Episode description

No one likes being told what to do. As soon as we can choose for ourselves, humans thrive on the sense of agency to wear what we want, eat what we want, say what we want and do what we want. And that includes laughing.

So why did so many television shows include a laugh track, telling us when to laugh at something? Was it an attempt to manipulate us? Or perhaps the jokes weren’t funny enough to conjure up a genuine guffaw. The Big Bang Theory was the last show to incorporate a laugh track and that ended in 2019. So with laugh tracks pretty much dead now, what caused producers to kick the canned laughter? You mean they have to rely on clever scriptwriting, innovative directing and engaging actors?!

Could the laugh track be dead forever?

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Laugh Tracks: Why?

03:30 Loathe It or Love It

06:09 The Invention of the LAFF Box

08:49 Laugh Boy Art

13:52 The Rise and Fall of the Laugh Track

15:44 Shows That Used Fake Laughter

19:44 Laugh Track: An Evil Innovation

23:01 Why Did The Laughing Stop?

30:34 Is It All That Bad?

31:57 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show

SOURCES:

- RIP canned laughter, the most evil innovation in TV history

- The Death of Laugh Tracks

- The Hollywood Sphinx and his Laff Box

- The Laugh Track: Loathe It or Love It

- The Most Hated Sound on Television

- The Real Reason TV Sitcoms Stopped Using Laugh Tracks

- This Sitcom’s Cancelation Signals The Death Of A 70-Year-Old Sitcom Trend

- 20 Funniest Sitcoms With Laugh Tracks

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.