BY AUSTIN LUFT, Copy Editor
Laugh tracks drive me nuts.
They are annoying, overused, distracting and really take me out of the moment. They are a thinly veiled tactic by TV networks to trick people into thinking that their shows are funnier than they really are.
Some people argue that adding laughter makes it feel more like a stage performance, but they are so wrong. Reactions to stage performances are usually genuine, and the performers don’t pause for the audience and make the whole thing feel cheap.
Laugh tracks make me feel like the show creators assume everyone is stupid. I don’t like that. Especially because most of the jokes are so predictable and the laughter that follows is not proportional at all.
I seriously doubt that a whole audience has ever burst into laughter because a fat guy farted in a UPS truck.
Pretty much any laugh track that you hear today consists almost solely of dead people. They were recorded in the 1940s and 1950s during a transition between live-performance television and closed-set television.
Seriously, does anybody really feel like they are necessary?
Also, they are usually used in sitcoms. Situational comedies! What situation have you ever been in where you had to pause your conversation to let an audience laugh? Or have you ever heard a symphony of “ooh’s” after an awkward first kiss? These things don’t happen!
If your life is that interesting then please let me hang out with you and see what that’s all about.
My biggest issue with canned laughter, however, is that it destroys subtle comedy.
You will never be watching a show that utilizes a laugh track where even a single joke goes unnoticed by that lovely pre-recorded audience.
This is insulting. What if I notice something funny that may not have been intentional? Am I allowed to laugh at that? It makes me pretty uncomfortable when I’m not laughing at any of the same things that my TV is.
I might be taking it too seriously, but it makes me feel alienated.
Sometimes laugh tracks are supplemental to a live audience.
I’m really not sure if this is better or worse than a fully tracked show.
On one hand, there is a real audience, but on the other, they clearly aren’t as entertained as the show creators would like them to be: Deception doesn’t win anybody over.
The overuse of laugh tracks makes me a little worried too.
Now, I’m not trying to insult anybody who likes a show with a laugh track — you’re entitled to have bad opinions — but I do want to point something out.
Next time you are watching a sitcom, pay attention to what happens on screen during big laugh breaks: Everyone just stops. Pay attention to the individual laughs and you will notice how out of place they are.
It’s nothing but random witch cackles and Seth Rogen chuckles played at varying, inconsistent volumes. It doesn’t sound remotely realistic, and it’s worrisome to me that so many people are fooled by them.
I have a lot to say about this topic because I end up in this debate pretty often, as I am in the vast minority somehow.
Almost invariably, “How I Met Your Mother” comes up every time and I have no idea why. This show has an absolutely astounding following, so let me try to mess that up.
This show is the worst culprit of laugh track overuse out of any show I have ever watched. I wrote this entire article (other than the UPS part) with that show in mind. There is no subtlety, no thoughts provoked, no empty space and no chance for the audience to make their own decision about what they think is funny before they are forcefully shovel-fed canned laughter.
They are out dated, over-used, poorly orchestrated and a general bummer to listen to. I really hope I was able to ruin a few shows for you. Dumb viewers perpetuate dumb content.
