Laugh Track: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Comic 1:''' Why did the chicken cross the road?

'''Comic 2:''' I dunno.

 

 

[[Viewers are Morons|Closed-captioning for the humor-impaired]].

Although it may not seem so, laugh tracks were surprisingly sophisticated systems at the height of their use. Rather than being just simple recordings of a laughing audience, they were actually carefully generated and mixed, with such discrete components as "the guy who gets the joke early" and "housewife giggles" and "the one who didn't get the joke but is laughing anyway" all precisely blended and reblended to create the illusion of a real audience responding to the show.

 

 

The term "Laugh Track" is often misapplied to shows that are filmed and later screened to an audience, whose responses are then recorded. This is inappropriate, though, because in these cases the laughter was a genuine response to the humor in the show, and was not pre-recorded... although it's not unheard of for supplemental canned laughter to be inserted afterwards. Sometimes the term is even applied to the existence of a [[Studio Audience]]. In fact, [[Studio Audience]] sitcoms like ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' get the accusations of "Laugh Tracks" ''more'' than shows that actually use a '''Laugh Track''', because a '''Laugh Track''' tends to be quieter and less noticeable than real live audience laughter.

{{examples}}

== Played Straight ==

* In ''[[American Born Chinese]]'', the Chin-Kee story is meant to resemble a TV comedy -- the story even uses canned laughter in the form of "hahahaha" written at the bottom of the panel. The canned laughter is played straight for most of the Chin-Kee story, until near the end when Danny fights Chin-Kee, where the laughter becomes overwhelming.

 

* In ''[[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]]'', the author will sometimes put "(LOL)" or some other variant, sometimes with [[Don't Explain the Joke|an explanation of what the joke is]] after some parts he thinks are funny.

 

=== Film ===

* This is also mentioned in the [[Andy Kaufman]] [[Biopic]] ''[[Man on the Moon]]'', when Andy explains why he is not interested in doing a [[Taxi|sitcom]]: "It's just stupid jokes and canned laughter! And you don't know why it's there, but it's there! And it's dead people laughing, did you know that? Those people are dead!" (Interestingly, this rant may have been [[Throw It In|improvised]] by [[Jim Carrey]] since only the first line appeared in the script.)

* Used in a segment of the film ''[[Natural Born Killers]]''.

 

=== Literature ===

{{quote|"Most of the laugh tracks on television were recorded in the early 1950s. These days, most of the people you hear laughing are dead."}}

 

* The first laugh track was used in 1950 on NBC's ''[[The Hank McCune Show]]''.

* ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' and ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' are two good examples of the height of laugh track abuse from the 1960s and early 1970s.

** Although the Latin American dub mercifully removed it from both shows.

* [[Aaron Sorkin]] used to engage in knock down, drag out fights with ABC execs over the laugh track in''[[Sports Night]].'' He hated it, they demanded it, and for a brief period at the beginning of the show's run there was a laugh track. Sorkin eventually won out.

* ''[[Little Britain]]''.

* Possibly lampshaded in the "webcast" parts of ''[[iCarly]]'' (as in, the bits where we're watching the [[Show Within a Show]]) with Sam's remote. Usually [[Once an Episode]], she'll hold it up and press a button, which cues the laughter. It's played straight in the show proper, though.

* The original British version of ''Da Ali G Show'' used a laugh track, but its American adaptation (known as ''Ali G in da USAiii'' in Britain) lacks it.

* NBC's ''100 Questions'' abused the hell out of this. It was eventually cancelled after 6 episodes.

* Both ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' and ''[[Muppets Tonight]]'' used laugh tracks. Justified in that both shows were presented as [[Show Within a Show|shows being performed for an audience]], and it would be entirely impossible to film this show in front of an audience due to the special effects and the puppeteers. Also, unlike most others, the laugh track sounded ''so'' real, people ''actually try to buy tickets for a taping!''

** Actually, some of it ''was'' real laughter. Apparently the stagehands' favorite skits were with the Swedish Chef and would crowd the set to watch the taping. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8UE8ADvF_s Listen very closely] and you can hear a really loud laugh and somebody clapping their hands that doesn't match up with the laugh track

** The [[Steve Martin]] episode was originally supposed to dispense with the laugh track and feature only the cast laughing ([[It Makes Sense in Context|The Muppets had to cancel the show to audition new acts, but Steve Martin decided to perform anyway]]). However, the Muppeteers' laughter at some of Steve's antics was so loud it actually had to replaced with a laugh track to avoid drowning out the act itself.

* Every [[CBS]] sitcom, even in the modern era where shows like ''[[The Office]]'' and ''[[Modern Family]]'' have been critically acclaimed and immensely successful without the use of one. In fact, CBS is the only network that still uses laugh tracks with any frequency.

 

=== Music ===

* Many of [[Ray Stevens]]' comedy records featured laugh tracks, such as "The Streak" and "Shriners' Convention." This may be the most [[Egregious]] use of laugh tracks ''ever''.

* [[Johnny Cash]] sometimes dubbed applause machines into his songs, most notably "Sunday Morning Coming Down". It's really, really fake-sounding.

 

=== Professional Wrestling ===

* Most [[Professional Wrestling]] promotions that produce TV shows make use, to some degree, of "canned heat", which is not so much a Laugh Track as cheer tracks, boo tracks, and sometimes specific chants ([[WCW|"Goooooooooooooldberg... Gooooooooooooooldberg..."]]). This is generally played over the stadium's PA system, in an attempt to coax the crowd into a given reaction (or, at the very least, fool the audience at home into thinking the crowd are giving a reaction). And it's also handy for importing into video game adaptations.

 

=== Video Games ===

* Strangely enough, this trope is also invoked by the ''[[Ganbare Goemon]]'' series of [[Video Games]], the most well-known example being in ''Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon''.

 

=== Western Animation ===

* [[Hanna-Barbera]] is perhaps the biggest offender. Almost all of its ''animated'' series have laugh tracks, firing at more or less random times.

** ''[[The Flintstones]]'' was recently remastered without a laugh track, and [[Your Mileage May Vary|reportedly]] the humor falls flatter than a pancake without it.

** Notably the ''[[All in The Family]]''-inspired ''[[Wait Till Your Father Gets Home]]'' aired with a laugh track at first but since has been laughtrackless.

*** It seems to be HB's policy to remove all laugh tracks when remastering its animated series. However, this can only be done if the original dialogue, music and effects tracks can be located, which is not always possible.

* The theatrical ''[[Pink Panther]]'' shorts had laugh tracks added when they were shown on television.

 

 

== Parodies ==

=== Anime and Manga ===

* One episode of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series]]'' has Tea say that she will prove that women can be equal to men. A laugh track suddenly pops up.

* Also appears in ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'' when Vegeta makes an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]].

{{quote|{{spoiler|When Kiki Mora lifts up her sweeper from the sand.}}

{{spoiler|When Kiki Mora's sweeper stops at the water bottle.}}

{{spoiler|During the chase scene.}} }}

 

=== Film ===

* A laugh track starts playing in ''[[Fireball]]'', to the great dismay of Drossel, who is convinced it is caused by intruding spies.

* Used in ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'' in one scene with Scott and Wallace to show how inflated Scott's ego had gotten (to wit: he thought he was [[Seinfeld|Jerry Seinfeld]])

 

=== Literature ===

* [[Harlan Ellison]] wrote a story, "Laugh Track," about a woman whose ghost possessed all of the laugh tracks on TV (because her laughter appeared on the tape that was copied to make all of them), and instead of laughing complained loudly about the quality of the shows concerned and television in general.

 

* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', which never actually used a proper laugh track (though it was shot in front of a studio audience), featured a few sketches in which canned laughter and applause tracks were triggered by one of the characters—including the "[[Attila the Hun]] Show" (which parodied American sitcoms) and the "Interesting People" sketch, in which Michael Palin can be seen reaching off camera to turn the applause on and off.

** Taken a step further in their running gag of using obvious black-and-white stock footage of applauding audiences throughout the series.

* An episode of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' shows Servo using a laugh track every time Crow utters his newly adopted "[[Sitcom]]" [[Catch Phrase]] "You Know You Want Me Baby!" The really old cassette player Servo is using ultimately eats the laugh track.

* A certain single-episode show summed up its content by taking the name ''[[Canned Laughter]]''. While the end credits rolled, the same quick laugh track was played over... and over... and over...

{{quote|Canned Laughter

'''Dean:''' ''How is that funny''? Vultures! }}

* In the Pierce Brosnan episode of ''[[Muppets Tonight]]'', a particularly bad pun from Rizzo provokes no reaction whatsoever, causing Clifford to remark that "Even the laugh track didn't think that was funny."

* Used for the imaginary [[Show Within a Show]] ''Pyro and the Idiot'' in the ''[[Corner Gas]]'' episode "Self-Serving."

* The short-lived [[Comedy Central]] sitcom ''Big Lake'' featured a laugh track, but its presence was for ironic and sarcastic purposes - the stuff that it triggered on were often [[Cringe Comedy|very uncomfortable]] or [[Black Comedy|dark]] situations - essentially mocking the laugh track by using it incorrectly.

* In the early local episodes of ''You Can't Do That On Television'', Christine says the show has no laugh track because it's both the right thing to do and they can't afford (although they added it in when they went to Nickelodeon). Then they show a clip from the local farm report with a laugh track added in.

 

=== Music ===

{{quote|''Oh Ricky, what a pity, don't you understand,

 

 

=== Web Original ===

{{quote|'''[[Street Fighter|Akuma]]''': "GOUKEN, I'M HOME."}}

* Used in ''[http://spacetree.keentoons.com/bee.html Face Bee] [[Space Tree|The Face Bee]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|in Your Face]]!''

* Used in [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s review of ''[[Grease]]'' after Sandy says that she now knows that Danny truly respects her.

* In ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HTqbxYsYwc The Dr. Steel Show, Episode 1]'', [[Doctor Steel]] enters his lab at the beginning of the show to wild applause, which he reacts humbly to... then [[Lampshade Hanging|reaches over and turns a dial which turns off the applause track]].

{{quote|'''The Cinema Snob:''' Careful with that laugh track; we need it for the next "80s Dan"!}}

* See ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' turned into [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CrjYpX5M3o "a crappy 80's sitcom with a few sound effects"].

 

=== Video Games ===

* In ''[[Kirby]] Super Star Ultra'', an unlockable blooper reel features a laugh track. Being the ''Kirby'' series, all of the laughter is unintelligible squeaks.

* ''[[The Legend of Kyrandia]] III: Malcolm's Revenge'' has what is presumably a parody of this: laughter will often occur after Malcolm's comments, regardless of whether they are intended to be funny. Thankfully, it can be disabled in the options menu.

 

=== Web Comics ===

 

=== Western Animation ===

** Taken [[Up to Eleven]] in one episode where Brain's heavily edited show is played before a live studio audience. Every time James Woods and another actor says something, the audience laughs at the line and it's the same ''exact'' laugh every time, making it sound like the laughter is canned.

* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Jakovasaur", the household of the Jakovasaurs is presented as a typical [[Dom Com]], complete with laugh track. When Cartman comes to visit, he wonders [[Lampshade Hanging|where all the laughter is coming from]].

* The ''Justice Friends'' segment of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' uses laugh tracks in parody of live-action sitcoms (of which it borrows a format).

* One episode of ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' featured two parasite characters living on Spunky, whose adventures were spoofs of typical '60s sitcoms. The scenes with them have laugh tracks, which the rest of the show lacks.

* An episode of ''[[Chowder]]'' featured some jokes uncharacteristically followed by a laugh track, until Mung finally orders a stop to "the canned laughter." This being "Chowder", it was quite [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|literal]].

* In an episode of ''[[Futurama]]'', the president of the network which airs "All My Circuits" proves how evil he is by saying, "I once put a laugh track on a sitcom that had no jokes in it!"

* Parodied in one episode of ''[[Danger Mouse]]'' where the title character says "I thought we weren't going to have canned laughter on this show" after a villain laughs and runs off.

* A ''[[Venture Brothers]]'' episode ran flashbacks of Rusty and Pete's college days with a laugh track added to evoke an '80s sitcom.

* ''[[101 Dalmatians|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]: The Series'' didn't normally use a laugh track, but included a brief snippet of a laugh track following one of the jokes in "You Slipped a Disk" as well as the second half of the episode, "Chow About That?," apparently as throwaway gags.

 

== Exceptions ==

* Used similarly in the segment of ''[[Natural Born Killers]]'' establishing Mallory's backstory. Mallory's father threatening to beat up her mother, Mallory's father groping Mallory and her brother asking if he was born of incest with her all have the "audience" rolling in the aisles. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq2rsaOxWQ MASSIVELY disturbing.]

 

* ''[[Scrubs]]'' is a notable exception, all the funnier for a lack of a laugh track in almost every episode (there is one exception in the [[Imagine Spot]] episode which parodies the traditional [[Sitcom]]) -- the lack of a laugh track allows for innovative use of [[Sound Effects]] instead.

** NBC actually advertised its Thursday night comedy block (which Scrubs [[Channel Hop|was]] a part of) as being completely laugh track free.

* Most sketch shows are filmed in front of studio audiences. In shows that have a weird sense of humor or play with format a lot, this is often self-evident, because there'll be a lot of apprehensive tittering if the audience doesn't know where a sketch is going, or one person howling uncontrollably while the rest of the audience is just mildly amused, or occasionally a punchline or an [[Beat|important silence]] being ruined by premature laughter. Understandably, performers of shows like this can get quite exasperated when they're accused of using canned laughter—why would anyone deliberately add in audience reactions that ''get in the way of the jokes''?

* According to the "liner notes" on the ''Monty Python's Flying Circus Ultimate Collector's Edition'', the Pythons ''never'' used a "laugh track". The laughter on their skits all came from the studio audience. If a routine didn't get enough laughs, they didn't "sweeten" the laughs- they just left that routine on the cutting-room floor and didn't air it.

* ''[[Delta House]]'', a sitcom version of the surprise hit movie ''[[Animal House]]'', went beyond canned laughter to canned wolf whistles, canned villain-booing, etc. in a vain attempt to capture the feel of the movie.

* The current trend of [[Mockumentary]] style sitcoms like ''[[The Office]]'' and ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'' has dealt another blow to the laugh track. Obviously, shows like these ''can't'' use laugh tracks, since that would destroy the illusion that the shows consist of documentary footage. This type of series doesn't use music (except in the opening credits) for the same reason.

* ''[[Glenn Martin, DDS]]'', a ''stop-motion'' show, had a laugh track for about 8 episodes until it was removed entirely because the creators claim "it gave the show too much internal thinking".

* Some Nick shows have no laugh track, such as ''[[Zoey 101]]'', ''[[Big Time Rush]]'' and ''The Troop'', which are somewhat unusual for the channel but are all [[Justified Trope|justified]] by ''not'' being typical [[Three Cameras]] [[Kid Com]] shows ''and'' being shot extensively on location. It also helps than [[Zoey 101]] is a dramedy and [[The Troop]] is an action/adventure show.

* It seems Chuck Lorre got so tired of people thinking ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' used a laugh track that he put [http://www.chucklorre.com/index-bbt.php?p=282 this] at the end of an episode.

** The show does frequently set certain locales and scenes that would be difficult to do with a studio audience, but they've said that those scenes are still shown to an audience (recording their reactions) to keep the laugh track consistent. Because of the use of the studio audience (apparently often composed of Caltech students, where the characters in the show work) you will get people who laugh at the [[Genius Bonus|obscure jokes]] and [[Techno Babble]] gags ''before'' they are explained.

** People may think it has a laugh track because the laughter sometimes seems very forced and extremely noticeable, or laughing when nobody has said anything.

* ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' doesn't use a laughtrack either.

* Oddly enough, ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'' was supposed to have a laugh track in its early stage of production, as we can see with the pilot episode (it's included in the DVDs). They actually showed the episode in front of an audience and recorded their laughter. Julian Barratt and [[Noel Fielding]] found the audience overdid it so much that they decided not to keep it. It sounds disastrous indeed, as The Boosh is clearly not a "laugh out loud" type of comedy.

* ''[[All in The Family]]'' was recorded in front of a live studio audience, as announced at the end of nearly each episode. In the later seasons they stopped using live audiences, presumably because they were distractions to the actors; they played back each episode to the audience instead.

** However later seasons, as well as the [[After Show]] ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]'', used a laughtrack reportedly at Carol O Conner's insistance.

* Latin American hits, ''[[El Chavo del Ocho]]'' / ''[[El Chapulin Colorado]]''. It is a long story. These shows were originally abusive of the laugh tracks, but the later sketch show ''Chespirito'' from the same author that often included ''[[El Chavo del Ocho]]'' and ''[[El Chapulin Colorado]]'' did not have a laugh track and it was explicitly mentioned that it was for respect of the audience. However, it is worth noticing that it actually used certain music tracks that played after each joke.

* ''[[The Daily Show]]'' and likewise its sister show ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' are filmed in front of a live audience. Both hosts interact with it fairly often, usually by telling them an off color joke was still funny, or criticizing their choice to laugh at a gag.

* Fox's ''[[Titus]]'' also used a live studio audience; episode tapings were performed as if the episode was live, with the show unfolding in the exact manner it would appear on TV (with the cast rehearsing the episode all week for the Friday taping) and capturing the studio audience's laughter as it happened. Even the cutaways towards Chris Titus' narration space were shown to the audience during the moments in the episodes they would occur.

* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' used this in the episode "Please Retire". [[Word of God]] states that this (along with a episode-long "drawn in front of a live audience" gag) is done whenever the crew thinks an episode could have been better, but they didn't have enough time to fix any problems with it.

* ''[[A Charlie Brown Christmas]]'' was supposed to air with a laugh track, a common element of children's cartoons at the time. Charles Schulz objected, maintaining that the audience doesn't need to be cued to laugh.

{{Featured article}}

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Laughter Tropes]]

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Undead Horse Trope]]

[[Category:Sound FX Tropes]]