Five “WTF??” Odd Sitcom Moments

We all love dream sequences. Well, I do anyway. Sometimes the dream sequence is used to give us insight into what a character is going through. Some times it’s used show the torment a character is going through about a situation. And other times it used for a goofy diversion and is only meant for fun. Usually these are lengthy and are no surprise (who doesn’t hear a harp and think of a character on some show going to a dream sequence with that corny ripple dissolve?).


But sometimes the creators will use this device in a very unexpected way, throwing a curve at the viewers. There is no build up or warning, and for a few seconds things get dark! Until the character awakens and we realize we were tricked and it was all a dream. Oh sure we look back and laugh, but the first time around we were creeped out!


Here are five examples of what I mean, in no particular order. There are moments that made us say “WTF”??




“Who’s The Boss?”, Jonathan Kills Tony


Where did this come from? I just don’t get it! Ok, long story short. Jonathan likes a girl but the girl has a crush on Tony. Angered, Jonathan swears he wont forgive Tony. He explains why he is upset to Sam without giving who the guy is away (obviously she’d be on her father’s side). Sam suggests that he takes a rock and go all Sam and Goliath on him. We see Tony go out to talk to Jonathan, and (with no edit) he finds Jonathan holding a sling shot at him. Tony tells him not to do that, when Jonathan fires it! Right between the eyes, and Tony falls. Jonathan laughs until he realizes he killed Tony. Scared he is tries to get Tony to wake up…..when he is finally woken up from his bad dream by Tony. They made up, but seriously…what the hell was that about???






“The Big Bang Theory”, Sheldon turns into Gollum

So Leonard, Howard, Sheldon, and Raj have found a genuine Lord of the Ring ring, a prop from the movie I mean. They are fighting over who should get possession of it. They decide whoever holds onto it the longest, wins. At one point Sheldon wakes up to find Howard and Raj have let go (by falling alseep). He has won, and rushes into the bathroom to clean the ring. As he cleans, his voice changes. When Sheldon looks into the mirror, he has turned into Gollum! He screams…and truly wakes up.  Cute homage, and I wonder how annoying it must be to sit through make-up like that for what amounts to a fifteen second scene. They kind of did the same trick with Sheldon using a time machine they had bought to actually go back in time…only to be attacked by monsters. But that one wasn’t as good.






“Mad About You”, Paul turns into a monster

I can’t lie, while the Who’s The Boss? one was dark, this kind of scared me. It’s hard to explian but I’ll do my best. Paul and Jamie take a trip upstate where they discover that some fudge at a gift shop makes them horny. So, they have sex like jack rabbits. When they get home, Jamie no longer gets the feeling from the fudge though Paul seems to still be in the mood. Really in the mood, he tries to get something going but Jamie is not into it. A few hours later, Jamie hears a strange noise and tries to wake Paul up. When he turns and has become a blue monster! He lunges at her with the Psycho music…..and Jamie wakes up. What the hell was that about? Symbolism? Maybe I’m just naive, but I still don’t get the ending to that episode.






“Seinfeld”, Jerry gunned down over illegal cable

Oh you all saw this one coming. This is one you know that someone had a lot of fun thinking up. We find Jerry in his apartment, trying to get a signal on antenna (I have gone over how dated that is). Kramer is insisting that Jerry should get illegal cable from Russian’s, and Jerry isn’t sure. I never understood why Jerry couldn’t get legal cable, but whatever. Jerry finally let’s Kramer let the Russian guys install it while he was away on a gig. We cut to Jerry coming home from that trip to find FBI in his house. They have discovered his illegal cable. Jerry insists it was the Russian guy…who appears speaking perfect English and saying he was an undercover agent. Jerry then flees, and is instantly gunned down as Kramer watches in horror! Jerry dies, and Kramer cradles him asking what they did to “his little cable boy”. Then Jerry wakes up on the plane, of course it was all a dream. Memorable moment in a  forgettable episode.






NewsRadio  “Daydream”
These moments last for a few seconds, a minute at best. Hey, how about a whole episode with this kind of setup? Only NewsRadio would do that, and it’s a good episode. Due to a heating problem everyone in the staff keep having their minds wander to bizarre daydream’s. Everyone is a trick to the audience, though of course by the end of the episode we’re not being fooled anymore but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun. The dream’s are : Bill making out with Beth, Catherine, and Lisa; Beth seeing small versions of Matthew and Matthew as Freddy Kruger; Joe imagining the cast are androids who obey his will; Catherine fantasizes there are employees of other ethnic backgrounds besides white working there; Lisa finally gets the last word with Dave; and Dave gets great ideas at the meeting. We also see the donut guy imagine he was friends with the group. Hey, how come Matthew doesn’t get any daydream’s? Oh wait, Bill’s make-out with Catherine was in Matthew’s head. Ok, sure.


But the surrealist moment is the final scene. In an homage to St.Elsewhere, we Jimmy James leaves the group and suddenly there’s a flash to an apartment with a very blue collar Dave and Lisa. Jimmy is staring at a snow globe, and Dave wonders what he sees in there. What he sees is WNYX. Eerie ending which kind of gave me a chill the first time I saw it.








I’m sure there are more, will be back with them if I think of them. Can you guys come up with any?