Background Laugher

Metalcat · January 2005

ok i have just been wondering about why their is so much background laugher?

i was eating and my littlesister sat sawing cartoonnetwork.
it was very snowy so the things got weird and suddenly it was in english! (im from Denmark)

now the weird thing is. When scooby doo came there was background laugher! And thats a thing we dont have so - why the background laugher? I have heard it before in shows like cosby and co. But they tape infront of a ordiance...

Skilled_Pro · January 2005

Its called a laugh track, its kinda pointless but producers put it onto the program to make it 'seem' funnier.

You know how in real life, you laugh over things you somtimes wouldnt unless you have your friends there. Kinda weird. Thats the point of it.

eediot · January 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Skilled Pro @ Jan 8 2005, 09:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Its called a laugh track, its kinda pointless but producers put it onto the program to make it 'seem' funnier.

You know how in real life, you laugh over things you somtimes wouldnt unless you have your friends there. Kinda weird. Thats the point of it. </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
It's pretty much to tell the audicence when to laugh. Cheap 'comedies' use this, and it's a big indication of when they are cheap comedies or not. Scrubs doesn't use laugh tracks [iirc], and red dwarf is one of the few exceptions.

It's a cheap hollywood invention. [And it sucks]

antifreeze · January 2005

Friends use it, and i hate them for it. It's a half decent comedy without the laughter allover, especially at things which really ain't funny

AlienCow · January 2005

I think you'll find amongst the many different versions of the Scooby-Doo cartoon only one of them has laughter, and it's one of the original cartoons involving our favourite wimpy canine pal. The variety of newer versions seem to have characters removed or added, but none have that laughter track in the background.

I don't like it in Scooby Doo, but I don't mind it so much in sitcoms.

X_Stickman · January 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (emperor awesome @ Jan 8 2005, 12:03 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Skilled Pro @ Jan 8 2005, 09:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Its called a laugh track, its kinda pointless but producers put it onto the program to make it 'seem' funnier.

You know how in real life, you laugh over things you somtimes wouldnt unless you have your friends there. Kinda weird. Thats the point of it. </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
It's pretty much to tell the audicence when to laugh. Cheap 'comedies' use this, and it's a big indication of when they are cheap comedies or not. Scrubs doesn't use laugh tracks [iirc], and red dwarf is one of the few exceptions.

It's a cheap hollywood invention. [And it sucks]  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Red Dwarf doesn't just use a laughter track (as in, laughter is added on afterwards), a lot of it is filmed in front of an audience (so the laughter isn't added on, it's there already... if you get my point). Not much of a difference, but at least that way where there's laughter, it's really people finding it funny, rather than the producer/director/editor/network TELLING you it's funny.

MedHead · January 2005

It's pretty easy to tell when it's a laugh track, and when it's a live audience: the actors in the live shows must wait for the laughter to stop before proceeding. With canned laughter, the actors aren't privy to the laughter, and very often the volume must be turned down quickly on the canned applause to allow the show to proceed, lending to the falseness of the sound.

While I agree that canned laughter makes a show obnoxious, live laughter, at least in my experience, helps improve the comedy. I've watched comedies without the laughter, and the jokes seem to fall flat, because nobody is laughing. In reality, if somebody said something funny, the listeners would respond to it. If the actors on the screen don't respond to the joke, and there is no live audience to respond to the joke, then the joke (at least for me) falls flat. It's not that I need to know its funny, but that I don't know that it was intended to be funny.

For instance, Whose Line is it Anyway is much funnier being watched with a group of friends or family than it is alone, because there is a feedback from others around, more so than just the audience. The show by itself is funny, even without family or friends laughing along, but it's much more memorable when others are watching. My point was that it's the feedback from others enjoying the joke that makes the joke funny, and I think that's why the laugh tracks or live audiences are used (because the directors can't depend on the viewers to have family or friends around to watch the show).

EDIT: The "Edited By" message is annoying. I vote for its removal. Thank you.

Swiftspear · January 2005

The worst part about laugh tracks is they always use them at the most awkward times. if 60% of your jokes just aren't funny, then its going to be stupid to put a laugh track to them.

Tequila · January 2005

It's the mark of a bad comedy; editors who aren't comfortable with the material they have.

eediot · January 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (X Stickman @ Jan 9 2005, 06:15 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> filmed with audience  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Huh.. I didn't know that. It makes sense though. Cool <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' />

marce · January 2005

Have you ever noticed that actors on shows with laugh tracks actually have to wait for the laughter track to finish before they say the next line? Same with those filmed in front of an audience, but still.

Doesn't help my suspension of disbelief, it just makes me want to throttle more editors.

MedHead · January 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (marce @ Jan 8 2005, 07:54 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Have you ever noticed that actors on shows with laugh tracks actually have to wait for the laughter track to finish before they say the next line? Same with those filmed in front of an audience, but still.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
No, haven't noticed that, myself.

eediot · January 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (marce)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Have you ever noticed</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
<b>** HA HAHAHA HAHA HA HAHAH HA **</b>
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (marce)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>that actors on shows with laugh tracks</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
<b>** HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH LOL OLOL **</b>
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (marce)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>actually have to wait for the laughter track to finish</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
<b>** ROFLROFL HAHAHHA LOL **</b>
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (marce)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>before they say the next line?</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
<b>** LMAO LOL HAHHAA ROFL **</b>
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (marce)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Same with those filmed in front of an audience, but still.</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
... *tumbleweed*

Background Laugher

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