# Best Fourth-Wall Breaking Moments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840 "2021-03-13T18:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/121 "2021-03-24T15:24:43Z")
“I Married Dora”. Post #18. Clip included at no extra charge. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/122 "2021-03-24T15:28:54Z")
Comic strips break the fourth wall all the time; my favorite: Calvin (no Hobbes) goes out into the winter cold all bundled up. Second panel, he’s wrinkling his nose. Third panel, he looks directly at us and says, _Don’t you hate it when your boogers freeze?_ ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/123 "2021-03-24T15:43:35Z")
One among hundreds from BBC radio’s “The Goon Show”: SEAGOON: Eccles, stand on my shoulders and pull me up. ECCLES: I’d like to see them try this on television! ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/124 "2021-03-24T16:05:02Z")
CBS had a short-lived sitcom called _Love and War_ in the early 90s. Starred Susan Dey and Jay Thomas. I only remember it for one of my favorite actors, the delightful Suzie Plakson. One of the show’s gimmicks was to have the characters pause in the midst of a scene to turn to the camera and offer commentary. It wasn’t very good, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/125 "2021-03-24T19:10:56Z")
That was the gimmick on _Saved by the Bell_, but only Zack had the power. Most of the time he’d just offer commentary, but at least once he used it to [escape assault](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO2SirSH7Rg). ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/126 "2021-03-24T20:22:37Z")
First one I thought of is still my favorite. It’s from Mel Brooks. Shame no one remembers the late great Marty Feldman ☹ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WNxy7uNEAzE/maxresdefault.jpg "Young Frankenstein - Damn Your Eyes! Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNxy7uNEAzE) ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/127 "2021-03-25T14:52:58Z")
I don’t believe there is surveillance taking place in that scene except within Harry’s mind. If a camera had been there he’d have found it. I think Coppola was using it to show the illusory nature of privacy. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/128 "2021-03-25T14:57:58Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > First one I thought of is still my favorite. It’s from Mel Brooks. Shame no one remembers the late great Marty Feldman ☹ > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNxy7uNEAzE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNxy7uNEAzE) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4a7Ge_sy7Zw/maxresdefault.jpg "Marty Feldman Eyes (with apologies to Kim Carnes) Written and performed by Tom Bergeron") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a7Ge_sy7Zw) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/129 "2021-03-27T18:17:33Z")
Okay, I have a new favorite: [the whole of _The Unbelievable Gwenpool_ issue 17](https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/The-Unbelievable-Gwenpool/Issue-17?id=114693). ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/130 "2021-03-27T18:38:50Z")
Re: The Garry Shandling Show theme, it still sticks in my head even now! “This is the theme of Garry’s show The opening theme of Garry’s show This is the music that you hear As you watch the cred-its” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/131 "2021-03-27T19:48:22Z")
Burt Reynolds kind of saves the way, way over the top ending to the already way over the top stuntman romp [Hooper](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077696/) by winking at the audience. He was telling the audience that they weren’t expected to buy into it, it was intended to be ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/132 "2021-03-27T20:36:03Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > There’s a similar gag in _Road to Bali_ , where Bob Hope says “He [Bing Crosby] is gonna sing, folks. Now’s the time to go out and get the popcorn.” In that same movie Hope escapes from an octopus or something impossibly, and IIRC, looks at the camera and says “don’t even ask.” And Dorothy Lamour is mentioned in the Road to Morocco song. The road pictures were full of these. > [@Grrr](#): > > Galavant: “We’re not gonna die yet, we still got three episodes left”. Heck, the song that opened the second season was all about how amazing it was that they got renewed. That’s the thing that hooked me. And one big one is at the end of Journey to Bable on TOS where McCoy looks at the camera and says “I finally got the last word.” ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/133 "2021-03-28T12:15:07Z")
There’s a British sitcom called [Mrs. Brown’s Boys](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1819022/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) where they frequently break the fourth wall. During the opening, they show the set, basically 3 sitcom style sets next to each other on a stage, Kitchen, Living Room and Pub. In the first show, the scene is in the Pub, and Mrs. Brown says “I forgot my purse” and walks over to the Living Room set, straight through the fourth wall, grabs the purse, and sits back down in the Pub set. They continue those sorts of things throughout the series, showing a cameraman behind a window, saying “I bet you sh\*t yourself when you saw that in the script” when an actor was stumbling over a tongue twisting line. My favorite was when there was a “touching moment” where the audience reacts with a sad “awwww” and Mrs. Brown, played by comedian Brendan O’Carroll, gestures at himself and says “Guy in a dress…” to remind us to not take the show seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/134 "2021-03-30T13:35:49Z")
Another one from The Young Ones. The band Madness is playing Our House and fighting breaks out. One of the guys runs up and smacks the camera with a saxophone. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LjvlkErrw_M/hqdefault.jpg "Madness - Our House (on the Young Ones).") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjvlkErrw_M) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/135 "2021-03-30T14:13:26Z")
I watched the original Coming to America last night, which has a couple of goodies. One is from Soul Glo boyfriend Darrell, at the moment when skanky lil’ sis says, “The first thing we need to do is get you out of these wet clothes!” He looks right at the camera and his expression says, “Yeah, I know…” or possibly, “Help!” The other one comes from the MacDowell family’s cute little white dog, who also looks right at the camera, expressing basically, “Did you see all that?” Actually, every reaction shot of the dog slays me. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/136 "2021-03-30T14:16:59Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Another one from The Young Ones. The band Madness is playing Our House and fighting breaks out. One of the guys runs up and smacks the camera with a saxophone. Another classic. Seriously The Young Ones clearly and objectively the correct answer to the OP 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/137 "2021-03-30T14:52:35Z")
The YouTube algorithm (“all hail the mighty algorithm!”) decided I needed to see this compilation of 4th wall breaking scenes from Magnum PI, and so now I share it with you: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nh8WMwOraBc/maxresdefault.jpg "Tom Selleck Magnum PI Fourth Wall Compilation HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh8WMwOraBc) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/138 "2021-03-30T15:08:56Z")
Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but Rocky and Bullwinkle frequently broke through the fourth wall and mangled it. In one episode the Bad Guys kidnap the narrator and tie him up. My favorite moment, though, is in “Greenpernt Oggle” \* Rocky and Bullwinkle are tied to a stake and a fire is kindled. ABC, who was running the show, reportedly didn’t like it. Not only were they burning the heroes at the stake, it also suggested (to them) cannibalism. Producer Jay ward pointed out that Rocky and Bullwinkle weren’t – you know – human beings. So ABC relented. But The narrator (William Conrad) commented on the scene “While the network-approved flames crept higher and higher…” \*To explain the title would take way too much time and spoil too many jokes. > **[Greenpernt Oogle](https://rockyandbullwinkle.fandom.com/wiki/Greenpernt_Oogle)** > > Greenpernt Oogle is the third story arc from the second season of Rocky and His Friends. It was broadcast on ABC during the 1960-61 television season on Thursdays, concurrently with Upsidaisium on Sundays. Bullwinkle is kidnapped and taken to the... ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/139 "2021-03-30T17:32:21Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > First one I thought of is still my favorite. It’s from Mel Brooks. Shame no one remembers the late great Marty Feldman ☹ I do remember him well, and my favorite 4th wall breaking is also from Young Frankenstein. Marty’s comment in the end of the clip after Dr. Frankenstein “accepts” failure with quiet, dignity and grace… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mcME99zuWAk/maxresdefault.jpg "Young Frankenstein - Quiet Dignity And Grace") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcME99zuWAk) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840/140 "2021-03-30T21:59:07Z")
In one of the “People’s Almanac” or “Book of Lists” books by the Wallechinsky/Wallace family, there was a thumbnail biography of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. He once was performing an opera not along after one of his homes had been robbed, and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry had been stolen. I can’t remember what the opera was, but it contained the line, “Your beautiful eyes have robbed me of my jewels”. After singing this line, Caruso turned to the audience, and gave “an expressive Italian shrug”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-wall-breaking-moments/937840.md?page=8)