It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussion (archive)Does anybody actually like laugh tracks?(88 posts)(88 posts)
(88 posts)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
This is my favourite topic
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
monkeydelarge: I like them but only when they aren't overused. I find laughter when a character says "Hi, how are you?" or something similar that is not funny, annoying.
avatar
jjsimp: I know people I talked to who hated Seinfeld, unbelievable I know, hated that about the show. Someone once told me every time the tall goofy fella walked into the room the laugh track played and annoyed him. I told him Kramer usually has a humorous intro and thus the reason for the laugh track... He wasn't amused.
Well I find it okay if the laugh track plays every time Kramer makes an appearance because it's Kramer. :)
Posted March 07, 2014
I don't watch sitcoms because of this, completely insulting to my intelligence. I'll be the judge on what is funny tyvm. As others pointed out, if the laugh track is used in mocking of itself than it becomes funny.

I remember when my cousins watched Hannah Montana, the laugh track got old really quick and a lot of the jokes were not funny.
Post edited March 07, 2014 by Thunderstone
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
Vitek: They are priceless in war documentaries.
Haha, I wish I had made this a question thread.

Yeah, used ironically it can be pretty funny. The rifftrax to Battlefield Earth inserted a laugh track in one scene and it fit rather well.
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
jjsimp: Comedies have really become stale with the political correctness bullshit and having to limit their vocabulary to not lose or insult your average viewer.
Try 'Its always sunny in philadelphia' if you havent seen it yet. The funniest show ever!

Complete opposite of what you've just described.

I've never seen anything like it, its quite unique.

As to the laugh tracks - I dont like them. In some cases they might be OK and dont really bother me that much (eg. in Seinfeld) but generally: kill it with fire.

I've seen some deleted scenes from Seinfeld which didnt have the laugh track - I think it was really funny, propably funnier than with the laugh track.

I find the track distracting me from actually noticing and admiring the joke, which is kind of ironic, considering that they're suppoused to achieve the exact opposite of that.

I think Seinfeld would actually be a lot better without the laugh tracks, bringing it closer to eg. Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Post edited March 07, 2014 by DrYaboll
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
Thunderstone: I don't watch sitcoms because of this
Everybody should have watched "the IT crowd" though, in spite of the live audience :)
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
DrYaboll: I think Seinfeld would actually be a lot better without the laugh tracks, bringing it closer to eg. Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Seinfeld was my favorite show and honestly I don't remember it having laugh tracks, did it? I thought maybe it had a live audience, IDK.
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
Thunderstone: I don't watch sitcoms because of this
avatar
Potzato: Everybody should have watched "the IT crowd" though, in spite of the live audience :)
I second this, love that show. I've not seen much of Blackadder but it's not unbearable there either.
Posted March 07, 2014
avatar
tinyE: I tried watching an episode of "2 Broke Girls" and they need the laugh track because that's the only way you can tell that something "funny" happened.
They wouldn't be so broke if they both spent about $1,400 less each month on makeup. Yikes.
Posted March 07, 2014
MWC style is great.

Laugh tracks in older shows are fine.

The problem is more with the writing style in some of the modern sitcoms, it's like they try to make every single line of the script a one liner or a quip or a comeback to make it seem younger and hipper and more intelligent than it is, trying to get people to remember and quote it to increase the popularity of the show when it would probably work out better to just let the conversations happen a bit more naturally.

though admittedly I don't really watch much modern series I mainly just watch older series on ME/ANT/etc.
Posted March 08, 2014
They are one of the reasons why i hate US shows and refuse to watch them.
The worst part is they are German dubbed and they still have those fake laughs.
Posted March 08, 2014
avatar
jjsimp: I know people I talked to who hated Seinfeld, unbelievable I know, hated that about the show.
I know someone who hated Seinfeld because it is so "negative", ie. everyone is constantly complaining about something or someone. Maybe so, but still...

I prefer shows without laugh tracks, but then it seems I mind them much less if I feel the show is funny anyway. Like Seinfeld, I didn't even remember it had laugh tracks. Odd.

It would be interesting to see Seinfeld without laugh tracks, and e.g. The Office (esp. UK version) with one. How much would it change the experience for both? I've already seen the Youtube videos for Friends without a laugh track, and Breaking Bad with one. At least there the laught tracks (or lack there-of) mattered a lot. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BFSZ8XzWOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZpo89mmJo

How about talk shows, shouldn't they have a laughing and cheering audience either? Conan O'Brien makes a joke, and there is an awkward silence where he laughs alone to his own joke? Hmmm...
Post edited March 08, 2014 by timppu
Posted March 08, 2014
The weird thing is that back in the days I found them so off-putting that I wouldn't watch any sitcoms at all and thought they were all stupid. Of course I was wrong about that, and then after watching sitcoms for years and getting accustomed to the curious background noise, it suddenly felt very odd to watch a comedy show that didn't feature any, almost the same way as it had felt in the beginning when I first heard a laugh track ...

So, no, I don't actually like them, but I guess I've grown so accustomed to them that I hardly notice them anymore, only when they're missing.
Posted March 08, 2014
avatar
tinyE: I tried watching an episode of "2 Broke Girls" and they need the laugh track because that's the only way you can tell that something "funny" happened.
avatar
jjsimp: Man, isn't that the truth. How is that show still on the air? Perhaps the dark haired girls rack. All they do is lame sexual innuendo, gay jokes, and height jokes.
Yup, Kat Dennings' ginormous tits. Nothing else...
Post edited March 08, 2014 by Randalator
Posted March 08, 2014
avatar
jjsimp: Man, isn't that the truth. How is that show still on the air? Perhaps the dark haired girls rack. All they do is lame sexual innuendo, gay jokes, and height jokes.
avatar
Randalator: Yup, Kat Dennings ginormous tits. Nothing else...
I do love looking at her but the humor in that show reminds me of "Three's Company" which I always found mind numbingly stupid, and this is tinyE talking here! I'm king of the stupid shitty joke! If it's below me it's beyond bad. :O
Posted March 08, 2014
Would anybody be opposed to replacing the standard laugh tracks with the Wilhelm Scream?
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Does anybody actually like laugh tracks?(88 posts)(88 posts)
(88 posts)