Laugh tracks

[Depression Moon]

I'm not sure if Good Times uses a laugh track or not, but there a couple of times when I heard inappropriate laughing. The scene that comes to mind is the episode where Thelma's husband has a drinking problem and he goes to the toilet and gets out a bottle of liquor he hid behind it, it think it was. There was laughing at that time as that scene went along. I was like "What the heck is funny about that?"

[Madame Adequate]

Has there ever been a good show with a laugh track?

If you mean genuine laugh track (as in prerecorded laughter that they dub over the finished production) then Fawlty Towers is the obvious response. If you mean laughter that results from being filmed in front of an audience, then plenty; Red Dwarf, Monty Python, and Seinfeld are all good examples. (I'm not a fan of Red Dwarf myself but it's reputed for a reason.)

[Levian]

Gawd, that first post of yours is just perfectly written. xD It amazes me how you can capture things and feelings in words that I myself wouldn't even know where to begin describing.

I used to watch a lot of shows that had a laugh track before, so I wasn't too bothered by it, but now that it's been a while since I've watched a show with a laugh track I notice it much more when I see one, and sometimes it can take away from a funny moment.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I hate laugh tracks (or audience laughing) in general. I understand how comedy works, I don't need to be told when a joke has been told.

I try to ignore laugh tracks if they're used in a show I watch.

[Madame Adequate]

Gawd, that first post of yours is just perfectly written. xD It amazes me how you can capture things and feelings in words that I myself wouldn't even know where to begin describing.

Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear Lev

Also, TV Tropes tells me that people were really weirdly into the design of laugh tracks (back when they were tracks rather than in front of an audience.) Here:

Although it may not seem so, laugh tracks were surprisingly sophisticated systems at the height of their use. Rather than being just simple recordings of a laughing audience, they were actually carefully generated and mixed, with such discrete components as "the guy who gets the joke early" and "housewife giggles" and "the one who didn't get the joke but is laughing anyway" all precisely blended and reblended to create the illusion of a real audience responding to the show.

Is that why laugh tracks usually have some incredibly irritating individual who you can always pick out and notice?

[Clo]

Not only do I hate laugh tracks, but I loathe sitcoms in general.

[Bunny]

You also hate babies and love and hearts.

[Mirage]

I hate laugh tracks and I think they achieve nothing but showing the script writers' insecurities and incompetence. Comments and situations that are genuinely funny shouldn't need a huge sign saying "HEY GUYS THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY" coming with them.

[Alive-Cat]

If I don't really focus on the laugh track, I don't even really notice it's there. Like with shows like Friends and such. But if I start focusing on it, it will actually drive me crazy and I won't be able to watch anymore without getting really annoyed.
Down with laugh tracks.

[Del Murder]

BBT's laugh track is definitely overboard, one of the worst. Most of the time I don't notice it. Like in Seinfeld I didn't even realize that show had a laugh track until after it stopped airing. It tripped me out.

Simpsons and Arrested Development are both very funny shows without a laugh track. I don't think it adds anything to the show, but I don't think it takes away either.

[Roogle]

There is a difference between a live studio audience and a laugh track. If a comedy show has a live studio audience, then I don't mind the reactions of the audience.

[Del Murder]

Have you ever been in a studio audience before? They tell you to laugh even if it isn't funny.

[charliepanayi]

Have you ever been in a studio audience before? They tell you to laugh even if it isn't funny.

You can usually spot fake laughter from real laughter though. And studio audience tracks tend to be less grating than a laughter track, whether they're telling people to laugh or not.

[Rantz]

Is it a joke specific to the letterman show or do they really also have signs that tell you to "awww" and "boo" and stuff? xD

I don't hate laugh tracks, but they can be annoying. I prefer without, but not to the point where I specifically avoid shows that have them.

[Del Murder]

Those are jokes, Rantz.

I've been in a studio audience before, and all they tell you is to laugh like it's the funniest thing you've ever heard, even if it isn't.