So, I just finished up Klosterman's latest, Eating the Dinosaur. I've been a big fan of his since I first picked up Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, but I have to say, he's definitely slipping. Even after several very good reviews from some friends, I'd still only rate his latest installment at a C+. I mean, there was only one “motherfucker” in the whole book! I silently wonder if marriage has put his creative side into a writer's block-induced coma.
Anyway, there was one section in particular that salvaged his grade from a D: the section on laugh tracks. Legitimately so, Klosterman points out that he thinks laugh tracks are subtly ruining our inner thought processes. You know, laugh tracks. That annoying clip of people from the 1970s laughing hysterically that sitcoms play in precarious situations when the audience is supposed to laugh. Prime examples of this are: Married with Children, Two and a Half Men, and The Beverly Hillbillies (to name a few). Why were we expected to laugh every time Peggy Bundy squealed, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaal”? I have no idea.
Are television shows “smarter” for not using a pre-recorded laugh track as filler (think: The Office [from both sides of the pond], Arrested Development, It's Always Sunny, Flight of the Conchords, etc.)? Klosterman references the fact that these non-laugh track using programs allow the viewer to insert his or her own “funny” wherever (s)he wants. I prefer this type of program to the barrage of verbal dysentery we're spoon-fed from most shows that use laugh tracks.
By now, you're probably asking yourself why I decided to blog about this. Well, apply this theory into your own personal life. How many times have you inserted your own pre-recorded laugh track into an awkward conversation to fill that void? It's ridiculous to think about, but I'm sure we're all guilty of chuckling our way into idiocy.
I think from now on (at work, especially), I plan to just offer a half-assed smile to someone expecting polite laughter after something I don't find funny is said. And Klosterman, I expect more “motherfuckers” next time.
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Have you ever thought that maybe some people are so devoid of good taste in humor that they NEED the laugh tracks? Or that maybe they are too dumb to know what is smart funny instead of easy potty-humor slapstick ovbious funny? I think most people don't wont to put forth the extra effort to think for themselves what's funny. Thats why Arrested Development and all it's awesomeness was cancled and idiot comedy like Meet the Browns isn't.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I read the book as well. It certianly is not his best book, I think some of his eassys were a little forced. I think he should have just waited an extra year or two and then released a more geniune book. Either way, I liked the selection on laugh tracks. What I thought was most interesting is the history of laugh tracks. Most stock laughter you hear today came from a laugh track from the 50's. We can be fairly sure that everyone who was involved in recording those tracks is now dead. So, basically, every time we hear a laugh track and instinctivley chuckle, we are doing so because a room full of now deceased people are doing it also.
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