1.
In this classic cold open from The Office, where Jim pops Dwight’s exercise ball and he falls, the ball was actually expected to slowly deflate (and did so successfully in 13 takes prior!). But on one take, when John Krasinsky stabbed the ball with scissors, it immediately popped, leading to Rainn Wilson immediately falling to the floor. It ended up being funnier that way, and they kept it in. You can even see Phyllis trying not to laugh right afterward and Krasinski running away.
2.
In another scene from The Office, Angela gets angry after Kelly kisses Dwight at a Christmas party and starts throwing ornaments at a brick wall outside. However, when Angela Kinsey, the actor playing Angela, was throwing the ornaments, they wouldn’t break. She decided to go with it, hilariously giving up, screaming, and stomping on them.
3.
On Friends, Ross said the wrong name at the altar because of David Schwimmer’s real-life mistake. In a rehearsal for a different episode, David Schwimmer accidentally called Emily “Rachel,” saying, “Rachel, the taxi’s here” instead of “Emily, the taxi’s here.” Writer Greg Malins says this is the moment he came up with the Rachel/Emily name-switch idea.
4.
A huge Parks and Recreation plotline also happened because of a brief unplanned moment. In the Season 1 finale, after Andy attempted to describe his band’s music to the group, Aubrey Plaza ad-libbed, “I totally get what you mean.” Series creator Michael Schur said, “It was just a tiny, little throwaway thing, but when we saw it, we were like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s something there in the future.’ And then halfway through season two, we had started to pair them up and see what happened.” They ended up working perfectly together, leading to April and Andy being a major couple throughout the series.
5.
Speaking of Parks…the hilarious moment when Ron falls as he’s running to warn Leslie and the others about Ben and Chris coming was accidental. Nick Offerman played it off and kept going with the scene, and it was so funny they decided to keep it in.
6.
In the first “Jersey Floor” skit on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, one hilarious moment sees Rachel Dratch – playing her Jersey Shore alter ego “Drootchie” — fall on a table. The table actually had a trap door, and Dratch accidentally stepped on it, causing her leg to fall through. It was so funny, they kept it in.
7.
This is a small moment, but in one of Supernatural’s Christmas episodes, Dean makes a face after drinking eggnog. It turns out, as a prank, Jared Padalecki had spiked Jensen Ackles’ eggnog with “an entire bottle of rum” — they ended up using the take because they liked how real his reaction was.
8.
One of the most devastating moments for Walt in Breaking Bad was when he kidnapped Holly, and she called out for her mom. This happened organically on set — the child actor was calling out for her real mother, and Bryan Cranston just went with it. The episode’s writer, Moira Walley-Beckett, said, “What was extraordinary was that Bryan went with it. … It broke his heart wide open. It was more than I could ever have hoped for in the writing.”
9.
Lamorne Morris also really did stub his toe in this New Girl scene where Winston and Schmidt circle each other like they’re about to fight. He and Max Greenfield hilariously improvised around it, with Schmidt claiming credit for Winston’s toe pain.
10.
In Schitt’s Creek, Catherine O’Hara called it “a joke or a mistake” the first time she pronounced the word “baby” as “bébé.” It became one of the most hilarious jokes in the series.
11.
The scene in Friends where Chandler bangs his head on the metal drawer (while cuffed in Rachel’s boss’ office) was accidental, and Jennifer Aniston’s reaction was real.
12.
In another Friends episode, Chandler was supposed to say, “Donald Trump wants his blue blazer back,” to mock Joey. However, Matthew Perry accidentally said, “Donald Trump wants his blue blazer black,” and the cast went with it, mocking him. It was so funny they decided to keep it in.
13.
The moving scene in House of The Dragon when Viserys loses his crown and Daemon helps him was unscripted — his crown really did fall, and Matt Smith improvised around it.
14.
Dwayne’s iconic “baby, please!” line in A Different World was actually because Kadeem Hardison forgot his line — he was actually asking costar Jasmine Guy for help. It became one of the most quotable lines of the series.
15.
Victoria Justice struggling to catch the mic in the Victorious opening credits was completely accidental — it was such a naturally funny moment that they kept it in.
16.
In Stranger Things, the hilarious moment where Murray drops his eggs and looks at Jonathan to say “oops” suggestively was a happy accident — Brett Gelman dropped his eggs accidentally and just went with it.
17.
One of Modern Family’s running jokes was the result of a happy accident — Ty Burrell actually tripped while going down the stairs in a Season 1 scene and improvised, “Gotta fix that step!” The trip and ensuing line became one of the show’s longest-running gags.
18.
While no one referenced a specific moment, the cast of Seinfeld has said that Jerry Stiller would frequently forget his lines in the moment or look up while he tried to remember them. No one ever corrected him or had him redo the take because “it would make for some really funny line readings,” according to costar Jason Alexander. Fans have speculated that the below scene was one of such moments.
19.
In this classic Seinfeld scene where Jerry discovers Poppie has peed on his sofa, he didn’t realize Michael Richards was holding an open water bottle. When he grabbed him, the water flew everywhere, including into Jerry’s mouth, causing him to spit it out as he yelled at Kramer, making the funny scene even more hilarious.
20.
One more Seinfeld moment: the car was supposed to start at the end of “The Parking Garage.” It stalling out was a complete coincidence, but it ended up being the perfect end to the episode. You can even see George turning away to hide his laughter at the end of the clip if you look closely.
21.
And finally, since SNL airs live, things often go wrong — like in this Bill Hader skit featuring a man and his young bride attempting to procreate. He wasn’t supposed to back into the table, leading to a hilarious moment where he backs into Melissa Villaseñor and literally pushes the entire table backward, leading to the cast breaking.