Editing Laugh track (section)

====''Hogan's Heroes''====
[[File:Hogans heroes.JPG|thumb|right|The test to see if a sitcom could survive without a laugh track was performed on the [[pilot episode]] of ''Hogan's Heroes'']]
Network research indicated that the inclusion of a laugh track was considered essential for categorizing a single-camera show as a comedy. This hypothesis was tested in 1965 when CBS conducted an experiment involving its new single-camera sitcom ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' (1965-71), presenting two versions of the pilot episode to test audiences: one with a laugh track and one without. The version without the laugh track, due in part to the show's more cerebral humor, performed poorly, while the version with the laugh track garnered a more favorable reception. Consequently, ''Hogan's Heroes'' was broadcast with the laugh track, and CBS subsequently incorporated laugh tracks into all of its comedic programming.<ref name="Kitman"/>

Sitcom laugh tracks differed, depending on the style of the show. The more outlandish the show, the more invasive the laugh track. Shows like ''[[Bewitched]]'', ''[[The Munsters]]'', ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' and ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]'' relied heavily on laugh tracks, while more subdued programs, like ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'', ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' and ''[[My Three Sons]]'', had more modulated laughter. Certain shows, like ''[[Get Smart]]'', featured a laugh track that became more invasive as the series progressed, while shows like ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'' toned down the laughter as the series became more dramatic; it was entirely absent during [[operating room]] scenes.<ref name=neveda/>

By the mid-1960s, nearly every U.S. sitcom was shot using the single camera and was fitted with a laughter track. Only a handful of programs, such as ''[[The Joey Bishop Show (sitcom)|The Joey Bishop Show]]'', ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' and ''[[The Lucy Show]]'' used studio audiences but augmented the real laughter via "sweetening."<ref name="Hobson Help"/>