# Sitcom wedding or birth without wackiness **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [December 26, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195 "2024-12-26T15:52:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/1 "2024-12-26T15:52:54Z")
Yesterday, I rewatched the episode of Modern Family where Mitch and Cam get married. I started wondering if there’s ever been a sitcom wedding or birth without sitcom wackiness. I assume they exist, I just can’t think of them. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/2 "2024-12-26T17:48:15Z")
> [@Yodalicious](#): > > I started wondering if there’s ever been a sitcom wedding or birth without sitcom wackiness. What would be the point? The purpose of a sitcom is to milk 3-5 laughs (or at least polite chuckles) every minute of screen time, mostly through ‘wackiness’, cutting insults, and misunderstandings. Or, in the case of the yes-they-actually-made-this [“Heil Honey, I’m Home!”](https://youtu.be/Pe6hz84_fgU?si=bKZZ4uTpd936Jc4_), finding the giggles in the madcap schemes of fascist leader and genocidal maniac Adolf Hitler and his boo, Eva Braun. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/3 "2024-12-26T18:06:53Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > What would be the point? True, there probably wouldn’t be much point to a sitcom wedding or birth played straight, which explains why what the OP is asking for is rare. But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be _any_ examples, so I think it’s a reasonable question. After all, some people watch some sitcoms not so much for the laughs as for the “comfort food”—the chance to spend a little time with characters they’ve come to know and love and may even think of as a sort of surrogate family or friends. So for such people I can kind of see the appeal of watching those characters celebrate a happy occasion, even if nothing particularly wacky happens. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/4 "2024-12-26T18:09:50Z")
I could have forgotten, but I don’t recall any wackiness on _Modern Family_ when Haley had her twins. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/5 "2024-12-26T18:21:21Z")
Parks and Rec avoided most of the “everything goes wrong” sitcom tropes when it came to weddings and births: Andy and April - It was a surprise wedding but there wasn’t any real drama behind it. Ron and Diane - Happened in the cold opening at the clerks office Donna’s - The whole joke was that there was NO drama because April did such a good job Ben and Leslie - This was the only one that had a usual “everything goes wrong” plot All the births happened offscreen, except for April and Andy’s, which was all straightforward other than them still being in Halloween costume. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/6 "2024-12-26T19:01:41Z")
I’m not sure if this counts since the whole scene was stupid enough that I know at least one person that gave up on the show after it, but on Grace and Frankie [Mallory had a baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q53gU4fcadA) without it involving all kinds of wacky/contrived problems. The stupid part was that she went into labor and a few minutes later she pulled the baby out of her pants. Like she was walking and it just…fell out of her. But, if memory serves, everything else was ‘normal’. I don’t even think there was some pressing reason within the show for them to do that. Even if they wanted her to have the baby at the house, they could’ve done it on a bed or the floor or something. But other than that, I don’t recall it being an ‘everything goes wrong’ thing. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/7 "2024-12-26T20:26:17Z")
Sideshow Bob’s wedding to Selma was surprisingly wackiness-free. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/8 "2024-12-26T21:12:23Z")
House M.D. had a wedding of Chase and Cameron and it wasn’t wacky. Do I remember correctly? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/9 "2024-12-26T21:15:43Z")
If we’re thinking of the same series, starring Hugh Laurie, I don’t think it’s considered a sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/10 "2024-12-26T21:23:53Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Sideshow Bob’s wedding to Selma was surprisingly wackiness-free. What IS a wedding? Webster’s defines it as ‘the joining of metals with heat.’ ---
**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:** [December 26, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/11 "2024-12-26T22:08:44Z")
“The process of removing weeds from one’s garden” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/12 "2024-12-26T22:23:49Z")
> [@Yodalicious](#): > > Yesterday, I rewatched the episode of Modern Family where Mitch and Cam get married. I started wondering if there’s ever been a sitcom wedding I am not sure if there has even been a _drama_ series wedding without serious complications- usually a last minute cancelation. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > House M.D. had a wedding of Chase and Cameron and it wasn’t wacky. IIRC it lasted like a couple episodes? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/13 "2024-12-26T22:55:02Z")
I think Ted and Georgette’s wedding was serious, not played for laughs: Georgette called him on his continual backing down. The clear implication was that “This is it, Ted”. That’s pretty serious - and Ted agreed and they got married right away. Sure, there were some jokes along the way, to get the wedding done right away in Mary’s apartment, but the fundamental theme was serious: “Do you love me, Ted?” And his answer was “Yes”. I thought it marked a major development in both characters: Georgette showing she wasn’t just a soft ditzy person, and Ted showing that he wasn’t a vain buffoon. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/14 "2024-12-27T01:51:24Z")
_Roseanne_ went in the other direction when Darlene & David’s daughter was born: the baby almost died. It was a pretty serious episode. Come to think of it, I think their wedding was when Dan had a heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/15 "2024-12-27T03:28:22Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > _Roseanne_ went in the other direction when Darlene & David’s daughter was born: the baby almost died. It was a pretty serious episode. The new version “The Connors” had a similar episode with the oldest daughter having her baby premature and the family spending time in the ICU with her and the baby. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/16 "2024-12-27T04:26:57Z")
Niles and Daphne’s weddings (religious and civil) on _Frasier_ were drawn-out, setback-strewn and comical, while the birth of their first child was handled briefly but seriously IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/17 "2024-12-27T19:50:00Z")
If I remember correctly didn’t Coach have Hayden and Christine (I think that’s the characters name) get married? Usual hijinks happen and it ends up with Christine hanging on to a chandelier swinging back and forth. That’s around the time I stopped watching it. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/18 "2024-12-27T23:11:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Niles and Daphne’s weddings (religious and civil) on _Frasier_ were drawn-out, setback-strewn and comical, while the birth of their first child was handled briefly but seriously IIRC. Daphne’s baby was delivered by a veterinarian, which is where everyone ended up after Ronnie’s wedding ring ended up in the pate that Eddie ate. I’d say that ranks at least medium on the wacky scale. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcom-wedding-or-birth-without-wackiness/1012195/19 "2024-12-29T04:02:57Z")
Huh, thanks. I’d forgotten that.