‘Young Sheldon,’ ‘Abbott Elementary’ & More Comedies That Handled Death Well
When it comes to death on television, fans may gravitate towards drama, but there’s something about the handling of death in comedies that is almost more memorable and even more poignant.
While some comedies may play death for laughs, others can rip your heart out at the drop of a hat when you least expect it. While rounding up every comedy that has handled death in a great way onscreen is near impossible, we’re highlighting 13 different titles that have managed to make a mark on the subject with their approach to storytelling around death and grief including shows such as Young Sheldon, Abbott Elementary, and Reservation Dogs among others.
Scroll down for the full roundup and let us know which comedy series you think have handled death well onscreen.
Young Sheldon
Young Sheldon may have followed the story of its titular boy genius, but the death of Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) dad was a looming cloud over the series as fans knew the character’s family lore from The Big Bang Theory. Even with the expectation of George’s (Lance Barber) death for some viewers, it didn’t make the event any less emotional. Happening offscreen, George suffered a heart attack and viewers saw first-hand how the Cooper family received the news from his colleagues. Their ranging experiences with grief carried on into the final episodes of the series, and we anticipate those lingering effects to permeate the upcoming spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
Abbott Elementary
While no one has essentially died on the series Abbott Elementary, Season 3 highlighted the topic in its episode, “Mother’s Day,” when Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) invites Gregory (Tyler James Williams) to join her family for the day knowing he doesn’t have his mother around to celebrate as she died when he was young. It’s realized that she’s so forceful about it because she recently lost her own mother. It’s a great example of what celebrating Mother’s Day is like for those who don’t have their mothers around, due to death or otherwise.
Reservation Dogs
You could say that FX‘s streaming comedy Reservation Dogs is all about death as the premise of the series circled around a group of young Indigenous friends living on a reservation in Oklahoma as they grapple with the loss of their pal Daniel (Dalton Cramer), a casualty of the growing suicide epidemic. Throughout the show’s three-season run, there were other examples of how the show dealt with death, whether it was coming to terms with Daniel’s loss by traveling to California (one of his dreams), bidding Elora’s (Devery Jacobs) grandma Mabel (Geraldine Keams) farewell, or laying Old Man Fixico (Richard Ray Whitman) to rest — a death that hit Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis, above) particularly hard — there have been various examples of great ways to explore death onscreen in this series.
The Good Place
Death is all around in a series about the afterlife, but it’s The Good Place‘s pitch-perfect series final which explores the idea of what happens after the afterlife which is most powerful. After centuries of living their lives in “The Good Place,” the ragtag characters of Mike Schur‘s fantastic comedy got to decide when they would move on from the afterlife that had become their new bizarre normal. Aptly titled, “Whenever You’re Ready, ” the finale episode suggests that while you may not get to decide how you die, you do have a choice in how you proceed in the space after life, what could be better than that?
Scrubs
Scrubs is another series that has handled various deaths well, but none stand out as much as the twist reveals at the end of the Season 3 episode, “My Screw Up,” which reveals that Dr. Cox’s (John C. McGinley) best friend Ben (Brendan Fraser), and brother to Jordan (Christa Miller), had died after a recurrence of cancer. In the episode, Ben follows Dr. Cox around the hospital as he makes his rounds, and while it isn’t initially obvious, no one else interacts with Ben, revealing him as a figment of Dr. Cox’s imagination. Ending with the funeral itself, viewers barely have time to recover from their emotions as the usually stoic doctor is reduced to tears.
8 Simple Rules
No real-life deaths in television have hit quite as hard or memorably as John Ritter who died partway through filming Season 2 of the ABC comedy 8 Simple Rules. The dad of this family comedy, Ritter played Paul Hennessy, and much like his own sudden death, the character was killed offscreen and as the cast cried for Paul, it was clear that they were also crying for Ritter. Also, it must be noted that Ritter also featured as Zach Braff‘s dad in Scrubs which was also forced to kill off his character suddenly.
How I Met Your Mother
In How I Met Your Mother‘s Season 6 episode, “Bad News,” Marshall (Jason Segel) visits with a fertility expert as he and his wife Lily (Alyson Hannigan) have struggled to conceive a child. Expecting to receive bad news after testing, Marshall is overjoyed to learn that things went well, but when he tries calling his dad to share this excitement, Lily meets Marshall to inform him that his father has had a fatal heart attack. It’s a heartbreaking revelation that sticks with you long after watching.
New Girl
In New Girl‘s Season 2 episode, “Chicago,” the friends travel to the Windy City as Nick (Jake Johnson) and his family grieve the loss of his dad Walt (the late Dennis Farina). Deemed the responsible one of the Miller family, Nick is tasked with putting on his dad’s funeral, and while there’s plenty of comedy, there is also a lot of heart as his friends work to take on some of those tasks to ease his burden.
Ted Lasso
While Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) had a rollercoaster relationship with her father, who fans never met on Ted Lasso, the funeral for him exhibited plenty of emotion from her as well as those in attendance. But it was Rebecca’s moment speaking in front of the attendees at church where she sings “Never Gonna Give You Up,” that will leave tears streaming down your eyes.
Fleabag
Similar to many of the titles in this list, Fleabag has various examples of death, the first one being the titular character’s grief and subsequent guilt over the death of her friend Boo (Jenny Rainsford). But one of the lighter and more comedic examples of death in the show was a flashback in Season 2 when Fleabag attends her mother’s funeral where her sister Claire (Sian Clifford) and Boo note how “chic” her hair looks and how clear her skin is, essentially looking too nice for her own mother’s funeral. It’s a funny but oddly realistic moment.
Shrinking
While Shrinking may be a comedy about therapists, much of the story revolves around Jimmy’s (Jason Segel) strained relationship with his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) as they grapple with the loss of their family matriarch, Tia (Lilan Bowden), who was killed in a drunk driving accident. Their rollercoaster journey as they find common ground after initially separate grief journeys is heartwarming.
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services