| June 01, 2007 |
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A Short History of the Laugh Track
 In the mid-1990's, the Cartoon Network ran remastered versions of "The Flintstones" that left the series' legendary laugh track on the cutting room floor. According to TV Party, the resulting sounds of silence after Fred's and Barney's quips caused the one-liners to "largely fall flat with a thud." Ouch! The shrill trills of classic television laugh tracks may make you roll your eyes and cover your ears, but where would we be without them? Without the gigglers responding to Larry's gaffes on "Bewitched" or the howlers letting it whoop during "Mr. Ed," the vintage boob tube fare just doesn't go down as smooth. This audio-rich, scene-supplemented essay enlightens us on the origins of the laugh track (radio), the emergence of the applause track (sometime in the mid-1960s), and the appearance in the '70s of the "looser" guffaws used on shows like "All in the Family." Read up, settle back in the recliner, and let the auto-chortles and hoots carry you away.
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