Second Life Forums Archive - Laugh tracks in sitcoms

Ingrid Ingersoll

Archived

Join date: 10 Aug 2004

Posts: 4,601

02-02-2005 09:05

Utterly annoying. Do you agree?

Why do they still do this? It's so dated and silly. I'm happy to see that comedies like Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development don't include laugh tracks. Frankly, I think it's alot more funny when there's dead silence after a really good line.

Some of the crappier new comedies still have them though. I wonder if there's a reason behind this.

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Ferran Brodsky

Better living through rum

Join date: 3 Feb 2004

Posts: 821

02-02-2005 09:06

Laugh tracks in sitcoms are annoying.....

Laugh tracks in horror movies... Now that just rocks!

David Valentino

Nicely Wicked

Join date: 1 Jan 2004

Posts: 2,941

02-02-2005 09:08

From: Ingrid Ingersoll

Utterly annoying. Do you agree?

Why do they still do this? It's so dated and silly. I'm happy to see that comedies like Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development don't include laugh tracks. Frankly, I think it's alot more funny when there's dead silence after a really good line.

Some of the crappier new comedies still have them though. I wonder if there's a reason behind this.

Yes, because people equate laughter with funny. So the mindless masses sit, drooling, watching same lame sitcom and hear the laugh track and that sends a tiny and fuzzy electical impulse in to their seldom used brains and causes them to laugh accordingly. Then later, they remember the experience of laughing while watching that sitcom, and so, wishing to repeat the experience, they tune in again and again.

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David Lamoreaux

Owner - Perilous Pleasures and Extreme Erotica Gallery

Paolo Portocarrero

Puritanical Hedonist

Join date: 28 Apr 2004

Posts: 2,393

02-02-2005 09:10

From: David Valentino

Yes, because people equate laughter with funny. So the mindless masses sit, drooling, watching same lame sitcom and hear the laugh track and that sends a tiny and fuzzy electical impulse in to their seldom used brains and causes them to laugh accordingly. Then later, they remember the experience of laughing while watching that sitcom, and so, wishing to repeat the experience, they tune in again and again.

Evil marketing mavens manipulating pavlovian conditioning. But, I do love the laugh tracks from 50's-60's sitcoms -- they all use the SAME tracks!

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Ingrid Ingersoll

Archived

Join date: 10 Aug 2004

Posts: 4,601

02-02-2005 09:10

From: David Valentino

So the mindless masses sit, drooling, watching same lame sitcom and hear the laugh track and that sends a tiny and fuzzy electical impulse in to their seldom used brains and causes them to laugh accordingly.

Haha! Sounds like you're describing hamsters.

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Ferran Brodsky

Better living through rum

Join date: 3 Feb 2004

Posts: 821

02-02-2005 09:13

Pavlov's chuckle dogs

Moleculor Satyr

Fireflies!

Join date: 5 Jan 2004

Posts: 2,650

02-02-2005 09:13

From: Ferran Brodsky

Laugh tracks in sitcoms are annoying.....

Laugh tracks in horror movies... Now that just rocks!

I prefer cheering when the bad guy looks like he's winning.

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</sarcasm>

Ghoti Nyak

καλλιστι

Join date: 7 Aug 2004

Posts: 2,078

02-02-2005 11:27

Does anyone have a laughtrack audio file that would be uploadable (or purchaseable!) in SL?

I'd love to have one of these to play when I make a stupid joke.

Please IM me!!

-Ghoti

_____________________

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Lianne Marten

Cheese Baron

Join date: 6 May 2004

Posts: 2,192

02-02-2005 11:29

Ctrl-F2 is the default for the *rimshot* sound... I use it all the time

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Zuzi Martinez

goth dachshund

Join date: 4 Sep 2004

Posts: 1,860

02-02-2005 11:34

laugh tracks make comedy less funny. if i can't tell where i'm supposed to laugh without a laugh track you need better jokes.

the best part is when someone delivers the shittiest joke ever that was old even when a single celled creature in the cambrian era told it for the first time and on the laugh track you hear that guy in the background laughing so hard major organs must be falling out. i've never laughed as hard as that guy in my whole life and he laughs like that for every joke. even for fucking Urkle!

so yeah, no laff trax plz.

although i gotta say what's even worse is the "awww" track. up yours, cute sitcom kid with a puppy. up. yours.

Isis Becquerel

Ferine Strumpet

Join date: 1 Sep 2004

Posts: 971

02-02-2005 11:51

history of the laugh track

very basic laugh track

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Thomas Sowell

As long as the bottle of wine costs more than 50 bucks, I'm not an alcoholic...even if I did drink 3 of them.

Loki Pico

Registered User

Join date: 20 Jun 2003

Posts: 1,938

02-02-2005 11:51

Some of the worst shows have laugh tracks. Listen to the dialouge and you will see just how unfunny it really is.

Laugh tracks are interesting though. I had a brief career as an amatuer movie maker. We did a comedy series that spoofed the ugly herion junkie scene that didnt really go unseen like many thought. We had scenes of people shooting up with a wild laugh track playing over it. It was somewhat disturbing, but that was sort of the point. It was always interesting to watch the audience reaction to what they were seeing. Most of it was not funny at all, but we touted the project as a comedy and with the laugh tracks, most people bought it.

Lianne Marten

Cheese Baron

Join date: 6 May 2004

Posts: 2,192

02-02-2005 11:54

I remember when there was a laugh track on "Sports Night."

Phew, i'm glad they got rid of it... the jokes were funny enough that the laugh track actually detracted from them.

I think it's just a cop-out they use so they don't think they need to try as hard to get funny material.

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Lora Morgan

Puts the "eek" in "geek"

Join date: 19 Mar 2004

Posts: 779

02-02-2005 12:07

How am I supposed to tell when the one dimensional character is saying his catch phrase without a laugh track? I NEED CUES DAMNIT!

Sydney Jacobs

Registered User

Join date: 31 May 2004

Posts: 756

02-02-2005 12:28

Are they still using laugh tracts? Or is it the studio audience laughing?

Ghoti Nyak

καλλιστι

Join date: 7 Aug 2004

Posts: 2,078

02-02-2005 15:55

From: someone

very basic laugh track

hehe! Thanks!

-Ghoti

_____________________

"Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." ~ H.P. Lovecraft

Isis Becquerel

Ferine Strumpet

Join date: 1 Sep 2004

Posts: 971

02-02-2005 18:14

You are quite welcome

_____________________

One of the most fashionable notions of our times is that social problems like poverty and oppression breed wars. Most wars, however, are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances.
Thomas Sowell

As long as the bottle of wine costs more than 50 bucks, I'm not an alcoholic...even if I did drink 3 of them.

Zuzi Martinez

goth dachshund

Join date: 4 Sep 2004

Posts: 1,860

02-02-2005 20:12

From: someone

Are they still using laugh tracts? Or is it the studio audience laughing?

they use them out the ass. and i've been in studio audeinces. that's not the audience laughing. unless i ended up in the only audiences that don't get drugs sprayed out of the vents.

Alan Palmerstone

Payment Info Used

Join date: 4 Jun 2004

Posts: 659

A very special episode of "Hot Cops!"

02-02-2005 20:20

I love it that Arrested Development doesn't use a laugh track. As it is, we have to pause and rewind a dozen times each episode due to laughing so hard we pass out and miss the next joke.

To expand on the "awwwww" sound, if I ever see another formula sitcom have a "very special episode," I am gonna scream.

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Visit Parrot Island - relax on the beach, snuggle at the waterfall, ride the jetskis, make a movie and buy a pool!

Zuzi Martinez

goth dachshund

Join date: 4 Sep 2004

Posts: 1,860

02-02-2005 22:48

haha no doubt. "Next time.....on a very special Jackass." yeah right. even better is when the "very special" episode is just an excuse for a clip show.

Torley Linden

Enlightenment!

Join date: 15 Sep 2004

Posts: 16,530

02-02-2005 23:01

I enjoy being cued, especially when it comes to subleties that I might not pick up on, so I've appreciated laugh tracks before. I have difficulty discerning some humor, and I don't mind being trained in a Pavlovian sort of way.

Too much of it though becomes noticeably aggravating to me. So yeah, laff tracks in moderation but plenty o' laughs. Fo sho.

_____________________

Shagz Anubis

Waffle Baron

Join date: 18 Jun 2004

Posts: 11

02-03-2005 00:01

Gah, with laugh tracks I can laugh at the most senseless jokes...

We should have added laugh tracks to the presidential campaigns [insert laugh track]

Laugh tracks in sitcoms
Ingrid Ingersoll Archived Join date: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 4,601	02-02-2005 09:05 Utterly annoying. Do you agree? Why do they still do this? It's so dated and silly. I'm happy to see that comedies like Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development don't include laugh tracks. Frankly, I think it's alot more funny when there's dead silence after a really good line. Some of the crappier new comedies still have them though. I wonder if there's a reason behind this. _____________________ http://www.ingrid.0catch.com/1.html
Ferran Brodsky Better living through rum Join date: 3 Feb 2004 Posts: 821	02-02-2005 09:06 Laugh tracks in sitcoms are annoying..... Laugh tracks in horror movies... Now that just rocks!
David Valentino Nicely Wicked Join date: 1 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,941	02-02-2005 09:08 From: Ingrid Ingersoll Utterly annoying. Do you agree? Why do they still do this? It's so dated and silly. I'm happy to see that comedies like Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development don't include laugh tracks. Frankly, I think it's alot more funny when there's dead silence after a really good line. Some of the crappier new comedies still have them though. I wonder if there's a reason behind this. Yes, because people equate laughter with funny. So the mindless masses sit, drooling, watching same lame sitcom and hear the laugh track and that sends a tiny and fuzzy electical impulse in to their seldom used brains and causes them to laugh accordingly. Then later, they remember the experience of laughing while watching that sitcom, and so, wishing to repeat the experience, they tune in again and again. _____________________ David Lamoreaux Owner - Perilous Pleasures and Extreme Erotica Gallery
Paolo Portocarrero Puritanical Hedonist Join date: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 2,393	02-02-2005 09:10 From: David Valentino Yes, because people equate laughter with funny. So the mindless masses sit, drooling, watching same lame sitcom and hear the laugh track and that sends a tiny and fuzzy electical impulse in to their seldom used brains and causes them to laugh accordingly. Then later, they remember the experience of laughing while watching that sitcom, and so, wishing to repeat the experience, they tune in again and again. Evil marketing mavens manipulating pavlovian conditioning. But, I do love the laugh tracks from 50's-60's sitcoms -- they all use the SAME tracks! _____________________ Facades by Paolo - Photo-Realistic Skins for Doods > Flagship store, Santo Paolo's Lofts & Boutiques > SLBoutique
Ingrid Ingersoll Archived Join date: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 4,601	02-02-2005 09:10 From: David Valentino So the mindless masses sit, drooling, watching same lame sitcom and hear the laugh track and that sends a tiny and fuzzy electical impulse in to their seldom used brains and causes them to laugh accordingly. Haha! Sounds like you're describing hamsters. _____________________ http://www.ingrid.0catch.com/1.html
Ferran Brodsky Better living through rum Join date: 3 Feb 2004 Posts: 821	02-02-2005 09:13 Pavlov's chuckle dogs
Moleculor Satyr Fireflies! Join date: 5 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,650	02-02-2005 09:13 From: Ferran Brodsky Laugh tracks in sitcoms are annoying..... Laugh tracks in horror movies... Now that just rocks! I prefer cheering when the bad guy looks like he's winning. _____________________ </sarcasm>
Ghoti Nyak καλλιστι Join date: 7 Aug 2004 Posts: 2,078	02-02-2005 11:27 Does anyone have a laughtrack audio file that would be uploadable (or purchaseable!) in SL? I'd love to have one of these to play when I make a stupid joke. Please IM me!! -Ghoti _____________________ "Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." ~ H.P. Lovecraft
Lianne Marten Cheese Baron Join date: 6 May 2004 Posts: 2,192	02-02-2005 11:29 Ctrl-F2 is the default for the rimshot sound... I use it all the time _____________________
Zuzi Martinez goth dachshund Join date: 4 Sep 2004 Posts: 1,860	02-02-2005 11:34 laugh tracks make comedy less funny. if i can't tell where i'm supposed to laugh without a laugh track you need better jokes. the best part is when someone delivers the shittiest joke ever that was old even when a single celled creature in the cambrian era told it for the first time and on the laugh track you hear that guy in the background laughing so hard major organs must be falling out. i've never laughed as hard as that guy in my whole life and he laughs like that for every joke. even for fucking Urkle! so yeah, no laff trax plz. although i gotta say what's even worse is the "awww" track. up yours, cute sitcom kid with a puppy. up. yours.
Isis Becquerel Ferine Strumpet Join date: 1 Sep 2004 Posts: 971	02-02-2005 11:51 history of the laugh track very basic laugh track _____________________ One of the most fashionable notions of our times is that social problems like poverty and oppression breed wars. Most wars, however, are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances. Thomas Sowell As long as the bottle of wine costs more than 50 bucks, I'm not an alcoholic...even if I did drink 3 of them.
Loki Pico Registered User Join date: 20 Jun 2003 Posts: 1,938	02-02-2005 11:51 Some of the worst shows have laugh tracks. Listen to the dialouge and you will see just how unfunny it really is. Laugh tracks are interesting though. I had a brief career as an amatuer movie maker. We did a comedy series that spoofed the ugly herion junkie scene that didnt really go unseen like many thought. We had scenes of people shooting up with a wild laugh track playing over it. It was somewhat disturbing, but that was sort of the point. It was always interesting to watch the audience reaction to what they were seeing. Most of it was not funny at all, but we touted the project as a comedy and with the laugh tracks, most people bought it.
Lianne Marten Cheese Baron Join date: 6 May 2004 Posts: 2,192	02-02-2005 11:54 I remember when there was a laugh track on "Sports Night." Phew, i'm glad they got rid of it... the jokes were funny enough that the laugh track actually detracted from them. I think it's just a cop-out they use so they don't think they need to try as hard to get funny material. _____________________
Lora Morgan Puts the "eek" in "geek" Join date: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 779	02-02-2005 12:07 How am I supposed to tell when the one dimensional character is saying his catch phrase without a laugh track? I NEED CUES DAMNIT!
Sydney Jacobs Registered User Join date: 31 May 2004 Posts: 756	02-02-2005 12:28 Are they still using laugh tracts? Or is it the studio audience laughing?
Ghoti Nyak καλλιστι Join date: 7 Aug 2004 Posts: 2,078	02-02-2005 15:55 From: someone very basic laugh track hehe! Thanks! -Ghoti _____________________ "Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." ~ H.P. Lovecraft
Isis Becquerel Ferine Strumpet Join date: 1 Sep 2004 Posts: 971	02-02-2005 18:14 You are quite welcome _____________________ One of the most fashionable notions of our times is that social problems like poverty and oppression breed wars. Most wars, however, are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances. Thomas Sowell As long as the bottle of wine costs more than 50 bucks, I'm not an alcoholic...even if I did drink 3 of them.
Zuzi Martinez goth dachshund Join date: 4 Sep 2004 Posts: 1,860	02-02-2005 20:12 From: someone Are they still using laugh tracts? Or is it the studio audience laughing? they use them out the ass. and i've been in studio audeinces. that's not the audience laughing. unless i ended up in the only audiences that don't get drugs sprayed out of the vents.
Alan Palmerstone Payment Info Used Join date: 4 Jun 2004 Posts: 659	A very special episode of "Hot Cops!" 02-02-2005 20:20 I love it that Arrested Development doesn't use a laugh track. As it is, we have to pause and rewind a dozen times each episode due to laughing so hard we pass out and miss the next joke. To expand on the "awwwww" sound, if I ever see another formula sitcom have a "very special episode," I am gonna scream. _____________________ Visit Parrot Island - relax on the beach, snuggle at the waterfall, ride the jetskis, make a movie and buy a pool!
Zuzi Martinez goth dachshund Join date: 4 Sep 2004 Posts: 1,860	02-02-2005 22:48 haha no doubt. "Next time.....on a very special Jackass." yeah right. even better is when the "very special" episode is just an excuse for a clip show.
Torley Linden Enlightenment! Join date: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 16,530	02-02-2005 23:01 I enjoy being cued, especially when it comes to subleties that I might not pick up on, so I've appreciated laugh tracks before. I have difficulty discerning some humor, and I don't mind being trained in a Pavlovian sort of way. Too much of it though becomes noticeably aggravating to me. So yeah, laff tracks in moderation but plenty o' laughs. Fo sho. _____________________
Shagz Anubis Waffle Baron Join date: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 11	02-03-2005 00:01 Gah, with laugh tracks I can laugh at the most senseless jokes... We should have added laugh tracks to the presidential campaigns [insert laugh track]

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Laugh tracks in sitcoms