Laugh Tracks on TV Comedy USA vs UK & Europe
 

I find it very irritating that " Laugh Tracks " are needed on USA TV Comedies to get a viewer to laugh vs the UK in particular that are not needed.

In the UK for example a re-run of a USA TV Comedy the laugh track is eliminated & guess what ... Zero Humor !

US and UK senses of humor are very different. UK's brightest comedy examples include Mr. Bean and Benny Hill. I find little funny about constant bathroom humor. I know they think it's subtle wit only understood by the intelligent, but I beg to differ. US humor is, I find, more situational - funny things happening in normally experienced situations.

I will add, however, Monty Python is hilarious once you adjust your expectations to their style.

Laugh tracks are used on UK TV programs (as well as signals for the audience to applaud wildly) but tend to be less invasive than in the USA. I do find them annoying as I can make my own decisions as to whether or not I find something amusing.

I hear only laugh tracks, when I'm in my office and spouse is watching sitcoms in the living room. I have to adjust my hearing aids to filter out background noises whenever he does that. Every 15-30 seconds, I hear the mid-pitched rumble of laughter. It's pervasive and irritating. It's one of the many reasons why I don't watch regular TV.

Humor is humor: Ricky Gervais is an example of what I am referring to. He doesn't need a laugh track, telepromter, etc. He writes his own material.
His original TV Series The Office is an example the UK version is laugh track free, the USA version with American actors & situations are all " Laugh Track ".
Another example is " Mash " when the re-runs on British TV are all laugh track free...as opposed to the USA " Mash " series all have a laugh track.
The UK broadcast it is obvious that the laugh track isn't needed...for " Mash ", however the typical situation comedies ( TV ) here in the USA are without question are needed they are corny & border on stupidity to laugh at.

Yes, the acting in that was so dead-pan, regardless of how ridiculous the situation, and it was structured so that the viewer felt that s/he was in the office and part of the team. On both counts, a laugh track would have totally spoiled it.