My problem with sitcoms.

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

WARNING!!!!: If you are fond of shows such as Two and a Half Men, Friends, or basically any other overated shows with a laugh track then this is basically me telling you why I don't like them.

Back when I was a child I found shows with laugh track's to be extremely funny. But going back and looking at them and especially the shows of today, I found sitcoms with laugh tracks(Mostly ABC's) are to me the least funniest things on television. How I Met Your Mother was an exception, or at least it was about two years ago when the show was on it's game. Laugh tracks(audience laughter after every joke) is very misleading. It almost feels as though the viewer is either be forced or told when to laugh without even knowing what's really funny. It takes no brain power what so ever to watch a episode of Two and a Half Men and just wait for Charlie Sheen(Refering to past episodes, not Ashton Kutcher) to make a joke, crowd laughs, then the viewer starts laughing because that is the normal reaction to do when hearing multiple people laugh. Now im not saying it should take the highest of genuis or intellect to write a joke or understand it but try watching a show such as the Big Bang Theory without the laugh track or for that matter any other sitcom and see how much of it you find actually funny.

Comedies such as Louie, Scrubs, and various other shows without laugh track has made me bust out with joy way more than a show with it has. Basically im just alittle sick of people saying shows that aren't really funny but are deemed as funny because of something that basically tricks people into thinking it's more entertaining than it is are being called shows of the decade, or lifetime. Your thoughts?

 

[#hamler]

If you're on your lap top while you've got wrestling on TV, you'll likely look up at the screen if the crowd cheers or boos. The crowd noise signals to you that something important just happened, and you might want to pay attention to find out what has just happened. Same could be said for sitcoms. Laugh tracks help cement the mood at times. I agree with you though, so many sitcoms nowadays are using the laugh track as a crutch to lean on. Although it's definitely getting rarer, there is an occasional sitcom that gets by on having mediocre comedy. Your Two and a Half Men example is a bit ridiculous though. Why are they getting the ratings they do? They're certainly funny enough to get that much TV views per episode.

Personally, I enjoy the occasional laugh tracks on my sitcoms. Seinfeild, King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, Mike and Molly; these shows would be absolutely shit without laugh tracks. Laugh tracks seem to be apart of America's culture and that seems like good reasoning as to why TV shows still use them.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

If you're on your lap top while you've got wrestling on TV, you'll likely look up at the screen if the crowd cheers or boos. The crowd noise signals to you that something important just happened, and you might want to pay attention to find out what has just happened. Same could be said for sitcoms. Laugh tracks help cement the mood at times. I agree with you though, so many sitcoms nowadays are using the laugh track as a crutch to lean on. Although it's definitely getting rarer, there is an occasional sitcom that gets by on having mediocre comedy. Your Two and a Half Men example is a bit ridiculous though. Why are they getting the ratings they do? They're certainly funny enough to get that much TV views per episode.

Personally, I enjoy the occasional laugh tracks on my sitcoms. Seinfeild, King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, Mike and Molly; these shows would be absolutely shit without laugh tracks. Laugh tracks seem to be apart of America's culture and that seems like good reasoning as to why TV shows still use them.

I do respect your response but this is kind of the point in what im saying. Laugh tracks should not be the mainstay in television culture. Also let me correct myself, i mean cbs in my original post. I am a creative writer which is why I think this angers me more than most to see shows with little to no actual comedic thought put into it but is called hilarious because a person never really stops to think if it's funny he just goes along with the laugh track. I do realize that not all of the shows with laugh tracks are bad but this can't be the go to for lazy writing and mediocre jokes.

 

[RyanAn]

FINALLY, someone who agrees with me on this! Growing up, I watched sitcom after sitcom and ate them up. Nowadays I can't for the life of me find them an iota interesting. It feels so forced - and that's not funny. Shows like Family Matters and Full House which were filmed in front of a live audience have a sense of realism that a show like Two and a Half Men will never have. The actors are pausing for laughter and it works so much better. Look at toons like Jetsons and Flintstones - a toon with canned laughter? That's stupid. What's next? A horror movie with "ahhh's!!!"

If you have to tell the viewing public WHEN to laugh, then your show is NOT funny.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I was annoyed by the laugh tracks as a kid too, and all of the shows filmed in front of an audience would annoy me every time the audience made noise. I still really enjoyed the shows, but would call them "laughing shows" (due to audience members laughing at something or the laugh tracks that played in some shows) when I was little and avoided shows like that for that reason until I gave some a chance while ignoring the laugh tracks. I think most of these shows could have been even better without the laugh tracks or audience noises because I felt like I was being told what I was supposed to react to. I still feel that way today to an extent, but I just ignore it. It's a minor annoyance with shows that are still great despite that.

 

[Shadowcat]

Honestly, I barely notice laugh tracks. I guess my biggest problem with sitcoms is that they feel so out of place in this generation. In a time where crappy-quality looking youtube videos are the norm, sitcoms just look so fake, so manufactured. Like there's no attempt to be original.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

I hate laugh tracks as well. For one it seems like they laugh at anything, even if it isn't funny which is annoying, and for another it ruins the flow of the show because you gotta wait for the laugh track/live audience to stop laughing before you can something else. You can't keep bouncing funny things one after another with one.

Plus I have a different sense of humor. I rarely find things funny when people try to be funny(by that I mean tell jokes or act stupid on purpose to get a laugh) which is what it seems like most sitcoms with laugh tracks do. It's like they play to the audience which I don't like. The things I find funny are awkward moments or reality like things that happen in your everyday life, where people aren't trying to be funny but they unintentionally say something that is or do something stupid unintentionally. I feel that comedies without laugh tracks tend to be more that way and are usually more subtle with their jokes which is what I also like.

 

[J.J.]

To be honest laugh tracks have been used since roughly the '50s. I could care less if the laugh track is removed or not. What I care about is the quality of the story lines. Cartoons like Tom & Jerry used music as a way to emphasize the actions on the cartoon. Then there are shows that add commentary as a way to place emphasis on the show(Everybody Hates Chris and Bernie Mac Show) in place of a laugh track. Sitcoms just seem out of place in an era of Reality TV.