Laugh track removal. Has any service being payed to this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfFd_wOQsGQ
This is pretty much the reason people accuse most shows with "Live studio audiences" of having laugh tracks, the only thing that's different between the canned laughter and I can't believe it's not canned laughter is that one is more technical.
Hide / Show RepliesRelated to your second paragraph: I've never understood how that "live studio audience" thing makes any difference. One of my friends once said the difference was that shows with the audience laughter are actually funny, but in the end, it doesn't change anything about the fact that the TV is the only one laughing in my living room.
I agree completely. This page lists Chuck Lorre's anger at being accused of using a Laugh Track, and how he 'debunked' that with a picture of a live studio audience. It's a distinction without a difference. Whether you use canned laughter or real people the audience at home is still being 'told' when to laugh, and if it wasn't potentially YMMV I'd change the page description to reflect this.
Ask any live performer and they will explain that the audience fuels the energy and allows them to gauge their response, if they aren't there it affects their work. Yes it is really only a technical difference but saying it is demeaning to the viewers is like saying Saturday Night Live would be better if it wasn't live. Just like putting a laugh track into a theatrical drama feels fake and forced, taking it away from a show filmed in front of an audience is obviously going to come across as odd and stilted.
Shows like iCarly (and other Dan Schneider works) and How I Met Your Mother not filmed with an audience have a very different energy than The Big Bang Theory, almost as big a difference in comparison to The Office or Scrubs. iCarly in particular has this "mild chuckle" after every joke that draws attention to the fact that the laughter is added after filming.
There was a Star Trek episode (TOS) in which Kirk was fighting for his life, as usual, and it was being broadcast on that planet's TV stations. There was a technician behind the scenes that was working a sound board to provide cheers, jeers, and applause depending on who was winning. Where would this fit in this trope, or would it?
Not sure where to place this, but Heinrich Böll wrote a short story "The Laugher" about a person whose job is to laugh for a soundtrack, similar to the Argentina examples.
Slate and 99% Invisible did a story in 2018 about the origins of laugh tracks, as well as Charles Douglass' original creation that enabled the adding of prerecorded laughter to TV shows. Perhaps a valuable mention in the article? Here's the link: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-laff-box/