To ask what canned laughter is for?

[TheoriginalLEM]

And how does it enhance my viewing pleasure?

How would you know if it was funny otherwise?

It doesn't. It's shit. I think people who make TV think that we'll all laugh if we hear the 'audience' laughing. Doesn't work.

Laughter is infectious.

Have you ever seen shows where theres meant to be canned laughter and they take it out? Haunting

It's becoming a thing of the past , similar to songs that fade out rather than just end. Canned laughter seems so dated to my ears but there are things I still love like the IT Crowd but I can't think of any more recent than this 🤔.

Some countries don’t even use canned laughter, they just use an annoying computer generated ‘titter’ at the ‘right’ moments.

While that Friends clip is indeed interesting, the background noise is distracting so hard to get a proper feeling.

I would imagine canned laughter is much more sophisticated these days. I hate the idea of it but would probably be unable to tell real audience response to canned stuff. Often producers will record something in front of a live audience and something gets a great response but there is a technical problem that requires that bit to be re-recorded and the original laugh is added on as obviously the audience don't laugh as naturally as the first time.

Incidentally, watching football on tv during Covid with fake crowd noises and I just don't notice anymore.

God that friends clip is so not funny. No wonder they need the canned laughter. That's interesting though.

I took a pathological dislike to Friends when my DC were teens and seemed to watch it wall to wall. All I could hear,especially in other rooms,was canned laughter every 20 seconds.
It doesn't enhance my viewing or listening,thanks,and that includes fake football crowds.

Have you seen the most recent series of QI with no studio audience - it would have benefited from canned laughter

Or what about all the sports that had added crowd noises this year

I thought it was obvious that comedy (and sport) are social things and typically, we like to have some sort of atmosphere.

@campion

I took a pathological dislike to Friends when my DC were teens and seemed to watch it wall to wall. All I could hear,especially in other rooms,was canned laughter every 20 seconds. It doesn't enhance my viewing or listening,thanks,and that includes fake football crowds.

Although maybe you wouldn't have found Friends so annoying if you were in the same room as the show, watching and listening to it with the canned laughter rather than in another place? Or maybe you wouldn't of course.

[quote Sparklesocks]Have you ever seen shows where theres meant to be canned laughter and they take it out? Haunting [/quote]
Just watched that and laughed
Still love Friends lol

It's infectious - that is why canned laughter was invented. People obviously find things funnier if they hear someone else laughing .

It's a bit dated now but the reason is obvious, it makes things funnier. As the clip above shows, friends doesn't seem that funny without it, yet with it, it's one of the most popular shows of all time.

Anyway it's an unfair comparison, because the show was written and performed (leaving long pauses after each joke) with a laugh track in mind, it's a part of the show.

Scientists claim it does make you find the joke funnier. Of course not all shows use it. It's a stylistic choice.

It can't make the unfunny funny, as watching an episode of You've Been Framed will demonstrate.

tobee
Although maybe you wouldn't have found Friends so annoying if you were in the same room as the show, watching and listening to it with the canned laughter rather than in another place? Or maybe you wouldn't of course

You want me to watch it as well?!

@Doingtheboxerbeat

It's becoming a thing of the past , similar to songs that fade out rather than just end. Canned laughter seems so dated to my ears but there are things I still love like the IT Crowd but I can't think of any more recent than this 🤔.

IT Criwd was filmed in front of a live audience. You can hear me laughing amongst the crowd in one of the episodes in the first series!

What do you mean by canned laughter?

There is very little true canned laughter used in TV. Yes, You’ve Been Framed uses it, but sitcoms and panel shows are routinely taped in front of a studio audience, have been for years and the laughter you here is the laughter generated during the recording.

They used it in this years BGT did they not?