Study says The IT Crowd has the most laughs a minute

A study has named The IT Crowd as the sitcom with the most laughs a minute.

Online marketplace OnBuy.com surveyed 2,325 fans and asked them to name the top 10 funniest British sitcoms of all time. A panel of 125 people then watched all the episodes from the ten shows selected, whilst having their laughter recorded. The following results were deduced, based on the total laughter duration for each show (measured by decibels):

The website says: "The IT Crowd comes in at number one! Amazingly, the short number of episodes (25) and their duration (24 minutes) are enough to make us laugh for an average of 1 minute and 44 seconds per hour! The results also revealed that Season 2 is the one that had the most cackles, and Season 1, the least. Participants described the show as having 'the finest British dry humour' and 'clever writing'."

Peep Show, The Inbetweeners, The Office, Mr. Bean, The Thick Of It, Outnumbered, Friday Night Dinner, My Family and This Country were the other shows featured in the top 10.

Psychologist and wellbeing consultant Lee Chambers explains the reasons we love watching sitcoms and the benefits of laughter: "Given the underlying anxiety caused by a global pandemic, and the stress of uncertain futures, laughter is even more important. Laughter can trigger the release of endorphins, improving your mood, and can diffuse anger and frustration, making it a healthy way to express the negative emotions we will all be feeling in this challenging time. It is infectious and like a hug in these times of decreased physical contact."

Full Methodology:

1. To achieve the data, OnBuy.com surveyed 2,325 fans and asked them to name the top 10 funniest British sitcoms of all time.

2. From the results of the survey, they selected the top 10 funniest sitcoms and asked 125 volunteers to wear headphones whilst watching all episodes from each of the 10 sitcoms for the first time.

3. The participants were also asked to leave a high-quality microphone connected to a computer program that measures decibels close to them.

4. OnBuy.com was able to reveal and rank the funniest sitcoms based on the total laughter duration for each sitcom.

5. A laugh was counted as one where the volume reached at least 60dB. The duration measured the total time (seconds) that the laughter was sustained for across all viewings. According to EarQ, the average decibels of laughter is 60-65 dB.