Top 20 FUNNIEST Moments in TV History

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2013-21)
Sometimes, Detective Jake Peralta abuses his power as a member of the NYPD. Fortunately, that usually just means he does things like make suspects in a lineup form an impromptu boy band. When a witness tells him that the man they’re looking for was singing “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, he helps her identify him the only way he knows how. He makes the suspects in the lineup sing. But Jake gets a little carried away. He looks more like a producer making magic in the studio than a cop finding a criminal. The viral scene is still one of the show’s most fondly remembered cold opens.

“WKRP in Cincinnati” (1978-82)
Since the end of its run, this fun workplace sitcom set in an Ohio radio station has become more obscure than many of its contemporaries. But viewers never forgot the all-time great Thanksgiving episode from 1978. Bumbling station manager Arthur Carlson thinks of a great publicity stunt for the station. He drops a group of live turkeys on the city from a helicopter. Unfortunately, as he tells them at the end, he didn’t realize domesticated turkeys can’t fly. Even more hilarious, and disturbing, is that it was based on a similar event in Atlanta.

“All in the Family” (1971-79)
Norman Lear’s groundbreaking and controversial sitcom never shied away from the serious stuff. It just managed to make us laugh about them, too. When Edith Bunker goes through menopause, it throws the entire Bunker household off-balance. Normally kindhearted and gentle, Edith becomes enraged at the slightest provocation and it gives her the chance to finally give her irascible husband Archie a taste of his own medicine. The studio audience screams with laughter when she finally turns his favorite phrase back on him. Watching Archie get his comeuppance was part and parcel of why audiences tuned in. To see Edith finally be the one to do it was so satisfying.

“Living Single” (1993-98)
Sometimes, you can only watch while your friend makes a bad decision. Other times, you have to step in. Régine[a] tries to convince Maxine that she hasn’t thought her latest adventure through. But Max is determined to get herself a dramatic tattoo. And she doesn’t want something too feminine either. She wants something powerful, something that lets the whole world know who she is. Full of bluster and hot air, Max hypes herself up for it only to pass out before the needle even touches her skin. All Régine can do is laugh right along with us.

“Frasier” (1993-2004)
The Crane brothers may have been known for their sophisticated sense of humor, but they could do physical comedy too. Actor David Hyde Pierce’s flair for slapstick is on full display in this scene from “Frasier’s” sixth season. Left alone on Valentine’s Day, Niles is readying himself for a date at home. He’s got dinner on the stove and a pair of pants on the ironing board. And then things go horribly wrong. It’s pure mayhem even before his nice pants catch fire, and he’s bested by an out of control fire extinguisher. Pierce won a well-deserved Emmy for the episode.

“Abbott Elementary” (2021-)
It didn’t take long for this workplace comedy set in a Philly elementary school to create some timeless moments. A fun, instantly memeable running joke started when Barbara’s fellow teachers pointed out to us her habit of thinking that certain white celebrities are actually black. But the kicker is when she praises Michelle Williams. Is she talking about the actress or the singer? No one’s really sure. Oh, never mind, she’s wrong again. It’s classic Barbara. The way these coworkers know each other’s habits and eccentricities is one of the endless joys of “Abbott Elementary.”

“Veep” (2012-19)
Jonah Ryan was the resident D.C. punching bag, and he made it really hard to feel sorry for him. A data breach leaves President Selina Meyer’s staff under investigation. The judiciary committee presents a shared document dedicated to insulting Jonah. Dan and Amy deny all knowledge of such a document. Of course, that’s a lie. They are then forced to participate in the hardest “try not to laugh” challenge ever as these respectable politicians rattle off every single obscene thing they ever called Jonah. Frankly, putting that list together is probably the most organized this staff has ever been.

“The Carol Burnett Show” (1967-78)
Tim Conway had a habit of breaking Harvey Korman up in the middle of sketches. But not even Conway could keep it together in the dentist sketch. Originally aired in 1969, the scene sees Conway as a rookie dentist fumbling through a visit with his first patient. Unfortunately, he accidentally jabs himself with novocaine. Actually, he does this several times, rendering several of his limbs immobilized while he tries in vain to carry on with the appointment. The audience collectively loses its mind until neither Korman nor Conway can actually hold back their own laughter anymore.

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970-77)
Recurring character Chuckles the Clown was never funnier than after he passed away. When her colleagues at Minneapolis’ WJM news station keep cracking jokes about his demise, Mary Richards chastises them for being so unfeeling. But once the funeral actually starts, it’s Mary who can’t keep it together. The details of Chuckles’ life are just too funny. And the discomfort of it all just makes her laugh harder. It’s only after the minister tells her how much her joy would’ve meant to the dead clown that she starts bawling. Beloved since it first aired, the moment is such a perfect distillation of how absurd death can be.

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1990-96)
On the eve of his wedding, Will Smith’s fictional counterpart gets the shock of his life. He walks in on his mother and his soon-to-be father-in-law in bed together. He lets out a dramatic wail of utter anguish. But he doesn’t just do that. He cycles through an entire performance piece to show just how shocked, horrified, and devastated he is to have seen his mother in this compromising position. And just when he thinks he’s over it, he’s devastated once again. There’s not a frame of this that isn’t crying out to be made into a GIF.

“Fleabag” (2016-19)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s British dramedy touched on some incredibly powerful stuff. This moment in season two, for instance, highlights what can happen when two sisters come together for a good cause. It’s also about the utter devastation of a horrendous haircut. Fleabag tries, and fails, to talk her sister up after she gets an asymmetrical bob. Her insistence that it’s chic and French is a particularly unhinged highlight. She tries her best to fix the situation, but as usual with this show, there’s something much deeper going on here. But most importantly, it’s just so ridiculously funny.

“Parks and Recreation” (2009-15)
Leslie Knope and the ragtag team of nerds and eccentrics that make up her staff are running a scrappy campaign to put her on the city council. Her stop at a local ice rink proves that there’s still a lot of details to iron out. For example, they realize too late that they didn’t have enough money to get a red carpet long enough to get to the center of the rink. There are so many little touches that make this moment amazing. There’s the awkward silence of the crowd. There’s the pathetic little shuffle they have to do once they hit the ice. The choice of song, “Get On Your Feet,” is perfect because, well, they can’t.

“The Golden Girls” (1985-92)
Rose Nylund’s stories didn’t always thrill her roommates, Dorothy and Blanche. But a flashback episode in the first season reveals that it’s actually one of her infamous stories about her Scandinavian relatives that made them decide to live together. Rose tells the tale between two feuding families, one of whom wanted to train herring for the circus. Each new detail is more insane than the last. Watching Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan try to keep it together while Betty White tells the story with a completely straight face seems to blur the line between acting and reality.

“Seinfeld” (1989-98)
George Costanza’s ploy to impress an old flame goes south in this classic episode. For reasons that could only occur on “Seinfeld,” his date is led to believe he’s a marine biologist. In their booth at Monk’s Café, he tells them how he lived up to his fake career and saved a beached whale. Actor Jason Alexander gives an acting tour de force as he delivers a hammy monologue worthy of “Masterpiece Theater.” According to Jerry Seinfeld, the whale story was a last minute addition to the script. Alexander learned his new lines in mere hours and performed it all in one take.

“The Simpsons” (1989-)
There’s a lot you can say about Homer Simpson. For example, he’s clumsy, he’s selfish, and he’s dim. And this scene is a great example of all those things. After a fire starts in the Simpson house, Ned Flanders is the only one who can rescue an unconscious Homer. Their exit blocked, Flanders lugs Homer upstairs and throws him out a window, using a mattress to cushion his fall. And then Homer just hits the mattress, lets out a hilarious little groan, and bounces back inside the burning home. It’s one of the few times you can see Ned Flanders almost lose a little bit of faith.

“Saturday Night Live” (1975-)
Cast members have broken on “SNL” before, but never this many, in one sketch, and at the same time. Rachel Dratch’s recurring character, Debbie Downer, is the pessimist to end all pessimists. In this sketch from 2004, she completely ruins a family trip to Disney World. But from the moment she flubs a line, the entire cast becomes a giggling mess. No one ever recovers. Horatio Sanz even starts wiping his eyes with the prop pancakes. With each new insane piece of information she drops, Dratch can’t even keep a straight face in her closeups.

“It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)
Part of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s” charm comes from how unhinged and hilariously unredeemable its cast can be. For example, Mac and Dennis try to help Charlie’s romance game by setting up a dating profile for him; unfortunately, setting up his bio is a nightmare. His photo is unflattering, and his answers to the questionnaire make him look like a psycho weirdo. Mac and Dennis spruce up his profile and actually get Charlie a blind date; but between their bad advice and Charlie’s own bumbling, it quickly devolves into an uproarious trainwreck. Honestly, with friends like Mac and Dennis as his wingmen, Charlie’s probably better off alone.

“The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66)
In this now-classic and groundbreaking episode, new father Rob Petrie[b] becomes convinced the hospital switched their baby with one from another couple. He drives himself to distraction over it. He decides to settle it by inviting the other family, the Peters, over for dinner. Immediately, it becomes clear that the babies couldn’t have been switched. The Peters are African American. They accepted Petrie’s invitation just to see the look on his face when he found out. Not only does everyone get a good laugh at Rob’s expense, but it’s a surprisingly meaningful moment, given that it was the early 1960s.

“Roseanne” (1988-97; 2018)
This working class sitcom could always find the funny in the tragic. Even a death in the family suddenly becomes hilarious. When Roseanne and Jackie’s father passes away unexpectedly, they’re saddled with making the arrangements and letting the relatives know. Jackie, who is usually a mess, is doubly distraught. She calls an elderly aunt to give her the news, and the woman’s hearing issues make it a call to remember. Pretty soon, she just starts screaming into the phone as her sister watches in shame. Jackie is all of us when we have to do more than we can handle.

“I Love Lucy” (1951-57)
Lucille Ball is a legend for a reason. With “I Love Lucy,” she and the show’s writers basically invented the playbook that would inspire nearly every sitcom after it. Seeing Lucy Ricardo take on jobs she was terrible at was always a huge draw, but never was it funnier than in this season 2 episode. She and best pal Ethel take jobs in a candy factory. Their last chance to impress their new boss sees them trying, and failing, to keep up at wrapping chocolates as they pass on a conveyor belt. Unable to keep up, they begin to shove the chocolates in their mouths to the roaring laughter of the audience.

What hilarious moment did we miss? Tell us in the comments.

[b]PET-tree https://youtu.be/923eKvTV6Vo?si=Ts6FKAAiwYX9Qe7t&t=47