Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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In the early days of sitcoms the laugh track was a common sound in your living room. But what happened to it? Why are there so few sitcoms that use the laugh track when just 2 decades ago the most popular shows on TV were making use of it.

In this video we're going to dive into the birth, evolution and death of the live studio audience and laugh track.

Links:
Friends with no laugh track: youtube.com/watch?v=4BFSZ8XzWOM
99% Invisible - The Laff Box: 99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-laff-box
Cheddar - Why Sitcoms Stopped Using Laugh Tracks: youtube.com/watch?v=VPShStd8p3Q

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:21 - Birth of the Laugh Track
03:16 - How Live Audiences Work
06:50 - Death of Live Studio Audiences
09:57 - Outro

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