As a child I was raised in front of the TV. Starting as a young child I saw Jack dancing around in his communal apartment when the unsuspecting, yet always around, landlord saw him through the window.
What do I do? I look around the room to see what my parents are doing. They have smiles. I hear people on the TV cueing me that it's now time to laugh. I join in. This is shortly followed by George getting scolded by Lousie for opening his mouth at the wrong time. There is laughter, and I join in.
From Family Ties to Growing Pains I grew up on TV that told me when it was time to laugh. Even Seinfeld has been kind enough to let me know when it is time to laugh. I've fought hard to come to terms with the fact that I don't know when it's appropriate to laugh. Is that joke I just heard funny? Probably not but everyone around is chuckling.
The laugh track has become the viagra for the entertainment industry that is supposed to make even the most limp joke humorous. Imagine where Saved by the Bell would have been without the help of the laugh track to show us that the predictable, if not preposterous, predicament is supposed to be funny.
I've come to hate these canned laughters. It's interesting at times to listen to the variations of the laughter, but that can only entertain so long. It doesn't seem that the cue for laughing to be abandoned for some time. According to some, it's not just the entertainment industry that is addicted to it,
People watching TV are so conditioned to hearing laughs that when the shows are tested without them, they don't do well. American audiences need a laugh track to be told it's okay to laugh out loud.
At least this is what The Drew Carey Show executive producer Bruce Helford believes. Hey! I need a laugh track to take on the road with me, so I guess I don't feel so bad.
Is this true? Is it a uniquely American problem? Do shows really do poorly without it? I think that both of these are wrong assumptions.
First, there are plenty of British comedies that have fallen prey to the laugh track: Absolutely Fabulous and Monty Python's Flying Circus the most obvious answers. Of course, there is also lesser known shows like Red Dwarf that have the laugh track working in them.
The American public, if they aren't me, are smart enough to know when they should laugh. Our sense of humor hasn't been so conditioned to cues that it is impossible for us to know when something is funny. I was confused the first time I watched The Wonder Years, because it went without the laugh track. Should I laugh at what Paul just did? Isn't the brother actually pretty funny? I don't know! Then as a 13 year old I would sneak downstairs to watch Dream On. It was creative, it was sexy, and I thought it might be funny. Again, where was the laugh track? Other shows that skipped the laugh track: The Simpsons, Ally McBeal, The Larry Sanders Shows, and countless others.
Aaron Sorkin ran into some problems with ABC over his show, Sports Night, because the producers of the show did not want the laugh track or a live audience. The two normally work in conjunction where the laugh track is added later to smooth out the live laughter. M*A*S*H is one of the few shows that had a laugh track only. In Sports Night's case, the network won out and it was filmed in front of a live audience. ABC's senior VP of comedy programming, Carolyn Ginsburg Carlson said that "if done right, [the laugh track] can be wonderful." On the other hand, Aaron Sorkin thought that
once you do shoot in front of a live audience, you have no choice but to use the laugh track. Oftentimes enhancing the laughs is the right thing to do. Sometimes you do need a cymbal crash. Other times, it alienates me.
I've found, perhaps only recently, the laugh track is getting in my way of watching television. Why does Seinfeld need a laugh track and live studio audience? Curb Your Enthusiasm, if I remember right, doesn't have a laugh track. Larry David, perhaps, learned of the folly of the laugh track.
Unfortunately the TV industry has made a science of the laugh track, and it is here to stay. The best we can hope for is a reduction in the volume of the laughs. It seems that as time goes on the laughter gets louder and louder. This trend is making me stand out all the more when someone starts to laugh at a joke just told at the bar. I chortle with joy as loud as can be knowing that I'm laughing at the right time.
