It's incredibly annoying and I've stopped watching many shows because it just got too bad. Admittedly the Big Bang Theory is annoying in itself and has gone in a horrible direction, but all those canned laughs made it impossible to watch. Same with many other shows.

But it substitutes ACTUAL humour, so there is that I guess. Cheap and easy to just push out crap shows and gloss them up with canned laughter. Sigh.

MASH started as an almost pure comedy, it's early seasons are extremely funny. It was only later on that they switched over to being more drama than comedy.

It was one of my favorite shows on TV. I don't recall it ever having a laugh track, did they add it later to the series? I must say I couldn't imagine it with one.

Little off-topic: why don't the "Married with Children" reruns they are constantly now showing here on TV have the original theme music "Love and married...."? Instead there is some generic theme tune with no singing at all, as if the original theme song has been replaced?

I think I tried to find an answer in imdb.com for that before, but didn't see it. Some rights issue with the original song, I gather? Because it is a Sinatra song (I think)?

I see some defenders of laugh tracks on here. Yes, you are right about the reasons the laugh track was created and for some shows they work. Many multi-camera setup shows do not rely on comedic timing but are rather "read out" like a stage play. Stage plays pretty much depends on playing off an audience. Theatrical performances are pretty corny when taken out of context, so shows like "Married... with children" simply would not work without the sound of a cheering and laughing audience that reacts to the honestly rather lame jokes and non-existent comedic timing. The show is intentionally trashy and cheap, but with unrelenting mean-spirited punchlines that draws you in like you were an audience member in a theatre hall, just as you would watching Shakespeare. It is a great show for it!

Compare this to "Scrubs" which is a single-camera setup in a more three-dimensional environment. It could not possibly be adapted for a stage show so a laugh track would not make sense. The show is all about iteration and comedic timing where most of the direct jokes are visual gags (cut-away fantasy scenes etc) rather than verbal banter waiting for an audience reaction. Each episode has themes iterating on different levels. For example, one character interacting with several characters throughout the episode may gather information that only he and the viewer can piece together and reach new conclusions about the on-going drama or conflict. You can not have a laugh track react to the character learning something new together with the viewer, but the comedy is very effectful still because it is about. Often on shows like Scrubs (or the Simpsons or Family Guy) the comedy is not on a line per line basis (with punchlines for laughs) but rather the whole episode setting up the themes and stakes with the unfolding action playing off those things. Now that I think about it, I believe Scrubs did an episode acted out as a multi-cam show in front of an audience (real or simulated) and you can really tell how such a show would be worlds apart.

"How I met your mother" and "Seinfeld" are hybrids I guess. Much of the time it feels like you're watching theatre, especially when the action takes place in the characters' homes with multi-camera setups and laugh tracks. "How I..." relies heavily on a jumbled time line however, often going back several years in time for a cut-away gag which would be very confusing to watch acted out live on stage which is why I don't think this show should have a laugh track. The characters, the jokes, the fast cut-away gags are all great fun and creative. The only reason they "need" a laugh track is because the slower scenes take place in a multi-camera stage setup much like a sitcom (hence I call it a hybrid show) where a laugh track is needed to sell the illusion of watching a stage play. It is a great show, and I understand why they would go for the multi-cam stage act because it is a fast and cheap way to shoot, potentially less demanding for all cast and crew (unless the cast can't remember their lines), but I think very little would need to change to turn it into a single-camera drama/comedy with tighter editing and no laugh track. It is a little weird when they switch stages and costumes for a three second long cut-away gag (where the audience laughs) and then cut back to present time. Being an ensemble show it also means there are several story arcs going on at once with action taking place at several locations.

Seinfeld is quite similar in that it is partially a multi-cam stage show as if acted out in front of an audience. Every episode does however have many segments where the ensemble cast is going out to do their own thing and seemingly walking actual streets and having full scenes take place in public spaces much like "How I...". A big difference is that Seinfeld is more talky, less showy. The characters talk alot about things that have happened in the past or earlier in the episode without showing it with cut-away gags. With minor adjustments to the stories, Seinfeld could be 100% stage play without losing it's comedy. It could be performed live in front of an audience from start to finish, so the laugh track actually brings some ambience to the show. Personally I never really liked Seinfeld anyhow because most episodes are pretty much built around one character saying "Everything is like this" with another character going "I know right, it is totally always like this!" and the first character going "Right! Always like this!" and then a third character enters mid-conversation going "What is always like this?" with the first two responding in unison "EVERYTHING!". I know they pride themselves in being "A show about nothing", but I think the show is at it's worst when it takes that idea too seriously.

Personally I commend the show "Community" for having the balls to be a super funny single-cam show without a laugh track when so many are still doing multi-cam laugh track cash-ins still in this day and age. Certainly it is more difficult to write and shoot, but it really takes some creativity and skill to make the audience laugh at something off-handed a character might say in the middle of a naturally flowing conversation, or a perfectly timed cut-away gag that really hammers in the comedic impact without re-assuring the audience that "Yes, something hilarious did indeed transpire after the cut even without a laugh track confirming it, don't be ashamed to use your imagination!".

I only watched that show (can't belive I missed it for so long) a few years ago, when I saw the reruns on TV3 (Norwegian or Scandinavian channel broadcasting from the UK), and it did have the Sinatra tune.

This is the original (Sinatra) theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8t5cOjlEPU

This is what the reruns have now here (regardless of the season, I think):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xad-StH-7BY

The description of the latter says "DVD theme", but here it is also on TV reruns now. Probably some rights issue then.

EDIT: One of the Youtube comments say:

"It really is a shame that sinatra's family demanded for more money and had married with children change their theme song after soo many years. they should all die"

Ok then...

I don't usually mind them. I don't LIKE them but they don't usually detract from the experience, except when its obviously the show wasn't filmed with a live audience, like M*A*S*H. What a revelation the DVDs were. That show was pretty good with the laugh track; without, its almost a masterpiece.

I don't mind them, but I think a truly funny show can live without them.

What I don't like about laugh tracks is that they break the fourth wall for me too much. I like to get into the show, but having laughter seemingly come out of nowhere ruins the experience for me. But if it is used intelligently, I can tolerate them.

It annoyed me at first and then I stopped noticing. It's a really great show overall.

I can attest to that one. My folks love to watch comedies with me because of the way I laugh. I don't laugh at everything, but when something really tickles my funny bone, I express it more than most and they laugh off that to an extent.

Similarly, I get very satisfied when I create a roleplaying scenario that makes my players laugh, especially if it really cracks them up.

Laughter is great, but shared laughter is gold. It's a great way to connect with people.

They used the original for the first and second season DVDs, but then the Sinatra copyright holders wanted to get a bigger cut, but they didn't get anything, as the song was replaced with a new one.

So starting from season 3, there's a new song in place.

I don't know how this affects the syndicated TV reruns, I would assume those use whatever existing copies there is. But maybe they have made new syndication copies from the DVD master copies, who knows?

Married with Children has always been one of my favorite comedy shows, and it really sucks monkey balls that I can't buy it on DVD... IMHO that song was so essential part of the show, that I simply refuse to buy any inferior copies.

"The IT Crowd" had a studio audience, allegedly. "The Big Bang theory" has a "box o' laughs", I am confident enough for not needing to check (i.e. I am quite sure and I can completely not mind being wrong on that :).

So I presume these tickets are for being squeezed into a box and being hit by a sound engineer whenever the producers want you to laugh. And it's one thing that you don't mind being wrong, it's another that you proudly spread false claims out of sheer arrogance and ignorance.
Correct. The German version didn't have a laugh track either (well, at least not in all episodes - certainly not the ones I saw last time a few years ago) and I shudder at the idea that this show may have actually ever had one.

Edit: Quickly checked a few German scenes on YouTube and indeed - no laugh track.

Unless it was recent, no changes have been made. I watched the syndicated show a few weeks ago and the song was still intact. It wouldn't bother me if it had been removed. The show is what I came for, not some Frank Sinatra song.

The song is over 50 years old, so the family can go die in a gutter for all I care. They are lucky they even get a dime for something they had no part in creating. If I had my way, copyrights would die with the artist. Besides all he did was sing the song...someone else wrote the music and lyrics for him. /Rant