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Date Posted: 17:43:09 09/20/05 Tue
Author: Seven
Subject: Re: What's wrong with laugh tracks?
In reply to: Finn Mac Cool 's message, "What's wrong with laugh tracks?" on 16:42:47 09/20/05 Tue

Hey

There is a great little article on...well...I forget the name of the site, but it should be pretty easy to find. It is the web site that basically "takes television (too) seriously." A catch phrase of the site is something like, "who says television is for idiots" or "not smart?"

Anyway, there is an article on the site that talks about how the sit-com, that is, the traditional laugh-track sit-com, ala Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, etc, is dead.

The most respected, most comical comedies are the ones such as Scrubs, Arrested Development, Malcolm in the Middle, and the pioneer, The Simpsons.

The reason behind this train of thought I suppose is obvious. Networks come up with a failed idea for a laugh-track sitcom every two minutes. There is only a handful of "non-laugh track" or "single-cam" comedies that make it. This is mainly because they are more experimental (though that is changing) and harder to sell to the network. Due to this fact, the shows need to be more original and funnier than the traditional sitcom. Kitchen Confidential is this type of show. The Office is this type of show.

This is not to say that all of these shows are successful. Remember Andy Richter Controls the Universe? Neither do I.

So do I agree with this? Maybe. I have recently enjoyed The Office, AD, and Scrubs, but have not enjoyed or can even recall any even marginally well done laugh-track sit-coms. This isn’t to say that there can’t be one. I think that the average person who likes comedies as an art, or the average person in general, is just bored with laugh-track. They want something fresh and new.

Of course the critics will praise it. It’s the cutting edge. Can’t miss the wagon.

7

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