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Watching M*A*S*H Without the Laugh Track
Despite having owned the Season One set since 2002 and the Martinis and Medicine Collection since 2006, until last weekend I hadn’t watched any episodes of M*A*S*H without the laugh track. I don’t recall the ability to watch episodes of the series without the laugh track being used as a selling point back in 2002 (not that M*A*S*H needed any help selling itself on DVD) but it was something of a bonus feature for an otherwise bare bones release.
Personally, I’ve never found the laugh track on M*A*S*H to be obnoxious or overwhelming. But after sitting down to a mini marathon of six episodes — “Requiem For A Lightweight,” “The Army-Navy Game,” “There Is Nothing Like A Nurse,” “The Late Captain Pierce,” “Death Takes A Holiday,” and “Sons and Bowlers” — I realized that the laugh track does occasionally overpower dialogue. I can’t think of any examples where the laugh track intruded upon an actual conversation or ruined a joke but there were certainly times where laughter covered up the reaction to a joke.
Hearing each and every one of these words for the first time was a treat. So why did it take this long for me to try out the audio track without the canned laughter? A combination of laziness and forgetfulness. Popping in a disc, selecting an episode and hitting play is easier than selecting the audio track without the laugh track. Not much easier, I admit, but a little easier. I had also more or less forgotten about the ability to watch without the laugh track. On a whim, while I was turning on the closed-captions, I decided to select the option for the audio track without the canned laughter.
I don’t know if I’ll be watching every episode without the laugh track from now on. I’m so used to hearing the laughter that it was a little strange not to hear it. I’ll probably watch some episodes without the laugh track and some with it. But what about everyone else? Am I the only one watching the DVDs with the laugh track? Or is watching M*A*S*H without the laugh track a little weird? Hit the comments with your opinion on being able to watch the series without the laugh track.
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For a little while after buying some of the seasons, I left the laugh track on. However, I started turning them off, and have done so ever since. I think the show just somehow fits better without the laughter. Like you said, it was never obnoxious or anything, but it was definitely not missed when I started watching it without it. The show, in my opinion, seems better without it, just like how the producers intended it to be before CBS objected.
I have watched it without the laugh track since I bought the DVDs. After reading Larry Gelbart’s comments regarding the laugh track, I decided to leave it off. I prefer it now! Syndication episodes seem strange!
Sorry for popping in, but being an actual supporter of the laugh track, I HAVE to add my half-a-cent’s worth to this posting…
First of all, as far as M*A*S*H is concerned, I DO keep the laugh track on when I watch DVDs, but I HAVE turned it off before just to see how the episode played out, and I have to say, as smart and as well-written as this show was, it still needs the laugh track… without the laugh track, the show is riddled with awkward pauses full of silence that make the episode feel slow-paced and such. Although, the episodes that didn’t already have laugh track (“OR” and such) work out fine, and at times, you don’t even realize at first… such as “Quo Vadis, Captain Chander” from Season Four, I never realized it had no laugh track until I read about it… but “The Bus” on the other hand, I don’t understand why that episode had no laugh track, as it had a lot of funny moments, jokewise, and sight gag wise.
That said, as for the laugh track in general, like veteran producers like Si Rose and Lou Scheimer, I greatly support the laugh track… what people don’t want to admit is that the laugh track was NOT invented to say “Hey moron, this is funny, why aren’t you laughing?”, the laugh track was invented to recreate the experience of watching a comedy with a group of people. In the early days of entertainment, people would go to the theater and the movies, where several other people were, and whenever something funny happened on stage or the silver screen, the entire room would be filled with the sounds of laughter… then when you watch something funny on TV, and you’re the only one laughing, it leaves a lot to be desired. And admit it… who among us actually laughs a lot more at a movie you’ve already seen by yourself when you watch it with a group of friends?
Not only that, but the laugh track is a lot more practical than a live audience anyway… as much as I love a “live” show like Sanford and Son, sometimes the audience gets so worked up, the actors have to just stand there and wait for the audience to calm down before they can continue with the scene, but with a laugh track, you can make the laughter as long, as short, as big an outburst, or as soft a titter as you want. Especially for shows, such as cartoons and such where it’s impossible to record before a live audience.
Finally, the people from other M*A*S*H-related boards and such who know me know all to well that as someone working his way through the entertainment industry himself, I plan to always incorporate the laugh track onto all of my shows, and I’m here to tell you, I have actually spent a great deal of time obtaining the laughs you’ve heard on M*A*S*H and other sitcoms from the 60s and 70s that all incorporated the same laugh track, because I not only want my shows to look classic and old-fashioned, but I want them to SOUND like that as well, right down to the laugh track; on a CD-Rom, I’ve got roughly 35+ of these old classic laughs, ranging from the mid 60s to the mid 70s, some of them outrageous belly laughs, some more subdued chuckles. And they might come in handy, because honestly, sometimes people don’t quite know how to react to puppets and such.
*Gets off of soap box, and disappears*
I am from Germany, so my take might be a bit different.
First of all, I am used to the dubbed version of the show – in German. That version was without laugh track, so I never missed it as it never was there. When I got the DVD, I immediately watched the show in English, as I hate dubbed shows or movies. And – considering I never had a laugh track before – it was the natural thing to go without laugh track. I tried watching one episode with it turned on, and it just felt strange.
So: No laugh track.
Jens