23 TV Moments So Funny, The Actors Couldn't Help Actually Cracking Up On Screen

1.On Parks and Recreation, when Rob Lowe couldn't contain his laughter as Adam Scott tried to dial a phone with his face during the whole "the calzones betrayed me" food poisoning scene:

Three stills of Rob Lowe laughing during the scene, two of which have his face in the foreground of the shot

It's honestly kind of wild to me how his face is literally in the forefront of the shot as he cracks up and I NEVER noticed it — and plenty of other people didn't either. In the middle photo, you might mistake his expression as a look of pain, but in the video, it's clear he's laughing.

NBC

Watch the scene here:

2.On Arrested Development, when Tobias said Michael was no expert on marriage seeing as his wife was dead, and you could tell Jason Bateman was trying reallyyyy hard not to laugh:

Tobias saying his lines, and then a still of Jason Bateman visibly holding in laughter
Fox

Watch the scene here:

3.On The Golden Girls, when Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur couldn't stop laughing while Betty White explained the "herring war":

Rue and Bea either looking down or the other direction to avoid laughing at Betty White

Watch the scene here:

4.On Murderville, when Kumail Nanjiani started squawking and Will Arnett almost lost it:

Murderville — as an improv comedy — saw plenty of guests breaking character and laughing. But it was rare to see Will Arnett, the main character in every episode, do the same, which is why it was especially funny to see Kumail almost get a laugh out of him.

Murderville — as an improv comedy — saw plenty of guests breaking character and laughing. But it was rare to see Will Arnett, the main character in every episode, do the same, which is why it was especially funny to see Kumail almost get a laugh out of him.

Netflix

Watch the clip here:

5.On The Office, when Michael accused Toby of being the man who flashed Phyllis and asked him to reveal his penis, leading to a VERY uncomfortable silence and John Krasinski just about losing it:

John Krasinski in the background of a shot, covering his mouth with his hand so you can't him laughing

Let's take a closer look:

  NBC
NBC

I can't find the scene on YouTube, but it's near the beginning of Season 3, Episode 22.

6.Also on The Office, when Kevin sat on Michael's lap when he was dressed as Santa and Mindy Kaling got the giggles:

Mindy Kaling sitting behind Michael and Kevin and looking down while clearly holding in a laugh
NBC

Let's take a closer look:

  NBC
NBC

You can watch the clip here:

7.Also on The Office, when Idris Elba was trying to hold in the giggles after characters kept interrupting David Wallace:

Two shots of Idris, the first where he's smiling and the second where he's scrunching up his face trying not to laugh
NBC

Watch the moment here:

8.On Parks and Recreation, when the Eagleton people unveiled their fake park idea and Leslie told them to leave in a demonic voice while Adam Scott struggled to keep a straight face:

Adam Scott is barely in frame, but you can see him scrunching up his face trying to hold in a laugh

The shot zooms in on Leslie, and you almost miss Adam twisting his mouth to keep from laughing — but not quite.

NBC

I can't find the scene on YouTube, but you can watch the episode (Season 5, Episode 8 — the moment is near the end) on Peacock or check out a snippet of the moment here.

9.On Will and Grace, when they filmed a live episode and Debra Messing and Sean Hayes couldn't stop laughing when talking about Jack being a "woman of quality":

Both actors clearly withholding laughter as they try to say their lines
NBC

10.And again when Jack unveiled his missing eyebrow to Grace:

Jack removes his eye patch to reveal a missing eyebrow, and both actors start laughing
NBC

Watch both moments here:

11.On Seinfeld, at the very end of "The Parking Garage," when the car wouldn't start (which wasn't in the script) and you could see George shaking with laughter:

George is in shadow in the backseat of the car, but you can tell he turns away from the camera to hide his laugh

You can watch the moment here:

12.On Supernatural, when Bela stole from Dean and Sam again, and Dean yelled "SON OF A BITCH!" as Jared Padalecki tried not to laugh:

Jared Padalecki literally biting his tongue so he doesn't laugh at Dean's line

Watch the scene here:

13.On The Jamie Foxx Show, during the "Traffic School Daze" episode, when Mark Curry (playing the instructor) slid and almost tripped as he ran toward the front of the room, and a bunch of the actors started laughing:

The instructor nearly falls, and several actors in the background can be seen either turning from the camera or covering their faces
The WB

Watch the scene here:

14.And in the same episode, when Curry tripped while walking in, then said, "if one of y'all laugh, you ain't gonna graduate" while Foxx and another actor were clearly laughing:

Jamie Foxx and a woman sitting next to him both are looking down at their desks to try to hide their laughs

There's also one more moment where Curry's character suggests an old man looks like Ben Kingsley and Jamie Foxx turns around entirely, most likely because he was laughing. It's a very funny episode — you can check it out on HBO Max (It's Season 2, Episode 10).

The WB

You can watch the moment at the beginning of this clip:

15.On That '70s Show, when Eric imagined everyone in a Three Stooges–style sitcom and Ashton Kutcher kept smiling:

Ashton Kutcher smiling in multiple shots with a bald cap on and covered in whipped cream
Fox

You can watch the scene here:

16.And also when Kelso said he saw a UFO:

Kutcher tries to get his composure and stop smiling before delivering his line
Fox

Watch the clip here:

17.Aaand when Kelso hit his legs against the table and kept acting, but Lisa Robin Kelly couldn't help giggling:

Lisa avoids eye contact with Ashton Kutcher to avoid laughing
Fox

You can see it a bit better in the video:

18.Last That '70s Show one — when Mila Kunis lost it at Kitty dancing at the strip club:

Three different shots where Mila Kunis starts laughing, then covers her mouth with her hand, then turns away from the camera

Watch the clip here:

19.On Community, when the Dean apologized for payday being pushed back with a rap that turns really intense and then ran out of the room, and Gillian Jacobs looked at the camera and almost laughed:

Two shots of Gillian biting her lip to keep from laughing
NBC

Watch the scene here:

20.Also on Community, when Danny Pudi was caught genuinely smiling (something his character does not do) in the pillow vs. blanket war episode:

Danny circled in the background of a scene, clearly smiling
NBC

Watch the brief moment at 1:41 here:

21.On Friends, when Ross played the bagpipes and Phoebe started singing, and Jennifer Aniston could not hold it together:

Jennifer covering her mouth with her hand and wiping her eye in the same motion

Watch the scene here:

22.And also when Ross played the keyboard:

Jennifer again covering her mouth with her hand
NBC

Watch the scene here:

23.And finally, on Live in Front of a Studio Audience, when Jamie Foxx flubbed his lines and made the whole cast crack up:

Jamie speaking gibberish and saying people at home are going to think their TV messed up, and several actors in the background start laughing

Honestly, Jamie may have messed up, but he handled this like a professional and made it funny.

ABC

Watch the scene here:

What's your favorite time an actor broke character on a TV show? Let us know in the comments!