DVDizzy Forum

Now that I have the time to spend at home with the grandkids and watch more television than any human being should - I have but one question.

Why does the Disney channel use these inane canned laugh-tracks on all their shows. You and I know that they aren't filmed in front of live audience, which most of them couldn't because of the immense sets and pretty stupid dialogue.

If Disney Channel would cut out the laugh tracks maybe we wouldn't be stuck with lame shows like "The Suite Life On Deck", "Hannah Montana", and the like.

I know why they use laugh tracks, it is because they want you to think that something is funny. Rather than put up with a lot of mail about how stupid the shows are, they have decided to use laugh-tracks to make you think that an audience was actually watching and enjoying it.

Maybe Disney should experiment with filming a show in front of a live audience and see what kind of response they would get. They are probably afraid that their audience core would disappear and never come back unless they could come up with a show that actually had funny dialogue and comedic situations.

Just to prove a point, at a movie theater the other night, the trailer for "Ramona and Beezus" was shown and you should have heard all the groans and boos and hisses from the audience. I think this movie is going to be horrible, if only because of Selena Gomez, who is the biggest no-talent that Disney has foisted on us since the Duff sisters. Don't get me started on Hilary and Haley Duff - just look up the word Dumb in the dictionary and you will find their picture.

I say we should boycott all Disney Channel shows that use these horrible laugh tracks and let Disney know how we really feel about the quality of their programming.

And this horribly edited "Have A Laugh" filler cartoons. C'mon, cut the fifteen minutes of self-selling and give us the whole seven-minutes of Mickey, Pluto, Donald, and the gang. Who wants to watch a poorly edited three minutes or less of a classic cartoon short Not me.

So help me, they better not add a laugh track to "Phineas and Ferb" either, or I will be forced to boycott all of Disney, even their theme parks.

Disney, please wake up and get rid of the laugh tracks. They truly suck the big weenie!!!!!

I think most of us already boycott those bad shows. It's just that the tweens just love their Hannah Montanas and Zack and Codys, so unfortunately, they get great ratings.

That said, Jonas doesn't have a laugh track. However, that's also an awful show with bad actors that does well. So, the problem isn't so much the laugh tracks, as it's the horrible writing that causes them to be no good. Look at some earlier Disney Channel shows. Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire have no laugh tracks and they were equally acclaimed and ratings successes. On the other side, there's Boy Meets World which was the traditional multi-camera sitcom and that was also critically-acclaimed and successful.

So, I would blame the casting and writers for Disney's bad sitcoms, not so much the laugh-track.

They have laugh tracks on ICarly, Victorious, and True Jackson, VP too.

Why can't all shows be recorded in front of a live studio audience like That's 70's Show?

Loved you're opening, dvdjunkie.

Anyway, I believe that at some point the shows were/are taped in front of a live-audience. I remember one time, blackcauldron85 posted something about a live taping of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, but you had to be under a certain age to come. That being said, without a doubt, canned laughter is used, but it isn't impossible that it's not used in conjunction with a real audience. That practice has been going on all the way back to I Love Lucy.

One show I can't stand to watch for the laugh track is Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. It's odd to me, sometimes it seems like somebody forgot to edit in the laughing because they'll make a joke, and absolute silence. Then they'll say something unfunny and the "audience" erupts with laughter.

they have decided to use laugh-tracks to make you think that an audience was actually watching and enjoying it.

I think you just answered your thread question.

I say we should boycott all Disney Channel shows that use these horrible laugh tracks and let Disney know how we really feel about the quality of their programming.

Everyone not in the target demographic already "boycotts" the Disney Channel because there is nothing for anyone outside of that narrow focus. Sure the Disney Channel of old used to throw a wide net, but not anymore. That's why we don't watch, but the truth is, they don't miss us. It isn't "the Disney Channel" anymore, and hasn't been for years. It's the Tweener Machine Channel. You can't ask people to boycott something they aren't watching, anyway.

Personally, since you are a grandparent, the next time your grandkids are over, instead of allowing them to watch that junk, maybe you pop in one of thousands of great alternatives...The Red Shoes, The Muppet Movie, Willy Wonka, The Yearling, maybe even one of those old live-action Walt movies like Third Man on the Mountain.

Some of the responses here have prompted me to do a little more research on the 'laugh-track' thing and here is what I found.

According to what I can find, NONE of the current shows on Disney Channel are done in front of a live audience and use Laugh Tracks.

"The Suite Life on Deck" and all of the "The Suite Life....." series were filmed first, and then shown to a selected audience for response, which is then perked up with a laugh track.

Less than 10% of the 'supposed comedy shows' on the Disney Channel are ever shown, much less filmed, to a live audience.

Now is the time to start that petition to bring back the Old Disney Channel with all the great things like "Vault Disney", and the 'real' Mickey Mouse Club.

Oh well, with SOAPNet going totally Disney soon, I guess we will all have to get our Disney kicks somewhere else - like at home with our complete collections of DAC and the new Blu-Ray releases. That is probably the only true Disney entertainment we will ever be able to find for now.