21 of the Best Times Characters Broke the Fourth Wall

When you click the little right-pointing arrow on Netflix, you enter into an implicit agreement with the creators of what you’re about to watch: They put a reasonable effort into building a world that’s realistic enough, and you won’t nitpick it too much. When they drop too many boom mics into the frame or stare at the camera in the background too much, reminding you that you’re watching a bunch of professionals play make-believe, they forfeit their right to your goodwill and must accept whatever Letterboxd reviews are coming to them.

As usual, however, that rule doesn’t apply to comedy. In fact, the opposite can be true, and a well-timed acknowledgment that all these wacky hijinks are occurring for the entertainment of an audience and taking place in a world that doesn’t exist can be an A+ joke all by itself. So when user BradPit_B4_GrabClit asked r/AskReddit, “What are the best ‘breaking the fourth wall’ moments on film/TV?” hundreds of Redditors could remember their loudest shriek-laugh when a person inside the box made sudden eye contact.