Editing Laugh track (section)

===Competition and decline===
During the zenith of the 1970s era in U.S. television, Charles Douglass's ascendancy in the domain of laugh track provision faced a notable challenge by 1977, as emerging competitors began offering alternatives to Douglass's signature laugh sequences. Foremost among these challengers was [[Carroll Pratt]], a protégé of Douglass and accomplished sound engineer in his own right, who embarked on establishing his venture, Sound One.<ref name=prattobit>{{cite news |first= Keith |last= Thursby |title= Carroll Pratt dies at 89; Emmy-winning sound engineer |work= Los Angeles Times |date= November 17, 2010 |url= https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-carroll-pratt-20101117-story.html |access-date=February 27, 2012}}</ref>

Having apprenticed under Douglass since the early 1960s, Pratt and his brother discerned that Douglass's methodologies lagged behind technological advancements, with discernible degradation in the quality of Douglass's laugh tracks. Pratt noted an audible deterioration in sound quality attributable to the wear and tear on Douglass's tape library, compounded by evolving audience sensibilities towards sitcom humor, which necessitated a more nuanced and subdued approach to laughter augmentation.<ref name=prattarchive/>

Cognizant of these shifting dynamics, Pratt opted to diverge from Douglass's paradigm, devising a more user-friendly and technically advanced "laff box" utilizing [[magnetic tape|cassette tape]] technology, in contrast to Douglass's somewhat antiquated [[reel-to-reel]] apparatus. Moreover, Pratt's pioneering adoption of stereo recordings, synchronized with the emergence of stereophonic television broadcasts, afforded a perceptible improvement in audio fidelity, particularly in comparison to Douglass's efforts to retrofit mono recordings into a stereo format.<ref name=prattarchive/>

Pratt's laugh track innovations introduced a departure from Douglass's distinctive laughter sequences, offering a more diverse and naturalistic sonic palette. While retaining elements of recognizable laughter, Pratt's compositions exhibited a greater subtlety and restraint, eschewing the overt familiarity associated with Douglass's ubiquitous laugh tracks. This shift resonated with certain sitcom productions, such as ''M*A*S*H'' and ''[[The Love Boat]]'', which gravitated towards Pratt's offerings, particularly given their tonal compatibility with more dramatic narratives.<ref name=prattarchive>{{cite AV media| people = [[Carroll Pratt]] | title = Emmy TV Legends: Carroll Pratt Interview | medium = Interview with Karen Herman | publisher = Archive for American Television | location = [[Philo, California]] | date = June 12, 2003| url = http://emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/carroll-pratt}}</ref><ref name=benglenn/><ref name=prattobit/>

By the decade's denouement, Pratt's ascendancy supplanted Douglass's hegemony, evidenced by the widespread adoption of Pratt's laugh tracks across a spectrum of live and single-camera sitcoms (''[[Laverne and Shirley]]'', ''[[Happy Days]]'', ''[[Eight Is Enough]]'', including productions by MTM Enterprises (''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'' (CBS, 1978–82), ''[[Newhart]]'' (CBS, 1982–90)). Douglass, compelled to adapt to the evolving landscape, embarked on a revitalization effort, refining his laugh track library to incorporate fresher compositions while preserving vestiges of his trademark guffaws. However, the reception to Douglass's revamped offerings was mixed, underscoring Pratt's hegemony in an increasingly competitive market.<ref name=benglenn/>

This epochal shift in laugh track provision coincided with broader transformations within the television landscape, notably marked by the advent of single-camera comedies, championed by entities like HBO, which eschewed the traditional laugh track in favor of a more naturalistic audiovisual aesthetic. Single-camera comedies such as ''[[Dream On (TV series)|Dream On]]'' and ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'' were permitted to run without laugh tracks, and won critical praise for doing so.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110003464 |title=OpinionJournal – Leisure & Arts |access-date=2016-01-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030514222912/http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110003464 |archive-date=May 14, 2003}}</ref> Concurrently, animated shows followed suit, abandoning laugh tracks altogether, save for occasional parodic usage. Animated shows that used to employ a laugh track, such as ''Scooby-Doo'', had dismissed the laugh track altogether by the 1990s. However, sitcoms made by [[It's a Laugh Productions]], such as ''[[That's So Raven]]'', use laugh tracks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkn-2IjS1dQ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805150551/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=Gkn-2IjS1dQ| archive-date=2010-08-05 | url-status=dead|title=YouTube |publisher=YouTube |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>

The practice of sweetening live awards shows persisted, albeit undergoing technological refinements to ensure seamless integration with live broadcasts.<ref name=benglenn/>

In the contemporary milieu, the resurgence of multicamera sitcoms like ''[[Holliston (TV series)|Holliston]]'' on platforms such as [[Fearnet]] has witnessed a revival of laugh track utilization, underscoring the enduring appeal and nostalgic resonance of this venerable television tradition. However, the prevailing trend towards single-camera productions, coupled with evolving audience preferences, portends continued diversification in audiovisual storytelling modalities within the television lands.<ref>{{cite news | first = Ken W. | last = Hanley | title = Q&A: Adam Green on the Second Season of "Holliston" | publisher = fanogoria.com | date = April 8, 2014 | url = http://www.fangoria.com/new/qa-adam-green-on-the-second-season-of-holliston/ | access-date = June 1, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072855/http://www.fangoria.com/new/qa-adam-green-on-the-second-season-of-holliston/ | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>