Laugh Tracks in Movies

[ER]

Glad they're dying out, but ever wondered why they were a staple of TV shows but never took root in the movie industry?

[Alex]

Always found them irritating. I don't need to be told if something is funny or not.

[zombie no.one]

I guess it's just a lazy way to generate an atmosphere of light hearted fun.

having said that some sitcoms seem to treat the studio audience almost as if they're some integral part of the show,  reacting quite specifically to stuff, whooping and goading the characters etc

That kind of thing would be really weird in a movie because you don't really 'know' the characters like that, for a start

[ER]

I was thinking maybe too the feeling was with a large audience grouped around a movie patron that would provide a live reaction, it was seen as unneeded to insert a laugh track, unlike at home in the smaller setting of a TV viewing experience, where maybe the reactions of others were largely missing. Shrug.

When I was a kid watching Family Ties that show would try to draw all sorts of reactions out of someone watching it. Not content with a laugh track alone, it would manipulatively employ sobs and moans and groans and whimpers and gasps. Listen to it sometime: that series tried to stage direct all of America. Good riddance to laugh tracks. Also long openings and theme songs. We know what we're watching, so jump right into the show.

[Rev. Powell]

The earliest TV shows were broadcast in front of a live studio audience, so people were used to hearing laughing at the jokes. A comedy with no laughing from the audience would sound strange and maybe a little uncomfortable to audiences in the 50s. The same didn't apply to movies.

[lester1/2jr]

There are no laugh tracks in movies.

[zombie no.one]

I was thinking maybe too the feeling was with a large audience grouped around a movie patron that would provide a live reaction, it was seen as unneeded to insert a laugh track, unlike at home in the smaller setting of a TV viewing experience, where maybe the reactions of others were largely missing. Shrug.

ah yes, definitely this.

[Alex]

There are no laugh tracks in movies.

Natural Born Killers and Scott Pilgrim both have them for some scenes. That is just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

[Trevor]

Always found them irritating. I don't need to be told if something is funny or not.

What you say reminds me of the director's commentary on the Pink Panther reboot: he actually says at several points: "Now this next scene is funny: just watch this." 

[Alex]

Always found them irritating. I don't need to be told if something is funny or not.

What you say reminds me of the director's commentary on the Pink Panther reboot: he actually says at several points: "Now this next scene is funny: just watch this." 

Yeah, I listen to a lot of directors' commentaries and the ones where they tell you why their films are so great are generally awful to listen to. The Predators was particularly bad I felt in that regard.

[Trevor]

Yeah, I listen to a lot of directors' commentaries and the ones where they tell you why their films are so great are generally awful to listen to. The Predators was particularly bad I felt in that regard.

The best commentary for me was the one Roger Donaldson and Colin Farrell did for The Recruit.