The Laff Box
99% Invisible1 Touko 2018

The Laff Box

For nearly five decades, the laugh track was ubiquitous on television sitcoms, but in the early 2000s, it began to disappear. What happened? How did we get from the raucous canned laughter of the Beverly Hillbillies to the silent, sly “joke every 20 seconds” of 30 Rock? The curious story of the laugh track starts with one man who created the laugh track as a homemade piece of technology that took over the sound of television and then fell out of fashion with the rise of a more modern sense of humor. What happened to the laugh track is one of the cultural mysteries that are being explored on Slate’s new monthly podcast: Decoder Ring with Willa Paskin

The Laff Box

Plus, Roman talks to The West Wing Weekly co-host Joshua Malina about his time acting on Sports Night, which was a turning point in the history of the television laugh track.

Learn more and subscribe to Decoder Ring

Subscribe to The West Wing Weekly

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.

Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(779)

Biomimicry- Vox + 99% Invisible Video

Biomimicry- Vox + 99% Invisible Video

Japan’s Shinkansen doesn’t look like your typical train. With its long and pointed nose, it can reach top speeds up to 150–200 miles per hour. It didn’t always look like this. Earlier models were roun...

2 Tammi 20186min

Mini-Stories: Volume 3

Mini-Stories: Volume 3

It’s the end of the year and time for our annual Mini-stories episodes. Mini-stories are quick hit stories that were maybe pitched to us from someone in the audience, or something interesting we saw o...

20 Joulu 201737min

Guerrilla Public Service Redux

Guerrilla Public Service Redux

In the early morning of August 5, 2001, artist Richard Ankrom and a group of friends assembled on the 4th Street bridge over the 110 freeway in Los Angeles. They had gathered to commit a crime. Years ...

12 Joulu 201720min

The Nut Behind the Wheel

The Nut Behind the Wheel

In the past fifty years, the car crash death rate has dropped by nearly 80 percent in the United States. And one of the reasons for that drop has to do with the “accident report forms” that police off...

5 Joulu 201731min

A 700-Foot Mountain of Whipped Cream

A 700-Foot Mountain of Whipped Cream

While the 1960s shift in print and TV advertising has been heavily documented and mythologized by Mad Men, Madison Avenue’s radiophonic collision with the counterculture is less well known. A radio ad...

28 Marras 201753min

Money Makers

Money Makers

For a long time, anti-counterfeiting laws made it illegal to show US currency in movies. Now you can show real money, but fake money is often preferred. Creating fake money that doesn’t break the law,...

21 Marras 201719min

Hero Props: Graphic Design in Film & Television

Hero Props: Graphic Design in Film & Television

When a new movie comes out, most of the praise goes to the director and the lead actors, but there are so many other people involved in a film, and a lot of them are designers. There are costume desig...

14 Marras 201726min

Dollhouses of St. Louis

Dollhouses of St. Louis

Back in the 1950s, St. Louis was segregated and The Ville was one of the only African-American neighborhoods in the city. The community was prosperous. Black-owned businesses thrived and the neighborh...

7 Marras 201727min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
mimmit-sijoittaa
rss-rahapodi
herrasmieshakkerit
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-rahamania
ostan-asuntoja-podcast
taloudellinen-mielenrauha
rss-sisalto-kuntoon
inderespodi
rahapuhetta
sijoituspodi
lakicast
rss-h-asselmoilanen
rss-startup-ministerio
rss-uppoava-vn-laiva
rss-seuraava-potilas
sijoitusovi-podcast
bakkari-tarinoita-tapahtumien-takahuoneista
rss-myynnilla-on-asiaa-kert-kenner