Top 10 Funniest Things to Happen in the Background of TV Shows
#10: Fireball
“Mad Men” (2007-15)
“Mad Men” isn’t a comedy but does have humorous moments peppered throughout the series. In this instance several of the ad men are in Don’s office to come up with some material for Gillette’s aerosol deodorant. The guys are very juvenile as they hold Ken down to test the product on him. Don gets called into an impromptu meeting, outside his office, with Sterling and Cooper to discuss Richard Nixon’s election campaign. As they’re speaking, you can still hear the group in Don’s office horsing around. They even set off a fireball. The fact that most of what they’re doing is obscured from our view has us wondering what they would do if they were left unsupervised for much longer.
#9: Reese Gets Chased Down
“Malcolm in the Middle” (2000-06)
An accident on the highway has left Malcolm and his family in a pretty serious traffic jam. Among the stuck vehicles is an ice cream truck. Reese and a few other kids want ice cream but the driver of the truck refuses to give any up. Eventually they come up with a plan to steal the ice cream. Meanwhile, Malcolm meets Jessica, who he takes a liking to but finds out she’s from Canada. As he complains about this fact, we see Reese getting chased down by a dog in the background. This funny moment is a bit of cosmic justice as it appears the dog wanted Reese’s ice cream.
#8: The Aristocrats
“The Office” (2005-13)
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When Michael is up for a promotion at corporate, he takes the whole Scranton branch out for a beach day as a way to determine who should replace him as manager. When they get to the beach they do various activities such as egg carrying and a hot dog eating contest. Michael also wants whoever’s worthy to walk across hot coals, however no one, except Pam, is willing. Eventually, the group moves on but Pam preps herself to walk across the coals. As she’s doing this Dwight begins telling the Aristocrats joke. We can’t go into detail but it is definitely not an appropriate joke to tell in a workplace setting.
#7: The Doctor Attacked
“Doctor Who” (1963-89; 2005-)
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Strange things start happening around Rose Tyler such as mannequins coming to life. She also meets a strange man known as the Doctor. When the Doctor comes to her home to track down any remaining mannequins, she offers him a coffee. As she prepares it, the Doctor rummages through various things around the room. Eventually, he comes across a mannequin arm and it starts to strangle him, all while Rose is still in the kitchen. What makes the moment funnier is when she finally turns around and sees what’s going on, she assumes the Doctor’s goofing around and completely ignores the situation.
#6: Tracy on New Meds
“30 Rock” (2006-13)
Tracy is scheduled to appear on “Conan” and as he preps, the writers he’s working with notice some erratic behavior. Liz finds out that he’s been taking new medications and they seem to be what’s causing Tracy’s strange behavior. When she finds him bugging out, she contacts his doctor to get more information. As they’re talking, we see Tracy interacting with his fish tank first by putting his hand in the water, followed by his entourage stopping him from putting a shoe in the tank. Finally, we see him being rocked like a baby while sucking his thumb. It’s completely ridiculous but after hearing from Tracy’s doctor, it comes as no surprise.
#5: Kramer Hearing Mary Hart’s Voice
“Seinfeld” (1989-98)
Some people just have a voice you can’t stand. For Kramer this is taken to the extreme. As Jerry and Elaine watch “Entertainment Tonight”, Kramer enters. As Jerry and Elaine carry on a mundane conversation about the weather, Kramer starts to flail about. It takes a second for the two to notice what’s happening behind them. Elaine is able to figure out that Kramer is having a seizure as a result of hearing the voice of “Entertainment Tonight”’s Mary Hart. It’s a great bit of physical comedy from Kramer as his movement becomes more erratic.
#4: Ross Attacked By a Cat
“Friends” (1994-2004)
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A blackout hits New York City and the majority of the friend group are passing the time in Monica’s apartment. Joey informs Ross that he’s stuck in the friend zone with Rachel and he needs to ask her out. Ross is at first skeptical but decides to make a move. He finds her on the balcony and nervously begins to ask her out. Just then a cat jumps on his back. The camera cuts back to inside where Joey, Monica and Phoebe are singing while Ross hilariously struggles to get the cat off of him. Not only did the feline stop him asking out Rachel but it also led to her meeting Paolo. Talk about bad luck.
#3: Background Guy
“In Living Color” (1990-94)
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We’ve all seen news reports where a reporter is live on location and some rando decides to pop in the background and make faces at the camera. That’s the premise of this sketch when it was first featured in the episode that aired live during the 1992 Super Bowl halftime show. During a fake interview Jim Carrey would pop in and out of the background while doing silly antics. They start off rather mundane and become increasingly outrageous. Background Guy would become a recurring sketch placing the aforementioned guy in different scenarios.
#2: Risky Business
“Arrested Development” (2003-06; 2013-19)
Michael’s excited because he’s about to start running the Bluth Company and he decides to check the TV show “Mad Money” since the charges against his father were dropped. On the program Jim Cramer bumps up the company’s rating from “Don’t Buy” to “Risky”. Later when Michael arrives at the office, employees were setting up for a stockholder party, a man wearing sunglasses, a dress shirt and no pants walks by a banner that reads, “Risky Business”. This is in reference to the iconic scene where Tom Cruise rocks out at home in the 1983 film of the same name. Except here an accident was caused because the man couldn’t see because of the glasses. It’s a humorous bit once you realize it’s there.
#1: Beetlejuice Shows Up
“Community” (2009-15)
This joke is a three season process, so you’re forgiven if you haven’t caught it before. In season one, Professor Slater says she’ll be chaperoning the Valentine’s Day dance and invites Jeff. She inquires about Britta attending, referring to her as Beetlejuice. In the following season, while looking for Annie’s pen, the group strips down and Britta throws a dig at Jeff’s underwear fashion referring to them as, “Beetlejuice numbers”. In season three, during a Halloween pre-party, Annie notes that for music Britta has the “Beetlejuice” soundtrack. Much like the 1988 film, after saying his name three times, a man dressed in a Beetlejuice costume passes by her in the background. That’s one hell of a payoff for a three year setup.
