Dying is easy, Comedy is hard : Top 10 best and funniest sitcom episodes that dealt with the topic of death.
One of the most terrifying realities of life is death, and if there’s one sure thing everyone in the world has in common that sooner or later we’re all gonna experience it and go to a better place. Now, as horrifying as that sounds to all of you reading this, the good news is that what is so scary to us can also be so funny and make it a little easier to accept the nature of death. Nothing does that better than classic sitcoms that have tackled this subject and managed to deal with it with good humor blended with the relatable feelings we all share when it comes to “The D Word”. Everyone grieves in their own way and what really great television has chosen to do is to help us grieve in the best way possible: laughing at the absurdity of death. These are ten sitcoms that made the subject of passing on much more bearable just by making us laugh at it. If you can’t beat the inevitable you sure can laugh at it.
10. Married with Children. “Requiem for a Dead Briard” and “Take my wife, please.”
Married with Children has always been the raunchiest and most irreverent television show ever made, and dealing with death in that special MWC way is no exception. Both episodes dealt with death in hilarious ways but also managed to throw a little poignancy in there, especially when the Bundys lose their beloved dog Buck and Kelly is mourning considerably. Dark humor and a tiny bit of heart, what can be better?
And in Take my wife, please. The absurdity of the subject of death is taken to it’s zenith! Making such a classic and hilarious Halloween episode for the ages.
9. That 70’s Show. “Grandma’s Dead.”
When Red’s mom dies after Eric yells at her as he’s driving her home we get a hilariously funny and deeply moving death centric episode with many hilarious scenes mixed with a genuine heartfelt Foreman family moment makes this one an underrated gem.
8. The Middle. “The Map.”
If anybody knew how to talk about death and make it light hearted and dare I say fun it was The Middle. This scene from The Map is a perfect example of how to blend humor and poignancy in one scene without leaning too heavy on either; It was also just real and identifiable making it even funnier. The show would also do a great job blending poignancy and humor with the subject of death for the rest of the series with great references back to the death napkin and Axl freezing Sue’s head throughout the rest of the series.
7. Seinfeld. “The Invitations.”
Seinfeld was well known for its celebrated mantra “No hugging, no learning.” At its core Seinfeld was all about finding the humor in selfishness, bad behavior and terribly flawed people, but the final scene of the season 7 finale where George’s fiancee Susan dies after licking what turned out to be toxic envelopes takes it to a whole other level with the awkwardly aloof reaction by the gang, especially George who, as the doctor said in the series finale “had a “restrained jubilation.” The scene is so perfectly Seinfeld: Awkward, cold, minutia driven and taking dark humor as far as it could go.
6. Fresh Prince of Bel Air. “Where there’s a Will There’s a Way Part 2.”
This was the season 4 premiere of Fresh Prince which I imagine was a scary one for the cast and crew being the first episode without Janet Hubert Whitten who was so beloved as Aunt Viv, but they found us Daphne Maxwell Reid who ended up being much closer with the cast than Whitten had ever been. Not only did they succeed with the cast change but this two parter became one of Fresh Prince’s most beloved, remembered and funniest episodes in all six seasons and this scene where Hilary’s fiancee Trevor jumps out of a plane to propose and goes SPLAT! Will forever be iconic. The reactions by each of the cast members are hilarious and really sell the tone of the scene. If any scene mastered taking something as morbid as death and making it utterly funny it was this one.
5. The Cosby Show. “Goodbye, Mr. Fish.”
Another unfortunate lost of a beloved pet makes it on our list and send off the Huxtables give to poor Lamont, Rudy’s goldfish is pure comedy gold.
This scene is so hilarious and yet relatable because every child can remember losing his or her pet and then coming up with some bombastic funeral.
4. Barney Miller. “Jack Soo, a Retrospective.”
We’ve spoken about quite a few great sitcom episodes dealing with death so far but this one done by classic cop comedy Barney Miller wins the prize for most original idea ever by choosing to not do an episode about a major character’s death but do a one hour tribute with the actors breaking character and just being themselves talking about the actor(Jack Soo) and his iconic character Sgt. Nick Yemana. We’re treated to many of Jack’s funniest moments as the character of Nick. Creator Danny Arnold came up with this gem because he refused to profit from Jack’s death by doing an episode about the character dying and wanted to just do a tribute to him. Truly spectacular stuff.
In the famous last words of Nick Yemana:
3. Frasier. “Death and The Dog.”
What was all about the depression of Martin’s canine companion Eddie and needing a doggy psychiatrist in the first half, the second half turned into a wonderfully funny, poignant and eerily real conversation amongst the gang about the reality of depression and then death. This scene got pretty heavy in moments but the Frasier writers made sure to include some very funny one liners from all the characters to keep things balanced. Probably the most complex scene ever done on a sitcom and it was pulled off very well.
2. WKRP In Cincinnati. “In Concert.”
Based on the terribly tragic stampede that killed eleven teenagers at the 1979 The Who Concert in Cincinnati. This episode was genius in making the entire first act completely and outrageously bonkers and silly so that the heart wrenching event of the incident for the second act could be appropriately, deadly serious and thoughtful. This is such a perfect example of tackling death with poignancy and hilarity, but in this example they do it separately rather than in the same scenes.
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show. “Chuckles Bites The Dust.”
The Mary Tyler Moore Show gave a lot to television and is considered one of the greatest television shows of all time, and this prolific episode is one of the reasons why. This episode deals exactly what this whole article is all about: Is there only one appropriate way to grieve? In this episode Mary criticizes everyone’s “inappropriate” reactions to the death of WJM’s Chuckles who died comically by an elephant who tried to “shell” him because he was wearing a Peter Peanut costume at the circus parade. At Chuckles’ funeral however Mary starts laughing hysterically as the preacher is speaking about the many comical elements of Chuckles’ death and specifically his motto “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.”
The acting and writing in this scene was pure gold and is so memorable that it earned not only an Emmy for its writer David Lloyd but also the number 1 spot in Tv Guide’s 1997 100 Greatest Tv Episodes of All Time list and then in the 2009 edition it made #3.
The making of this episode is also worth a read:
Thanks for reading, and I hope that this list will help you be able to see how even something as scary and heavy as death can be funny and easier to accept. And when in doubt, remember Chuckles’ powerful words: “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer in your pants.”
’Til next time, folks!”