The1990swas a golden era forsitcomsthat 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 thefunniest and most unforgettable momentsin 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 ofself-awareness made characters seem more alive. This list will revisit six of the best fourth wall breaks in 90s sitcoms.
10Cory’s Sister Morgan Acknowledges The Longest Timeout She’s Ever Had
‘Boy Meets World,’ Season 4, Episode 59
Boy Meets Worldis 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 asLindsay 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 Ridgewaymade 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 fortackling mature topics and offering deep life lessons,Boy Meets Worldnever shied away from a great joke, and this sly acknowledgment remains a testament to that.
Boy Meets World
9Clarissa Explains How the Family Got Stuck Without TV
‘Clarissa Explains It All,’ Season 1, Episode 3 “No T.V.”
Clarissa Explains It Allis 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 Alltackles a variety of topics related to the experiences of adolescence, including dating, pimples, school, and obnoxious younger siblings.Clarissa Explains It Allis credited as being the first Nickelodeon series to feature a female lead.
Fourth wall breaks are an essential elementofClarissa Explains It Allas 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 themost 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 aStar 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.
Clarissa Explains It All
8Carl and Steve Notice ABC’s Sentimental Music While Hugging
‘Family Matters,’ Season 2, Episode 24
Family Mattersis 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 Mattersisone of the most impactingBlack sitcoms in history, and remains the second-longest-running sitcom in history.
Family Mattersisa 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 itsown 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.
Family Matters
7The Michigan Woman Who Tried to Cancel Married… With Children
‘Married… With Childern,’ Season 9, Episode 192
Married… With Childrenwas 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 Childrensubverted the American family trope with crude humor and shameless irreverence.
Married… With Children
6Fran 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) asThe Nannyto his three children in this hit sitcom series.The Nannywas an enormous international success that spawned a slew of foreign adaptations.
Over the course of the series, theenergetic and unapologetically honest Fran wins overMr. 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 cameraand, with a playful smile, lets the audience know she through that one in their for us.
5The Simpsons Take a Playful Jab at the Fox Channel
‘The Simpsons,’ Season 4, Episode 9
The Simpsonsis 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 Simpsonsremains one of the most popular and influential sitcoms in history, and has enjoyedrecent popularity due to a string of predictionsfrom the series that have come true.
The Simpsonsareno 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, butThe Simpsonsare on TV.”
The Simpsons
4Will 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-Airfollows the life ofWill 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 Princeremains one of the most beloved 90s sitcomsof all time. It’s one of thegreatest 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 thestudio lights and dark ceiling of the soundstage.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
3Bemoaning Their Lack of a Grammy Win and Proceeds to have an Episode of Plot Twists
‘The Drew Carey Show,’ Season 5, Episode 26
Drew Careyplays 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 barriersonThe Price is Right,Drew Carey ran the popular sitcom seriesThe 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’snot fond of shows that overdo itin an attempt to appeal to the Emmys. Despite this, the rest of the show includes aseries of over-the-top melodramathat includes Drew and Lewis delivering an emergency baby, and Kate falling into a coma (Christa Miller).
The Drew Carey Show
2Tia and Tamara Explain Their Situation
‘Sister, Sister,’ Season 1, Episode 1
Sister, Sisteris 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 ofSister, Sisteropens with Tia and Tamera hanging out in their shared bedroom while watchingFriday, the 13th,when Ray comes in to tell the girls to go to sleep. After Ray leaves, Tia and Tamera get together and speakdirectly into the camerato explain how it was that the two twins were separated and eventually found each other.Sister, Sisterwas an incredible series that did a phenomenal job ofportraying the wholesomeness of the 90s, and itfeatures a plethora of fourth wall breaks, with this one being the first.
Sister, Sister
1Becky’s Actor Swap Is Subtly Called out by None Other than Becky Herself
‘Roseanne,’ Season 6, Episode 9
Roseanneis 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 inRoseanne.This sudden actor swap was subtly referenced at the end of the episode while the Conners sat around watching an episode ofBewitched, a series that alsofamously 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 “secondDarrin much better”, acknowledging her new role as the second Becky, a switch that leftmuch of the audience ultimately dissatisfied.
