Fan Video Proves The Office With a Laugh Track Is Cringier Than Anything You Ever Saw
No need for fake laughter, let it be awkward!
For many years, there was one of the most popular ways to record sitcoms: in a studio with the real act going on and the audience sitting right there. That's how the laugh track became part of every sitcom of the earlier years.
The laugh track was kind of a cue that a character has made a joke and it's okay to laugh now. They were widely used in many iconic shows like Seinfeld, Friends, and many more.
However, as shows began to develop more complex storylines, the need for laugh tracks began to disappear. But that's not the only reason this structure doesn't work for every show. For example, if the show is cringeworthy enough, there's no need for people to tell us when to laugh.
The best example of this is The Office. The mockumentary is filmed in a completely different way that doesn't even require laugh tracks. In fact, they would only make the show so much worse and completely ruin the magic of it.
A show like The Office is funny because it is full of awkwardness. When Michael Scott finds himself in a situation that only he could have created, we don't know how to react because he's also completely lost.
Imagine watching Scott's Tots with random people laughing when Michael has to tell a classroom of students that he can't pay for their college tuition. Or that every prank Jim plays on Dwight is backed up by a laugh track. It would just make the show so painful to watch.
Fans have tried to recreate the show as a traditional one, and the feedback has been significant.
Having watched a little bit of the monstrosity that The Office could have been, fans immediately noted that the iconic sitcom has always been perfect the way it is. As many people noted, they didn’t “require spoon feeding” and being told when exactly to laugh to enjoy their favorite series.
Indeed, part of the appeal of The Office and modern shows like it is that the silence and awkwardness of the characters can make a moment funnier than any canned laughter.