# Funniest SitCom Scene of all time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754 "2002-10-31T20:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/101 "2002-11-03T08:18:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > \*\* > The most hilarious sitcom scene that immediately comes to my mind is from “Roseanne”, where Roseanne’s sister, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) is on the phone with an elderly, deaf aunt, trying to tell her that their dad has died. \*\* Yes, Yes, Yes!!! I was just telling someone about this scene this weekend before I read this post. I have met a lot of celebrities in my life, but I always swore that if and when I ever meet Laurie Metcalf, I would tell her this was one of the funniest moments I have ever seen on television. Another great one was the episode of Golden Girls where Rose surprises Dorothy with a birthday party at a “Chuckie Cheese” type of restaurant. Many episodes of Frazier come to mind, but the entire episode at the chalet with mixed sexual signals was a classic. Vitameganvetiman. Chocolate factory. Eggs in the shirt. (the fact you only have to say the words let’s you know they were classics) ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/102 "2002-11-03T09:13:32Z")
On _Barney Miller_, when Detective Yemana inadvertently eats pot brownies. “Hey Barn, wanna go down to the beach and shoot some clams?” ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/103 "2002-11-03T16:34:29Z")
**Dad’s Army** is full of looks and hints one of the best lines though was when the squad encounter a German officer who has somehow ended up in England(can’t remember how - shot down maybe ?) It turns out he is a Nazi fanatic and starts immediately making lists of everyone who offends him with the implicit threat that it entails. He demands the names of his captors, “You, vot iss your name ?”, German officer stares threateningly at an easily intimidated young man. “Don’t tell him Pike !” blurts out the bumbling commanding officer. Pikes reaction to the fact that he is now on a Nazi death list is wonderful too. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/104 "2002-11-03T17:57:24Z")
Two dancing moments from British TV: 1. Jim Royle and Twiggy dancing whilst decorating in the Rorle Family 2. David Brent dancing in the office and David Brent being “let go” on comic relief day, standing up from behind his desk to reveal that he is “riding” an ostrich. ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/105 "2002-11-04T02:34:52Z")
Vitameatavegemin, DMark. I’m not sure I have the spelling exactly right either, but it’s something very close to that, at least. It contains vitamins, meat, vegetables and minerals, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/106 "2002-11-04T03:10:09Z")
The ‘flying’ turkeys episode from **WKRP** is the best. “Pinedale Mall bombed by turkeys. Film at eleven” Two really good ones from **Soap** : The scene is Peter Campbell’s \ wake. Danny attends the service disguised as a rabbi. Someone asks what a rabbi is doing at an Episcopalian wake. Danny replies “I came by the funeral home and felt so much grief calling out to me. Protestant grief, Catholic grief, Jewish grief. . . It’s all GRIEF to me” The other, Jody hides Bob in the refrigerator one morning. Chuck is obviously distraught, he tries to use various breakfast items as a substitute. Then Burt opens the refrigerator door, shuts it very quickly. The look that Burt then gives us is priceless.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/107 "2002-11-04T04:20:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OrganicMatter \* > \*\*There is a _Cheers_ episode where Cliff is selling mail order shoes that squeak. In one scene, there is a prank from the people at Gary’s Olde Towne Tavern where everyone is led to believe there are rats in the bar. Everyone gets up to leave and the sound of the shoes all squeaking is so beautifully done that I can hear the sound in my head as I type this. Wordless humor. \*\* My all time favorite too. Isn’t there a scene where Cliff is handing out the shoes and everone tries them on and walks around squeaking and looking at their feet? Genius. This makes me which I still had a tv. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/108 "2002-11-04T13:46:21Z")
One from \*\* Carol Burnett \*\* when John Byner was the guest: A saloon and someone tells Byner to dance. He proceeds to do a great tap dance, then goes into a whole routine with all the saloon cowboys that includes a ceiling shot of them lying on the floor in a circle and doing some fancy legwork. The routine goes on for about 10 minutes. I’ve only seen this scene once, but I’ll remember it till I die. And of course, Carol on the top of the staircase in the curtain dress: “I saw it in a window and I just couldn’t resist.” ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/109 "2002-11-04T14:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*That episode gets my vote, funniest thing I ever saw on TV. There was also this exchange, paraphrased from memory: > > Roseanne: Gee, is he really doing _that_? But he’s so young! > Dan: Maybe he’s gifted… > > I don’t think I ever laughed so hard at anything from TV. \*\* Another here in agreement of that Roseanne episode. I’ll drop anything I’m doing to watch that rerun when it comes on. Some other moments from that ep that slay me: Dan is talking about something like how guys wear their shirts outside their pants and use books to cover up “accidental pop-ups” in school. Jackie is amazed: “Jeez, do you think that happened when _we_ were in school?” Dan: (totally sarcastic) “Uh no, Jackie, this must be a new problem.” Someone asks what happened to DJ at school. Darlene: “DJ got caught playing with his instrument in band.” DJ: “I’m not in band, stupid.” After Roseanne and Dan explain to DJ that while everyone does _it_, nobody talks about _it_. Later DJ is seen running up the stairs, Roseanne asks him where he’s going. DJ: “You told me not to talk about it.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/110 "2002-11-04T14:52:35Z")
I recently saw the 1992 episode of \*\* Seinfeld \*\* where Elaine is trying to get her boyfriend named Joel Rifkin (same name as the serial killer) to change his name. As she looks through a football book, she says “You could be Dion. Seems like half of these guys are named Dion. Oh wait…you could be O.J.” That line is about a million times funnier now than when it was written. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/111 "2002-11-04T15:21:46Z")
Everybody: “Norm!” Coach: “How’s it going, Norm?” Norm: “It’s a dog-eat-dog world and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.” Best. Line. Ever. (Even though, the “Best. (blank). Ever.” line is easily the most quoted/paraphrased sitcom line I can think about.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/112 "2002-11-04T15:42:50Z")
Sammy Davis Jr. gives Archie Bunker a big kiss. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/113 "2002-11-04T16:29:07Z")
1. Okay, the most hilarious thing I have _ever_ seen on the small screen is from a show that nobody watched. _Late Line_. We didn’t have cable and we were waiting for some other show. Al Franken, wearing Buddy Holly glasses, played a news anchor – the one that always got the really late night slot rather than prime time. He wanted to do an “exposé” on the dangers of air bags. A crew was going to film an airbag hitting a crash dummy. While Al Franken was sitting in the car talking to the video crew, a malicious co-worker pushed the button that triggered the airbag. Smack! The funny part though, was that the video crew, had been rolling and had it all on film. So they edited it into this continuous highspeed loop – then passed it out to everyone at the network for a good laugh. That video loop with Al Franken getting hit by the air bag at highspeed, over and over, going smacksmacksmacksmacksmacksmack made us cry! _I cannot describe how funny it was. We actually tried to e-mail the network to get a copy of it._ 1. Has no one mentioned **Niles and Frasier open a restaurant!!** They take over a restaurant whose chef specialized in an eel dish. Every time either Frasier or Niles passes the table that holds the cherries jubilee, they add more brandy to it, trying to be all the more extravagant. The kitchen staff abandons the restaurant, Niles is chopping at the water of the eel tank with a cleaver to kill the eel. Daphne just reaches into the tank, grabs it by the tail and swings it like a bat - BANG! onto the chopping block. “There. It’s dead.” Roz, trying to help, runs offscreen into the dinning room to light the brandy of the cherries jubilee – FOOM! – comes back in blackened by smoke, and explaining: “Bright blue flash. Cherries everywhere.” 1. _Cheers_: Frederick’s first word… “Norm!” ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/114 "2002-11-04T16:48:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Charmian \* > \*\*2) Has no one mentioned **Niles and Frasier open a restaurant!!** They take over a restaurant whose chef specialized in an eel dish. Every time either Frasier or Niles passes the table that holds the cherries jubilee, they add more brandy to it, trying to be all the more extravagant. > > The kitchen staff abandons the restaurant, Niles is chopping at the water of the eel tank with a cleaver to kill the eel. Daphne just reaches into the tank, grabs it by the tail and swings it like a bat - BANG! onto the chopping block. “There. It’s dead.” Roz, trying to help, runs offscreen into the dinning room to light the brandy of the cherries jubilee – FOOM! – comes back in blackened by smoke, and explaining: “Bright blue flash. Cherries everywhere.” \*\* You forgot the scene where Fraisier brings back a chicken dish and tells Niles that it’s Chicken Piccata and was supposed to be Chicken Marsala (or the other way around). Niles throws the piece of chicken backwards over his shoulder to Daphne, who catches it one-handed, rinses it off in the dishwashing sink, throws it back to Niles, who also nimbly catches it and then douses it in the correct sauce and re-plates it for Frasier. Pee-your-pants funny. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/115 "2002-11-04T16:48:47Z")
Let’s see… **News Radio** —Jimmy James runs for president. What I like most about that character is the way he answers questions with a bomb but acts like it was an ordinary answer. He’s giving a press conference, and Lisa is struggling with the notion of putting him on the spot and it tests her loyalty. Lisa: Mr. James, could you explain the contributions you made to the Nixon administration during the Watergate hearings? JJ: I was Deep Throat. Lisa: Mr. James, you can’t be Deep Throat! JJ: Well then I challenge the real Deep Throat to come forward and dispute my claim. (2 second pause) BOOM! He’s me! Next question? **All in the Family** —Archie is in the hospital and his nurse is a Jamaican woman. He of course has conniptions about this, and she decides to bait and hook him for revenge. A doctor tells Archie he needs a blood transfusion but they don’t have his blood type in stock. The nurse says “We have a donor, doctor.” Archie says, “Who?” and she smiles at him. Archie throws another conniption, saying that his white hemoglobins won’t mix with her black shemoglobins. She tells him, “Not to worry my dear. Everything be just fine. But I must tell you one thing: After de anesthetic, when you wake up, you gonna get this straaaaange cravin’ for WATERMELON!” OT: I remember reading in the _Book of Lists_ about an Englishman who laughed to death. He was watching a comedy on TV where the characters were inventing a new type of self defense they called “Icky Thump” IIRC. He laughed so hard he had a heart attack and died. His wife later wrote the show and thanked them for making her husband’s last moments so happy. Do any British Dopers know what I’m talking about and have you seen the episode? I don’t remember the name of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/116 "2002-11-04T17:10:34Z")
The episode of “Amos & Andy” where Algonquin J. Calhoun (known as ‘Cow-hoon’ to the Lodge Brothers) has to pretend to be the Kingfish. The real Kingfish has worked out a code to let Cow-hoon how to answer any questions that the visitor might ask. Needless to say, it doesn’t work, and all hell breaks loose. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/117 "2002-11-04T17:24:52Z")
Another Frasier moment. Niles and Maris are thinking about having a baby, so to get in the right frame of mind, Niles starts carrying a bag of flour around. As the episode unfolds, horrible things keep happening to the bag (Niles, sets it too close to the fireplace and it begins to smolder, Eddie starts tearing at it, etc.) At one point Niles says “Last night I dreamed kidnappers had taken the bag and were mailing me muffins with ransom notes.” And a Cheers moment. Sam and Dianne’s wedding: Woody: Miss Chambers, telephone! Dianne: I’m a little busy right now, Woody. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/118 "2002-11-04T18:05:14Z")
From the once-good-but-horribly-awful-by-the-time-it-ended _Mad About You_: Jamie (Helen Hunt) is trying to play a word-association game with Paul (Reiser) to figure out their latest marital issue . Paul: “White.” Jamie: “Black.” Paul: “Cat.” Jamie: “Dog.” Paul: “Pants.” Jamie: “Pants?” Paul: (Imitating a dog with his tongue out) “A dog - Pants!” Jamie: “Okay, shoes.” Paul: “Alabama.” Jamie: “What’s the matter with you?!” ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/119 "2002-11-04T20:35:03Z")
Fraisier moment - Niles thinks that Maris is cheating on him - in the big scene at the end, first Niles confronts the _other man_ and then the two “talk.” But the other guy doesn’t speak English, Niles doesn’t speak German, and the discussion filters from Niles, to Frasier, who translates from english to spanish, to the maid who translates from spanish to german, and then to the guy. And back. This leads to a in a fencing duel around the house. Much funnier when you watch it than when I try and describe it. And from **Sports Night** , Natalie trying to scare Dan out of writer’s block.try and describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Fifteen\_Iguana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Fifteen\_Iguana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fifteen_Iguana)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754/120 "2002-11-06T05:17:56Z")
I’m not a big Frasier fan but on a plane trip once I saw the episode where the station brings in a focus group to listen to Fraiser’s show. Everyone loves it except one guy, a newsstand owner played by Tony SHaloub (now Monk). Naturally Frasier becomes obsessed with the guy and winds up interrogating him at this stand while Niles and Martin wait across the street. Some hilarious accidents occur and the funniest part is Niles narrating them to Martin who can’t be bothered to look. “I think Frasier broke the man’s wrist.” “Uh huh.” “Now he’s set fire to the newsstand.” (pause) “Uh huh.” Vicar of Dibley wasn’t great but it had its moments. When the elderly woman who cooked so badly (“the Dibley poisoner makes her rounds”) is dying she reveals to the vicar that she her family have been playing Easter bunny in the village for generations and makes the vicar promise to go out early easter morning and deliver eggs. Problem is the senile old woman made half the village make the same promise and there they all meet, wearing bunny costumes… MASH: THere was an episode where a Korean orphanage has to stay at the MASH. THere is a priceless scene in which Potter is reading the kids a bedtime story. Except it is the manual for cleaning a rifle. They sit in wide-eyed fascination… Barney Miller: Yemada gets mad, tells everyone off and stalks out. Wojo: I can’t believe it. He hardly ever says more than two words. Harris: I think he just said two words. Or the time Harris and Dietrich come back and Harris is FURIOUS, just outraged, while D insists its nothing. “You know what he did?” Harris roars. “He SAVED MY LIFE!” Now he is in debt to Dietrich and he hates it. “Hey,” said Dietrich. “It’s nothing. You would have done the same thing for me. Right?” Silence. “I’m going to have to insist on an answer to that.” Harris makes several attempts to pay him back with gifts and finally offers cash. D. calmly names a figure and Harris writes out a check. Dietrich smiles and takes the check off toward the men’s room. Oh, and let’s not forget Levitt. Miller: I didn’t know you knew sign language. Levitt: Oh, yes sir. My sister is deaf. M: Oh, I’m sorry. L: Thank you sir. I’m sure she appreciates your pity. or: “I’ll be down stairs in a pool of blood if you need me.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funniest-sitcom-scene-of-all-time/134754.md?page=7)