Developing a classification framework for Laugh-Track Insertion Points (LIP) in sitcoms: toward a systematic analysis of humor

This article develops a classification framework for Laugh-Track Insertion Points (LIP) in sitcoms by conceptualizing LIP as observable locations of recorded laughter within completed television programs. While previous research has examined sitcom humor through narrative structure, pragmatics, interaction, cultural context, and mediated laughter, less attention has been paid to how Laugh-Track placement itself organizes humor as an analyzable feature of television texts. Building on prior studies of U.S. and Chinese sitcoms, existing LIP categories are reconstructed and reorganized into a coherent framework. The proposed framework adopts a three-layer structure consisting of upper-level types, major categories, and operational subcategories. By clarifying category definitions, category overlap, and coding criteria, the framework contributes to sitcom studies, humor research, and comparative media analysis by making Laugh-Track-marked moments more systematically comparable across works and cultural contexts.