Part of the appeal of sitcoms is how familiar and formulaic they are. Week after week, viewers tune in to see the characters they know and love banter with one another, get stuck in tricky situations, resolve those situations, and sometimes learn a lesson, all with audience laughter, applause, and “aww”ing along the way.
Sometimes, though, sitcoms break that formula. Even if it's just for a fleeting moment or a single joke, the characters step outside their own realities. Sometimes they make jokes about the real-life actors. Sometimes they become suddenly aware they're on a TV show. Either way, it's usually something the audience doesn't expect - and it's usually extremely satisfying.
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In ‘Fresh Prince,’ Jazz Notices The Show Switched The Actress Playing Aunt Viv
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In Season 4 of Fresh Prince, the actress playing Aunt Vivian switched from Janet Hubert to Daphne Maxwell Reid. The show proceeds mostly as normal until Will's friend Jazz arrives and keeps looking at Aunt Viv with a confused expression. When he notes that something seems “different” about her, Will looks straight into the camera.
Great meta-moment? - Photo:
Family Matters took an unexpected turn at the end of one episode. When Carl and Steve embrace and the trademark ABC-sitcom “touching music” plays, both characters look up confused and wonder where that music is coming from.
Great meta-moment?- 3
In ‘Boy Meets World,’ The Characters Rip On ABC For Moving Their Time Slot
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When ABC moved Boy Meets World from an 8:30 pm time slot to 9:30 pm, there just so happened to be an episode where Cory's brother Josh comes to him complaining that his favorite TV show got moved from 8:30 to 9:30, even though he doesn't usually stay up that late. They both agree that “those idiots” must be “trying to kill the show.” Wiiiink.
Great meta-moment? - Photo:
In Season 5 of The Nanny, Lauren Lane, the actress playing C.C., was visibly pregnant in real life. Rather than try to skirt the issue, the show simply called it out. In one scene, C.C. enters holding a huge bag in front of her stomach and launches into a rant about how she was watching a recent Seinfeld episode where Elaine was obviously pregnant and the show kept trying to hide it with huge props. She then picks up a large plant, holds it in front of her stomach, and says, “This needs water,” and walks out.
Great meta-moment?- Photo:
In a Season 11 Frasier episode, Frasier's ex-wife, children's entertainer “Nanny G,” goes on a rant about how sick of her job she is, lamenting, “Do you have any idea what it's like to play the same character for 20 years??”
Kelsey Grammer, after nearly two full decades of portraying Frasier Crane on Cheers and the spinoff Frasier, takes a moment to think about that while the knowing audience breaks into laughter.
Great meta-moment?- Photo:
In Roseanne, two different actresses played the role of Becky Conner, the family's eldest daughter. The show made numerous references to the casting switch, including one episode in which the characters are watching Bewitched, a classic ‘60s sitcom where a main character (Darrin) also switched actors mid-series. When Roseanne comments that she can’t believe they replaced him, Sarah Chalke, playing the “second” Becky, comments that she happens to like the second Darrin much better.
Great meta-moment?
