I ran into an old episode of Hogan’s Heroes the other day that stuck me as odd. It didn’t have a laugh track. Ironically, the show was one where two pilots were shown, one with and one without a laugh ...

Question: Why do TV shows use canned laughter? It just makes the shows less funny. It is very annoying. Answer: It has also been around for close to 70 years. To be sure, some comedies do without.

Once a staple of the American sitcom, the canned laughs of yesteryear have all but died out. Laugh tracks — or pre-recorded and sometimes even live audience laughter that once cued at-home viewers ...