5 ms·
I use this simple litmus test: if it has a laugh-track, then it's for dumb people.
by coleifer 8y ago
I use this simple litmus test: if it has a laugh-track, then it's for dumb people.
- g2e 8y agoNot Seinfeld.
- 24gttghh 8y agoPartly true: Seinfeld used a laugh track, and also a real audience for stuff like scenes in Jerry's apartment. https://www.quora.com/Did-Seinfeld-use-a-laugh-track-a-live-audience-or-a-combination https://www.quora.com/Did-Seinfeld-use-a-laugh-track-a-live-...
- PhasmaFelis 8y agoIt only works for recent shows. Outside of the last decade or two, every sitcom had to have a laugh track, period.
- dragonwriter 8y ago> Outside of the last decade or two, every sitcom had to have a laugh track, period. More correct: every live action sitcom used a laugh track and/or live studio audience.
- SamReidHughes 8y agoThe Simpsons didn't.
- PhasmaFelis 8y agoI think Simpsons managed to trick the powers that be into classifying it as a cartoon instead of a sitcom. Different rules.
- raverbashing 8y agoOne of the benefits of watching dubbed versions of some shows is that it does away with that crap. Really. It's probably on the Top 3 stupid gimmicks by showbiz bigwigs together with the Loudness Wars and anti-piracy messages on original DVDs
- ramraj07 8y agoThe it crowd is one of my absolute favorite shows. Maybe it will work better without a laugh track but there are a lot of British shows id rather have with a track than without the show in my life.
- donaltroddyn 8y agoThe IT Crowd was filmed before a live audience - it didn't have a laugh track.
- rusk 8y agoNo it wasn’t ye mad thing
- detaro 8y agoYes it was.
- donaltroddyn 8y agoI should have provided a source: https://youtu.be/sIQNXH8yHsk?t=31 https://youtu.be/sIQNXH8yHsk?t=31
- rusk 8y agoWow. They really did! There's a lot of stuff filmed outside the studio though I'm certain they don't have a live audience for. The IT Crowd does use a laughter track a lot of the time.
- donaltroddyn 8y agoYeah, they film those parts before the live recording and then show them on a screen to the audience to get reaction audio, and also so the audience has context for later live scenes. It's a surprisingly involved process.
- yellowapple 8y ago
- ginsu 8y agoNot a perfect rule... Kids In The Hall demonstrated for me, that in some cases, audience laughter adds an acutely essential ingredient to comedic performances. The Kids In The Hall is a seminal example of sketch comedy, but as a broadcast show, the audio from the live audience had to be engineered into the sound channel of the program, since live performances have to mic the audience, to capture their laughs as part of the recording, and mix it properly, so that its volume pairs well with the broadcast performance, just like a sporting event. The show really does hold up, years after the original recordings, still proving funny and awesome. But it turns out that the sounds of the audience change the whole dynamic of the humor. This is demonstrable if you stand it next to their movie, Brain Candy, which is also funny and watchable, but a different experience, without the noise of an audience. You could argue that the performers have had their performances altered by the demands of improvisation and the give-and-take interaction that occurs with a live audience, but in retrospect, as a viewer watching the same show twenty years later, I don't really care about whether the audience effects are manufactured or not. The truth is, the quality of the show has the sounds of the audience built into it as an integral quality, that boosts the entertainment value of the show. The Kids In The Hall seem to have realized that the live improvisation really was a strong aspect of what made their show good, which is why they opted to engage in touring as a live show, instead of continuing as a broadcast series. I think if anyone were so inclined, though, the right kind of genius could be applied purely as post-production. It's just that the authenticity is preferred for obvious reasons, and ultimately, it's probably actually cheaper to just be talented.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- tzs 8y agoThat's a bad test. It mainly just filters out shows filmed in front of a live audience. If you film a comedy in front of a live audience, the actors have to adjust their delivery to speak around the laughter. If you take the laughter out of the final cut the pauses were the actors were waiting for the laughter to die down make it weird and awkward. If a scene only needs one or two takes to get right, they can just go with the laughter from the live audience. If it takes several takes, they will still be getting laughter from the live audience, and so changing the timing of the delivery, but it won't be as intense as it should be for the quality of the joke, and if that live laughter was used it could change the perception of the joke for the broadcast audience. (Our perception of a joke is influenced by how we think others perceive it). Hence, if you use a late take you need to replace the late take live laughter with either earlier take live laughter or laughter from a laugh library.
- shaklee3 8y agoIs BBT filmed in front of an audience? I thought OP's point was it's a laugh track, and there are no people there actually laughing.
- tzs 8y agoYes, BBT is filmed in front of an audience. https://the-big-bang-theory.com/tickets/ https://the-big-bang-theory.com/tickets/ https://medium.com/@jennychen_26501/my-big-bang-theory-live-taping-experience-1ab6c1774e72 https://medium.com/@jennychen_26501/my-big-bang-theory-live-...
- dyeje 8y agoThe laugh track was a huge part of TV up until the last couple decades, seems unfair to characterize it like that. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-laff-box/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-laff-box/
- deft 8y agoI use this: "if I don't like it, it's for dumb people" :^)
- lucideer 8y agoLaugh tracks are mostly a litmus test for era rather than quality, and also disproportionately affect British comedy, which is excellent.
- walshemj 8y agoThat depends MASH was broadcast without the laugh track in the UK.
- endemic 8y agoI was surprised to (re)discover that Monty Python had a laugh track.
- flyingfences 8y agoMASH begs to differ.
- lukewrites 8y agoCounterpoint: Blackadder.