MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
Whoa. I'd say Friends is creepier, for the way every time Chandler speaks Monica just smiles vacantly staring straight ahead in silence for a couple of seconds.
I read a book by playwright Alan Ayckbourn recently, and he mentioned that he sometimes adds a few unimportant words just after a witty line. That way if the audience laughs, they don't miss any dialogue; but if they don't laugh, the actor isn't left with an embarrassing gap. Not necessary for TV writing I suppose.
The laugh track-less sitcoms definitely seem darker without the laugh track. It's like those Garfield comics with Garfield's thought bubbles removed- it's more deadpan and (IMO) better, somehow.
I've heard in Europe MASH was presented without a laugh track, and that it was very much a different, much more disturbing show.
Larry Gelbart (the show's creator) never wanted a laugh track on the US version, either, but the network forced it on him. They did make one concession, however, which was not to add the laugh track during the operating room scenes. Which makes it even more awkward when the scene immediately following a harrowing, blood-filled OR scene is a laff track chuckle-fest featuring Klinger in a taffeta dress.
Laugh-track-less comedies are only creepy when they aren't actually funny (like Friends.) Without a laugh-track, it's more like watching a very bad comedian in front of an unresponsive audience, and bombing painfully. It's very very uncomfortable. Laugh tracks are crutches for weak writing.
Now, comedies that are written to be laugh-track-free are something else entirely. Personally, I find these to some of the best-written shows on TV, period.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
