Poll: Do you like canned laughter?

[Dr Spaceman]

I don't generally care for shows with canned laughter, or filmed in front of a studio audience for the similar effect. Only Seinfeld made it work because (filmed in front of a live audience) the laughter was in reasonable places, and you don't get those weird little chuckles when an actor drops a little line. Hell, Seinfeld is probably the only show where they had to edit out some of the laughter because it was lasting too long.

Plus, canned laughter tends to lend itself to stale old sitcoms; you know: setup then punchline, *laugh*, setup then punchline, *laugh*, repeat ad nauseum.

 

[Twilight_guy]

No. It bugs me slightly. It also kind of seems like they're saying "this is funny laugh" when you should laugh at what you find funny.

 

[hopeneverdies]

I don't like it if it laughs at a joke I'm not getting or isn't really all that funny. However, if it is used for comedic effect then yes.

 

[G1eet]

Simple question do you like the laughter that is added onto comedy progammes e.g. two and a half men and fraiser.

This doesnt include friends or fresh prince because the are filmed infront of a live audience.

Haha that reminds me of a Family Guy gag:

"Now Two and a Half Men... Filmed in front of a live ostrich!"

 

[Kiutu]

Uh, Scooby Doo much?
Its best for old cartoons cause of the absurdity of it.

 

[McMo0^]

I've sometimes found myself laughing during a canned laughter moment and then not realised what i laughed at.

Laughters inffectious hence the concept but it just really feckin annoys me because some shows are ruined by it. I find two and a half men funny here and there, and i know its a "live studio ostrich" but the point still remains. I then get the feeling their pushing it to hard. I like the fact that the mash dvds let you take it out. Thats what all canned/audience shows need.

 

[CRAVE CASE 55]

I laugh at the laughter. It's just so cheesy.

My words almost exactly

 

[Arrers]

I've gotten used to canned laughter, to me it's only noticable if it's not funny.

 

[OmegaGamer]

I hate it it's the worst part of the IT crowd which without it would be a glowing beacon of perfection in the otherwise desolate land of channel 4

 

[LilnMINK]

I honestly hate canned laughter so much. It ruins some good TV shows and it can get annoying time to time.

 

[zacaron]

no thats why im a big fan of corner gas cause they refused to put a laugh track on there show.

 

[Sparrow]

I never really minded, but after watching the earlier seasons of Only Fools and Horses that didn't have it in, I realised it was a good thing

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

It used to annoy me but then I realised that the show would be too quiet without it.

Yeah, because the humor you find in sitcoms is so basic and immature that the emptiness and unintelligence of it is filled with the sound of other people laughing. For the writers to fill an entire episode with legitimate dialogue and acting and remove all canned laughter they would have to actually make an effort.

It's like the show is trying to tell me when to laugh. Fuck that. Maybe I'd laugh if the show was funny.

 

[The Young One]

No, I don't like it.
It doesn't add anything to the program, in my opinion.
I also hate 'canned baby cry' that you often get on shows. It's clearly not a real baby.
It annoys me so much.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

On anything except MASH, it's bad.

 

[TheSentinel]

I only hate it when you KNOW it's a laugh track, like it just comes to a screeching, silent halt. Like in that episode of Futurama on Comedybot 2.0s show, the robots clap, then just stop dead.

Or, if they use the same exact reaction sounds for EVERY THING.

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

I hate it it's the worst part of the IT crowd which without it would be a glowing beacon of perfection in the otherwise desolate land of channel 4

I can't stand British television. It feels just as dishonest and mind-numbing as American television does.

 

[Schneebly]

Think of shows such as Malcolm in the Middle and The Office. Still hilarious with no laughter needed.

 

[Sevre]

When the joke isn't funny and its done,that is seriously annoying, other times it can add to the comedic element.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Not in the slightest. To me, if seems like a cheap cop-out. It wastes time that could be spent with more witty comments.

Also (and I stopped liking Seinfeld after I realized this a few years back) it makes things that aren't that funny seem funnier. It's like yawning- laughing is contagious. If you look at an episode of, say, Everybody Loves Raymond, you see stuff happening, here the laughter, and laugh at it to. If you imagine it without the laugh track, at least in my case, it stops being even slightly funny and just seems like an incredibly depressing dysfunctional family that makes me worry that their kids are going to kill themselves at some point. Not legitimately worry, but you see my point...

The only good laugh-track sitcoms are the ones that you can take the laugh track out and create your own laughter, like Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, and Big Bang Theory... and WOW I just sounded like a CBS fanboy, so to balance it out, I think New Adventures of Old Christine sucks big donkey balls.

EDIT: I hate it more when they add the "ooooohhhhhhh" or "WOOOOOO!" when something cute or surprising happens. I hate that with a passion.