Canned Laughs

I think everyone has pet peeves.  I stumbled across one of mine the other day and it has been festering ever since.  In order to spend some quality time with my wife I sat through a cooking show that reminded me of something I despise.  Four “Chefs” or “Cooks” or whatever you want to call them were on this rooftop all alone cooking recipes.  As they added ingredients I heard the audience go “Oooo”, “Ah” and then cheer and applaud when the dish was finished.  THERE WAS NO AUDIENCE!  It was all canned.  Some sound editor took the film of this and added all those noises as cues for the television audience to make similar noises.  You see this all the time on television.  Unless a sitcom says it was filmed before a live studio audience then it has been filled with canned laughs and audience reaction.  Think about it.  Most of the comedies out there have the audience laughing at just the right spots.  Every joke hits home.  Pay attention to someone watching the show sometime.  They will react exactly how the prompts on the show tell them to react.  The canned laughs are cues and it has gone on since before I was born.  On an intellectual level I feel insulted that I have to be told when to laugh or cheer or whatever the scene calls for.  On an emotional level I’m offended that I’m treated like a sheep being herded.  My oldest brother always told me that live performances were always better.  It is true of musicians, actors and comedians.  Let’s face it.  You know the joke was good when the comedian has to wait for the audience to calm down before proceeding.  You know the play was excellent when the cast gets a standing ovation.  And who hasn’t screamed their lungs out at a good concert so the band would return to play an encore?  I’d even settle for the days when Ed McMahan would laugh at whatever Johnny Carson would say on the Tonight Show.  At least it was real.  Maybe that’s why I enjoy books.  Everything is inside your head so there’s no one telling you to laugh or be sad.  I watch television and there’s nothing wrong with it.  However, if I am going to watch a program with the sounds of an audience, I’d just as soon they come from a real one.