Laugh Tracks Are... Good? 

" You don't have to hate something, just because other people like it" - Nathan Zed saving the Internet week by week

thank you for defending golden girls

Omg I swear the “he he he” guy is in EVERY show

at this point Nathan is just on a one-man mission to get everyone to appreciate everything and it's beautiful man

Terrible video, I couldn't stop looking at my nose

Just brilliant. Nathan makes video after video of the best media commentary on YT.

"We get it, you're not like other girls" caught me so off guard lol

I think a big aspect of why laugh tracks have died out is because when the TV was first popularized, people were used to watching and experiencing comedy communally with others ,so the laugh track would immerse people more into the reality of how they experience comedy. Our younger generation ,however, are much more used to experiencing comedy ... Alone , on their phone or their couch etc, so the laugh track would just be taking them out of the immersion . Idk if I'm making sense but yea :9

“What I’m not gonna do is math” * Five minutes later * “IF YOU DIVIDE A HOUSE BY TWO IT CANT STAND ON ITS OWN”

Yeah laugh tracks aren’t inherently bad. It’s just when the show uses a laugh track to disguise the fact that the jokes really aren’t all that funny.

As a non-english speaker, laugh tracks really help me understand the joke. I watched The Office once, and it's reaaly hard to find the joke, i gotta rewind everytime i miss the joke

I had a weird thing with laugh tracks when I was younger. You know how a lot of people learn to laugh politely on cue in casual conversation? One day, I caught myself doing this to a friggin laugh-tracked sitcom in an otherwise empty room. It made me want to examine my life and why I was so anxious or whatever to avoid offending a non-sentient concept.

2:36, omg the "hee hee hee" guy annoys me so much and I thought I was going crazy cause no one else ever mentioned it. I'm glad you brought it to light, Nathan.

Of course Drew bought the hoodie, he's GOODENough

you're wrong for that lion king laugh track clip

I hate how it’s a trend to hate friends nowadays just because it’s huge

Nathan’s content has legit had the biggest glow up of the past decade

this guy is like the opposite of a typical commentary channel, as in he tends to defend things that are almost unanimously disliked i like it 👍

HIMYM is far from the only sitcom using the "HEE HEE HEE" clip. I remember noticing that as a kid watching Drake and Josh and iCarly.

Malcom in the middle and Everybody hates chris are examples where the jokes are more efficient without having a laugh track.

How I Met Your Mother, my favorite sitcom of all time, has the most unintrusive laugh track. I can't imagine the show without it.

this dude still going on a good video streak.

I like Friends and i'm sick and tired of hiding it, thank you Nathan for inspiring the future generations

I actually unironically love friends. I know it's problematic and I recognize how it is and how it has aged but it still makes me laugh and is one of my fond memories watching it.

I genuinely don’t notice if a show has laugh tracks or not, unless someone points it out to me. I don’t know if my brain just registers it as normal ambient noise for shows since i grew up watching some of the shows mentioned at the beginning, but yeah i genuinely don’t notice them 90% of the time.

I like that you included the IT crowd, one of the only British sitcoms past 2000 that had a laugh track and is still really funny.

That 70’s Show hits the nail on the head when it comes to well used laugh tracks

oh my god yes the "hee hee hee" guy in how i met your mother's laugh track is always so funny to me. nice to see someone else talking about it

One Day at a Time is so great and a modern show that really benefits from its laugh track. Rita Moreno entering a scene and being fabulous and the whole audience losing it for 20 seconds whilst she revels in it is just glorious.

I still laughed at the clip of Ross and the trainer lmaoooo

This had so many valid points. That's wild. I never disliked laugh tracks, but I love seeing you dive into exactly WHY some shows need laugh tracks and others don't.

The comment about having to know the characters to fully understand the show’s emotion was really good. **Spoilers** I recently finished the last episode of the Big Bang Theory, and seeing Sheldon finally acknowledge his friends and family’s true worth after degrading them for literal years (along with seeing their pride in being acknowledged) was actually emotional and incredibly satisfying.

Never disrespect Betty White 🔪

It’s like going to a stand up and y’all laugh together. Watching a stand up and not hearing the audience is kinda weird tbh the real laughter make everything so much funnier

as a true pbs kid myself, I appreciate you saying "where a kid can be a kid" because I know that subconsciously that came from the chuck e cheese ad that played before every pbs kids show in the early 2000s. I see you Nathan.

Love your work Nathan Zed, very cool. I've said it before and I'll say it again, laugh tracks haven't gone anywhere, they just sound different. A pause in music paired with a quick zoom in on a RU-vid video are no different.

i appreciate how laugh tracks can help neurodivergent ppl to understand when a joke is happening

that 70s show is one of the best shows with a laugh track

The IT Crowd is one of my favorite shows of all-time and I thank you for doing it justice

Nathan is like the Frank Ocean of RU-vid. Disappears and then boom, quality content that we’ll enjoy for ages.

Modern Family! A documentary style sitcom that wouldn’t make sense with a laugh track

Arthur!! 🔥🔥 No laugh track needed. 💯

I just want to make sure everyone remembers that Fresh Prince was incredible and also did a lot for the black community. That Malcolm X bit always gets me, Uncle Phil speaks with so much power. RIP to a legend James Avery

i personally love laugh tracks and i think the awkwardness between lines when the laugh tracks are removed is very funny

Nathan that degree paid off. I heard your thesis, arguments and counter arguments... I see your point

"Drew Danny Kurtis or whatever his name is" 😂😂😂

“Friends” is my favorite sitcom of all time. However, I have to say, it took me years to discover “Living Single” (and read up on the whole controversy there) and now I feel “Living Single” is up there for me as well :) Also, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Office” (UK and US), “Extras,” “The Ricky Gervais Show” - in conclusion, i think i may like sitcoms a bit too much haha

The Office and Friends are both my favorite sitcoms and I just don't understand why the laugh track as a single factor bothers people so much.

nathan: "what's your fav sitcom and does it have a laugh track?" my mind: *forgets every sitcom I've watch in existence*

The comparison to stand up comedy was needed, and i aint even know friends was actually filmed live

You saw the office the first time on the episode Michael left? I feel so sad for you. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. You've been robbed of an emotional and powerful moment.

I feel like there are a lot of tv shows that people hate (like Friends etc..) because of the laugh tracks, but in reality, the shows are not even using a laugh track, but are actually being filmed in front of a live studio audience with real laughs

Fraiser gets no love but I loved that show. It had a laugh track, it was shot in front of a live audience, it worked.

That 70's Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, How I Met Your Mother, Malcolm in the Middle, The King of Queens? These are all top tier shows with laugh tracks. Sure plenty of shows use them horribly, and most shows have a few cases where the laughs miss, but to say all laugh track shows are bad? That's too much.

friends and cheers are both just really comforting shows to me,, i get that there's problems with them and i get that the laugh track's annoying at first to a lot of people, but once you get used to it there's just something nice about them

excellent pairing of "you need a high IQ to understand the office" and the tragic chili clip that hurts too much to watch

The pop culture GOAT strikes once again

Never knew the hate for laugh tracks was this deep 😂. Honestly I agree with it being used in ways as a comedic tool, and also there is a psychological function of a laugh track, for e.g. there are some things that aren't funny to do in real life in our favourite shows but laugh track can take the defacto emotion and change it to view it in a different light or something we wouldn't usually laugh at normally now seems funnier because it's there. For me though laugh tracks don't ruin the experience of a GOOD show it's like subtle background sound.

The laugh track in Scooby-Doo is itself a gag -- a fourth wall break.

Honestly, loads of laugh track shows are on my comfort list. They're easy to watch without effort, and that's not bad! Someone tells you when to laugh, and if you don't then you still feel positive because you're literally hearing other people (real or track) express happiness. I don't hate it:)

When I read the title I was like "Nathan you're wrong about this one" then half way through the video I'm like "ok you've convinced me"

Awesome video Nathan! I think I'm a laugh track fan; I've noticed that more so this year as those comedic commentary shows like Last Week Tonight have had to go without an audience, and whilst their jokes are still funny, the ambience and feel is noticeably more.. well... dead. And it does suffer for it. I do get the hate though for laugh tracks, as the worst feeling in the world is that of feeling left out. If a whole audience rolls in the aisles laughing their asses off at a joke and you yourself don't even muster a grin, that is annoying as hell.

Friends is my favorite sitcom of all time, and I completely agree about how you need to know the characters to get the jokes. Watching a clip of Chandler or Ross without knowing who they are will be incredibly jarring for someone who hasn’t seen the show.

I think certain shows need a laugh track like you said. It makes sense for Friends to have one because they had a live audience and it came from the era where a live audience was a given. It wouldn’t make sense with a show like the office (because it’s supposed to feel like we’re watching a documentary being filmed in real life) or New Girl because it had that fast paced and awkward humor where a laugh track would just ruin the delivery. Love this video!

Damnit Nathan. Coming in, just being reasonable and non reactionary and shit. Big Bang Theory is still not great though lol

I think everything has its place. Laugh tracks have their place

The Office is one of my favourite shows. I didn’t even notice it doesn’t have a laugh track 💀

The example you used about how laugh tracks help emotional moments hit home harder is the main reason why I love How I Met Your Mother as my favorite sitcom in that regard. I didn’t like the way it dragged and ended but when it came to the emotional moments and episodes, they probably did it best. Almost every season had one and the way they did it: the timing, attention to detail and the silence or choice of music in some cases made the moments last longer in your memory.

The issue with laugh tracks is that they blatabtly point out every joke so they work best with direct and in your face comedy. Shows like Arrested Development or Community with so much subtle comedy that can easily go over your head gives the viewer (for lack of a better term) "reward" for realising the joke, making them feel clever and good about themselves for catching it which makes them find the joke funnier. This can't really exist with laugh tracks because if you didn't realise the joke the laughter will point it out to you making the humour seem not as clever since you don't feel as special for noticing the joke. That's just my personal theory, I hope it makes sense and even though I prefer shows without laugh tracks, HIMYM is one of my all-time faves and that has a well used laugh track imo. Favourite sitcom of all time though is Brooklyn 99

i told my boyfriend i was a PBS kids and he asked if i was a horsegirl 😭😭😭

The Middle is my #1 favorite sitcom. I've seen every episode multiple times. Each season is currently streaming on Hulu I believe. It doesn't have a laugh track and it doesn't need one. It's super funny and relatable without it.

Laugh tracks work when the comedy is loose and self aware. Sometimes it even makes it feel like the characters are aware they're in a show, it becomes sort of like a self aware play. that's when it works best. Also how dare you remind me of Dog with a Blog

Finally, the Drake and Josh representation I need in my life

"If you do it right, it can be done well." -Nathan Zed, 2020

“The nanny” and “Family matters” are definitely two of my favorite comfort shows

One of my favorite sitcoms ever is Miranda and it's absolutely perfect. I wouldn't change I thing! I personally don't mind laugh tracks, but like you said - it's about when and where it's used and also counting that into the delivery, performance and even writing.

Bring back authentic laughs by live studio audiences.

"if you do it right it can be done well" favorite line nathan, keep it up

A laugh track over Mufasa’s death made me feel physically ill... but love the video, if there are no good comedy movies or laugh tracks on shows at least I have your videos to make me chuckle

The laughing track on Mufasa dying was just wrong 😂😂😂

Drew Goodenough

Nathan talking about IT Crowd makes me so happy, such a good show. Very underrated!

When you were talking about people not being able to appreciate out of context clips of your favorite shows I FELT that. There was a point in time where I was showing everyone the clip of Tina driving her car into Jimmy's car in an otherwise empty parking lot (from Bob's Burgers) and while I would literally be rolling on the floor every time I saw it, all of my friends were unimpressed.

The fact you full on censored you face when you coughed, its shit like that mixed with your stellar analysis of media that makes me love your content so much

i like how u talk about the stuff ppl bully others about on twitter

i’m so glad you made this video! ive always been thinking about this concept of laughing tracks within comedy shows and it’s usefulness lol

I really like your channel bc it provides a different perspective. A lot of commentary videos talk about how bad things are, but you come in and are like “hey. Hey hey hey. Now that wasn’t that bad. Maybe even kinda good” I appreciate the different perspectives.

Big bang theory is the worst way you can use a laugh track because they would use it all the time for everything

I enjoyed how you put this together Zed. Everything is all in the timing and the tone of the direction of the show. Laugh tracks now gotta really have that feel in order to keep the sitcoms alive and well.

the laugh track of friends is basically dialog, I speak along to it like I do the dialog in the episodes lmao

Thank you for challenging us to think against the grain.

Thank you! I never though laugh tracks were that bad. Sometimes a show isn't TRYING to be the smartest and newest and chicest thing on TV. Sometimes it's just trying to make you laugh a few times and have a pleasant half-hour. And that is ok!

Nathan Zed going against the grain, we love to see it!

when i was a kid and i first noticed laugh tracks i tried to laugh along with them bc i felt like my humor was off and it made me inscecure😭

Honestly....it wasn't until this video that I even realized the I.T. Crowd had a laugh track. And it's one of my favorite comedy shows. And THAT, to me, is a laugh track done well 👏🏽

your videos are just so nice, well-constructed and enthusiastic man. pleasure to see 'em each time. keep it up :D

That's 70 show's laugh tracks were a blessing

I liked laugh tracks back in their "day" cause it did make me feel -like you expressed so perfectly- like i was joining a laughing group of relaxed friends. i think they can feel "off" if u dont know the show ? like it's forcing the vibe on you

really liked what you said about how shows without laughtracks cue you to laugh in different ways! like jim looking at the camera etc. i hadn't thought about that before and i think its so true and also just like interesting to think about how shows without laughtracks try to accomplish the goal of the laughtrack.

do you guys know that sitcoms actually had a live studio audience? bro those were the absolute best laughs the coughs, the feet stomping and clapping in between the laughing 😂 ie: my favs The Cosby Show ..(Them Huxtables) Martin The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Home Improvement