In the 75 years since it was introduced, the laugh track has conditioned viewers to know when and how much to laugh Some audiences love it, and some audiences hate it, but the laugh track—which ...

Once a staple of the American sitcom, the canned laughs of yesteryear have all but died out. Laugh tracks — or pre-recorded and sometimes even live audience laughter that once cued at-home viewers ...

Many people view Seinfeld as the greatest TV series of all time, and certainly the best sitcom. Even those who don’t acknowledge it as the best comedy ever have to recognize its place among the greats ...

I ran into an old episode of Hogan’s Heroes the other day that stuck me as odd. It didn’t have a laugh track. Ironically, the show was one where two pilots were shown, one with and one without a laugh ...

For more on the Laff Box and how America fell in and out of love with the laugh track, listen to Decoder Ring, a new podcast from Slate. Imagine that television is brand-new. You’ve just gotten your ...