We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Decoder Ring | The Laff Box (Encore)

Decoder Ring | The Laff Box (Encore)

2025/6/4
logo of podcast Slow Burn

Slow Burn
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
A
Andy Secunda
B
Ben Glenn
G
Gloria Calderon Kellett
M
Mike Royce
P
Paul Iverson
R
Ron Simon
T
Tommy Shlomi
W
Willa
Topics
Willa Paskin: 作为Decoder Ring的开篇之作，我回顾了笑声罐头的历史，探讨了它为何从情景喜剧的标配走向没落。我发现，笑声罐头不仅仅是一种技术手段，更是一种关于幽默的观念的体现。早期电视节目依赖笑声罐头来营造社区感，弥合观众与表演者之间的距离。然而，随着观众口味的变化和对个性化幽默的追求，笑声罐头逐渐被认为是一种过时的、虚假的手段。现在，人们更倾向于根据自己的判断来决定什么好笑，而不是依赖罐头笑声的引导。虽然笑声罐头在现代情景喜剧中已经很少见，但它曾经在电视发展史上扮演了重要的角色，帮助观众适应了独自观看电视的模式。 Paul Iverson: 我从小就对笑声罐头情有独钟，尤其是在观看《粉红豹》时。我会录下节目的声音，专注于听笑声，并研究它们。我对笑声罐头的痴迷促使我自学了关于笑声罐头的一切，包括它们的制作方法、不同类型以及如何自己制作。我甚至尝试将《The Monkees》第二季中途移除的笑声罐头重新加回去，并尽可能还原当时的笑声。虽然很少有人能理解我的这种爱好，但我乐在其中，喜欢重现和分离笑声罐头，并将其添加到任何我能添加的东西上。对我来说，笑声罐头不仅仅是声音，更是一种情感的寄托和对过去的回忆。 Ron Simon: 查理·道格拉斯是一位音响奇才，他发明了一种可以将笑声注入到电影喜剧中的机器，从而创造了现场体验。他从马塞尔·马索和雷德·斯克尔顿等喜剧演员的无声表演中提取笑声，并将它们剪辑到模拟磁带卷上。这些磁带卷可以在他自己用家用电器、风琴部件和真空管制造的专利设备上播放。道格拉斯的设备被称为“观众反应复制器”，也被称为 Laff Box。它最多可以存储 320 种笑声，可以通过按下一个键播放一种笑声，也可以同时按下多个键播放多种笑声。道格拉斯对笑声罐头的制作过程非常保密，这使得它成为了电视行业的一个禁忌话题。 Ben Glenn: 我认为像《Bewitched》或《The Munsters》这样严重依赖笑声罐头的节目，如果没有它，就不会那么有趣了。如果没人笑，那把馅饼扔到脸上还搞笑吗？笑声罐头可以增强喜剧效果，让观众更容易接受和享受节目。当然，有些节目可能本身质量不高，需要依赖笑声罐头来掩盖其缺点。但总的来说，我认为笑声罐头在情景喜剧中扮演了重要的角色，它是一种有效的幽默工具。 Tommy Shlomi: 电视台对放弃笑声罐头感到非常紧张，因为它对节目的经济效益影响很大。笑声罐头建立了一种概念，即节目不是真实的，而是一种戏剧性的呈现。在《体育之夜》中，笑声罐头从背景噪音变成了阻碍，它阻碍了节目变得更好。我们希望摆脱笑声罐头的束缚，创作出更真实、更自然的喜剧。 Andy Secunda: 我想操纵笑声罐头，以反映真正有趣的东西。我想训练观众，让他们觉得有些笑话比其他笑话更好笑。我认为有些笑话本身就比其他笑话更好笑，你不能仅仅根据笑声的大小来判断，尤其是当笑声来自笑声罐头时。我希望改造笑声罐头，以说明有些笑话比其他笑话更好笑，你应该对那些笑话发笑。 Gloria Calderon Kellett: 《One Day at a Time》是在现场观众面前拍摄的，没有使用笑声罐头。对我来说，笑声罐头是一种共享的体验，让人们在舒适的家中也能体验到社区的感觉。我们希望观众能够 audibly 体验到节目的情感。 Mike Royce: 有些人不喜欢听到别人笑，因为他们觉得自己在被告知该怎么做。笑声罐头提醒着人们，即使你独自一人，也有其他人在和你一起观看。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter explores the history of laugh tracks in television sitcoms, starting with their ubiquitous presence in shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and their decline in the early 2000s. It sets the stage for exploring the reasons behind the laugh track's disappearance and the evolution of humor in television.
  • The laugh track's decline in popularity from the early 2000s
  • The shift in comedic styles and audience expectations

Shownotes Transcript

Decoder Ring is marking its 100th episode this year. To celebrate, we’re revisiting our very first episode from 2018, which asks: What happened to the laugh track? For nearly five decades, the laugh track was ubiquitous, but beginning in the early 2000s, it fell out of sitcom fashion. What happened? How did we get from The Beverly Hillbillies to 30 Rock? In this episode we meet the man who created the laugh track, which originated as a homemade piece of technology, and trace that technology’s fall and the rise of a more modern idea about humor. With the help of historians, laugh track obsessives, the showrunners of One Day at a Time and the director of Sports Night, this episode asks if the laugh track was about something bigger than laughter.

You can read more in Willa’s article “The Man Who Perfected the Laugh Track)” in Slate.

Links and further reading on some of the things we discussed on the show:

-

__Interview with Ben Glenn II __)on the history of the laugh track in McSweeney’s

-

See a Charlie Douglas Laff Box) on Antiques Roadshow

-

More of Paul Iverson’s work) restoring laugh tracks and inserting them into new shows

-

__The sitcom __One Day at a Time)

-

Friends without a Laugh Track) by Sboss

-

“The Okeh Laughing Record”)

-

__Tommy Schlamme and Aaron Sorkin’s __Sports Night)

This episode was written by Willa Paskin. It was produced and edited by Benjamin Frisch, who also created the episode art. Decoder Ring is produced by Katie Shepherd, Max Freedman, and our supervising producer Evan Chung.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected]), or leave a message on the Decoder RIng hotline at 347-460-7281. We love to hear any and all of your ideas for the show. 

Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring) show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus) to get access wherever you listen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices)