History Main / LaughTrack

* ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'': The Series: Hector Evilman's creation in "Inventors Only" with mice enacting Series/{{Seinfeld}} plays laugh tracks, with Hector explaining: "and this is something I call Mice TV, the only sustainable future of entertainment! What makes it funny is the laugh track telling you it's funny." This leaks into the real world as the track plays when Flint remarks "I came here expecting to get killed." Followed with a D'awww when he continues with "all you've done is murder my fears...with friendship."

* Used in a segment of the film ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'' establishing Mallory's backstory. Mallory's father threatening to beat up her mother, Mallory's father groping Mallory and her brother asking if he was born of incest with her all have the "audience" rolling in the aisles. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq2rsaOxWQ MASSIVELY disturbing.]]
* In ''Film/AnnieHall'', Alvy visits Hollywood, where his best friend is editing a TV show by having false laughter added to it, much to his chagrin.
-->'''Alvie:''' [[TakeThat Got any booing on there?]]

* An [[BlackComedy utterly dark version]] appears in ''Film/NaturalBornKillers''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq2rsaOxWQ The scene]] detailing Mallory's [[AbusiveParents horrifically]] [[ParentalIncest abusive]] [[DomesticAbuse childhood]] is done in the style of a classic multi-camera sitcom called ''I Love Mallory'', complete with a laugh track.

* In Creator/RobertRankin's ''A Dog Called Demolition'', The Shrunken Head pub has a laughter track installed, greeting Danny with gales of laughter,though he can't work out where it's coming from.

Naturally, within a few years of its introduction, [[UndeadHorseTrope it was abused and overused]]. ''Every'' punchline, no matter how lame or subtle, would receive the same tsunami of belly laughs from the virtual audience. It became epidemic, even intruding bizarrely into cartoons (''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'', anyone?). By the 1960s, it had become an annoying intrusion, hated but (in the minds of most producers) mandatory. In the 1970s, however, most sitcoms began to switch away from the single-camera, movie-style format and back to the multi-camera format with a studio audience providing real laughter, which producers found more pleasing because it had a better comic "rhythm" and helped them write better jokes. By the 1980s, the only hit that still regularly used a laugh track was ''Series/{{MASH}}'' (which increasingly dispensed with the device toward the end of its run). And while the TurnOfTheMillennium saw a resurgence of single-camera comedies in the US, these were influenced by the new wave of British comedies of the 1990s, which omitted laugh tracks completely (leading to some UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism). Some comedies resorted to the use of certain sound effects that served the same purpose, but as the focus of 2010s-era comedies shifted towards either [[{{Dramedy}} dramatic]] or [[CringeComedy outrageous situations]], laugh tracks have seen a decrease in use.

* The live-action segments of ''Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'', which leads to a humourous {{Mondegreen}} when the laugh track obscures something Mario [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogtjjQ6070U says]].

* In the 1980s, there was a situation comedy series written and produced by Creator/MelBrooks (yes, ''that'' Mel Brooks) called ''The Nutt House''. ExecutiveMeddling resulted in laugh tracks, because the executives felt that ViewersAreMorons. The result was loud, jarring, clumsily dubbed-in laugh tracks that often drowned out the punchlines.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is one of the few shows that proudly uses a StudioAudience. As the show became more popular most of the audience consists of die-hard fans, thus the laughter tended to be a bit more aware of the nuances of the show and were anticipating the punchlines (ie Sheldon starts an innocuous sounding dialogue about Windows 7 and there are some snickers at "It is much more user friendly" before the actual joke of "[[TheyChangedItNowItSucks I don't like it]]"). [[RealityIsUnrealistic This resulted in many people assuming the show did, in fact, use a laugh track]]. One Chuck Lorre VanityPlate at the end of an episode featured a [[http://www.chucklorre.com/index-bbt.php?p=282 composite picture]] of the studio audience with the caption "This is our 'laugh machine'"

* ''WebVideo/CLWEntertainment'': The ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' announcement [[https://youtu.be/ySEfqD4HB7Q "Just Finished a HUGE Episode of Doraemon!!"]] features a very repetitive laugh track PlayedForLaughs. The same soundbite plays whenever anything happens in the video.

* Two Garry Marshall-produced sitcoms (''Theatre/TheOddCouple'' and ''Series/HappyDays'') had laugh tracks in their inaugural seasons, before shifting to a live StudioAudience, with the canned laughter occasionally used for "sweetening."

* The short-lived CBS game ''SeriesGiveNTake'' was produced by and taped at Warner Bros., who used the standard sitcom laugh track of the time mixed in with their live audience reactions.

Laugh tracks and other uses of recorded laughter can have one interesting benefit in terms of pacing a show. Similar to theater, when the audience laughs, the actors will often pause for the joke to "land" and for the audience to calm back down before continuing. This pause is beneficial in some cases because it prevents dialogue or important details from being missed if the audience is still laughing.

** In an inversion, taping reports for the show suggests that some laughter and other audience responses were edited out because it clashed with their intended mood for a scene (such as when Penny kissed Leonard for the first time after they get back together, the scene as aired has no audience noise but apparently the crowd was "whoo"ing on every take). This is referred to as Sweetening, which involves using a live studio Audience, but also editing in canned laughter in order to smooth out transitions or edit scenes where audience response drowns out the acting.

* Toys/LegoFriends: When appearing on a competitive baking show, the host produces a remote and keeps activating Canned Laughter or Applause sound effects. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when a reverse angle of the studio audience area reveals there isn't actually an audience. Cue the FunnyBackgroundEvent when Stephanie checks under a microwave to find out where the sound is coming from.

* WesternAnimation/RobotChicken had the canned laughter in Blooper's segment. In season 5 however, it [[spoiler: turned out that the host was hallucinating it and the laughter changed into distorted (while telling nobody to "STOP MOCKING ME!"]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Billy wishes for the perfect dog, but he doesn't know which of the four dogs he should take home. He then convinces Grim to use the magic of his scythe to combine all four dogs into one single perfect dog named Wiggy Jiggy Jed. The dog (who is a parody on Hanna-Barbera characters like Yogi Bear) in question makes quirky jokes that are immediately met by a disembodied laughing. The cast take note of it right away - Mandy: "Where is that creepy laughter coming from?"

* ''WebVideo/YuYuHakushoAbridged'' has one play whenever Genbu says [[Creator/LarryTheCableGuy "Git-er-done"]].

In some Latin American countries (Argentina, for example), the laugh track is replaced by a crew of off-screen people paid specifically to ''laugh on command'' whenever the comedic situation (presumably) merits a laugh; they are known as ''reidores'' ("laughers"); a senior laugher signals all the others when to laugh. In Mexico, the Chespirito programs, particularly ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'', had laugh tracks for most of their runs, but in later years this device was dropped, with a disclaimer proclaiming that it was done to respect the audience.

** Serie/MatchGame used a laughter track in a bizarre way; during the opening of many episodes, while introducing the celebrity panelists, viewers could hear people giggling and laughing, even if there was nothing funny happening other than some TV star smiling at the camera. In reality the actual sound was likely audience applause (as they can be seen doing so when the camera pulls back to show audience members as the opening concludes). There is a possible rationale for this: some episodes of ''Match Game'' do not add in this sound, leading to a rather quiet, subdued opening.

** The old daytime version of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' was known for its canned applause. Compared with the combined cheers and applause from the current syndicated version's live audiences, the 1980s version's canned applause was still much louder. There were also awkward "ooh"s every time a prize was shown or the top dollar on the Wheel was hit, "aww"s whenever someone hit Bankrupt or called a wrong letter, et cetera. The sweetening is particularly noticeable during this infamous "Megaword" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzQLXHFCoQ category puzzle]]. It becomes obvious that the same audience groaning sound is recycled throughout!

* ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'': A faint laugh track can be heard a few times in the pilot episode, but only after jokes are made by Alastor, the Radio Demon.

* Most Hanna-Barbera animated series of the late 1950s and into the 1960s have laugh tracks. Justified somewhat with ''Series/TheFlintstones'' as it was intended to be an animated variant on live-action sitcoms such as ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' which were recorded in front of audiences at the time.

*** All H-B's prime time animated comedies in the 60s had laugh tracks. Their Saturday morning shows, save for ''Scooby Doo, Where Are You!,'' didn't. The only 1970s series that didn't have laugh tracks were those animated in Australia, the odd drama shows (''Sealab 2020, Devlin'') and their WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry 1975 retool. The laugh track was abandoned in 1980.

* In HazbinHotel, Alastor, the Radio Demon, speaks like a 1920s or 1930s radio personality, complete with a constant RadioVoice, even though he's personally present. This is accompanied by didactic period music and a subtle laugh track that sometimes appears when he laughs (though noticeably, [[NothingIsScarier not when he laughs as part of a threat]]). This is used for sinister effect, as a reflection of his demonic powers.

* Both ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' and ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' used laugh tracks. Justified in that both shows were presented as [[ShowWithinAShow shows being performed for an audience]], and it would be entirely impossible to film this show in front of an audience due to the special effects and the puppeteers. Also, unlike most others, the laugh track sounded ''so'' real, people ''actually try to buy tickets for a taping!''
** Actually, some of it ''was'' real laughter. Apparently the stagehands' favorite skits were with the Swedish Chef and would crowd the set to watch the taping. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8UE8ADvF_s Listen very closely]] and you can hear a really loud laugh and somebody clapping their hands that doesn't match up with the laugh track

* ''Series/ForAllMankind''. Three astronauts are stranded on the Jamestown Moonbase with their only entertainment a Betamax tape with a few episodes of ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow''. When the tape gets eaten in the player, they've all long since memorized the whole thing and just act it out themselves, complete with laugh track.