"Ha ha", he said "Ha ha" is an article written by Chuck Klosterman about the use of laugh tracks in TV shows. He describes them as "the stupidest things our society has ever manufactured". When reading through the article, I thought maybe he was being a little harsh. I can honestly say that while watching some of the sitcoms he mentioned I didn't even realize there was fake laughter in the scene. In my defense, I tend to think a lot of stupid things are funny.
I can agree with Klostermans argument about how laughter in general is not always used when something is funny. It was interesting when he talked about being in Germany and how they only laugh when they can't help it, and something is truly funny. It's odd how we use laughter in so many different situations, in casual conversation, or because we feel obligated to.
I decided to compare to shows that Klosterman mentioned that I have seen before, and think both are funny. I can't say that I think a laugh track lessens or enhances either particular one, but I don't know if that just because I never realized the laugh track was being used as much as it was. I like the show The Office because the humor in it is just like Klosterman describes, it's "the humor of humiliation". I think the show is a little awkward and that is was makes it so funny, it makes the characters and the overall content amusing to watch. I also like to watch the Big Bang Theory, I think it is funny because I think the characters are funny and the episodes are usually fun to watch. I never really noticed the laugh track until I watched some clips. Possibly because I'm usually laughing along with it.
(There are links to clips of the shows highlighted in the paragraph)
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