Current Events > What do you think of laugh tracks in sitcoms?

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Loved Seinfeld , it had a loud one . Kinda insulting isn't it? They have to tell you when to laugh etc....

I really don't like it. It breaks the flow of the dialog in weird ways.

I'll pass. There is no shortage of "why was that funny" moments.

Most of my favourite comedies didn't have one.

im glad they're over tbh. they were annoying as fuck.

even tho i still enjoy watching shows like Seinfeld or Two and a Half Men (Charlie Sheen era) despite having it...

I never really noticed them until this board made a big deal about it back when Big Bang Theory got popular.
But now that im aware, I dont like them. Imagine if a movie had a laugh track.

I don't notice them until I think about them. Then it's ruined.

Now that most shows have moved away from them, they really stand out when watching shows that do have it. And they just feel weird now. Especially when there's a pause for that laugh track.

Indifferent, they were just part of the show.

My first reaction is that I hate them. They spoil the show, and I don't need to be told when to laugh.

Then I realize that a lot of my very favourite comedies (I'm Alan Partridge, Father Ted, Fawlty Towers) had laughter tracks and they didn't spoil my enjoyment one bit.Those are clearly comedies and exploit absurd situations and characters. A laughter track is so much part of the experience that you become unaware of it.

Shows that go more for realism, like Peep Show and The Thick of It (or its US cousin Veep), would be ruined by a laughter track, though.

While I loved Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld, and sitcoms from the 80s, it was weird then. Even weirder when animated shows (Flintstones) had one.

I usually don't mind them. The mostly older 90s and before sitcoms usually had great tracks, some of the audiences back then were wild lol, all sorts of hooting and hollering and cheering. Then again, some are really bad, like The Big Bang Theory. I think the show is okay, but the laugh track is doing way too much.

Audiences laugh at set-ups to jokes. Some people need to be told when something is funny.

I can appreciate the idea behind them, it's supposed to bridge the gap between watching a live performance like a play versus watching a show at home by yourself. It made more sense when tv was relatively new, and definitely works better with an actual live studio audience.

I grew up watching old black and white sitcoms, so I'm kind of used to shows being written for that format

Married With Children had the worst one. In the later seasons every time a character walks into the room theres at least 30 seconds of cheering.

Normaly hate them but I like the way this one did it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=607j7e-Z94U

VincentVega posted...

Married With Children had the worst one. In the later seasons every time a character walks into the room theres at least 30 seconds of cheering.

Yeah Married with Children sometimes went a bit overboard with the laugh tracks, but the howling and hooting was a pretty major part of the show's comedy. Honestly if it had no or less raucous laugh tracks, the show wouldn't be the same.

Sometimes they're cool.

Most of the shows that have been mentioned in here are not actually laugh tracks, but instead, were filmed in front of the live studio audience

VincentVega posted...

Married With Children had the worst one. In the later seasons every time a character walks into the room theres at least 30 seconds of cheering.

I loved it. Especially whenever Al walked in, it was great.

Worked in the 90s and for kid's shows I used to watch, but it feels way too corny and archaic when modern sitcoms use them.