Sitcoms are comfort shows for millions of people around the world.
They are made with a sort of relatable feeling that attracts viewers of all ages and interests.
The first laugh track was incorporated into The Hank McCune Show in 1950, and the formatting of sitcoms changed forever.
CBS sound engineer Charles “Charly” Douglass introduced laugh tracks to stop live audiences laughing at the wrong parts of the show.
He would hear the audience laugh at a certain joke, and if it did not get the “correct” or “desired” amount, he would add more laughter to persuade the audience that the joke was supposed to be funnier than they thought.
Even from the start, the laugh track was controversial.
Erskine Johnson, a well-known Hollywood gossip columnist, wrote about the possible impact and drawbacks of “canned” laughter in 1952.
“My theory is that if it’s funny, I’ll laugh,” Johnson wrote. aid.
I agree with Johnson. If you think a certain line is funny, you will laugh.
The viewer does not need a loud, obnoxious snippet of an audience laughing to tell you what is funny.
Laugh tracks have ruined and continue to ruin sitcoms. Douglass’ innovation (or ruination) became synonymous with sitcoms.
During the late ‘80s until the late 2000s, every popular sitcom was full of loud howling of audience laughter.
Any major show you can think of from that era used a live audience, which was told what was funny, when to laugh, and for how long.
Seinfeld, Friends, Full House, and many others used the infamous track. “Hollywood has been filming comedies for years without 'canned laughter.' Laughs never made an unfunny comedy funny,” Johnson wrote.
Laugh tracks not only tell the audience what to say, but also make the actors wait for the laughter to subside before they say their next line.
In 2020, writer Jordan Fraser argued that laugh tracks should be removed because they ruin any chances for spontaneous reactions.
“When you watch episodes of Big Bang Theory on YouTube with the laughter tracks taken away, the jokes suddenly seem stale, dated, and sometimes mean,” Fraser said.
Many parts of sitcoms are funny when the writing is well-paced, and you find yourself laughing along, not because the laugh track is telling you to, but because you think the joke is genuinely funny.
My personal favourite sitcom is How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), and I love the comedic writing.
The inside jokes and callbacks make me feel like a part of the friend group at the bar.
I find myself laughing at most of the jokes, but sometimes a line will be said, and the laugh track will ensue, and I will be sitting there questioning where the joke was.
Many shows have moved away from laugh tracks and have begun to transition to a more The Office-type comedy.
Fast-paced, quick jokes, with no laugh track to tell you what is funny.
Some other shows that have adapted to this are Modern Family, Arrested Development and Parks and Recreation.
At the end of the day, jokes are meant to be funny, but not every joke that is supposed to be funny is funny.
