Studios should add a laugh track to the movies (on DVD)! (1 Viewer)

[Mitty]

It might make the experience of the movie even better.

You mean more like a theatrical experience? Can they also add the sound of munching/slurping, plastic candy packages being wrestled with, etc.
Maybe they should include an "inappropriate laughter" track to all dramas too.
And, of course, all suspense/mystery/thriller movies should have a track that includes a gaggle of half-wits shouting out each and every moronic epiphany as it occurs to them. Maybe a guy who's already seen the movie telling you every twist just before it happens could be placed in the rear right speaker.
And don't forget the ringing cell phone/crying baby track.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

they'd be recording the track inside a movie theater which means Dolby Surround 2.0 would be the best choice for a track like this.

They should only record the laughs and mix it into the original 5.1 track as a "BONUS" TRACK! Not that they are going to replace the original track!

 

[Doug Pyle]

Maybe they should include an "inappropriate laughter" track to all dramas too.

The unmet potential of DVD! That's what creating the Home Theater Experience is all about!

I've never quite captured the Lawrence of Arabia experience like my first viewing. I must have that disturbed, deep chuckle from the row behind me, upon each shot of the burning sun over Lawrence during the Sun's Anvil scenes. What a sicko. Now that's the Theater Experience!

 

[David Lambert]

Let me add my 2¢ and say how bad an idea it is.
But, there WAS a good idea in this thread. It was this one:

*writes note to self... change picture in your signature file*

PLEASE do that, Matt...it's started to become disturbing!
Just kidding, Matt.
Sam: I'm not kidding with you, though: bad idea.

 

[Doug Pyle]

Let me add my 2¢ and say how bad an idea it is.

Oh, come on Dave. The studios can release two separate DVDs, one with the track for us average joes, and one without for elitists like you.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I don’t see why it’s a bad idea. Let’s for a moment set aside all the prejudice and be open-minded for at least trying a new thing that is NOT going to ruin the movie. I think they should try it with several comedies and then we can decide if it’s good or bad!

 

[Tino]

Of course you don't think it's a bad idea. It's your idea!:rolleyes
And what "prejudice" are you talking about Sam?
Personally, I don't care either way.

 

[Jay E]

What a great idea! And while they're at it, they can add a sobbing track to films like Philadelphia & Love Story.

 

[David Lambert]

Oh, come on Dave. The studios can release two separate DVDs, one with the track for us average joes, and one without for elitists like you.

Just what we need...more SKUs for one movie title.

"WANT TO BUY A DVD? PICK ONE FROM EACH COLUMN, PLEASE:"

VIDEO...AUDIO...SE/NO SE....LAUGH TRACK

---------------------------------------

Wide....Mono....Movie-Only...w/Laugh Tk

Full....2.0.....Special Ed...w/out L Tk

Both....5.1.....Collectors..Both w & wo

........DTS.....Ultimate...............

 

[Michael Reuben]

I don’t see why it’s a bad idea. Let’s for a moment set aside all the prejudice and be open-minded for at least trying a new thing that is NOT going to ruin the movie. I think they should try it with several comedies and then we can decide if it’s good or bad!

We already have more than enough experience with laugh tracks on television to make a meaningful evaluation. The real innovation is the one offered on the M*A*S*H discs: the option to get right of the damned thing.

M.

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

Although I certainly agree seeing a fun movie along with a big audience can make a movie funnier, I do not feel it works the same way with f. ex. TV shows at home. I guess the prejudice Sam talks about is the "prejudice" against laugh tracks on TV shows. There is a reason for the prejudice in this case, IMO.

 

[Mark Kalzer]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a feature like it. But instead of laughing, we get people constantly shouting at the screen from behind you!

 

[Dave H]

Adding laugh tracks is a terrible idea and is very artifical. Why does someone need this to laugh at a movie or think something is funny? Why can't YOU decide what is funny by yourself. However, I *might* be able to see why people would want it on TV shows that are put out on DVD if they were really viewed like that on the air.

 

[Rain]

But instead of laughing, we get people constantly shouting at the screen from behind you!

That's a whole different thing. Since any theatrical presentation of RHPS would include audience call backs, I think it's rather clever to put that on a disc.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

You mean more like a theatrical experience? Can they also add the sound of munching/slurping, plastic candy packages being wrestled with, etc.

Don't forget the cellphones and beepers. They should have their F/X guy record a beeper going off and mix it in at five minute intervals throughout the course of the movie

 

[Eric Bass]

I want random pager beeps, cellphone rings, and infant screams. Then I just have to invite some friends over to walk in front of me every 20 minutes and it'll be just like the theaters!

 

[Jack Briggs]

This conversation is really serious? Really? Would the audience track include coughs and weezing and sneezing (and other functional noises)? We rave and rant at the threat to OAR presentations, and here we are advocating a laugh track?
Sam, sit down, relax, and mix some codeine with a stiff shot of bourbon. Meditate a bit. If you still feel the same way afterward, contact your physician.

 

[BarryR]

The problem (among many) that I see is that if such an idea is done and proves unexpectedly popular among a section of DVD users, it'll accelerate a further dumbing down of movies as we know it--in time any comedy without a laughtrack will seem the odd one out. Why not also have subtitles explaining the plot so no one is confused at any point? How much sillier can this thread get? :b

 

[Tino]

Hey, while we're at it, why not add a scream track for horror films, or a crying track for tearjerkers, or a profanity track for violent action films, or how's about a moaning track for porn films....wait a tic, I think they already do that!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If you go to a funny movie, you are participating in chaos and community.
Chaos, because you don't know how funny the other attendees will find the film and how hard they may laugh or otherwise respond. And it will be different every time, even every time you see the same movie.
Community, because laughter and other emotional responses are infectious. Your laughing will make others laugh, and vice versa. And it will be different every time, even every time you see the same movie.
A canned laugh track is not chaotic; it will the the same every time you hear it.
It is not community, because you are not playing off each other. It is you and a bunch of predictable digital clones.
I can think of few worse ways to waste precious bits (which are sacred, like every sperm ) than to put laugh tracks on movie soundtracks.