The Most Surprisingly Violent Moments In Sitcoms
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Sitcoms don't generally feature content that can be deemed violent. Although many comedy shows have special episodes that revolve around serious subject matter, it's rare to see something truly scary or brutal happen. However, there have been a surprisingly significant amount of times when funny shows have been violent.
The violence in question ranges from bloody fights, people getting harassed, or moments where characters have shockingly been killed off. What makes these episodes so unsettling is the way the shows carry on without touching on the heaviness of the matter.
With that in mind, take a look at the times when sitcoms surprised viewers with painful scenes that were more graphic than the norm.
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In the series finale episode “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” M*A*S*H delivers the most harrowing revelation in its 12-season run. Hawkeye is being treated by a psychiatrist who makes him recount a close encounter with enemy patrol.
Hawkeye remembers instructing a refugee in his caravan to silence her chicken to avoid getting spotted by the enemy. Throughout his story, however, Hawkeye becomes increasingly agitated. Eventually, he admits that the woman smothered the chicken, although remembering this detail shatters Hawkeye. When pressed further, he recalls that the chicken was just a false memory - it was actually a baby.
Under Hawkeye's pressure, the mother had ended up smothering her own child. Hawkeye was so distraught by this that he blocked out essential details from the event.
The fact that this was the final episode left viewers feeling just as shocked as Hawkeye since they got to see the terrifying horrors of war.
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All in the Family frequently drew from heavy subject matter, although it's technically a sitcom. In the episode “Edith's 50th Birthday,” the show confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that it was willing to depict just about anything.
While everyone is at the other house waiting to surprise Edith for her birthday, she receives a guest at her door. The man turns out to be a criminal and begins to harass her. The show portrays it all in painful detail, as the man puts his hands on Edith.
It's an uncomfortably long scene that involves the man threatening Edith while continuing his assault. She manages to free herself and attack him, following which the episode focuses on Edith finding the courage to report the man to the authorities.
All in the Family had dealt with serious topics before, but nobody could have predicted an all-out display of such a terrifying ordeal to play out onscreen.
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Ted Lasso is famously known as a feel-good show that keeps happy spirits up for the most part. The episode “Goodbye Earl” goes against type, so far that the life of an innocent animal comes to an end.
During a football game, Dani takes a penalty kick, and his shot is intercepted by AFC Richmond's greyhound mascot, Earl. The ball hits the dog in the head so hard that it passes away, much to Dani's horror.
Unable to get over the passing of an animal, Dani blames himself and loses his confidence, prompting a season-long storyline of him addressing the resulting anxiety. But just like Dani, viewers will find it hard to get over the poor dog's demise.
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As a network sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine seldom features cursing nor violence. Because of this, most of the action is pretty tame, and blood is rarely seen.
The sitcom foregoes its rule in the episode “Adrian Pimento,” where the titular character (played by Jason Mantzoukas) takes everyone by surprise. Pimento is an officer who spent 12 years working undercover for a mobster. In order to maintain his cover, Pimento engaged in several acts of necessary evil.
While recounting the things he was forced to do, a cutaway footage suddenly appears where Pimento is violently assaulting a victim. The show goes further by cutting away once more - this time, Pimento bashes a man with a fire extinguisher to the point where his face is drenched in blood.
The main characters' stunned reactions mirror what the audience is feeling at the moment, as Pimento casually calls this a funny story.
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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is often goofy, but the seminal sitcom also knows when to turn on the serious switch. At times, it gets far darker than usual. In the episode “Where There's a Will, There's a Way (Part 2),” the show deliberately makes fun of a horrific demise.
Hilary's boyfriend, Trevor, decides to propose through a grand gesture. He asks her to watch the news where he prepares to bungee jump, intending to pop the question on the way down.
Tragically, Trevor never makes it because his head gets smacked as he's falling, killing him instantly. Rather than react appropriately, the show has all the characters behave humorously and awkwardly. Their reactions are played for laughs, as nobody can believe what's happened.
For a brief moment, it seems as if it's all just a joke, only for the show to confirm that Trevor actually did die. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air frequently flirted with the idea of death, but this was the first time it went all in, and it's all for a gag.
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Many of Michael Scott's antics in The Office wouldn't fly today. But even back when the episode “Koi Pond” was released, one of Michael's misguided pranks was too dark to air.
In the opening of the episode, the characters are hosting a Halloween party for kids in a warehouse. Initially, it seems as if the joke is how awfully prepared everyone is and the way none of the kids are scared. However, it turns out to be a setup for a dark gag.
Just when the kids are bored, Michael's body drops into view - he's shown hanging from the ceiling, gagging for breath. Everyone understandably reacts with horror, only for Michael to laugh it off and reveal that it's fake. When he realizes it didn't work, Michael makes light of the act of taking one's own life and jokes about it, all the while still hanging from the ceiling.
The episode's intro only aired once, following which it was pulled from all outlets; it doesn't show up in reruns or DVDs.
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Denholm Reynholm is as kooky a character as it gets. After behaving as the wacky boss in The IT Crowd's first season, Denholm shockingly drops out of the show - literally.
In his final appearance in the episode “Return of the Golden Child,” Denholm is informed that the police are here to talk to him about “financial irregularities” in his pension fund. Knowing he's been busted for corruption, Denholm calmly excuses himself, walks over to the window, and promptly plummets to his demise.
The IT Crowd leaves a long pause to let the bizarre situation sink in, as it's hard to believe a character would cause their own demise so casually. The show is known for its off-beat humor, although nothing could have prepared viewers for such a demise.
The shock of someone claiming their own life is never treated as a serious topic either, and the show continues to joke about it during Denholm's funeral.
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In the episode "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops," the main characters arrange a wrestling show, allegedly to support the army. They initially hire a wrestler called Da' Maniac to fight one of them. However, upon realizing that Da' Maniac might really be crazy, they get their frequent target, “Rickety Cricket,” to fight him instead.
When the show begins, though, the gang learns that Da' Maniac has been arrested. Frank decides to fight Cricket while portraying a character known as The Trashman. In his zealousness, Frank gets too caught up and bashes Cricket with a trashcan, causing the latter to bleed profusely from the neck.
Although he's initially concerned for Cricket, Frank forgets about him when the crowds starts cheering for him. Cricket is a victim of many of the gang's exploits, but this was the first time viewers saw severe blood loss for the character (if there was any left).
Watching him totally ignored while nursing what looks like a potentially fatal injury leaves no doubt that the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast aren't supposed to be good people.
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The addition of Steve Urkel turned Family Matters into a bonkers show where the craziest of things happened each week. Still, nobody predicted the lovable nerd to turn into a killer, much less one as a ventriloquist dummy.
In the Halloween episode, “Stevil,” Steve's lookalike dummy comes alive and wreaks havoc. The doll targets each member of the Winslow household, doling out various punishments.
Certain characters are dismembered, some are turned into toys themselves, and Carl is turned into a dummy used by the Steve dummy. The show retains its humorous tone throughout, but there's a series of freaky imagery on display. It can get scary for younger audiences, who might be taken by surprise at the family's torture. Fortunately, it's all revealed to be Steve's dream.
Family Matters's wacky style really goes out of hand in this episode, which remains creepy to watch decades later.
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Charlie Harper is killed off after Two and a Half Men's eighth season, although his body is never seen. The series finale retcons his demise, explaining that he's been trapped in a pit by his ex-wife Rose for four years.
After escaping, Charlie threatens his brother, Alan, and Walden, the man who's bought his house, intending to get some misguided revenge. Following several instances where the duo is scared by Charlie's threats, the latter seems to decide against it.
Charlie walks up to the front door and rings the bell, only for a piano being airlifted above the house to fall on him. Not only is Charlie killed on the spot, but this serves as the final shot of the entire series - except for creator Chuck Lorre breaking the fourth wall for a moment before he's “killed” by another piano.
Two and a Half Men was never a heartwarming show to begin with. Still, ending 12 seasons' worth of storytelling in a violent manner was surprising for most viewers.
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Seinfeld is a darker sitcom than most, and the gang does plenty of messed up things. Still, an outright death, with zero response from the characters, is out there even by the show's standards.
In the episode "The Invitations," George and Susan pick out their wedding envelopes. Cheap as ever, George goes for the ones that are so low-quality that they have to be licked to be pasted together.
Unfortunately for Susan, she doesn't realize that the adhesive on the envelopes is poisonous. She continues to lick the envelopes despite becoming progressively weaker before eventually keeling over and dying.
After George discovers her body and takes her to the hospital, Susan is pronounced dead. Rather than grieve, George demonstrates “restrained jubilation” because he's gotten out of a marriage he never wanted to be a part of. Moreover, none of George's friends even care and they all head out to get coffee mere seconds after learning of Susan's passing.
This dark, abrupt ending to the George/Susan storyline was the show's solution after cast members complained they just weren't getting along with the actress, Heidi Swedberg, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss joked, “don't you want to just kill her?”
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In Arrested Development's second season premiere "The One Where Michael Leaves," Buster is signed up to enlist as a soldier in the Iraq War by his mother, Lucille. She comes to regret this decision and worries about him. Buster also learns his uncle is actually his real father, which causes him to resent his mother and put up an act of defiance.
Unbeknownst to Buster, his older brother Gob has released a seal with a taste for human flesh. This comes back to literally bite Buster, as he decides to jump in the ocean and swim to antagonize his mother. When someone yells “loose seal,” he misinterprets it as “Lucille" and refuses to escape.
Unfortunately for Buster, the seal bites off his entire hand. He wears a prosthetic for the remainder of the series. Although the circumstances behind losing his hand are funny, Buster's fate is rather extreme, given Arrested Development's status as a sitcom.
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It isn't every day when a show's episode centers around someone's severed finger, yet the Superstore episode “Back to Work" does just that.
When no one is working at the deli counter, Amy asks Marcus to accompany him for the time being. His enthusiasm with the meat slicer comes back to haunt him, as Marcus notices he's nicked himself. However, the nick in question is a complete severing of his thumb. Amy then places it in a guacamole container to keep it cool so they can get it reattached.
The remainder of the episode surrounds all the Cloud 9 employees' attempts to locate the thumb after it continues to go missing. The gag is uncharacteristically gory for Superstore, as the thumb is even seen in a pool of blood and has shots focusing on it. The casual way with which the whole thing is treated is also weird since Superstore usually has things work out eventually - not in this case, though.
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The Slap Bet is the longest-running gag in How I Met Your Mother. It involves Marshall slapping Barney whenever he wants to after the latter loses a bet. In the last episode revolving around this gag, “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra,” Marshall fabricates an elaborate tale to torment Barney for his impending slap.
Marshall recounts how he learned the art of slapping from masters in China. After a series of tests, the final master gives him his endorsement but begins to choke. Marshall slaps his back, only for the master's heart to fly out of his throat.
It's a visual gag that's meant to be funny, but is also weirdly gruesome for How I Met Your Mother's standards. The heart in question looks fake, yet can easily catch people by surprise since few expect someone to throw up their own heart.
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In many ways, Married…With Children is the anti-family sitcom because it eschews the usual themes of family values and feel-good sentiment in favor of the Bundy family's ill-mannered antics.
The episode “You Better Watch Out” has the darkest turn for the Bundys, who make light of someone's death. During Christmas, a mall Santa's attempt to parachute fails and he falls in the family's backyard. For the remainder of the episode, the family treats his corpse right outside the door as little more than a minor inconvenience.
While their friends are appropriately traumatized by what they've witnessed, the Bundys make jokes about the man's death and casually have their dinner. Even when the man's body is being hauled around by the coroner and his assistants, the characters shrug it off and go about their day.
Married…with Children excels at dark comedy, so this episode has its own charm. However, the fact that the series chose to make fun of a tragic accident shows how far it takes its grim humor.
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In the episode “Comparative Religion,” Shirley invites her friends from the study group to celebrate Christmas together. She's disconcerted to learn that none of the others are Christian, either following different faiths or no religion at all. She still invites them to celebrate, since the holiday has great significance to her. Then, Jeff arranges a fight between himself and a man who bullied Abed, causing Shirley to rescind his invitation because she finds the idea of fighting on “Christmas” (even a symbolic party on December 10th) inappropriate.
After her friends make her see that she should be open to others' beliefs, Shirley finds Jeff refusing to fight the bully out of respect for her. When the bully attacks him anyway, Shirley asks Jeff to fight back, causing their friends to hit back at the bully and his gang.
The episode turns into a full-on battle, as everyone destroys the campus decorations to use them as weapons. At one point, Shirley wields a candy cane against a man who pleads not to hurt him on Christmas, for her to respond with the meme-able line, “It's December 10th!”
Community had kept its comedy restricted to witty one-liners or slapstick comedy before this episode. Though it's an incredibly beloved installment, it's also far more aggressive than the show tends to be.
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