Laugh tracks ruin sitcoms, amirite?

Yes! Which is why the Big Bang Theory sucks balls!

by Anonymous 11 years ago

OK, I never saw Big Bang Theory, but this is not always true.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But they let me know when I should be laughing at something hehe

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Generally, yeah, but it depends on the sitcom. The show Friends without the laugh track is about 1/5th as good.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not always. When they're over the top it does get insanely distracting, but people are much more likely to laugh and find things funny if they hear someone else laughing.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

For most sitcoms, I've tried muting the laugh track (there's a programme that emits an inverse sound wave like the electric noise cancelling headphones) and it gets a bit awkward after not obviously funny stuff happens. I find the laugh track also helps me search for funny stuff when it happens. THere are a lot of jokes that reference an old incident that I would have forgotten or not thought of if the laugh track didn't tell me to.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

In a show that's always had a laugh track, it doesn't annoy me, and in fact if it stopped being there it would probably feel really weird and unnatural. Then again, in something like The Office, which has never had one, it would feel strange if it started to have one... so I think it's all about what you've experienced.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I would have someone with an outrageous laugh, the kind where you laugh at their laugh, randomly in the laugh track where a joke isn't that funny.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Sometimes I don't notice the laugh track, but when I do, it's the ONLY thing I hear. It's so annoying because it comes up like every 5 seconds and I can't focus on the show anymore.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The show has a live audience, with staff encouraging the audience to laugh. I think the laugh track they use is annoying and unnecessary

by Anonymous 6 years ago