Unraveling the Enduring Legacy: The Demise of a 70-Year-Old Sitcom Trend
The demise of a 70-year-old sitcom tradition looms as a popular sitcom's cancellation hints at its fading relevance Explore why the laugh track no longer fits modern comedy shows and how this trend originated, while acknowledging its unlikely complete eradication
Summary
How I Met Your Father's cancellation highlights the decline of the laugh track, a once popular sitcom device that no longer matches the tone and pace of modern comedy.
The Conners remains as the sole remaining major sitcom that still incorporates a laugh track, although it is commonly regarded as a relic of the past rather than an influential trend for future shows.
Contemporary comedy series have distanced themselves from the utilization of a laugh track due to their reliance on diverse comedic styles. These include strategies like incorporating a higher number of jokes within each scene or implementing deliberate awkward silences to enhance comedic impact.
The cancellation of How I Met Your Father raises concerns for the laugh track, a device that was once crucial to sitcoms. How I Met Your Father, which only lasted 2 seasons on Hulu, followed the story of a close group of friends navigating romance and modern life. It was a spin-off of the highly successful How I Met Your Mother, which aired on CBS for 9 seasons from 2005 to 2014. Despite its initial promise, a third season for How I Met Your Father will not happen.
How I Met Your Father played it safe by attempting to replicate the success of the original series through a similar concept, internal references, and even the use of a laugh track. However, the television industry has drastically changed since 2005, and Hulu's attempt to bring a classic sitcom formula to streaming did not bode well. The laugh track no longer aligns with the tone and pace of modern comedy in mainstream television. Although the laugh track has been a staple of sitcoms for the entirety of the genre's existence, it is no longer necessary and may soon become obsolete.
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How I Met Your Father Was One Of The Last Major Laugh Track Sitcoms
The laugh track began to fade away with the debut of How I Met Your Mother in 2005. While other popular sitcoms like The Office, My Name is Earl, American Dad, Extras, and Everybody Hates Chris premiered that same year, none relied on this technique. Fast forward to 2022 and the release of How I Met Your Father, it became evident that laugh tracks were no longer in vogue. Surprisingly, this sitcom was the lone contender, endorsed by a major streaming platform. As television moves towards streaming dominance, it appears that laugh tracks don't have a place in its future.
The Conners Still Uses A Laugh Track
Why The Laugh Track Doesn’t Suit Modern Comedy Shows
ABC's The Conners remains a standout sitcom utilizing a laugh track. However, it is important to recognize that The Conners, despite its high ratings, represents a dwindling vestige of the past rather than a pioneering force of relevance. As a network television series, its viewership primarily consists of older audiences. Similar to HIMYF, The Conners is a continuation of the beloved 80s sitcom Roseanne, which greatly contributed to its success. Furthermore, The Conners is scheduled to conclude next year without any plans for a spin-off. While a forthcoming revival of Frasier will also feature a laugh track, it should be noted that this does not constitute a fresh sitcom.
Modern comedy series have a good reason to forego the use of a laugh track. While this trope works well for traditional setup-punchline comedies, contemporary sitcoms eliminate obvious pauses for laughs. Broadly speaking, current sitcoms either embrace the irreverent comedy style of The Simpsons, where the absence of a laugh track allows for additional jokes in each scene, or opt for cringe-worthy comedy like The Office, where the silence after an awkward moment heightens the humor far better than canned laughter ever could.
The Origins Of The 70-Year-Old Sitcom Trend
The Laugh Track Will Never Go Away Entirely
The sitcom I Love Lucy, which aired in 1951, is widely recognized as the first television show of its kind to feature a live studio audience. Having a real-time audience allowed the actors to enhance their performances by incorporating audience reactions. However, dealing with the unpredictability of live audiences became a challenge for CBS sound engineer Charley Douglass. To address this, he introduced the "Laff Box" on The Hank McCune Show in the 1950s. This novel idea quickly caught on, leading to the use of pre-recorded laughter to supplement the comedy of sitcoms, whether they had a live audience or not.
Sitcoms in the last decade have managed to thrive without the need for a laugh track. Nevertheless, the laugh track has been a staple in television for a remarkable 70 years, coinciding with the birth of the medium itself. It is quite likely that this device will continue to exist, albeit with a touch of nostalgia, as it is either ironically or sentimentally utilized in new TV shows. Additionally, the presence of live studio audiences will persist in various forms, such as variety shows, specials, and live sketch shows like Saturday Night Live. While the cancellation of "How I Met Your Father" may signify the laugh track's departure from sitcoms, it will forever remain a significant part of the medium it helped shape.
