# Times they show you the 4th wall **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 27, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462 "2024-03-27T15:57:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/21 "2024-03-27T20:34:12Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m trying to remember some 90’s sitcom where a character was having a dream sequence. He made some comment about “why does my house look so weird” and the camera panned over to show the fourth wall. Yes, I remember this too, I’m pretty sure we’re both thinking of this episode of Growing Pains. The synopsis reads: “Ben is punished for taking the car without asking. He dreams his life is a TV sitcom called “Meet the Seavers” and that he is really an actor named Jeremy Miller.” > **[Meet the Seavers](https://growing-pains.fandom.com/wiki/Meet_the_Seavers)** > > Meet the Seavers is episode 21 of Season 6 of Growing Pains Ben is punished for taking the car without asking. He dreams his' life is a TV sitcom called "Meet the Seavers" and that he is really an actor named Jeremy Miller. The rest of... ---
**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:** [March 27, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/22 "2024-03-27T20:41:15Z")
Does no one remember _Moonlighting_? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pmFyxY2CXyw/hqdefault.jpg "Moonlighting S.5-A Womb With A View-the beginning(great dancescenes)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmFyxY2CXyw) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/23 "2024-03-27T20:47:53Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Does no one remember _Moonlighting_? Someone in the fourth post did. ---
**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 27, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/24 "2024-03-27T20:48:35Z")
The opening credits and music of “Roseanne,” the camera panned all the way around the kitchen table showing the fourth wall. The final episode of “I Married Dora,” blew the fourth wall off an airport concourse. I think we may have seen the Forman’s living room fourth wall once (That ‘70’s Show). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/25 "2024-03-27T20:50:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > We are looking for times where they actually show the wall that is supposed to be there? In that case, Star Trek. The bridge was build what they call “wild”, so camera angles could be made from any position. One shot is taken from what would be the viewscreen, the next taken looking at the viewscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/26 "2024-03-27T20:51:58Z")
The Dungeons and Dragons movie had a few shots where the “camera” starts off over a door, leaning down, to look through it upside-down, and then tilts up to follow a person as they walk through. So you end up seeing all interior walls of the room. (I put “camera” in scare quotes because I suspect that those shots were actually CGI, but they could have been a real, physical camera) ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/27 "2024-03-27T21:06:54Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I think we may have seen the Forman’s living room fourth wall once (That ‘70’s Show). Also, when the kids did “the circle,” the camera would typically be mounted in the center of the group and do a 360. ---
**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 27, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/28 "2024-03-27T21:11:46Z")
Much better example; I musta been high when I _didn’t_ think of it. 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/29 "2024-03-27T23:47:51Z")
Another one from TBBT, when Amy gave Penny that creepy portrait of the two of them together, Penny hung it on the fourth wall. At least once or twice in the series we got to see it hanging there. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/30 "2024-03-27T23:59:33Z")
There was an episode of “Yes, Dear” where they did a bit about rearranging the furniture and every time they tried to put something along the 4th wall all the characters complained that something wasn’t right. I don’t recall if they ever actually showed any of that furniture or wall art ON the wall. ---
**Author:** ![GrunthosTheFlatulent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grunthostheflatulent/32/21319_2.png) [@GrunthosTheFlatulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrunthosTheFlatulent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/31 "2024-03-28T00:09:02Z")
I vaguely remember an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air where Carlton was so upset about something he ran off the set and through the studio audience. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/32 "2024-03-28T00:10:43Z")
The cheesy wood paneling in the Bundy’s living room makes sense for the time and scenario, but I just never pictured it that way (those awful curtains are perfect, though). I know there’s the wood paneling in the back area by the sliding glass door, but I guess I just imagined the bad wallpaper from the stairs went all the way around the living room. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/33 "2024-03-28T12:47:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > The cheesy wood paneling in the Bundy’s living room makes sense for the time and scenario, but I just never pictured it that way (those awful curtains are perfect, though). Yeah, that viewpoint is pretty jarring. [![](https://i.ibb.co/HHBK1G8/IMG-1792.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/HHBK1G8/IMG-1792.png) ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/34 "2024-03-28T13:03:35Z")
If memory serves, the pilot episode of _Cheers_, or one super-early in the run, did that. It’s been years since I saw it, but I remember Coach on the phone (“Is there an Ernie Pantuso here?” “That’s you, Coach!” “Speaking!”) and there’s a sudden, jarring cut from an angle up behind the bar. I saw a rerun the pilot long after I’d started watching the show and it was a bizarre and unrepeated moment. There’s also the final season of _The Drew Carey Show_, the year when ABC had cancelled the show, but the production company still had contracts to fulfil, so they shot the shows and dumped them all (two a week, maybe?) until they were done. The show had always had Special Episodes that were experimental and fourth-wall-breaking (in the usual sense of the term), but for that final stretch they also built full sets and shot a bunch of it like it was a single-camera show rather than a 3-camera sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/35 "2024-03-28T13:17:08Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > In that shot, the camera is “in” the closet and we’re looking back at what should be the audience. It’s messing with my head though. The slanted window is to our left, so isn’t that bookcase where the door should be? ---
**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 28, 2024, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/36 "2024-03-28T13:42:06Z")
There is an ep of That 70s Show where Kitty takes someone on a tour of the house and it’s all from the camera’s POV. You get to see the living room from different angles and get to see that fourth wall. It’s a really nicely done scene that was aired during one of the weaker seasons of the show. [Tour of Forman House](https://youtu.be/UYJ5xPKGkxo?si=Cb_sllb6JjLJTW7I) I couldn’t embed it for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/37 "2024-03-28T13:58:51Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I couldn’t embed it for some reason. There’s been a bug in Discourse for quite a while now that makes embedding difficult. Basically, you have to add the link right at the end, and then hit the post button quickly, before it gets a chance to show the embedded video in the preview pane. ---
**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 28, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/38 "2024-03-28T14:00:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There’s been a bug in Discourse for quite a while now that makes embedding difficult. Basically, you have to add the link right at the end, and then hit the post button quickly, before it gets a chance to show the embedded video in the preview pane. Good to know, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/39 "2024-03-28T14:02:04Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Good to know, thanks. Easier to just close the preview pane before you write the post. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462/40 "2024-03-28T14:03:32Z")
The Irish sitcom _Mrs Brown’s Boys_ is always doing it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wKRZBJZeAHs/hqdefault.jpg "Mrs. Brown's Broken Window - Mrs. Brown's Boys Episode 6, preview - BBC One") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKRZBJZeAHs) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RS1ka1j0sV0/hqdefault.jpg "Mrs. Brown's Handbag - Mrs. Brown's Boys Episode 1, preview - BBC One") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS1ka1j0sV0) As is Miranda Hart’s eponymous show on the BBC: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-they-show-you-the-4th-wall/999462.md?page=3)