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[Socreges]

Some points:

- Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier --> gone

- The remaining (supposed) critically acclaimed sitcoms with laugh tracks are Everybody Loves Raymond and Will & Grace, and I suspect each have a few seasons left, at most.

- Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Scrubs, and Malcolm in the Middle are the new kings in town. Sex and the City is over now, but ended as a very popular show.

- Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Undeclared both failed, despite being regarded as hilarious shows.

My angle is that I hate laugh tracks. They manipulate people into finding something funnier than it actually is. It's an excuse for poor, hackneyed comedy.

So, all I can really provide are random thoughts and hope someone makes sense of it. Are we doomed to have success equated with laugh tracks? Is television comedy such a cesspool that producers can't possibly rely on actual talent, and are forced to resort to the laugh track?

[edit] How the HELL did I forget about Scrubs? One of my favourite shows and I've even been anticipating the new ep. tonight... *boggle*

 

[BigJonsson]

CESSPOOL CESSPOOL CESSPOOL

 

[demon]

I think networks have begun to realize that they are simply unnecessary (because they are), and, as you've noticed with recent sitcoms, they for the most part don't have laugh tracks. Hopefully the day of the laugh track is gone, because they are incredibly annoying and often disrupt the flow of a joke or scene.

 

[Dan]

Scrubs is rather successful now, and it's without a laugh track in the majority of markets.

What I really hate about laugh tracks is that it often turns the show into bad theater, where the actors stand there holding there dumb expression for a few moments while the 'audience' laughs it up. It reduces the actual content and kills any momentum that was there in the first place.

I hate 'em, but I have to say, I don't really find myself complaining about them in really good shows, like Seinfeld. I guess I just don't care since the rest is so good.

 

[LinesInTheSand]

I hate laugh tracks now. Scrubs, AD and CYE 4 life.

 

[Kiriku]

My angle is that I hate laugh tracks. They manipulate people into finding something funnier than it actually is. It's an excuse for poor, hackneyed comedy.

What, are you saying that all sit-coms with laugh tracks are poor, hackneyed comedy? Seinfeld rocked, laughtracks or not.

With that said, I agree that laugh tracks are sometimes used to ease up the crowd for a joke that otherwise would seem quite lame without laugh tracks...so yeah, they can drop them. Also, laugh tracks seem to interrupt with the pacing...I really dislike it when the actors just stay silent and stare at eachother until the laughs have stopped. Without laugh tracks that kind of situation would be so silly.

As to why they don't drop the laugh track...they probably believe people are too used to it. It's more convinient to have a laugh track, for lazy people it's easier to pick up the jokes that way...and it's easier to start laughing if you actually hear laughs. Hell, I know people who, when watching a comedy, joins in laughing just because someone else started to laugh. But they don't actually know what they're laughing at.

 

[Dan]

Sometimes... I laugh at the laugh track.

 

[Kiriku]

Sometimes... I laugh at the laugh track.

Yeah, there are times when you hear this deep male voice laughing when all the others stopped.

Or the middle-aged woman with the whiny laugh, trying to catch her breath. :lol

 

[Socreges]

I think networks have begun to realize that they are simply unnecessary (because they are), and, as you've noticed with recent sitcoms, they for the most part don't have laugh tracks.

I've noticed the opposite. Are you sure?

What, are you saying that all sit-coms with laugh tracks are poor, hackneyed comedy? Seinfeld rocked, laughtracks or not.

Of course I wasn't saying that. Everything that I said stands, regardless of exceptions.

Btw, I downloaded the first four seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Only watched a few episodes so far, but I really love it.

 

[Dan]

Yeah, there are times when you hear this deep male voice laughing when all the others stopped.

Or the middle-aged woman with the whiny laugh, trying to catch her breath. :lol

Or just when it's not funny at all, but you know some executive thought some laughter should be thrown in, but it's only mild laughter because the exec knows he can only get away with so much for such a lame gag.

 

[Mike Works]

I almost always hate laugh tracks, but I have to say that I love Everybody Loves Raymond, and the laugh track actually improves that show (whereas I think it detracts from pretty much every other show in existence).

Unfortunately, as long as the mid evening ABC sitcom is still alive, the laugh track will remain.

 

[impirius]

Yeah, the laugh track on Raymond actually does a good job of helping to pace the jokes. It'd be awkward with just silence, and the back-and-forth would be a bit too much without the pauses.

 

[Socreges]

Well, I personally don't find Everybody Loves Raymond all that funny. Which is too bad, because it's on five times a day all of a sudden.

Anyway, to build on my reply to demon...

New comedies:

Listen Up, Joey, Rodney, Method & Red, Quintuplets, Commando Nanny (I didn't make that up), Savages

Guess what? ALL feature laugh tracks.

 

[Flynn]

The sitcom is pretty much dead. I think The Simpsons helped enlighten most to how vacant and worthless the once rich form had become. Now we just have to wait for the rest of the country to catch up.

 

[Kiriku]

Something I dislike even more, even though it doesn't seem to be as common nowadays, is the "awwww" track. Whenever there's a love/make-up moment or a child saying cute, innocent things, the crowd goes "awwww". Sounds so stupid.

 

[OmniGamer]

I hate laugh tracks too, but several episodes of Married with Children seem to have this one guy that really stood out . Speaking of which:

Peggy:"Al, let's have sex"[/whining]
Al:"Uh....no Peg"
*Audience laughs*
*Al flushes toilet*
*Audience hoots and cheers*

 

[Hitokage]

What I hate about laugh tracks is how they'll laugh at every stupid thing, making a bad joke even more irritating.

 

[Incognito]

wtf??

seinfeld and everybody loves raymond employs laugh tracks?? i thought it was a real audience???

 

[SlickWilly223]

wtf??

seinfeld and everybody loves raymond employs laugh tracks?? i thought it was a real audience???

I'm pretty sure Seinfeld had a live audience. It's quite apparent, especially when everyone claps for Kramer when he makes his appearance in some of the episodes.

 

[teiresias]

Yeah, what's with this "laugh track" stuff? I mean, most all the comedies in which you hear laughter during the show are taped in front of an actual audience and you're just hearing the audience reaction. I know Will & Grace is taped in front of a real audience for one. Full House, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and I Love Lucy (the show where the technique for recording the audience reaction was pioneered I believe) all filmed in front of real audiences. It's not like these shows are the original Scooby-Doo episodes that used the annoyingly fake laugh tracks.

The only "manipulation" the producers of a sitcom might do if they film in front of an actual audience is actually use take 15 of a shot, but use the recording of the audience's reaction at take 1, because that's the more genuine reaction to the joke because by take 15 it's obviously quite stale to the audience.

 

[Dan]

Of course, even when it is a live audience there are still cues for when the audience should react, and how.

 

[Flynn]

What I hate about laugh tracks is how they'll laugh at every stupid thing, making a bad joke even more irritating.

Exactly.

I also dislike seeing a movie that everyone else loves.

Every time they roar with laughter I seethe with anger.

I know, I need therapy.

 

[Socreges]

Of course, even when it is a live audience there are still cues for when the audience should react, and how.

Exactly.

Sorry if I didn't distinguish between live audiences and recorded audiences, guys, but it doesn't make ANY difference in what I've said.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

As it was stated earlier, lots of the shows are actually filmed in front of an audience. And the shows you named like Scrubs, Malcolm, and Arrested Development are one camera shows. They couldn't have a live studio audience because the camera is in many different positions. I don't really know if the live studio audience or laugh track is going anywhere in multi-camera shows like sitcoms.

 

[Socreges]

As it was stated earlier, lots of the shows are actually filmed in front of an audience. And the shows you named like Scrubs, Malcolm, and Arrested Development are one camera shows. They couldn't have a live studio audience because the camera is in many different positions. I don't really know if the live studio audience or laugh track is going anywhere in multi-camera shows like sitcoms.

Right. ...so?

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Right. ...so?

Most sitcoms still use it, so there really isn't any sign it is going away. The Larry Sanders show was a one camera show, that didn't mean there was some shift away from the laugh track or studio audiences. I don't things are changing that much.

You can always sit down with a nice reality show if you hate laugh tracks.

 

[demon]

What I hate about laugh tracks is how they'll laugh at every stupid thing, making a ba...

...making a bad joke even more irritating.

 

[Celicar]

My two favorite shows, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development don't use laugh tracks, and it works just as well. I don't think people are so stupid that they don't know when to laugh. Seinfeld was great too, and I didn't have a problem with the laugh track. Either way, who cares?

 

[Socreges]

Most sitcoms still use it, so there really isn't any sign it is going away. The Larry Sanders show was a one camera show, that didn't mean there was some shift away from the laugh track or studio audiences. I don't things are changing that much.

Larry Sanders was seen as a fluke. And for a while, it was just that. Shows of its ilk came and went, such as Sportsnight, which was excellent.

But now I think we're beginning to see a trend of these types surviving on networks outside of HBO, and sitcoms with audiences fading out of popularity. The latter hasn't had a great success emerge for a few years now.

My two favorite shows, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development don't use laugh tracks, and it works just as well. I don't think people are so stupid that they don't know when to laugh. Seinfeld was great too, and I didn't have a problem with the laugh track. Either way, who cares?

Yeah, I thought I made that clear.

 

[Morbo]

Laugh tracks sicken me.

You can always sit down with a nice reality show if you hate yourself.

fixed.