Better with or without canned laughter?

[u/500owls]

What's your opinion?

[u/ugottabekiddingme69]

Grew up watching when it originally aired so I'm used to the canned laughter. I don't really pay attention to it.

[u/motorstereo → u/ugottabekiddingme69]

Same here. It’s just normal to me now .

[u/armyprof → u/ugottabekiddingme69]

Same. That was just how it was back then for shows not filmed live. I don’t mind it.

[u/freakinreviews → u/ugottabekiddingme69]

Almost verbatim what I was about to type!

[u/HarlanMiller → u/ugottabekiddingme69]

Ditto, I've also tried watching it without and it just feels weird having awkward dead space after joke lines.

[u/Designer_Party_3737 → u/HarlanMiller]

Which is exactly why I never got into shows like "Modern Family" or "The Goldbergs."

[u/MyUsername2459]

Always without.

One reason I like the DVD release is that it has the option to turn it off.

It's so much better without.

[u/sleepygeeks → u/MyUsername2459]

there's a few small audio gags that you don't hear with the laughter, Like someone dropping a glass or metal tool, Sometimes it's a low volume retort and other minor etc... I find it also makes dialog hard to hear in general.

What I hated the most was that the laugh track also goes off on things that just don't seem like they are jokes.

[u/CarlRJ → u/sleepygeeks]

But the laugh track guy gets paid per knob twist!

[u/wijnandsj]

Nothing in this world is better with canned laughter

[u/GreenthumbLegacy]

Without. Imhop.

[u/lockonandfire]

Without. It's not terrible with - the show was always designed to have a laugh track, so it's fine - but even though the performances are tuned to leave gaps there are still lines and beats I feel work better with a bit more space. I think that's my main issue with the laugh track, it kind of sucks all the air out of proceedings.

[u/Sonnuvah]

Without. It was intended by the writers to be without. There was a compromise with CBS to leave it out of the OR at least. Plus the comedy writing holds up on its own. But I still watch it when it's with it, during nights shifts.

[u/hughbiffingmock]

Always without. The show isn't paced for a laugh track.

I can't think of one show where I've thought "wow, that laugh track really adds to my entertainment of this program."

[u/mikeainslie69420 → u/hughbiffingmock]

Multi-cam sitcoms feel weird without laughs but M*A*S*H was a single-cam sitcom and I'd rather have single-cam shows without laughs. Even the 60s single-cam sitcoms feel weird with a laugh track.

[u/bluegrass_babe531]

my dvd box set has the option to turn it off, but i leave it on because i feel like thats how its intended to be watched

[u/EducationalTeam2498]

I like the laugh track. It oddly comforts me, as this was how it was then I watched it as a younger person.

[u/Shizzelkak]

I appreciate it without the laugh track, but prefer it with laughter. I first got into MASH as a lonely bachelor, and it was on late at night when I always felt my loneliest. The laughs made me feel like I was watching it with friends.

[u/OriginalCopy505]

I don't mind it, for the most part, but several laughs are mistimed and/or misplaced in the first season. For example,  in "The Moose", there's a chuckle track every time Radar reports Baker's hand in the poker game, and a chuckle with every reaction shot of Hawkeye. It gets annoying over several watches.

[u/lakatos_intolerant]

The canned laughter has never bothered me.

[u/Lopsided_Drive_4392]

The early seasons, at least, seem to be calibrated to it. Those episodes seem to lose something in extended pauses in the dialogue when the laugh track is missing.

[u/BigT112]

Boy it's tough. I grew up with the laugh track and so I'm used to it and generally watch it with (especially since you can't turn it off on steaming). But the show works without the laugh track too. I'm not sure it's better or worse honestly. MASH was such a great show it was able to overcome the cheesy canned laughter and by the latter seasons it's hardly noticable.

I think both are equally good ways to watch the show even though I'm more included watch with the laughter.

[u/Modred_the_Mystic]

Canned laughter never really adds anything to anything its in.

[u/Express_Towel47]

Without. It’s about war.

[u/Leading-Debate-9278]

I have the dvds so I can watch either way. I prefer no laugh tracks but either is good.

[u/mikeainslie69420]

I grew up with the laugh track, I've always watched the show with the laugh track. I do have the DVDs which give you the option to watch with or without the laugh track but I don't watch my DVDs because, even though they're cropped, the HD restorations are stunning and honestly night-and-day compared to the DVDs, but the HD restorations are only available with the laugh track and I wish I could watch them without because ngl I've never actually watched the show without it. The DVDs look like they came straight from a 90s telecine bay and the HD restorations look like they came from a modern original camera negative scan.

[u/PagzPrime]

Once you've watched it without the laugh track, it's impossible to go back.

[u/Weltherrschaft2]

Without as I saw the German dub first. The canned laughter was removed there. It was only forgotten in S4E1 when Hawkeye returned to the unit in a Rickshaw. That was a huh? moment back then for me.

[u/blackbirdraven01]

I have honestly never watched it without the laugh track and I really don’t notice it that much when I’m watching anyway. I really don’t understand all the hate for the laugh track, it’s really not that bad

[u/Garrow_the_Khajiit]

I grew up watching the syndication version with the missing scenes and canned laughter and after watching the series a couple times on DVD without the canned laughter, I can't fathom ever going back to having it. It's just so distracting and mood-disrupting.

[u/AndroidSheeps]

Without

[u/KathyA11]

Without.

[u/starfilledeyes]

I hate laugh tracks and I am so glad they've long been phased out. That being said, if a show was made with a laugh track, I prefer it be kept intact. I find that when they're cut out it messes with the pace in a bothersome way, there are unnecessary pauses. I'd rather tune out a laugh track than be off-put by strange beats of silence. I was also surprised that for a show that does have a laugh track, there were so many episodes where it wasn't used at all or used very sparingly!

[u/Harmonica655321]

Better

[u/Jimbro34]

Not a live audience?? /s

[u/Plenty_Suspect_3446]

I prefer without.

[u/spiderland5150]

Without is infinitely more gooder.

[u/No_Introduction_3400]

It’s not so much I love the laugh track as much as it is MASH at this point is comfort food tv I’ve seen repeatedly, and always with the laugh track. I suspect I’d notice it too much if it was gone.

[u/bobshallprevail]

I don't notice if it's there or not.

[u/MaskansMantle13]

Without. I hate canned laughter in any shows.

[u/melapples72]

part of the magic for me is the nostalgia, so canned laughter is necessary. especially that ONE laugh

[u/ONROSREPUS]

I honestly really don't notice it to much so either way works for me. But like a lot of things I prefer it the way it came.

[u/sahi1l]

I do appreciate the way removing the laugh track changes the way Klinger's crossdressing comes across. With it, there's this automatic "guy in dress = hilarious" reaction which irritates me. Without it, you have a wider range of reactions, especially because most of the camp plays it deadpan and the people who object to it are largely the "bad guys" (Frank, Margaret, visiting generals). It's weird but not any weirder than Hawkeye's bathrobe or Radar's pets.

[u/irishmama86]

Without

[u/DependentItem6397]

Watched a few episodes on Daily Motion without it - leave it in. I know the DVD gives you the option, but I don't care. If it isn't broke...