Canned Laughter - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

miss landers · 03-05-2005, 07:58 PM

Does the Canned (prerecorded) Laughter of the old sitcoms annoy you? Does it bother you? Do you think it's corny, unnecessary, stupid, or what? I like it, I like the artificiality of it. It doesn't bother me. I look forward to it and I wouldn't want to see LITB without it.

Mr. Television · 03-05-2005, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miss landers

Does the Canned (prerecorded) Laughter of the old sitcoms annoy you? Does it bother you? Do you think it's corny, unnecessary, stupid, or what? I like it, I like the artificiality of it. It doesn't bother me. I look forward to it and I wouldn't want to see LITB without it.

No it doesn't bother me. I prefer the studio audience but thats the way a lot of those shows at the time were filmed so I'm used to it. I don't like canned laughter with todays sitcoms however. I still prefer it in front of an audience but if the show is funny then I can watch some of them without.

JudgeGarth · 03-05-2005, 09:33 PM

No, I don't mind it. In fact, I prefer it to a studio audience because they aren't playing to the audience and you don't hear hoots and applause like you do from the Norman Lear sitcoms.

Mijada · 03-06-2005, 12:54 PM

It doesn't bother me either

Mark B. · 03-06-2005, 07:49 PM

Its a wierd concept, especially for shows like LITB where there is clearly not a studio audience. It of course makes more sense on shows like Lucy up to Friends, etc., but if you think about it, its really out of place when the story follows the characters to different rooms in a house, to outdoor locations, etc. I think we pretty much tune it out alltogether these days- we don't notice its there, but we'd sure notice if it was suddenly gone.

Didn't they do that on MASH? At some point they dropped the laugh track, or at least for certain episodes?

Tweety · 03-08-2005, 11:47 PM

i've never really minded the canned laugher...

even though, as a kid, i thought that the old sitcoms would be better without the canned laughter, I seem to recall an episode of "Get Smart" which had no laugh track, and it seemed a bit awkward watching it...I missed the laughter when it wasn't there....

some people feel it's an insult to their intelligence when canned laughter is inserted into a show, but i don't look at it that way at all...it's just nice to have laughs where they belong... except, as pointed out earlier, on the old norman lear shows with all of the hootin' and hollerin'... or on happy days whenever fonzie shows up...live audiences can be very annoying

miss landers · 03-09-2005, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tweety

i've never really minded the canned laugher...

even though, as a kid, i thought that the old sitcoms would be better without the canned laughter, I seem to recall an episode of "Get Smart" which had no laugh track, and it seemed a bit awkward watching it...I missed the laughter when it wasn't there....

some people feel it's an insult to their intelligence when canned laughter is inserted into a show, but i don't look at it that way at all...it's just nice to have laughs where they belong... except, as pointed out earlier, on the old norman lear shows with all of the hootin' and hollerin'... or on happy days whenever fonzie shows up...live audiences can be very annoying

Someone said (and I don't remember who) that comedy is a social experience. We laugh - and its more fun to laugh - when we share the experience with others. Sitting at home and watching a TV comedy show alone is not nearly as much fun as having others in the room watching the show and laughing with you.

Eddie Haskell · 03-09-2005, 01:32 AM

I find the canned laughter nostalgic unlike canned tuna.

03-05-2005, 07:58 PM	#1
miss landers Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 29, 2004 Location: Northeast Posts: 226	Canned Laughter Does the Canned (prerecorded) Laughter of the old sitcoms annoy you? Does it bother you? Do you think it's corny, unnecessary, stupid, or what? I like it, I like the artificiality of it. It doesn't bother me. I look forward to it and I wouldn't want to see LITB without it.

03-06-2005, 07:49 PM	#5
Mark B. Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 25, 2002 Location: Mayfield USA (Orlando, FL) Posts: 97	Its a wierd concept, especially for shows like LITB where there is clearly not a studio audience. It of course makes more sense on shows like Lucy up to Friends, etc., but if you think about it, its really out of place when the story follows the characters to different rooms in a house, to outdoor locations, etc. I think we pretty much tune it out alltogether these days- we don't notice its there, but we'd sure notice if it was suddenly gone. Didn't they do that on MASH? At some point they dropped the laugh track, or at least for certain episodes?
	__________________ Mark B. Director, Mayfield Historical Society

03-09-2005, 01:32 AM	#8
Eddie Haskell Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 11, 2002 Location: Mayfield Posts: 645	I find the canned laughter nostalgic unlike canned tuna.
	__________________ "That's a lovely sweater, Mrs. Cleaver"

03-05-2005, 09:33 PM	#3
JudgeGarth Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 07, 2004 Location: Wheaton, IL Posts: 443	No, I don't mind it. In fact, I prefer it to a studio audience because they aren't playing to the audience and you don't hear hoots and applause like you do from the Norman Lear sitcoms.

03-06-2005, 12:54 PM	#4
Mijada Spencers mom Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 02, 2001 Location: eastern US Posts: 4,093	It doesn't bother me either

03-08-2005, 11:47 PM	#6
Tweety Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 18, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 6,804	i've never really minded the canned laugher... even though, as a kid, i thought that the old sitcoms would be better without the canned laughter, I seem to recall an episode of "Get Smart" which had no laugh track, and it seemed a bit awkward watching it...I missed the laughter when it wasn't there.... some people feel it's an insult to their intelligence when canned laughter is inserted into a show, but i don't look at it that way at all...it's just nice to have laughs where they belong... except, as pointed out earlier, on the old norman lear shows with all of the hootin' and hollerin'... or on happy days whenever fonzie shows up...live audiences can be very annoying