Comment on Why are fake laughs added to sitcoms?

• MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  I am not a fan of The Big Bang Theory by any means, but removing the laugh track on any show will make the jokes less funny due to the pacing for edits. They hold on shots longer to add in laughs… this makes for long uncomfortable silences when laughter is removed. And timing is very important in comedy.

  If someone removes the laugh track, they should also remove the long silences to give it a better chance. I don’t think it would help TBBT much for me, but comedy is subjective.

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  • III@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    You are partially correct. The pacing is a thing, for sure.

    But if you do watch those videos there are plenty of non-joke pauses for laughs. I can recall one where one of the guys walks up to the others sitting in the cafeteria and says “hey guys”… pause for laughs. He wasn’t dressed funny, he wasn’t doing anything odd, just… “time to laugh, I guess”.

    IMO, canned laughs are the tool of those that aren’t really that good at writing comedy.

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• homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  For its entire run, The Big Bang Theory was filmed before a live audience, so with very few exceptions, laughter heard in final recordings is not a laugh track.

  I think you’re watching some variation of a “shreds” video

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  • Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    It’s kind of still a laugh track because they have big illuminated signs telling the audience when to laugh.

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    • homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Mmmm i don’t remember seeing that but open to pictures or whatever

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  • sanguinepar@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    I’m not saying this is what they or other shows do, but just saying it was filmed before a live audience does not necessarily mean that it’s the sound of that live audience that makes it to the broadcast product. Easy enough to add a laugh track to augment or even completely replace the sound of a live audience.

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    • homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Well, in the case of BBT that’s specifically what the article says - the sound of laughter on set is the audience. But yes historically laugh tracks were used to replicate that. And for a long time most people didn’t know it was a laugh track.

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      • III@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        It wasn’t “just” the audience. Sweetening enhances the laughing - it doesn’t replace it.

        I always thought of it this way. You see fun videos of sitcom outtakes, everyone is having fun on set. This means multiple takes. How hard would you imagine it is for an audience member, on the 15th take, to laugh? Sweetening.

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• Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  It’s too cringe to watch with the laugh track too. It’s too cringe to watch.

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