Laughs Tracks Being Used For Good, Not Evil

December 16, 2007 11:31 PM

Laugh tracks making things funny: Friday the 13th | The L Word | Mitt Romney | Star Trek | The Wire | FOX News
posted by dhammond (26 comments total)

personal opinion: the last two are the best
posted by dhammond at 11:33 PM on December 16, 2007

The Wire one was awesome. Nice post, you shiny eared motherfucka.
posted by phaedon at 11:48 PM on December 16, 2007

I'm rewatching episodes of Exit 57, wondering how much better they would be without the distraction of a laugh track. Hopefully there's a special circle of hell reserved for its inventor, with laughs and hoots galore.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:55 PM on December 16, 2007

I'm afraid to watch the last two. I'm afraid you're wrong.
posted by Avenger50 at 12:00 AM on December 17, 2007

I laughed! I laughed! Oh god, I laughed simply because of the laugh track.
:D :) :D :) :D
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:11 AM on December 17, 2007

I went straight to the FOX News one. It did not disappoint.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:00 AM on December 17, 2007

Me too. Worked really well.
posted by dabitch at 1:12 AM on December 17, 2007

Wow. I'm surprised, it really works!
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 1:31 AM on December 17, 2007

What surprises me, although it shouldn't, is the quality of the "acting" in the Friday the 13th clip. Wow. Impressively, amateur-porn-ishly bad.
posted by cgc373 at 1:38 AM on December 17, 2007

The Friday the 13th one is the only one where the laugh track actually seems indigenous. But the Fox one is devastating.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:52 AM on December 17, 2007

Uwe Boll's movies work purely because they don't have a laugh track, though they are the perfect candidates for it.

These are awesome. I hate laugh tracks with a passion. The biggest complaint I have with IT Crowd is the laugh track.
posted by slimepuppy at 2:41 AM on December 17, 2007

The biggest complaint I have with IT Crowd is the laugh track.

You don't seem to be the only one who thinks so. This is ironic since I believe the producers have gone to the expense of recording the episodes in front of a studio audience. I guess this approach does little to salvage things if the audience are sufficiently boozed up to laugh at anything - or just too high up in the final mix.
posted by rongorongo at 4:02 AM on December 17, 2007

Sorry, but even with the laugh track, Mitt Romney's insane "Jihadist Caliphate" fantasy really isn't funny "ha-ha" -- i really hate to bank on mass bigotry, but I'm sure relieved the country's nervousness re: Mormonism will keep that human oil slick out of office.
posted by EatTheWeek at 5:43 AM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite]

The best part about this thread are the comments from people telling us whether or not it is funny.
posted by srboisvert at 6:06 AM on December 17, 2007

Ha, the Fox News one is awesome.
posted by zeoslap at 6:27 AM on December 17, 2007

Laugh tracks are the TV comedy equivalent of MSG. You wouldn't want to have them in everything, but they have their place.

even with the laugh track, Mitt Romney's insane "Jihadist Caliphate" fantasy really isn't funny "ha-ha"

Seconded. It's like the USA is some kind of weird alternate reality right now.
posted by teleskiving at 6:29 AM on December 17, 2007

Surprsingly a laugh track actually does make Fox News funnier. But it'd be hilarious of they could also add Acme safes falling onto the commentator's heads.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 8:04 AM on December 17, 2007

haha, these are great
posted by blendor at 10:50 AM on December 17, 2007

Growing up in the UK, M*A*S*H was aired without a laugh track - and I recall the humo(u) as being by turns poignant, ironic, and deep. When I later saw the exact same episodes in reruns in the US (with laff track), the humor suddenly seemed maudlin, schlocky and flippant.
posted by kcds at 11:08 AM on December 17, 2007

See also: Yakety Sax.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 11:23 AM on December 17, 2007

The Wire is nuts with a laugh track. I think I might still watch it... maybe.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 11:58 AM on December 17, 2007

rongorongo typed "This is ironic since I believe the producers have gone to the expense of recording the episodes in front of a studio audience."

You're right. I think that that was one of Linehan's main inspirations for the show. He wanted to forgo the new-sitcom route and create more of a 70s-style show, in which everything is filmed before an audience and you don't need to watch the episodes consecutively to get the plot.

Knowing that the laughter is live, I like it.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:01 PM on December 17, 2007

I think you linked to the same video twice there, CrunchyFrog. I have seen the same joke done with other movies, but I can't look for them at work.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:02 PM on December 17, 2007

Not nearly as good as the other one, but here's Stringer Bell with a laugh track (also NSFW).
posted by dhammond at 12:50 PM on December 17, 2007

Jeopardy should have a laugh track.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:37 PM on December 17, 2007

Speaking of The Wire, the last season of the best drama on TV starts on January 6.
posted by Neiltupper at 9:17 PM on December 17, 2007