Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1259912
"Hey, how you doin'?" You probably know it best with a charming smirk, spoken by Joey Tribbiani—played by Matt LeBlanc—on the sitcom Friends. The line resounded with audiences everywhere, becoming a household joke across America in the '90s, but what you may not realize is how the laugh track helped make it what it is today. It may be one of the most underrated pieces of film history, but the laugh track revolutionized sitcoms as they are known today. "It's not just to fill holes, but it would feel like they were part of the audience laughing," explained sound mixer Bob Douglass about the laugh track. "Laughter is contagious, you know… Imagine if you just told the joke and there's nothing after. It's very interesting to see how it has an impact on society." The laugh track changed much of television during its height. In the mid-1900s, sitcom shows consumed televisions b y W h i t n e y W o r t h e n everywhere. From I Love Lucy to Cheers, laugh tracks infected the average home. "Back then, there were 39 sitcoms a week on the air, so they needed something in the pipeline to (add laughter), to get those shows produced and get them out." The tracks back then looked a bit different than they do now, however. "A lot of the '50s and '60s sitcoms weren't done in front of an audience. In I Dream of Genie and Leave It to Beaver, Revolutionizing TV Sound b y W h i t n e y W o r t h e n Revolutionizing TV Sound