eli5: Why were laugh tracks so widely used on sitcoms in the past? Did people not know when they were supposed to laugh?

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I’m rewatching some older sitcoms and the laugh track is so odd to me. I remember thinking nothing of it growing up, but now that I’ve been watching sitcoms without it, it feels completely pointless. Who thought it was a good idea and why?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

>in the past

No, I’m afraid they are still widely used. Even shows that are filmed in front of a live audience are heavily edited to make it more toward a laugh track then actual audience response. So yeah, most shows I have watched all had laugh tracks.

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