If they HAD NOT used a laugh track on the following 1960's sitcoms - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Rezny@gmail.com · 09-26-2010, 01:23 AM

Would they have still been funny ?(Yes,I know funny is in the eye of the beholder)A)Get Smart b)"The Addams Family" c)"F Troop" d)"The Dick van Dyke Show" e)"Green Acres" f)"Gilligan's Island"

Marvo301 · 09-26-2010, 01:37 AM

The one show on your list that might be challenged without a laugh track is Get Smart. That is because it's a satire and not everyone gets satire so the laugh track would help people understand what the jokes/funny parts are in the show. Other than that all the shows you listed would be just as funny without a laugh track since they're so well written and performed.

TV Knowledge Fan · 09-26-2010, 02:03 AM

..."GET SMART" without a laugh track- "Smart the Assassin" {2/19/66}- in the '70s, when it was repeated on WPIX-TV in New York...apparently, that was a rare case of a 16mm film print that didn't feature one, as other ones I've seen do have a laugh track. It was funny, but without the laughter, it seemed more like an episode of "I SPY", as Maxwell Smart was programmed by K.A.O.S. to kill the Chief of C.O.N.T.R.O.L. in that episode [the scenes in the show where someone usually got shot, fell into an elevator shaft, or drowned in a water-filled phone booth, were deadly serious].

Another example was an episode of "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" that was shown on 'Nick At Nite' in the mid and late '90s- "Never Put A Genie On A Budget" {12/30/69}- that also had its laugh track omitted [I believe Columbia Pictures Television used a "master copy" from their archives that lacked one, as the version shown today (on WGN America and 'TV Land'), of course, HAS one]. It was amusing, but something was "missing". I could "hear" the spaces where the laughter was supposed to be inserted.

And if you watched episodes of, say, "GILLIGAN'S ISLAND", "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" (they did film several episodes without a live studio audience, dubbing in a laugh track later), and "F TROOP" without "canned laughter", you might find yourself watching a "different" show. "THE ADDAMS FAMILY" might seem more sinister and grotesque without laughter (especially if you watched the scenes where Gomez destroys his toy trains by having them run into each other and explode).

Ever see "MY LITTLE MARGIE"? The early episodes featured laugh tracks, but during the second season (and some of season three), there weren't any. The jokes had to stand up on their own, like theatrical "two-reel" comedies. Yet, it was still funny. Jackie Gleason's 1949-'50 version of "THE LIFE OF RILEY" originally aired without a laugh track; creator/producer/head writer Irving Brecher couldn't afford to use one when the series first aired, but when he finally syndicated those episodes in 1977 {following a long legal battle by Jackie Gleason to keep them off the air}, he added them (and occasional applause). I've seen both versions of at least one episode ["The Five Dollar Bill"], and the one without a laugh track impressed me more.

jaime_weinman · 09-26-2010, 02:23 PM

Dick Van Dyke was the only one of those shows shot in front of an audience, so the answer to that one is, no, it wouldn't have been funny (at least not in the way we know it) without the laughter.

The other shows were single-camera and could have worked without the laugh track, but they wouldn't have been as popular because they had crazy premises that the audience might not have recognized as comic. With the track, people didn't have to wonder if Get Smart was a comedy or a bad serious spy show.

Also, many of these single-camera shows weren't very fast-paced and didn't have a lot of music, so without the track they would seem slow. It's not like "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," which was paced very fast and no one paused for the track, meaning that if you took the laugh track away it would still be more or less the same.

09-26-2010, 01:23 AM	#1
Rezny@gmail.com Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 20, 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 2,675	If they HAD NOT used a laugh track on the following 1960's sitcoms Would they have still been funny ?(Yes,I know funny is in the eye of the beholder)A)Get Smart b)"The Addams Family" c)"F Troop" d)"The Dick van Dyke Show" e)"Green Acres" f)"Gilligan's Island"

09-26-2010, 01:37 AM	#2
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,450	The one show on your list that might be challenged without a laugh track is Get Smart. That is because it's a satire and not everyone gets satire so the laugh track would help people understand what the jokes/funny parts are in the show. Other than that all the shows you listed would be just as funny without a laugh track since they're so well written and performed.
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09-26-2010, 02:03 AM	#3
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	I have seen one episode of.... ..."GET SMART" without a laugh track- "Smart the Assassin" {2/19/66}- in the '70s, when it was repeated on WPIX-TV in New York...apparently, that was a rare case of a 16mm film print that didn't feature one, as other ones I've seen do have a laugh track. It was funny, but without the laughter, it seemed more like an episode of "I SPY", as Maxwell Smart was programmed by K.A.O.S. to kill the Chief of C.O.N.T.R.O.L. in that episode [the scenes in the show where someone usually got shot, fell into an elevator shaft, or drowned in a water-filled phone booth, were deadly serious]. Another example was an episode of "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" that was shown on 'Nick At Nite' in the mid and late '90s- "Never Put A Genie On A Budget" {12/30/69}- that also had its laugh track omitted [I believe Columbia Pictures Television used a "master copy" from their archives that lacked one, as the version shown today (on WGN America and 'TV Land'), of course, HAS one]. It was amusing, but something was "missing". I could "hear" the spaces where the laughter was supposed to be inserted. And if you watched episodes of, say, "GILLIGAN'S ISLAND", "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" (they did film several episodes without a live studio audience, dubbing in a laugh track later), and "F TROOP" without "canned laughter", you might find yourself watching a "different" show. "THE ADDAMS FAMILY" might seem more sinister and grotesque without laughter (especially if you watched the scenes where Gomez destroys his toy trains by having them run into each other and explode). Ever see "MY LITTLE MARGIE"? The early episodes featured laugh tracks, but during the second season (and some of season three), there weren't any. The jokes had to stand up on their own, like theatrical "two-reel" comedies. Yet, it was still funny. Jackie Gleason's 1949-'50 version of "THE LIFE OF RILEY" originally aired without a laugh track; creator/producer/head writer Irving Brecher couldn't afford to use one when the series first aired, but when he finally syndicated those episodes in 1977 {following a long legal battle by Jackie Gleason to keep them off the air}, he added them (and occasional applause). I've seen both versions of at least one episode ["The Five Dollar Bill"], and the one without a laugh track impressed me more.

09-26-2010, 02:23 PM	#4
jaime_weinman Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 22, 2000 Posts: 122	Dick Van Dyke was the only one of those shows shot in front of an audience, so the answer to that one is, no, it wouldn't have been funny (at least not in the way we know it) without the laughter. The other shows were single-camera and could have worked without the laugh track, but they wouldn't have been as popular because they had crazy premises that the audience might not have recognized as comic. With the track, people didn't have to wonder if Get Smart was a comedy or a bad serious spy show. Also, many of these single-camera shows weren't very fast-paced and didn't have a lot of music, so without the track they would seem slow. It's not like "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," which was paced very fast and no one paused for the track, meaning that if you took the laugh track away it would still be more or less the same.