Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments

The series finale episode, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” concludes M*A*S*H.M*A*S*H appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.M*A*S*H delivers the most shocking reveal in its 12 seasons. A psychiatrist treats Hawkeye, who recalls meeting an enemy patrol.

Hawkeye recalls telling a refugee in his caravan to silence her chicken to avoid enemy spotting. Hawkeye grows agitated. He admits the woman smothered the chicken, but remembering this detail shatters Hawkeye. When pressed, he recalls the chicken was just a false memory; it was actually a baby.baby appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.The item is a period.

Under pressure from Hawkeye, the mother smothered her own child. Hawkeye felt so distressed by this he blocked out event details.

This final episode left viewers shocked, just like Hawkeye, because they saw the terrible war horrors.

All in the Family appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.All in the Family frequently used heavy subjects, even though it is a sitcom. In “Edith's 50th Birthday,” the show showed it would depict almost anything.

Everyone waits at another house for Edith's birthday surprise. A criminal shows up and harasses her. The show shows this in painful detail as the man touches Edith.

A long scene shows the man threatening Edith while continuing the assault. She escapes and attacks him. Then, the episode focuses on Edith finding the guts to report the man to the police.

All in the Family appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.All in the Family had handled serious topics before. Nobody could have predicted such a terrifying ordeal playing out on screen.

Ted Lasso is in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.Ted Lasso is famous for keeping spirits high mostly. The episode “Goodbye Earl” goes against this, ending the life of an innocent animal.

During a football game, Dani takes a penalty kick. AFC Richmond's greyhound mascot, Earl, intercepts the shot. The ball hits the dog's head hard, killing it, which horrifies Dani.

Unable to accept the animal's death, Dani blames himself and loses confidence. This starts a season-long story about him dealing with the resulting anxiety. Viewers will also struggle to move past the poor dog's end.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is often silly. The sitcom also knows when to get serious. Sometimes, it gets much darker. In “Where There's a Will, There's a Way (Part 2),” the show makes fun of a terrible death.

Hilary's boyfriend, Trevor, plans a grand proposal. He asks her to watch the news while he prepares to bungee jump, intending to ask her on the way down.

Trevor dies instantly when his head gets smacked while falling. The show has all the characters act funny and awkward instead of reacting right. They play their reactions for laughs because nobody believes what happened.

For a second, it seems like a joke. Then the show confirms Trevor actually died.The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.Trevor often flirted with death. This time, he went all in, all for a gag.

As a network sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.Brooklyn Nine-Nine is on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.Brooklyn Nine-Nine seldom uses curses or violence. Most action stays tame; blood appears rarely.

The sitcom breaks its rule in the episode “Adrian Pimento.” The main character, played by Jason Mantzoukas, surprises everyone. Pimento is an officer who worked undercover for a mobster for 12 years. To keep his cover, Pimento did several bad things.

While talking about what he was forced to do, a cutaway shows Pimento violently attacking a victim. The show cuts again. This time, Pimento hits a man with a fire extinguisher, soaking his face in blood.

The main characters' shocked looks match the audience's feelings. Pimento calls this a funny story.

Many of Michael Scott's antics in The Office appear on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.The Office appears on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.These stunts wouldn't work now. Even when the episode “Koi Pond” aired, one of Michael's bad pranks was too dark to show.

The episode opens with characters hosting a Halloween party for kids in a warehouse. At first, the joke seems to be how ready everyone is and how scared the kids aren't. It turns out to be a setup for a dark gag.

Just as the kids get bored, Michael's body appears. He is shown hanging from the ceiling, gasping for air. Everyone reacts with horror. Michael laughs it off and says it is fake. When he sees it failed, Michael makes light of taking his own life and jokes about it while still hanging.

The episode's intro aired once. Then, all outlets pulled it. It does not appear in reruns or DVDs.

Denholm Reynholm is very strange. After acting as the wacky boss inThe IT Crowd appears on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.In the first season, Denholm shockingly leaves the show—literally.

In his last appearance in “Return of the Golden Child,” Denholm learns the police are there about “financial irregularities” in his pension fund. Knowing he was caught for corruption, Denholm calmly leaves, walks to the window, and falls to his death.

The IT Crowd appears on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.The show lets a long pause sink in; viewers find it hard to believe a character would end their own life so casually. The show uses off-beat humor, but nothing prepared viewers for that death.

The show treats someone claiming their own death as a joke; the show jokes about it during Denholm's funeral.

In "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops," the main characters set up a wrestling show, supposedly to back the army. They first hire a wrestler named Da' Maniac to fight one of them. Realizing Da' Maniac might be insane, they have their regular target, “Rickety Cricket,” fight him instead.

The gang learns Da' Maniac was arrested. Frank decides to fight Cricket while playing The Trashman. Frank gets too zealous and hits Cricket with a trashcan, causing Cricket to bleed heavily from the neck.

Frank forgets about Cricket when the crowds cheer for him, even though he was initially worried about him. Cricket suffers many gang exploits, but this was the first time viewers saw serious blood loss for the character (if any remained).

Watching him ignored while nursing what looks like a fatal injury proves the It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaThe cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is not supposed to be good people.

Adding Steve Urkel turned Family Mattersinto a crazy show where the wildest things happened weekly. Nobody predicted the lovable nerd would become a killer, let alone a ventriloquist dummy.

In the Halloween episode, “Stevil,” Steve's lookalike dummy comes alive and causes chaos. The doll attacks every member of the Winslow household, giving out different punishments.

Certain characters get cut up, some become toys, and Carl becomes a dummy used by the Steve dummy. The show keeps its funny tone, but there is a series of weird images. This can scare younger viewers who might be shocked by the family's torture. Luckily, it all turns out to be Steve's dream.

Family Matters'swacky style goes too far in this episode, which remains creepy to watch decades later.

SeinfeldSeinfeld is a darker sitcom than most; the gang does plenty ofmessed up thingsStill, an outright death, with no reaction from the characters, happens even by the show's standards.

In "The Invitations," George and Susan choose their wedding envelopes. George picks the ones so cheap they must be licked to stick together.

For Susan, the adhesive on the envelopes is poisonous; she keeps licking them even as she weakens, eventually collapsing and dying.

George finds Susan's body and takes her to the hospital. Doctors pronounce Susan dead. George shows 'restrained jubilation' instead of grieving. George escaped a marriage he never wanted.

This dark, abrupt end to the George/Susan plot was the show's fix after cast members complained.Cast members just weren't getting along with actress Heidi Swedberg.Julia Louis-Dreyfuss joked, “don't you want to just kill her?”

Charlie Harper dies after an event.Two and a Half MenThe eighth season ends with Charlie's body unseen. The series finale changes the story, stating Charlie was trapped by his ex-wife Rose for four years.

After escaping, Charlie threatens his brother Alan and Walden, who bought his house, seeking revenge. Charlie's threats scare the duo, causing them to back down.

Charlie rings the front door bell. A piano is airlifted over the house and falls on him. The act kills Charlie instantly.This shot closes the entire series. Chuck Lorre breaks the fourth wall for a moment before another piano 'kills' him.This is the final shot of the series. Creator Chuck Lorre breaks the fourth wall before another piano 'kills' him.

Two and a Half MenTwo and a Half Men was never a heartwarming show. Still, ending twelve seasons of storytelling violently surprised most viewers.

An episode centering on a severed finger happens. This is not common.The Superstore episode “Back to Work” does this.During “Back to Work,” no one works at the deli counter. Amy asks Marcus to help. Marcus notices he cut himself with the meat slicer; he severed his thumb.

When no one works the deli counter, Amy asks Marcus to stay with him. Marcus's enthusiasm with the meat slicer brings trouble; he sees he nicked himself. The cut severs his thumb. Amy puts the nick in a guacamole container to cool it while they get it fixed.

The rest of the episode shows Cloud 9 employees trying to find the thumb; it keeps disappearing. The gag is unusually gory for Superstore.SuperstoreThe thumb appears in blood and shots focus on it in Superstore. The casual handling of this situation is odd since Superstore usually resolves things.SuperstoreSuperstore usually fixes things, but this time it did not.

In Arrested DevelopmentArrested Development'sThe second season premiere, “The One Where Michael Leaves,” Lucille signs Buster up for the Iraq War. She regrets the decision and worries about him. Buster learns his uncle is his real father, making him resent his mother and act defiant.

Buster did not know his older brother Gob released a seal that wanted human flesh. The seal bit Buster because he jumped in the ocean to annoy his mother. Someone yelled “loose seal,” and Buster thought it meant “Lucille,” so he refused to get out.

The seal bit off Buster's entire hand. Buster wears a prosthetic for the rest of the series. The story behind losing his hand is funny, but Buster's situation is extreme.Arrested Development appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.It is a sitcom.

In many ways, Arrested Development fits this list.Married…With Children is on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.This anti-family sitcom avoids typical family values and feel-good feelings. It focuses on the Bundy family's rude antics.

The episode “You Better Watch Out” shows the darkest side for the Bundys. They joke about someone's death. During Christmas, a mall Santa's parachute jump fails, and he lands in the family's backyard. The family treats his corpse outside the door as a small problem for the rest of the episode.

Friends are shocked by what they saw. The Bundys make jokes about the man's death and eat dinner casually. Even as the coroner and assistants move the body, the characters shrug it off and continue their day.

Married…with Children is on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.This episode excels at dark comedy, giving it its own charm. The series choosing to mock a sad accident shows how far its grim humor goes.

In “Comparative Religion,” Shirley invites study group friends to celebrate Christmas. She learns none of them are Christian, following different faiths or no religion. Shirley still invites them because the holiday matters to her. Jeff arranges a fight between himself and the man who bullied Abed, so Shirley cancels the invitation because fighting on “Christmas” (even a symbolic party on December 10th) seems wrong.

After her friends show Shirley she must accept others' beliefs, Shirley sees Jeff refusing to fight the bully out of respect for her. When the bully attacks Jeff anyway, Shirley tells Jeff to fight back, causing their friends to hit the bully and his gang.

The episode becomes a full battle. Everyone destroys campus decorations to use them as weapons. Shirley uses a candy cane against a man pleading not to hurt him on Christmas. She responds with the line, “It's December 10th!”

Community appears in the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.Before this episode, Community kept its comedy to witty one-liners or slapstick. This installment is very popular, but it is also much more aggressive than the show usually is.

The Slap Bet is the longest-running gag in How I Met Your Mother.How I Met Your Mother is on the list of Most Surprisingly Violent Sitcom Moments.Marshall slaps Barney whenever Barney loses a bet. In the episode "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra," Marshall tells a big story to annoy Barney about his upcoming slap.

Marshall learned slapping from Chinese masters. After tests, the final master gave him his endorsement, then began to choke. Marshall slapped his back; the master's heart flew out of his throat.

This is a visual joke. It is funny but also strangely gruesome for...How I Met Your MotherThe heart looks fake. Yet, it can surprise people because few expect someone to throw up their own heart.