Is it funny without the canned laughter?
“Why are you arguing with the DMV lady?” Not me, it’s a line from a TV program I was watching earlier. Situational, and the answer is simple: “How else is she going to learn?” Perhaps a little presumptuous, but the writers of successful comedy are permitted certain lapses that would leave the rest of us wearing a label or two. In any case, the program was funny, and that leads me to the obvious…
Why a laugh track? Given that the “feature” is added in post-production, and it hasn’t tricked anyone I know into either laughing in concert or assuming that there are real, live people involved in anything other than the most minor way (think chicken in powdered soup mix). why do networks continue with such a travesty.
I know what I find amusing. Often it fits the same parameters as the rest of society (that’s a relief!) and I’m quite content to “veg out” and let network TV tickle my funny. I can laugh along with the best of them; I don’t think the gang who are “canned” fit that role. Is there some requirement from the actors’s union for fake mirth?
Over at Wiki, the history of the laugh track details the “details”, but the reason still isn’t clear. If I could turn down the sound I would, but then I’d have silence instead of spoken humour. The physical part might be insufficient. Actually, now I’m worried. Maybe if I went to live theatre and the audience was too small, the jokes might be missed. Everything would be akin to Shakespearian tragedy, or eulogies at a memorial service. Perhaps I’ll just have to be more tolerant.
