10 Funniest ’90s Sitcom Moments That Broke the Fourth Wall
The 1990s was a golden era for sitcoms that featured no shortage of laugh tracks, zany characters, and unforgettable catchphrases. But now and again, these series gave a subtle wink and nod to viewers. These fourth wall breaks made for some of the funniest and most unforgettable moments in the series.
Whether it was a direct glance and address towards the audience, a full-blown meta-moment, or a sly reference to the switch or absence of a cast member, these clever moments reminded audiences that the characters knew they were being watched. This additional layer of self-awareness made characters seem more alive. This list will revisit six of the best fourth wall breaks in 90s sitcoms.
10
Cory’s Sister Morgan Acknowledges The Longest Timeout She’s Ever Had
‘Boy Meets World,’ Season 4, Episode 59
Boy Meets World is a coming-of-age sitcom series that follows the life of Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) as he navigates the complicated ups and downs of adolescence, personal and romantic relationships, and school life as he progresses from childhood into adulthood. Along the way, Cory is accompanied by his best friend Shawn (Rider Strong), romantic interest and later girlfriend Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), wise teacher and neighbor Mr. Feeney (William Daniels) and his family, which includes his parents, older brother, and younger sister Morgan (Lily Nicksay).
However, Nicksay did not have a permanent role as Cory’s younger sister. Towards the end of season two, Nicksay became disillusioned with acting and chose to leave the series. It wasn’t until episode 14 of season 3 that Morgan was recast as Lindsay Ridgeway. Naturally, Morgan’s absence during this time was highly irregular within the context of the series, and the show did little to address it. That is, until Ridgeway made her debut appearance and commented that she’d been upstairs the whole time for what was the “longest timeout” she’s ever had. In a series that was renowned for tackling mature topics and offering deep life lessons, Boy Meets World never shied away from a great joke, and this sly acknowledgment remains a testament to that.
9
Clarissa Explains How the Family Got Stuck Without TV
‘Clarissa Explains It All,’ Season 1, Episode 3 “No T.V.”
Clarissa Explains It All is a teen sitcom series that centers on Clarissa Darling (Melissa Joan Hart), a teenager who addresses the audience directly about the events in her life. Clarissa Explains It All tackles a variety of topics related to the experiences of adolescence, including dating, pimples, school, and obnoxious younger siblings. Clarissa Explains It All is credited as being the first Nickelodeon series to feature a female lead.
Fourth wall breaks are an essential element of Clarissa Explains It All as Hart frequently looks directly into the camera to explain to the audiences what’s going on in a variety of situations throughout the series. One of the most memorable fourth wall breaks occurs in “No T.V.” while the family struggles to figure out ways to pass the time. Clarissa breaks the fourth wall to explain that a Star Wars-esque war between her and her brother over control of the TV led to her mother taking away television privileges for the whole family.
- Release Date
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1991 – 1993
- Network
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Nickelodeon
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Elizabeth Hess
Janet Darling
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Jason Zimbler
Ferguson Darling
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Melissa Joan Hart
Clarissa Darling
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8
Carl and Steve Notice ABC’s Sentimental Music While Hugging
‘Family Matters,’ Season 2, Episode 24
Family Matters is a classic 90s sitcom that follows the life of police officer Carl Winslow (Reginald Veljohnson), his family, which includes his children, his wife Harriet (Jo Marie Payton), his mom, a sister-in-law, and most memorably, his neighbor Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), who’s convinced he’s part of the family. This popular sitcom ran for a whopping 9 seasons, Family Matters is one of the most impacting Black sitcoms in history, and remains the second-longest-running sitcom in history.
Family Matters is a series chock-full of humorous moments, and Steve Urkel remains one of the most memorable characters in sitcom history. With a slew of classic episodes and memorable jokes, it’s no surprise the series also had its own fourth-wall-breaking moment. At the end of “The Good, The Bad, and the Urkel,” Steve and Urkel embrace in one of many touching moments in the series, but as they do, ABC’s classic sentimental music plays in the background. The two characters take a pause, and raise their eyebrows in confusion as they stop to ask where the music is coming from.
7
The Michigan Woman Who Tried to Cancel Married… With Children
‘Married… With Childern,’ Season 9, Episode 192
Married… With Children was a smash-hit sitcom based in Chicago that followed the life of the Bundy family. Al (Ed O’Neill) is a former high school football player turned misanthropic women’s shoe salesman and his wife, Peggy (Katey Sagal), is self-indulgent and lazy. Together they take care of their two scheming kids, Kelly (Christina Applegate) and Bud (David Faustino). Married… With Children subverted the American family trope with crude humor and shameless irreverence.
Married… With Children was an enormously successful series due to its irreverent humor and unapologetic style. A few years earlier, anti-obscenity activist Terry Rakolta attempted to boycott and shut the series down by writing to the series sponsors about the episode “Her Cup Runneth Over”, which featured Steve purchasing a bra for Peggy, and Al ogling at a naked model in a department store. Rakolta’s attempts at getting the series canceled ended up having the opposite effect as it drove more viewers to tune in. This moment was referenced at the end of the season 9 episode “No Pot to Pease In” by Marcy, who came into the Bundy’s house and let them know that the in-series sitcom based on their lives was being canceled because “some woman in Michigan didn’t like it.” This hilarious moment in the series is one of the most meta fourth wall breaks in TV given that the characters are discussing a fictional series based on their own lives within the context of a real life sitcom that depict their fictional lives.
6
Fran Gets Married to Sheffield as a Gift to the Fans
‘The Nanny,’ Season 4, Episode 11
Fran Fine’s (Fran Drescher) life is in a downward spiral after losing her job and getting dumped by her boyfriend. But everything turns around for her when she lands a job working for wealthy widower Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) as The Nanny to his three children in this hit sitcom series. The Nanny was an enormous international success that spawned a slew of foreign adaptations.
Over the course of the series, the energetic and unapologetically honest Fran wins over Mr. Sheffield and the rest of his family. Her warmth, sharp sense of humor, and New York charisma are ultimately the perfect match for Mr. Sheffield’s English conservatism. Although the two characters end up together, a great deal of the series depicts their slowly blossoming romance. In the 11th episode of season 4, Fran and Sheffield reminisce about different moments, before Fran tells him about her “favorite memory”, which then cuts to them getting married. Of course, at this point, the two characters were still in the initial moments of their romance. Sheffield reminds Fran that this never happened. Before following him upstairs, Fran looks directly at the camera and, with a playful smile, lets the audience know she through that one in their for us.
- Release Date
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1993 – 1998
- Network
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CBS
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Charles Shaughnessy
Maxwell Sheffield
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The Rain Man / Blitzen (voice)
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5
The Simpsons Take a Playful Jab at the Fox Channel
‘The Simpsons,’ Season 4, Episode 9
The Simpsons is the longest-running animated comedy series. It follows the lives of an oafish father, Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), his caring and patient wife, Marge (Julie Kavner), their troublemaker son Bart (Nancy Cartwright), brilliant daughter Lisa (Yeardley Smith), and their enigmatic speechless baby, Maggie (Nancy Cartwright). The Simpsons remains one of the most popular and influential sitcoms in history, and has enjoyed recent popularity due to a string of predictions from the series that have come true.
The Simpsons are no stranger to meta-commentary. Many of the jokes address the audience or reference real life events in a tongue-in-cheek manner. This is an integral part of the series, and it’s part of what’s made it so successful for so many years. One of the most memorable fourth wall breaks in the series takes place in season 4’s “Mr. Plow” while the family’s watching television past 3 am, waiting for a commercial Homer paid for. When the commercial finally comes on, Homer says “It may be on a lousy channel, but The Simpsons are on TV.”
4
Will Wonders Why the Banks Family Doesn’t Own a Roof If They’re So Rich
‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,’ Season 5, Episode 12
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air follows the life of Will Smith, who gets sent to live with his affluent Aunt Viv (Vivian Banks) and Uncle Phil (Philip Banks) in their palatial home in Bel-Air after getting into a fight back home in Philly. Smith shares the household with the Banks children, which include the goofy but lovable Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro), Hilary (Karyn Parsons), Ashley (Tatyana Ali) and butler Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell).
The Fresh Prince remains one of the most beloved 90s sitcoms of all time. It’s one of the greatest sitcoms to star a musician, and it’s filled with a plethora of memorable episodes. It’s also a series that wasn’t afraid to address the audience. In season 5’s “Same Game, Next Season”, the Banks family comes into the house arguing about money before Phil reminds the kids that they’re rich. Will watches the family joyfully walk off-screen before wondering out loud, and to the audience, why it is that such a rich family can’t afford a roof. The camera then pans up to reveal the studio lights and dark ceiling of the soundstage.
3
Bemoaning Their Lack of a Grammy Win and Proceeds to have an Episode of Plot Twists
‘The Drew Carey Show,’ Season 5, Episode 26
Drew Carey plays a fictionalized, “everyman” version of himself in the beloved 90s sitcom series, The Drew Carey Show. The series revolves around Drew’s personal life and his experiences at the retail office he works at. Drew has a group of friends who are featured alongside him, which include the intelligent but lethargic Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and the goofy but loyal Oswald (Diedrich Bader).
Before breaking TV barriers on The Price is Right, Drew Carey ran the popular sitcom series The Drew Carey Show. In the season 5 finale, “A Very Special Drew”, Drew opens the series by speaking directly into the camera and lamenting to the audience that the series has yet to win an Emmy Award. Although Drew is disappointed by this fact, he expresses that he’s not fond of shows that overdo it in an attempt to appeal to the Emmys. Despite this, the rest of the show includes a series of over-the-top melodrama that includes Drew and Lewis delivering an emergency baby, and Kate falling into a coma (Christa Miller).
- Release Date
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1995 – 2004-00-00
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-
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Kathy Kinney
Mimi Bobeck Carey
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Ryan Stiles
Lewis Kiniski
2
Tia and Tamara Explain Their Situation
‘Sister, Sister,’ Season 1, Episode 1
Sister, Sister is a sitcom series that follows the lives of Tia Landry (Tia Mowry) and Tamera Campbell (Tamera Mowry), two twin sisters who were separated at birth and ran into each other while shopping at the same clothing store years later. Tamera’s father, Ray Campbell (Tim Reid), invites Tia and her mother to come live with them to give the girls the opportunity to grow up together.
The first episode of Sister, Sister opens with Tia and Tamera hanging out in their shared bedroom while watching Friday, the 13th, when Ray comes in to tell the girls to go to sleep. After Ray leaves, Tia and Tamera get together and speak directly into the camera to explain how it was that the two twins were separated and eventually found each other. Sister, Sister was an incredible series that did a phenomenal job of portraying the wholesomeness of the 90s, and it features a plethora of fourth wall breaks, with this one being the first.
1
Becky’s Actor Swap Is Subtly Called out by None Other than Becky Herself
‘Roseanne,’ Season 6, Episode 9
Roseanne is a television sitcom series that follows the lives of the Conners, a working-class American family that consists of Dan (John Goodman), Roseanne (Roseanne Barr), and their children, Becky (Sarah Chalke), Darlene (Sarah Gilbert), and D.J. (Michael Fishman). The Conners live in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois, and the series follows their lives as they struggle to get by on their limited income.
“Homecoming” marked Chalke’s first appearance as the second Becky in Roseanne. This sudden actor swap was subtly referenced at the end of the episode while the Conners sat around watching an episode of Bewitched, a series that also famously switched a main character (Darrin) with another actor. Roseanne mentions her shock at the showrunners blatantly switching the characters, to which Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) replies that the showrunners knew they could get away with anything. In a wink to the audience, Becky mentions that she likes the “second Darrin much better”, acknowledging her new role as the second Becky, a switch that left much of the audience ultimately dissatisfied.
