The Laugh Track Thread

[Slackbot]

I've been watching M*A*S*H DVDs. I find I enjoy them so much more when I choose the soundtrack without the laugh track. The humor seems much more effective if the show isn't telling me "This is the funny part! You're supposed to laugh here!"

There is one two-part episode the master of which was damaged, so the cut-down, syndicated version is shown. There's no option to turn off the laugh track on that one, and I found it jarring.

 

[D'Snowth]

Once again, that's a misconception that the laugh track tells you, "This is the funny part", "You're supposed to laugh here".

But I have to disagree with you, I find that turning off the laugh track on the M*A*S*H DVDs makes the show seem ghastly - by that time, writers and producers of sitcoms had become accustomed to leaving very brief pauses to allow for the laugh track to work more effectively, so when watching M*A*S*H without the laugh track only accentuates those pauses of silence, which kind of makes the whole show feel awkward.

It's give-or-take, however, when they switched to a new laugh track beginning in Season Six, the new laugh track was less boisterous and lively, and more subtle and subdued, which makes it sound more like the show's being watched by a small group of women who chuckle over gossip rather than a full audience. Then again, part of it too was by then, Alan Alda took over, and the show became far more dramatic, so the laugh track was probably toned way back to reflect that (certain later episodes only have like maybe one or two laughs throughout the whole show). The same newer laugh track that was introduced to most shows in the late 70s sounds much better on THE GREAT SPACE COASTER, where it's livelier.

 

[minor muppetz]

You know, I had watched a few M*A*S*H episodes recently where they had some lines I thought were funny, but didn't hear the laugh track too many times. And I had thought that the operating room scenes were the only ones to not use a laugh track.

So it's Alan Alda's fault that the show got more serious later on? Man, I thought Hawkeye was a great character and thought Alan Alda was great for being an actor and director, but this makes me lose a little respect for him (then again, how often have I watched movies that Alda did?). The early M*A*S*H episodes are really funny, the later ones harder for me to sit through, and for some reason it seems like the later ones are rerun the most.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Elsewhere on the forum we've been talking about the '70s British TV show Man About the House. I was watching the first couple episodes recently and noticed that there seemed to be a laugh track during the theme song! I don't think I've ever heard of that before...

 

[D'Snowth]

On very, very rare occasions, the laugh track was left on during the O.R., one occasion that comes to mind is when the crazy Turk grabs a sedative, and when Henry attempts to take it away from him, unwittingly injects himself with it, and passes out.

And yeah, notice too how in the later seasons, Hawkeye drinks less and chases women less, and episodes that Alan Alda had written ("Inga" comes to mind) have some sort of a political undertone to them that reflected his own political views.

One thing that I find odd is how people complain about M*A*S*H having a laugh track outdoors, because, "It makes no sense": apparently having a laugh track in the Swamp, or other locations like that make sense because they're indoors, where an audience would be, but not out in the Compound, because why would an audience be sitting out in the Compound? See, to me, that not making sense doesn't make sense to me, because look at other sitcoms that took place mostly outdoors, like GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, or GREEN ACRES? Are we supposed to believe it doesn't make sense that an audience would be stranded on the island with the castaways, or out in the fields watching the citizens of Hooterville fluster Oliver?

 

[D'Snowth]

Elsewhere on the forum we've been talking about the '70s British TV show Man About the House. I was watching the first couple episodes recently and noticed that there seemed to be a laugh track during the theme song! I don't think I've ever heard of that before...

Certain episodes of H.R. PUFNSTUF had the laugh track during the end titles, while the original test pilot of THE MUNSTERS (with different people playing Lily and Eddie, and it's in color) had the laugh track during the opening titles as well.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Certain episodes of H.R. PUFNSTUF had the laugh track during the end titles, while the original test pilot of THE MUNSTERS (with different people playing Lily and Eddie, and it's in color) had the laugh track during the opening titles as well.

Cool, thanks for the info!

Another weird thing I can think of, I used to watch a lot of Welcome Back, Kotter, which had a live studio audience. I noticed after awhile that every now and then you could hear someone in the audience (or maybe the crew?) reacting to jokes by going "Ahhh!" in like a jokey high pitched voice. In one episode you can actually see the actors briefly exchange glances and laugh after it happens, lol.

 

[Oscarfan]

See, to me, that not making sense doesn't make sense to me, because look at other sitcoms that took place mostly outdoors, like GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, or GREEN ACRES? Are we supposed to believe it doesn't make sense that an audience would be stranded on the island with the castaways, or out in the fields watching the citizens of Hooterville fluster Oliver?

I'm pretty sure Green Acres acknowledged it was a TV show at one point, so the logic gets kinda screwy there.

 

[D'Snowth]

Oh believe me, there was little to no logic in Hooterville, they not only broke the laws of logic, they DESTROYED them: acknowledging the written and directed by credits, acknowledging and correcting subtitles, humming and singing along with the theme song or other music cues... and who WAS playing the fife and drum during Oliver's speeches?

 

[Bridget]

I despise the overuse of the laugh track. The only show that I have seen that has been revelant when using it, would have to be TMS. Any other television program tends to sound it when you are staring straight faced with no laugh...