At least the first 2 episodes I've watched.. is there supposed to be a laugh track? Is this an oversight?

I actually wouldn't have noticed the lack of a laugh track if it hadn't been pointed out here. To me, that shows how good a show is that it can go along without the laugh track and still be very appealing and watchable. Do the rest of the seasons have the standard laugh track?

At least the first 2 episodes I've watched.. is there supposed to be a laugh track? Is this an oversight?
Let me clear this up once and for all. Hazel was originally presented with a laugh track on all five seasons. I saw the original broadcasts of the episodes and also the original 16mm syndication prints as shown on Chicago TV-WGN Channel 9 back in the late 60s. As a kid, I used to collect audio tapes of TV shows and recorded the soundtracks off the air. All these early recordings had the laugh track and early second season shows ended with an applause track. As in the first season, the later shows deleted this applause track. No third to fifth season shows had any applause. When the show was on cable in the late 80s, the laugh track was removed from most of these second to fourth season shows, although a few still came through with them. The fifth season shows mostly had the laugh track. This due to the fact that they were taken from 16mm rather than a 35mm master. I have a very nice DVD set of My Little Margie in which about 50-75% of the episodes are missing their laugh track. Certain other Screen Gems episodes seem to be missing their laugh track as well.


Not sure why any show should be missing this. Why the first season episodes, remastered by Sony in 2006 include the track is anybody's guess.

I don't think you cleared it up since I don't know what you just said, lol.

DID these originally have a laugh track when they aired in 1962 is all I really want to know. I think this show holds up well enough without it but it just feels barren without it. MASH on DVD "gave" you the option to watch without a LT but it's just not the same.

Laugh track or not, the main reason to buy this DVD is to see the episodes in their entirety instead of the edited versions currently seen on Antenna TV. The best thing about the Antenna TV airings is the sound quality is loud and clear, the DVD's are probably going to have some audio problems and the sound won't be loud enough.

I'm pretty sure the show originally had a laugh track, Shout Factory was probably given complete episodes with the laugh track removed. I have to check the Antenna TV airings and see if there is a laugh track, to me it really makes no difference laugh track or not. Laugh tracks can be annoying and sometimes shows are better off without them.

Let me clear this up once and for all. Hazel was originally presented with a laugh track on all five seasons. I saw the original broadcasts of the episodes [snip]

That seems pretty clear to me. In fact I don't understand how that can be taken as unclear.




I have a very nice DVD set of My Little Margie in which about 50-75% of the episodes are missing their laugh track.

That's probably about right, as my understanding is that only in the third season did they start using a laugh track on My Little Margie. Opposite the Hazel situation, a raucous laugh track was dubbed into syndicated prints circa the 1970s, so if you have episodes from earlier seasons in your collection that include a (obnoxiously fake) laugh track, those are doctored versions while the non-audience reaction versions are original.

Simple question --

Did ALL Hazel Season 2 episodes ORIGINALLY HAVE A LAUGHTRACK WHEN AIRED ON NETWORK TV. I'm hearing mixed things on other messageboards, like some did and some didn't.

Here are the choices -- YES or NO.

Please no speeches about kids that collect tapes, or about 16mm films or what WGN did or didn't do - please just answer the question.

[YES] or [NO]

Simple question --

Did ALL Hazel Season 2 episodes ORIGINALLY HAVE A LAUGHTRACK WHEN AIRED ON NETWORK TV. I'm hearing mixed things on other messageboards, like some did and some didn't.

Here are the choices -- YES or NO.

Please no speeches about kids that collect tapes, or about 16mm films or what WGN did or didn't do - please just answer the question.

[YES] or [NO]
As I said , all five seasons, INCLUDING SEASON TWO!!! had a laugh track, as originally presented, which means ON THE NETWORK!!!

Thanks Leslie, sorry for sounding so bitter -- ok, now, why aren't they on the dvd sets that just released - any guesses?

Thanks Leslie, sorry for sounding so bitter -- ok, now, why aren't they on the dvd sets that just released - any guesses?
My only guess would be that in the case of some shows, the laugh track would be recorded in post-production for network prints, along with sponsor bumpers. (Here comes another story) In 1966 I read a TV Guide article about Phyllis Diller, then starring in her new show "The Pruitts of Southampton". The author of the article stated that the network brass was less than pleased with the first six shows filmed, but he said that that could be due to the fact that the laugh track had not yet been added to the shows, which led to them playing a bit flat in the comedy area.

The airings on Antenna TV also seem to be minus a laugh track, so the DVD episodes are probably taken from the same source as seen on Antenna TV, the big difference being that the DVD's have the complete episodes while Antenna TV's airings are edited for syndication.

Leslie but season one dvds had them..seems like this should too.

Leslie but season one dvds had them..seems like this should too.
I agree, and Shout! Factory does it's best to get the best possible source prints for their DVDs. I don't think Sony took the care to preserve Hazel as much as they did some of their other, more popular series such as Bewitched, where they even went to the expense to colorize the early black-and-white episodes. I guess we're just lucky to get uncut episodes (unlike the eight first season Mister Ed episodes which were only 22 minutes long.) I've seen Hazel on Antenna TV, where the shows are rather badly cut, and the color can range from pretty good to just plain awful. Don't know why the first season still had the laugh tracks, but those shows were remastered by Sony some years after the color ones. (The b/w eps were not included in the 1980s syndication package and seeing them on DVD was the first time for me since the early 70s.) As you go through your DVDs, you will probably find a handful of second season shows with the laugh track, as there are a few like this showing on Antenna TV.

Interesting discussion. Leslie, you are a wealth of good information. I was born in the mid-60s so the first time I ever saw Hazel was when it was rerun in syndication in the early 1970s. Of course, I can't remember whether those shows had the laugh track or not. I have only watched four of the S2 episodes so far so will be on the lookout for a few to maybe have the laugh track as you suggested.

Personally, I am just glad to have Hazel on DVD and to have complete episodes is totally terrific. So I am a happy camper. But if one wanted to get nit-picky, to me most any sitcom is better with a well-crafted laugh track. That is, one that is not overly done but tasteful and subdued. However, with or without the laugh track, the main reason we watch these shows is for the show itself, the characters, the plots, etc. and not for the laugh tracks.

Sony remastered the 1st season episodes for their DVD release. Since Sony discontinued the Hazel DVD's after season 1, the remastering process likely stopped as well. Now with Shout Factory picking up the series, Shout is just a distributor they don't do any remastering that would have to be done by Sony. So the season 2 episodes are probably from the same source as currently seen on Antenna TV, but the DVD's have the uncut versions. Some episodes may have a laugh track and some may not.

Sony remastered the 1st season episodes for their DVD release. Since Sony discontinued the Hazel DVD's after season 1, the remastering process likely stopped as well. Now with Shout Factory picking up the series, Shout is just a distributor they don't do any remastering that would have to be done by Sony. So the season 2 episodes are probably from the same source as currently seen on Antenna TV, but the DVD's have the uncut versions. Some episodes may have a laugh track and some may not.
We should remember that Shout! Factory is not as big as Sony or Paramount. They have brought us many classic shows that we would not have if left to the majors. Mister Ed, The Patty Duke Show, Dennis The Menace, That Girl, etc. The DVD market has been shrinking steadily since 2005. One of my favorites, Pete and Gladys, is controlled by Paramount, and they won't even release the rights to a distributor such as Alpha. (I do have a nice DVD-R set from a private film collector). Such rarities as I'm Dickens...He's Fenster (1962-63) and My Living Doll (1964-65) have been or are going to be released by other independent distributors and Rick Nelson's son is undertaking the restoration and distribution on DVD of the entire 435 episode run of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. All these projects are expensive labors of love for those undertaking them. The people involved all work very hard to bring us the best possible versions of these lost shows. Like old classic feature films, many of these shows were allowed to deteriorate in vaults unless they were thrown out and disposed of entirely. I understand that there are very few film records left of the late 50's sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, a funny show I barely remember which starred Ida Lupino and Howard Duff. So I say let's stop nitpicking about small details on some of these DVDs and just be grateful that we have some record of these fragments of the past to relive and enjoy. End of sermon.

Shout Factory is great there's no disputing that, they have brought several classic shows from the 50's and 60's to DVD while the studios that own these shows are reluctant or not willing to release them. If Sony had continued with Hazel on DVD, it's likely we would have seen restored season 2 episodes like on the season 1 set. But I'm more than happy with Shout Factory's DVD's, at last we have the opportunity to see the uncut episodes instead of the edited ones seen on TV. Season 3 has already been announced, looking forward to that and hopefully seasons 4 and 5 will soon follow.

Leslie and all, you're right, I did hear the applause track on an episode I watched last evening. I watched two and it was at the end of either the episode where Hazel and Mr. B are coming up with new words of the day or the one where Barney the mailman disappears. I actually like the applause track at the end. It's gives the show a warm, homey feeling.

Leslie and all, you're right, I did hear the applause track on an episode I watched last evening. I watched two and it was at the end of either the episode where Hazel and Mr. B are coming up with new words of the day or the one where Barney the mailman disappears. I actually like the applause track at the end. It's gives the show a warm, homey feeling.
I always thought the laugh and applause tracks used on the Screen Gems shows were rather tastefully done as opposed to others, where someone walks into the room and says "hello" and you get a laugh or a snort. Actually, the ones that really annoyed me were the live audience reactions on 70s shows such as "Happy Days", where the audience seemed to go crazy at every appearance on-screen of Henry Winkler.

I always thought the laugh and applause tracks used on the Screen Gems shows were rather tastefully done as opposed to others, where someone walks into the room and says "hello" and you get a laugh or a snort. Actually, the ones that really annoyed me were the live audience reactions on 70s shows such as "Happy Days", where the audience seemed to go crazy at every appearance on-screen of Henry Winkler.
Now that I have viewed most of the second season shows, ( I still have 5 to go), I have noticed that most of the later eps in the season do have a laugh track, far more than I would have thought judging from the Antenna TV airings.