The Laugh Track Thread

[D'Snowth]

I notice that whenever there's a discussion about certain series on this forum, inevitably, a side discussion about laugh tracks get brought up, so I figured, being the resident laugh track nerd, I'd start a thread for that very subject.

So, yeah, laugh tracks - love 'em, hate 'em, television wouldn't be the same without 'em, so discuss 'em.

 

[AquaGGR]

The Nickelodeon laugh tracks aren't very realistic sounding, they fade in and out too quick. It's like "ooooooOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAOOOOOOoooooohh"

Also, they're cranked up too high for chuckle-worthy jokes.

 

[D'Snowth]

Very good point.

One thing that makes a laugh track sound realistic is something called a "titter track". Here's how it works: the titter track is a loop of individual people laugh quietly, it's always playing silently in the background, whenever a bigger laugh is put in after a joke, punchline, gag, whatever, the volume of the titter track is increased, allowing the bigger laugh to blend into it, then once the big laugh finishes, you ease off the titter track, thus making it sound like the audience is settling down after their big laugh, as opposed to a fade-in and fade-out.

I didn't learn that until the last year or so, but I began to utilize that with my recent videos within the last year. A friend of mine, who's also a laugh track nerd, managed to actually completely replicate, titter-by-titter, the titter track that was in used for all sitcoms during the 1969-1970 television season, and sent it my way for use. Since then, we've managed to also replicate titter tracks from 1967-68, 1970-72, 72-74, 74-76.

 

[AquaGGR]

I discovered that some kidcoms and sitcoms are much funnier without the laugh track. The reason why is because the laugh track seems to tell the viewer what they're supposed to laugh at, therefore making the show seem less funny as a whole when you don't agree with the laugh track.

 

[D'Snowth]

See, that's actually one of the biggest misconceptions there is about laugh tracks: they actually don't tell you when to laugh, or that what you're watching is funny, or at least, that's not what it was intended to do; the purpose of a laugh track is to recreate the ambience of watching a comedy with other people as opposed to by yourself.

 

[AquaGGR]

That's why laugh tracks done well and realistic are great.

Are some shows still performed in front of a live studio audience for authentic laughs? It doesn't really make sense, because they have to record multiple takes.

 

[minor muppetz]

I haven't noticed people complaining about laugh tracks on the forums here. I have seen complaints about laugh tracks on other forums, and have seen people who've worked on television (or heard of such instances) where they complained about the laugh tracks, and one of the bonus features on the first SCTV DVD set had a fan asking the cast if they would remove the laugh track if the show came to DVD (I think the fan was hoping for that). The Mad Magazine parody of Archie Bunker's Place had a gag where they now had to use a laugh track over a live audience, as if it was a bad thing (though I read on Wikipedia that the show didn't use a laugh track, it was pre-recorded and then screened to a live audience whose laughter was recorded). And I've never really understood the big deal of using laugh tracks. I recently saw a thread at the That Guy with the Glasses forum where one person said the problem was that a laugh track is basically somebody laughing at their own jokes. It is annoying when characters in fiction are shown laughing at their own jokes (though there are exceptions... it usually works when a Muppet does it, whether it's Fozzie, Harvey Kneeslapper, Statler and Waldorf, the Vets Hospital cast, or Ernie... and I usually like it if it's mean laughter). And I was disappointed that the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVDs removed the laugh track from the first four episodes.


In recent years I've heard that sitcoms often get recorded without a live-audience and then it gets shown to an audience and their laughter gets recorded. I've never liked the idea of that. I'd rather my show have a laugh track than recorded laughter from an audience who watched the completed versions. And I'd rather have a laugh track than a live audience. Not because I think it'd be easier for actors who might have stage fright (I don't really have stage fright), but also because the audience would see multiple takes and probably see how things are done easier. Wouldn't a live audience rather see it all in one take? And I'd want to do things that would require multiple cuts and possibly hours to do right... Probably too long for a live audience to handle. I used to think the benefit of a live audience was to make more money, until I heard that live audiences get to watch for free.

Many great sitcoms have laughter heard, whether it's a laugh track, live audience, or recording actual laughter. There are also great shows that don't use the laugh track (like the short-lived Police Squad). While I would prefer for my show to have a lauhg track over other ways of having laughter, I'd rather my show not have audible laughter, because I'd like to have a lot of subtle humor that could go over somebody's head the first time. Laughter might ruin that (or at least get people wondering why there is laughter there).

 

[Drtooth]

And I was disappointed that the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVDs removed the laugh track from the first four episodes.

I wasn't. It didn't work for what they were going for. One of those "tune in next time" sagas like Ruff and Ready and Crusader Rabbit. Neither of those used a laugh track. Plus, well... even though the first half of the first saga was kinda slow, the laugh track made for those long unnatural pauses. Something that speedy humor Rocky and Bullwinkle would have suffered with. It would have lost that bang zoom fast reading if they had to stop to tell you went to laugh. I mean, the first saga was bad enough when they spent half of the 3.5 minute cartoons recapping what happened the half of the previous episode that had an actual story.

But it worked beautifully with The Flintstones, which was emulating a sitcom. Moose and Squirrel won't.

Another classic show I feel didn't need a laugh track was Get Smart. It took away from the spy series parody element. Especially since there was a lot of straight up serious action in that show. I choose to ignore it, myself... I just wish they were able to keep the show playful with action undertones and not try to make it so much a sitcom as a half hour action comedy. Like a shorter I Spy or something.

Can you imagine 1966 Batman with a laugh track? They couldn't make jokes that were ironic to the older audiences without it being obvious.

 

[D'Snowth]

Are some shows still performed in front of a live studio audience for authentic laughs? It doesn't really make sense, because they have to record multiple takes.

In some cases (not all, but some), live sitcoms do also use a laugh track for a process known as "sweetening", which basically done to help make the live audience sound better if their reactions aren't as desired by the producers, or in cases like you say. One time on ALICE, apparently the actors kept blowing their lines, and after so many takes, the joke wasn't funny to the audience anymore, so when they finally got the lines right, a canned laugh had to be added to the final cut to compensate.

And I was disappointed that the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVDs removed the laugh track from the first four episodes.

It's not just Rocky and Bullwinkle, a LOT of older cartoons from back in the day have their laugh track removed when released on DVD, though I never really quite understood why they did that. What's really odd, however, is when Pink Panther was released on DVD, there were actually a small handful of entries where the laugh track is still present.

And I'd rather have a laugh track than a live audience. Not because I think it'd be easier for actors who might have stage fright (I don't really have stage fright), but also because the audience would see multiple takes and probably see how things are done easier. Wouldn't a live audience rather see it all in one take?

That's how live sitcoms are done, the actors rehearse throughout the week, then on Friday, they perform the show in front of the audience, hopefully though rarely all in one take.

My problem with live audiences is that sometimes they get WAY too hyper. I've noticed this is a real problem once SANFORD AND SON had established itself - anytime any of the actors entered the scene, the audience went crazy with applause and cheers, and as such, everybody on stage would just freeze and stand there until the audience settled down before resuming the scene. I mean, how often in real life, do you and another person walk into a room, greet each other, then just stand there in silence for a minute or two before resuming the conversation?

 

[D'Snowth]

Okay, this original test pilot for THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES has got to be THE WORST laugh track I have EVER heard... I don't even know WHO was responsible for this, but it clearly wasn't the fellow who did the laugh tracks for all those sitcoms back in the 60s and 70s.

This may have turned me off laugh tracks permanently.