Fake Laughter, Seriously? - Mad Love (2011) Discussion

[–] TurnerJazz 13 years ago

You said it. In fact, the fake laughter makes it worse because it ruins jokes that I might have groaned at but enjoyed. Take tonight's "why are you wearing that face" joke that I remember people saying back in elementary school. I might have taken that as a pathetically bad joke that would end up being funny because it was so bad. But the stupid canned laughter told me it was supposed to be a real joke, which just made it terrible!

___
"Santa Claus will kill you if you're bad." Michael C. Hall

reply

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Dino_Riders 13 years ago

The laughter isn't fake.
It is recorded from a live screening of the show, and synced to the episode.
Just because a show isn't recorded live doesn't mean the laugh-track is fake.

reply

[–] TurnerJazz 13 years ago

I'd believe that if there were funny jokes to laugh at.

___
"Santa Claus will kill you if you're bad." Michael C. Hall

reply

[–] MirrorofReflection 13 years ago

You realize that the people are told when to laugh.

reply

[–] Dino_Riders 13 years ago

Yes they are, just like in recordings for every series or show, even the live ones, they tell them when to laugh with a sign.
Still doesn't make the laughter fake, as it is still a REAL AUDIENCE laughing to the show.

reply

[–] TurnerJazz 13 years ago

I think you think that calling it "fake" means it has to be computer generated or something. If the audience laughs because they are told to and not because something is actually funny, that's fake laughter.

___
"Santa Claus will kill you if you're bad." Michael C. Hall

reply

[–] Dino_Riders 13 years ago

Then by your definition the laughter in a live studio audience is fake also.
They both have a light that tells them when to laugh, and are coached before hand on being open with their emotions,and they're both edited afterward. One is to a screening of the show, and one is to a live performance, doesn't make a difference, they're both essentially the same.

reply

[–] TurnerJazz 13 years ago

Yep. This is why I much prefer shows with no laugh track at all. I don't need to be told when to laugh if it's actually funny.

___
"Santa Claus will kill you if you're bad." Michael C. Hall

reply

[–] MirrorofReflection 13 years ago

I'm real, I can fake laugh.

reply

[–] marko2037 13 years ago

For the overly literal people here. Fake in this instance means contrived, forced, cued, etc not imaginary. Its like looking at a airsoft replica of an ak-47. It's real in the sense that it exists, but it isn't REALLY an ak-47.

reply

[–] Howlin Wolf 10 years ago

Then it's synced really badly, because it seems out of step.

"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

reply

[–] qwertyKeys 13 years ago

Why do shows think they need a laugh track again?

reply

[–] PopCulturedwithMovieMike 13 years ago

Tell that to Two and a Half Men.

reply

[–] Chef_Tony84 13 years ago

i don't get the entire premise of a laugh track.
it's like many people mentioned before, i don't like being told what is supposed to be funny. if there is something funny, i can find it for myself.
drama shows don't have people crying, wimping or shocked "ohhs or awws", just so the feelings can be transported.
when i watch a show, i want to consume the content, not somebody else's opinion of it.
astonishingly, most cbs sitcoms have a laugh track:
mad love, how i met your mother, two and a half men, big bang theory, $#*! my dad says...
while nbc, abc and fox seem to have transferred to single camera sitcoms w/o laugh tracks:
30 rock, the office, parks and rec, outsourced, community, happy endings, modern family, the middle, breaking in, raising hope...

although i watch all of the shows mentioned above, i don't really enjoy them equally and laugh tracks are definetely a factor for me, not to like a show or like it less.

reply

[–] Spoon_Man01 13 years ago

Completely agree in regards to the laughter track, often it just serves to undermine the dialogue and acting. This is one of those cases. I often think many shows that employ canned laughter could quite easily stand on their own two but post production the editors(or whoever) are unsure what to do with it and end up adding the laughter turning it into another generic 'sitcom'.

I say sitcom, of course situation comedy can be approached many different ways.... Perhaps someone should enlighten CBS to this as I get the impression they think 'sitcom' denotes canned laughter.

reply

[–] professorharoldlloydhill 13 years ago

the laugh track is the way the sitcom is supposed to be.

reply

[–] anikor 13 years ago

I have never watched a show with a laugh track for longer than 30 seconds.

reply

[–] Howlin Wolf 10 years ago

Some shows work with a laugh track. This doesn't. I don't know whether it's the difference between laughter from a live audience watching the actual show, or laughter on a tape that could have been prompted by anything - but it just sounds so... plastic? It's really obvious that it's just laid over the top, and that there was nobody even there... Also, laugh tracks work best on shows where it's mostly just people sitting around talking (Friends, for example... ). The opening scene to the first episode of this was people working in a building, and going around from place to place. As a viewer, I need time to get comfortable with the setting before I have prompts that are urging me to relax and laugh.

This show does it in a really obnoxious way, and it was enough to have me turn off inside a minute...

"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"

reply

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]