Laugh Track: Difference between revisions

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In the early days of television, comedies were "traditionally" performed essentially as short plays in front of a live [[Studio Audience]], broadcast live or with minimal editing (see [[Three Cameras]]). However, as television production grew more sophisticated in the late 1940s and early 1950s, there was at least a partial shift from live performances to productions that were filmed movie-style in a closed sound stage. The latter gave the director more freedom in selecting shots and angles, as well as the luxury of multiple takes. However, there was no longer an audience to provide instant feedback on the humor.

The general opinion of the audience held by television executives then (and some would argue now) was [[Viewers are Morons|very low]]. There was serious concern that without a [[Studio Audience]] to "prompt" the home viewer's responses, a comedy would fall flat. The solution was the creation of the [[Laugh Track]] (also known as [[Canned Laughter]]) -- an artificial audience that did nothing but react uproariously to anything and everything.

The general opinion of the audience held by television executives then (and some would argue now) was [[Viewers are Morons|very low]]. There was serious concern that without a [[Studio Audience]] to "prompt" the home viewer's responses, a comedy would fall flat. The solution was the creation of the '''Laugh Track''' (also known as [[Canned Laughter]]) -- an artificial audience that did nothing but react uproariously to anything and everything.

Naturally, within a few years of its introduction, it was abused and overused. ''Every'' punchline, no matter how lame or subtle, would receive the same tsunami of belly laughs from the virtual audience. It became epidemic, even intruding bizarrely into cartoons (''[[The Flintstones]]'' and ''[[The Jetsons]]'', anyone?). By the 1960s, it had become an annoying intrusion, hated but (in the minds of most producers) mandatory. In the 1970s, however, most sitcoms began to switch from the single-camera, movie-style format to the multi-camera format with a [[Studio Audience]] providing real laughter, which producers found more pleasing because it helped them write better jokes. By the 1980s, the only hit that used a laugh track was ''[[M*A*S*H (television)]]'', which mostly dispensed with its laugh track toward the end of its run, loosening the laugh track's hold on single-camera television comedies. It's still around, but it's not nearly as prominent or overused as it used to be.

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Adams' syndicated column ''The Straight Dope'' also [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlaughtrack.html covered the topic]. ''The Onion'' is very fond of [http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/ha_ha_ha_i_can_t_believe_how mocking] [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31948 laugh] [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32398 tracks] [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/35647 extensively].

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 noticable than real live audience laughter.

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 noticable than real live audience laughter.

In some Latin American countries (Argentina, for example), the [[Laugh Track]] is replaced by a crew of off-screen people paid specifically to ''laugh on command'' whenever the comedic situation (presumably) merits a laugh; they are known as ''reidores'' ("laughers"); a senior laugher signals all the others when to laugh. In all the others (as happened in Mexico), comedies without it were openly stated to have no laugh track because they respected their audience, most notably the Chespirito programs, such as ''[[El Chavo del Ocho]]''. A less direct version in US media is the ''"[[Cheers]] is filmed before a Live [[Studio Audience]]"''-style disclaimer.

In some Latin American countries (Argentina, for example), the '''Laugh Track''' is replaced by a crew of off-screen people paid specifically to ''laugh on command'' whenever the comedic situation (presumably) merits a laugh; they are known as ''reidores'' ("laughers"); a senior laugher signals all the others when to laugh. In all the others (as happened in Mexico), comedies without it were openly stated to have no laugh track because they respected their audience, most notably the Chespirito programs, such as ''[[El Chavo del Ocho]]''. A less direct version in US media is the ''"[[Cheers]] is filmed before a Live [[Studio Audience]]"''-style disclaimer.

Note that even the shows that record laughter live from an audience (or show pre-recorded material to an audience and record that laughter) will edit, alter, or even add to the laughter in some way, even if (as in most cases) it's just to cover the transition between takes/scenes, using the same techniques used to add true canned laughter.

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=== Comics ===

* 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 ''[[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.

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=== Film ===

* The DVD of ''[[Seltzer and Friedberg|Epic Movie]]'' actually comes with an optional laugh track.

** As does ''[[Seltzer and Friedberg|Date Movie]]'' ~~-- It~~ actually makes them [[So Bad It's Good|somewhat tolerable]], if only by virtue of being [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?|completely surreal.]]

** As does ''[[Seltzer and Friedberg|Date Movie]]''—It actually makes them [[So Bad It's Good|somewhat tolerable]], if only by virtue of being [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?|completely surreal.]]

* 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]]''.

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* In the 1980s, there was a situation comedy series written and produced by [[Mel Brooks]] (yes, ''that'' Mel Brooks) called ''The Nutt House'' (which was [[Too Good to Last]]). [[Executive Meddling]] resulted in laugh tracks, because the executives felt that [[Viewers are Morons]]. The result was loud, jarring, clumsily dubbed-in laughtracks that often drowned out the punchlines.

* ''[[Get Smart]]'', another series with which Brooks was involved, had some especially bad laugh tracks. (Mind you, some of its jokes weren't much to laugh about anyway.)

* See also ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'', ''[[Bewitched]]'' and other contemporaneous [[~~Sitcom|sitcoms~~]].

* See also ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'', ''[[Bewitched]]'' and other contemporaneous [[sitcom]]s.

** 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.

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* ''[[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.

* ''[[True Jackson, VP|True Jackson]]'' begins each episode with a narration by Keke Palmer telling us that the show was filmed in front of a live studio audience, but if you listen closely, you can still hear the same stock laughs heard in the rest of the Nickelodeon/Disney Channel [[Kid Com~~|Kid Coms~~]]. Filmed before a studio audience it may be, but laugh tracks still came into play ''some''where.

* ''[[True Jackson, VP|True Jackson]]'' begins each episode with a narration by Keke Palmer telling us that the show was filmed in front of a live studio audience, but if you listen closely, you can still hear the same stock laughs heard in the rest of the Nickelodeon/Disney Channel [[Kid Com]]s. Filmed before a studio audience it may be, but laugh tracks still came into play ''some''where.

* Similar to the ''[[Out of Jimmy's Head]]'' example below, the laugh track in their ''Brian O'Brian'' shorts actually make them ''less'' funny; it's a pretty poor fit for the shorts' style.

* ''[[That's So Raven]]'' and ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' are also glaringly obvious because the shows are filled with special effects that could not possibly have been shown to any live audience. It's pretty bad when even the nine year old wonders how the hell the audience could react on the spot to Raven having her visions or when Alex gave one of her spells.

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** Not to mention that it's a one-camera show.

** The Italian dub edited them out.

* Infamously (at least in Canada), the Canadian sketch comedy show ''[[The Red Green Show]]'' didn't have a [[Laugh Track]]... until it was imported into the United States.

* Infamously (at least in Canada), the Canadian sketch comedy show ''[[The Red Green Show]]'' didn't have a Laugh Track... until it was imported into the United States.

* Referenced in ''[[Annie Hall]]'':

{{quote|"We do the show live in front of an audience."

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=== 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.

* 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.

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** [[Show Within a Show|Zorc & Pals]] also uses it. Appropriate since it's a parody of 50s sitcoms.

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

* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMj1ijOOAjA&feature=related this] episode of the [[Puyo Puyo]] anime, we are first given a message with tells us to laugh when the icon <ref> Suketoudara is that icon.</ref> prompts us to. <ref> Followed by a practice in which the laugh is heard twice.</ref> Here are all three icon prompts:

* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMj1ijOOAjA&feature=related this] episode of the [[Puyo Puyo]] anime, we are first given a message with tells us to laugh when the icon <ref>Suketoudara is that icon.</ref> prompts us to.<ref>Followed by a practice in which the laugh is heard twice.</ref> Here are all three icon prompts:

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

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=== Live Action TV ===

* ''[[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.

* ''[[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.

* Referenced in the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode ''[[Bread and Circuses]]'', where we see a 20th century TV technician turning the canned applause on and off on a programme. Fine, except it's a 20th century ''Roman Empire'' and the programme consists of televised gladatorial fights to the death.

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* ''[[Dinosaurs]]'' initially had this, but the makers didn't want it and it was subsequently dropped. Combined with ''[[The Simpsons]]'' never using one except to subvert it, ''TV Guide'' praised both shows back in the day (the early 1990s) for this avoidance.

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', which was considered by a lot of fans to have a laugh track, was in fact filmed in front of a live studio audience throughout most of its eight-series run, at least the bits that weren't on location or technically complicated.

** The exception is Series VII. It was not recorded in front of an audience at all, but was screened to an audience in post-production in order to provide a laugh ~~track -- it~~ mostly works, but there are a couple of conspicuous points where the actors pause for laughter and there is none.

** The exception is Series VII. It was not recorded in front of an audience at all, but was screened to an audience in post-production in order to provide a laugh track—it mostly works, but there are a couple of conspicuous points where the actors pause for laughter and there is none.

** The channel ''Back to Earth'' easter special is filmed on location (or at the Shepperton soundstage), which has no laughter.

*** The pre-recording of ''Red Dwarf'' sequences played back to the audience on screens didn't begin with series VII, though. Long before then, numerous episodes had had lengthy sequences pre-recorded due to their reliance on location shooting or effects work. For example, the series IV episode "Bodyswap" was entirely pre-recorded, due to the actors having to overdub each other's voices.

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* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' was filmed in front of a live studio audience, and is rumored to be the source of a good deal of the canned laughter used in later shows.

* ''[[Cheers]]'' is probably the most famous example of a show drawing ''attention'' to their live studio audience; a random cast member announcing that fact would be the first thing audiences heard every episode (as opposed to most shows, like ''[[All in The Family]]'', which did so over the end credits). Not that they really needed to; watch any given episode and you can hear every last titter or cough from some random audience member. That set must have had some ''great'' acoustics...

* 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''?

* 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.

* ''SCTV'' did sketch comedy without a live audience. The formative years for the show were shot in Edmonton, Alberta where television talent was apparently so sparse that the laugh track was done by the guy who did the farm reports, just adding laughter at regular, arbitrary intervals.