[TV] Laugh Tracks

[Darkdruidelf]

Does anyone else find laugh tracks to be the single most irritating thing in the world?

I mean, why do American shows have to always add them in? It just gets on my nerves, especially on some shows when it is literally 'Hello' hahahahaha 'How're you?' hahahaha. I seriously don't need someone telling me when to laugh, and I reckon that they are just there to pad out shows. Is it there to make me feel like I have company and Im not just sat alone watching something? Seriously, I don't get the point. Shows are always funnier without them.

What do you think about them?

[grandpab]

I agree completely. I even said the same exact thing to a friend the other day, I had said "stop telling me when to laugh!" The only comedy tv shows I end up liking don't have laugh tracks. It's just too lame, they same something not even worth a little chuckle and then pause all speech for a second for the laugh track.

[Skizzit]

They are a throw back to when sitcoms were filmed in from of an audience. I have no clue why they still use them, I am sure there is some excuse for them or something, but thankfully they are becoming less common.

[Howard Moon]

The best part is when you go watch a live show, they have a guy holding up signs with "laugh" or "applause" telling the audience when to react. Pretty lame ^^

[Fuzzzie]

I agree. They suck.

Maybe they use them so it eats up time and the writers have to do less work??

/Conspiracy

[Xuany]

That's one of the reasons why I don't watch sitcoms ever.

[WorldofWorkcraft]

My friend absolutely hates Big Bang Theory's laugh tracks. I admit, they are excessive, and I wish some shows would let me figure out if something is funny instead of telling me it is. I saw a youtube clip of a non-laughtrack version of a scene of BBT, and it was pretty funny, just the laugh track makes me angry. Sometimes a laugh track will snap me back or keep me in a laughing mood; other times I'm just like..."..."...

[purefury]

big bang have live audience, not added track.
i like them, they make person feel like in a company.

[Deleted]

That's one of the reasons why I don't watch sitcoms ever.

You might want to check 'Modern Family' out.

[obc]

i don't hear them anymore. really, i watched so much shows that i forget that there even is a laughtrack....till NOW. the next time i will watch a show, you bet i will be hearing nothing but the laugh track, which, yes, is annyoing, but guess what: it works on a lot of people and it yields a positive results for the producer. we won't get rid of them anytime soon. even if you find them annoying they will have an effect on you and your amusment, even if its only on a subconscious level. to many viewers a show without a laugh track seems cold and not as funny as one with. so yeah, its something irritating but chosen for a good reason.

[Deleted]

I don't really pick which tv-shows I want to see based on the use of laugh tracks.
Sure it gets annoying when they overdo it, but with some shows, like Friends or How I Met Your Mother, I couldn't imagine watching them without laugh tracks.

[Xiphan]

They're unbearable and usually ruin the show for me. It seems any humour a lot for me, making it seem like they're forcing laughs upon the viewer.
Most of the time, nothing funny even happens but they throw in a laugh track anyway. They're really annoying and I wish they would just go away.

[Zaerick]

Some of them are fine at certain times but I admit they over use them way too much. I don't know of any recent shows that use them since I haven't watched American Television in well over a year. When I did they were very annoying and I always wondered why they were there.

[Bitlovin]

Totally agree, laugh tracks are just bad. Live studio audience laughing is one thing, I don't mind that so much, but canned laughter is so annoying.

[Digglett]

They're annoying, but I've somehow gotten used to them. I understand if it's a live audience, but why would you wanna simulate that when you don't have one?

[Wynnyelle]

They usually ruin the show for me if it happens to have one. There are a few exceptions, but a very small few. I just don't see why they need to add them. If something is funny then people will laugh at it. They don't need to be encouraged or reminded to laugh.

[Lylyth]

I don't know that I've ever watched a show with a laugh track and genuinely enjoyed it.

However, I love the good sitcoms that actually ARE filmed in front of a live audience. Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Home Improvement, etc.

Do modern sitcoms still have laugh tracks even when not filmed in front of audiences? The only "sitcoms" I've watched since the 90s have been The Office, Scrubs, Modern Family, Arrested Development, etc. None of them have laugh tracks.

[VanillaO]

It's becoming more common for shows to not have laugh tracks, often because of the way sets are built - they are not exactly hospitable for an audience. There is that one episode of Fresh Prince, though, where it being filmed in front of anything BUT a live audience would have been disaster. The episode where Carlton thinks Will is dead and then he runs between all the sets and the audience (might be during the end credits, or just the end of the show, don't remember which) was absolutely hilarious.

[Fujiama]

I don't really notice any difference. I usually watch TV shows that have them.

[Arlee]

They are awful... there is a new show called Whitney and I am pretty sure in the first episode the Laugh track was going every 20 secs... most of the time there wasn't even a joke being told... it's just annoying ><