Top 10 Unscripted Moments That Improved Their Scenes

As Steve Carell prepared for his final day at Dunder Mifflin, the team behind “The Office” had a special farewell planned. During one last Dundies award ceremony, Andy announces they have a surprise for Michael. What follows is a sweet and hilarious parody of “Seasons of Love” from “Rent.” According to Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey in their book, “The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There,” Carell suspected “something was up” but had no clue what to expect. His reactions during the song are authentically Carell. There are 525,600, oh we mean, 9,986,000 reasons we love this scene.

The “New Girl” cast was often encouraged to improvise, leading to some of our favorite moments. For instance, Schmidt’s mispronunciation of words, like the iconic “Chut-en-ey,” was ad-libbed by Max Greenfield. However, one of our favorite examples takes place in the series finale. We flashback to when Nick and Schmidt first move into the loft and chat about their futures. Apparently, only the first part of the dialogue here was scripted. Nick actor Jake Johnson then threw in an extra line that allowed Greenfield to wax poetic about Schmidt’s dream woman, only he’s basically describing Nick. If that doesn’t define these two’s friendship, we don’t know what does. How could they not keep it in?

If you've ever been in therapy, you know it's a place to be your true, authentic self. Apparently, TV therapy is no different. In the Marvel miniseries, Sam and Bucky go to therapy to process the weight of being superheroes. Thankfully, a little improv by the stars added levity to what could’ve been a very heavy scene. Amy Aquino, who played Dr. Christina Raynor, revealed that the actors were given a rough outline of the scene, while much of the rest was pure Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. The actors' strong rapport made their dynamic believable and made us love this pairing even more. We're just amazed that Aquino got through it without breaking.

You’d think starring in a series with “Haunting” in the title would make you unshockable. That is, until someone changes the stage directions at the last minute without warning you. Remember the scene where Nell’s ghost appears in the car while Theo and Shirley argue? How could you forget—it still haunts our nightmares! Anyway, the actors knew they’d be getting a ghostly surprise; they just didn’t realize how soon. Series creator Mike Flanagan shared that he told Nell actress Victoria Pedretti to make her entrance sooner than was originally scripted. Apparently, it didn’t just genuinely terrify the actors but also everyone behind the cameras, even those who were in the know.

In one of this war dramedies’ most devastating moments, the hospital staff finds out that the recently discharged Lt. Colonel Henry Blake’s plane was shot down on its way home. While this plot point was planned, the actors weren’t told about it until right before they had to film the scene. Yes, that’s right, no one, not even McLean Stevenson, who played Blake, knew his character would be permanently written off. Killing off a series regular was practically unheard of back then! So, the somber silence that follows the announcement is completely real. We’re basically watching the cast process the news in real time, and we feel every ounce of it.

First things first, we have to shout out this brilliant bit of improv from Jennifer Aniston. However, our actual pick comes from the series finale. In his memoir, the late Matthew Perry shared that having the final line of the series meant a lot to him, so he asked co-creator Marta Kauffman for permission to make it happen. In the final scene, Rachel asks Monica and Chandler if they have time for coffee before moving to their new place. We can't imagine anyone better than Chandler Bing and his actor to turn our tears of sadness into happy ones. Knowing what we know now, we're so glad this will always be part of his legacy.

Never work with children or animals, they say—they don’t take direction well and can be rather unpredictable. In this season five episode, Walt flees with his daughter Holly. In one scene in a family changing room, he coos over his daughter, but she calls out for her momma. Well, apparently, the baby really was calling out for her mom, who was standing on set—out of sight, of course. According to director Rian Johnson, this was one of “those pure lightning strikes of luck that you probably don’t get twice in a lifetime.” Bryan Cranston followed his young co-star’s lead and stayed in character, making Walt’s ultimate decision all the more heart wrenching.

“How I Met Your Mother” isn’t typically known for gut-punching storylines, but one of its most memorable moments is also one of its saddest. In the ingenious “Bad News” episode, viewers could follow a countdown to the titular bad news. Only when it was revealed, it wasn’t what we, or actor Jason Segel, might’ve expected. Segel deliberately avoided reading that part of the script so that he could give a 100 percent real and raw reaction in the moment. Indeed, it felt incredibly real—even to the crew. Series co-creator Carter Bays shared that he and director Pamela Fryman were so moved they felt almost obliged to turn away to give the actors some privacy to grieve.

“Parks & Rec” has plenty of iconic moments rooted in improv. However, one of their best comes from guest star Patton Oswalt. He plays a Pawnee resident who blocks Leslie’s efforts to update outdated laws with an epic filibuster. Oswalt was simply told to talk about anything he liked, and he took it to a “Galaxy Far, Far Away,” crossing into the MCU and beyond. Once he got rolling, it was nearly impossible to stop him. Eventually, Poehler just directed everyone to adjourn, bringing his rambling to an end. You can still watch the full, unedited version on YouTube. Co-creator Mike Schur compared the moment to a surprise Beyoncé album drop, and we totally get it.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Rue’s Fight with Her Mom, “Euphoria” (2019-)
All That Raw Emotion Is 100% Zendaya & Nika King

“Bebe,” “Schitt's Creek” (2015-20)
Catherine O’Hara Cracked Everyone up the First Time She Dropped Her Unique Pronunciation, so She Decided to Stick with It

Gibbsslap, “NCIS” (2003-)
Mark Harmon Recalls First Giving His Cast Mate a Whack Around the Head to Get Him Back on Track in a Scene; It Became a Fan-Favorite Running Gag

Barbershop Chat, “This Is Us” (2006-22)
Apparently, We’re Just Listening In on a Real Conversation Between Sterling K. Brown & Ron Cephas Jones

The Dance, “Wednesday” (2022-)
Jenna Ortega Researched the 80s Goth Dance Scene & Fosse to Come Up with This Now Viral Dance

Don’t get us wrong, we loved the whole gang, but no one could liven up a scene like the Janitor. Played by Neil Flynn, the writers clearly knew they had an improv genius on their hands and made the most of it. Often, Flynn was encouraged to stray from the script. Sometimes, as Zach Braff shared, the writers didn’t even write his dialogue, trusting Flynn’s spontaneous lines would be comedy gold. Flynn once joked that the writers knew they’d still get the credit even if his ad-libs were funnier than whatever was scripted. We bet there was never a dull moment with him on set—he probably kept everyone on their toes.

Which unscripted moment can’t you imagine your favorite TV show without? Let us know in the comments.