The new world record: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Eqn_BiQus (Watch it with the sound off to avoid the screaming commentator.)
Would your average Japanese person not realize that parallel parking a car at 30mph is amazing, without seeing someone else's shocked face? Is this the logical extension of the laugh-track?
Something I've been wondering for a while...
My sometimes negative reaction to synthetic or real crowd approval combines two judgments: the material is awful, and the crowd is despicable in their approval of it (people sometimes viscerally hate laugh tracks). If I like the performance, I won't be disgusted by the laugh track.