/Stewart, the late night shows, talk shows, etc) for a random person in the audience with a bad laugh.
i can't even imagine laugh tracks in movies...remember, film makers believe themselves superior to television in every single way.
sitcoms that use laugh tracks...well they're dinosaurs...which is why they're all on CBS which is watched by dinosaurs. you can't really fault "live shows" (Colbert/Stewart, the late night shows, talk shows, etc) for a random person in the audience with a bad laugh.
i can't even imagine laugh tracks in movies...remember, film makers believe themselves superior to television in every single way.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:50 pm to nino2469
quote:
Want to really get annoyed, put it on the Disney channel and let one of those teen shows come on. The laugh track happens after ever sentence.
The worst I encountered was on The Dish (I believe that is the name of it). It's the one with the chick from Boy Meets World. Anywho, I had the bad luck of being in the same room with this as my wife was watching it. The laugh track had to be the most obnoxious I have ever heard.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:50 pm to Fletch F Fletch
quote:
you can't really fault "live shows" (Colbert/Stewart, the late night shows, talk shows, etc) for a random person in the audience with a bad laugh.
yeah, but they should have a way to control the mics picking up the laughs from the studio audience. and kill the mic picking up the annoying one. i've had that happen more than once, and last night it was killing me.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:51 pm to etm512
The Flintstones had a laugh track. 
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:56 pm to Pectus
quote:
The Flintstones had a laugh track
Good call. Completely forgot about that.
But I still think my previous point needs to be considered. The laugh tracks are almost exclusively used on sitcoms with the same "theater" type settings (all of the settings are viewed from the same angle every time). Would it seem strange with the laugh tracks removed on these shows?
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:57 pm to npersa1
Supposedly when HBO began they strongly considered adding laugh tracks to movies, but eventually rejected the idea.
In 1968 Rowan and Martin, then riding high on TV with Laugh-In, made a theatrical short promoting Savings Bonds. This short, Rowan and Martin At The Movies, uses a laugh track -- the only theatrical film I know of to use one.
LINK
Watching it in the theatre must have been a curious experience.
In 1968 Rowan and Martin, then riding high on TV with Laugh-In, made a theatrical short promoting Savings Bonds. This short, Rowan and Martin At The Movies, uses a laugh track -- the only theatrical film I know of to use one.
LINK
Watching it in the theatre must have been a curious experience.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 1:57 pm to Pectus
I find the Seinfeld live studio audience actually improves my enjoyment of the show.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 2:02 pm to npersa1
FWIW, sitcoms w/ live audiences use laugh tracks to "enhance" the soundtrack. There's a scene in Annie Hall where Woody Allen watches his old friend, now the star of a Hollywood sitcom, add canned laughs to one of his shows.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 2:06 pm to npersa1
It has never bothered me. I don't even notice it, until people point it out, and even then, I quickly forget about it. If the show is good, then I will be involved in the show and not paying attention to the audience.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 2:07 pm to etm512
quote:
Would it seem strange with the laugh tracks removed on these shows?
The MASH DVDs give you the choice to turn off the laugh track.
I tried watching an episode (one of the early season classics) that way but I found it too jarring. The show was edited to leave space for laughter, so it upsets the timing for the laughter not to be there.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 2:10 pm to npersa1
quote:
Why are laugh tracks common with TV shows
Some people need to be told when to laugh.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 2:13 pm to npersa1
quote:
I was watching The Colbert Report, which has a live audience, last night, and there was one woman with a very distinct, and very annoying, laugh. It was distracting and really got under my skin for some reason
This can be annoying, but sometimes I get a good laugh out of listening to how ridiculous some people laughs are, or how late they laugh after the joke.
Colbert tells a joke
Crowd laughs
As laughter is dying down you hear a loud "Hyuck hyuck hyuck"
cracks me up everytime, I imagine a big guy in overalls and some straw in his teeth.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 2:25 pm to Jumbeauxlaya
I think it was Night Court that had a GREAT laugh track. Some guy had the most unique laugh... it was practically a character.
Now, here's what distrubing -- most laugh tracks were recorded a long time ago, meaning that many people on those laugh tracks are dead. Enjoy your show.
Now, here's what distrubing -- most laugh tracks were recorded a long time ago, meaning that many people on those laugh tracks are dead. Enjoy your show.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 3:04 pm to Baloo
I refuse to watch television shows that have a laugh track. I don't like when the network thinks that I am to stupid to realize when something is funny. Basically I don't watch trash on CBS.
Posted on 8/2/11 at 6:05 pm to Archie Bengal Bunker
quote:
It has never bothered me. I don't even notice it, until people point it out, and even then, I quickly forget about it. If the show is good, then I will be involved in the show and not paying attention to the audience.
Thank you. I think shows are unfairly dismissed as being unfunny because it has a laugh track.
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