I must admit I find this canned laughter truly diabolical.

I recently saw an episode of Kirsty's home videos. For those who don't know, It's a TV show for insomniacs, on at silly o'clock in the morning, along the lines of You've Been Framed if anyone can remember that one. Staged home videos of people "accidentally" falling over, and the same few seconds of recorded laughter after each and every clip.
To say that it's low budget would be akin to saying Kenny Baker is not very tall.

I picked on it specifically because it's the most blatant and least funny of its genre, but canned laughter in general I find rather insulting and annoying - Don't they trust me to decide whether I think it's funny or not?

I remember encountering canned laughter for the first time as a child / teenager watching US sitcoms, and I found it SO annoying!

It just jarred - even now I notice that some episodes of MASH have a laugh track and it irritates the hell out of me.

It is a total insult to the watcher - it doesn't engender laughter and the idea that I need a 'hint' to know when something is funny is ridiculous.

Joe

It's better when it's filmed infront a live studio audience but even then, I'm not sure what they think other people laughing adds to my enjoyment of the program.

I hate it. I'll laugh when I want to, not when a programme maker thinks I should :mad:

I find canned laughter sometimes helpful. Otherwise I'd be watching something and think - 'was that supposed to be funny, just odd, or did they get it wrong!?'.

:D

I heard that they weren't sure whether or not the American audience were going to enjoy their version of "The Office" because it was a docu-style comedy, with no obvious canned laughter to tell them when things were funny....


But apparentely, it's doing quite well....

Originally posted by Lickszz
I must admit I find this canned laughter truly diabolical.


Originally posted by SilentStatic
I hate it. I'll laugh when I want to, not when a programme maker thinks I should :mad:

:hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

Americans have to use canned laughter, because everything they say and do is NOT funny

It's simple, folks. If it needs canned laughter, it isn't funny. Exception to the rule? MASH. Check out the studio audience on Steptoe and Son, at times they can barely contain themselves which just makes the whole thing even funnier.

Originally posted by JoePritchard
It just jarred - even now I notice that some episodes of MASH have a laugh track and it irritates the hell out of me.


You'll be pleased to know that you can switch that off on the dvd:

On the DVD: M*A*S*H is disappointingly short on special features. However, there is the option of removing the jarringly inappropriate intrusive laugh track that was used on US broadcasts of the show but not the UK version. These episodes have been comprehensively cleaned up for DVD consumption.

From: Funny.co.uk (http://www.funny.co.uk/comedy/prod_0-B00008WQ8J-MASH-Season-1.html)

Originally posted by viking
Americans have to use canned laughter, because everything they say and do is NOT funny

Oh, I beg to differ. Apparently some people find our penchant for unnecessary disaster preparedness hilarious.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35073

What will those crazy Americans do next?! C'mon viking. Not all of us are the devil. Although I admit having these cloven hooves makes shoe shopping a challenge.

;) Sierra

Awful. Every episode of MASH I have to turn it off. Its unbearable. The shows its in that aren't funny at all are worse....

It is because of canned laughter that we have war, famine and no world peace.

Originally posted by NEKRO138
It is because of canned laughter that we have war, famine and no world peace.

Now there is a bold revelation ! :help:

I couldnt imagine friends without it. Some shows need it.

I think the show that needs it most is Fraiser, because it lets the people who don't understand it know when to laugh.

'Why Yawning Is Contagious: You yawn to equalize the pressure on your eardrums. This pressure change outside your eardrums unbalances other people's ear pressures, so they must yawn to even it out.' - And the can opens... 'ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!'

Also, have you noticed that in canned laughter, there is always a goon that decides he or she needs to laugh ten times louder and in a moronic way.