Laugh tracks

  On 6/21/2010 at 9:51 PM, TwiddleBot said:

i remember watching some sitcoms where there'd be like one dude in the laugh track who is louder than all the rest and you'd keep hearing his laugh throughout the entire freakin show, if not the series..

Oh man the Drew Carey show had that. I bet you can even look through clips on youtube and find it easily. There was always this one guy that always went "heh-HEH!!" every single episode. Must have been someone who worked on the show, he stood out so horribly.

And I used to watch newsradio all the time and never even noticed the laugh track sticking out anymore than any other shows.

big bang theory is horrendous

Any of the nerdy characters: [something about video game/nerd culture]

*audience laughs so much they eventually start to riot and destroy the studio*

anyone remember sports radio? it was a rather witty/intelligent cult hit on comedy central in the US and then it jumped ship for a big network and they slapped a laugh track on it and totally fucking ruined the vibe and no one gave a fuck about it.

  On 6/22/2010 at 11:57 AM, vodor said:

anyone remember sports radio? it was a rather witty/intelligent cult hit on comedy central in the US and then it jumped ship for a big network and they slapped a laugh track on it and totally fucking ruined the vibe and no one gave a fuck about it.

I remember a show called Out of Bounds, and also News Radio.

I prefer a laugh track if I watch TV. TV is excellent for cartoons. I was in dirty Hollywood once and some dingus on the curb was waving passes to NBC sitcoms to fill the seats. I didn't think sitcoms even existed anymore, or that they needed people to make live noise. But during the taping people laughed very loudly when cued without smiles on their faces as if it was their patriotic duty. It was gross and awesome.

  On 6/22/2010 at 11:57 AM, vodor said:

anyone remember sports radio? it was a rather witty/intelligent cult hit on comedy central in the US and then it jumped ship for a big network and they slapped a laugh track on it and totally fucking ruined the vibe and no one gave a fuck about it.

yes! i used to love that show then as soon as someone else picked em up and added the laffs.... shit.

you guys are thinking about sports night. alan sorkin, the guy who did the west wing, created this show. it was a little too "written" for my taste. everything was a witty retort or an attempt to one-up a coworker, which is a brand of comedy that quickly grows tiresome, imo.

All of the Soup/the Dish/Tosh.0 type shows are the worst offenders.

aaron sorkin did west wing/sports night, apparently he was fighting with the network about the use of the laugh track. i only vaguely remember the show though, so this is going off my taste as a 12 year old.

edit - love west wing. that would be a fun show to add your own laugh track to.

anyone curious on the subject of laugh tracks should read Harlan Ellison's "Laugh Track". it's a very fun read and puts sort of a secret society spin on the person/people who create the laugh tracks in hollywood.

i can't find a direct link to the story anywhere online, but it is included in this book.