I mean, can you really blame the Golden Girls for cracking up during Betty White’s “herring war” speech?
1.
On Parks and Recreation, when Rob Lowe couldn’t contain his laughter as Adam Scott tried to dial a phone with his face during the whole “the calzones betrayed me” food poisoning scene:
NBC
It’s honestly kind of wild to me how his face is literally in the forefront of the shot as he cracks up and I NEVER noticed it — and plenty of other people didn’t either. In the middle photo, you might mistake his expression as a look of pain, but in the video, it’s clear he’s laughing.
2.
On Arrested Development, when Tobias said Michael was no expert on marriage seeing as his wife was dead, and you could tell Jason Bateman was trying reallyyyy hard not to laugh:
3.
On The Golden Girls, when Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur couldn’t stop laughing while Betty White explained the “herring war”:
NBC
While Dorothy and Blanche’s laughter is in the script, the degree to which Bea seems to be fighting her laughter and Rue is absolutely losing it definitely seems like the actors breaking character.
4.
On Murderville, when Kumail Nanjiani started squawking and Will Arnett almost lost it:
Netflix
Murderville — as an improv comedy — saw plenty of guests breaking character and laughing. But it was rare to see Will Arnett, the main character in every episode, do the same, which is why it was especially funny to see Kumail almost get a laugh out of him.
5.
On The Office, when Michael accused Toby of being the man who flashed Phyllis and asked him to reveal his penis, leading to a VERY uncomfortable silence and John Krasinski just about losing it:
NBC
Krasinksi has broken character many times on the show (though mostly in bloopers), and has even admitted, “I’m the least professional actor you can meet when it comes to breaking. I laugh all the time.”
Let’s take a closer look:
I can’t find the scene on YouTube, but it’s near the beginning of Season 3, Episode 22.
6.
Also on The Office, when Kevin sat on Michael’s lap when he was dressed as Santa and Mindy Kaling got the giggles:
Let’s take a closer look:
7.
Also on The Office, when Idris Elba was trying to hold in the giggles after characters kept interrupting David Wallace:
8.
On Parks and Recreation, when the Eagleton people unveiled their fake park idea and Leslie told them to leave in a demonic voice while Adam Scott struggled to keep a straight face:
NBC
The shot zooms in on Leslie, and you almost miss Adam twisting his mouth to keep from laughing — but not quite.
I can’t find the scene on YouTube, but you can watch the episode (Season 5, Episode 8 — the moment is near the end) on Peacock or check out a snippet of the moment here.
9.
On Will and Grace, when they filmed a live episode and Debra Messing and Sean Hayes couldn’t stop laughing when talking about Jack being a “woman of quality”:
10.
And again when Jack unveiled his missing eyebrow to Grace:
11.
On Seinfeld, at the very end of “The Parking Garage,” when the car wouldn’t start (which wasn’t in the script) and you could see George shaking with laughter:
NBC
It’s reaaalllyyyyy hard to tell, but you can see George shaking slightly as his turns his face further away, and this clip confirms that they were laughing in the shot that made it into the episode.
12.
On Supernatural, when Bela stole from Dean and Sam again, and Dean yelled “SON OF A BITCH!” as Jared Padalecki tried not to laugh:
The CW
Dean’s line was improvised, and you can pretty clearly see Jared starting to laugh.
13.
On The Jamie Foxx Show, during the “Traffic School Daze” episode, when Mark Curry (playing the instructor) slid and almost tripped as he ran toward the front of the room, and a bunch of the actors started laughing:
14.
And in the same episode, when Curry tripped while walking in, then said, “if one of y’all laugh, you ain’t gonna graduate” while Foxx and another actor were clearly laughing:
The WB
There’s also one more moment where Curry’s character suggests an old man looks like Ben Kingsley and Jamie Foxx turns around entirely, most likely because he was laughing. It’s a very funny episode — you can check it out on HBO Max (It’s Season 2, Episode 10).
15.
On That ’70s Show, when Eric imagined everyone in a Three Stooges–style sitcom and Ashton Kutcher kept smiling:
16.
And also when Kelso said he saw a UFO:
17.
Aaand when Kelso hit his legs against the table and kept acting, but Lisa Robin Kelly couldn’t help giggling:
18.
Last That ’70s Show one — when Mila Kunis lost it at Kitty dancing at the strip club:
Fox
You could argue this wasn’t her breaking character, but considering her hiding near the end and the fact that it seems like an exact clip from the bloopers (at 0:25) was used, I think it’s safe to call it a character break.
19.
On Community, when the Dean apologized for payday being pushed back with a rap that turns really intense and then ran out of the room, and Gillian Jacobs looked at the camera and almost laughed:
20.
Also on Community, when Danny Pudi was caught genuinely smiling (something his character does not do) in the pillow vs. blanket war episode:
21.
On Friends, when Ross played the bagpipes and Phoebe started singing, and Jennifer Aniston could not hold it together:
NBC
You can tell from the bloopers there’s even more laughing, but even in the take that made it in, Jennifer is barely holding it together.
22.
And also when Ross played the keyboard:
23.
And finally, on Live in Front of a Studio Audience, when Jamie Foxx flubbed his lines and made the whole cast crack up:
ABC
Honestly, Jamie may have messed up, but he handled this like a professional and made it funny.
What’s your favorite time an actor broke character on a TV show? Let us know in the comments!
