History BreakingTheFourthWall / LiveActionTv

*** Which is also a {{shout out}} to {{Buffy the vampire slayer}}.

** Once, after making the monster grow, he turned to the camera and asked, "What'd you expect? It wasn't going to get smaller."

** In an episode where Will gets jealous when Geoffory dates a hot young British nanny, at the end when Geoffrey bows out and gives Will the nanny's number, Will looks at the camera with a big grin and gives the audience a tongue-in-cheek speech about what he learned over the course of the episode.

*** This episode also breaks the fourth wall in a way that will manage to terrify the viewers even more. There are times when the Weeping Angels are on screen but none of the characters are looking at them. ''You, the audience, are looking at them.'' (Consider the scene in which the Angels move only when Sally blows ''our view of them''.)

** And in the episode "The Play's The Thing" Joxer, as the producer of a particularly horrendious play, is left hanging from the ceiling as the main characters walk off to watch [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffus, the Bacchae Slayer]], yells 'Hello?! You guys?! Hey! I'm the producer! Anybody?! Hello?! ''I'm gonna tell my brother!!!'.'' Now, the character does have two brothers, but neither of them would be very useful here, nor is he very close to them. The ''actor's'' brother, on the other hand, is Sam Raimi, the executive producer (with Robert Tapert) of ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' (Joxer's final line coincides with the credit for Raimi and Tapert coming on screen).

* After dealing with the [[HolodeckMalfunction holodeck-generated Moriarty]] in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Elementary, Dear Data", Picard muses that perhaps his reality is simply a simulation being played out on a box on someone's table.

* Similarly, one ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode had Carter whistling the show's music after meeting Pete. (Originally she was supposed to whistle the MacGyver theme- she was in the elevator with O'Neill / Richard Dean Anderson / Macgyver [really would've been no fourth wall there]- but when she couldn't remember the tune, she ad-libbed with the Stargate theme.)

*** This episode also breaks the fourth wall in a way that will manage to terrify the viewers even more. There are times when the Weeping Angels are on screen but none of the characters are looking at them. ''You, the audience, are looking at them.''

* Similarly, one ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode had Carter whistling the show's music after meeting Pete. (Originally she was supposed to whistle the MacGyver theme- she was in the elevator with O'Neill/Richard Dean Anderson/Macgyver [really would've been no fourth wall there]- but when she couldn't remember the tune, she ad-libbed with the Stargate theme.)

* Similarly, one ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode had Carter whistling the show's music after meeting Pete. (Originally she was supposed to whistle the MacGyver theme- she was in the elevator with O'Neill/Richard Dead Anderson/Macgyver- but when she couldn't remember the tune, she ad-libbed with the Stargate theme.)

* Similarly, one ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode had Carter whistling the show's music after meeting Pete.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E5ThePoisonSky The Poison Sky]] has the Doctor realize that without the TARDIS, he's stuck on Earth as a human. Then calls it rubbish. ''Then apologizes to the camera''.

** At the very end of "Blink", the Doctor looks directly at the camera and tells the audience, "Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck." The affect can cause the viewer to never go near a statue again.

* ''PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' often [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] and outright parodied various PR conventions. Only Lothor (who wasn't GenreSavvy but certainly had a sense of humor) ever actually broke the fourth wall, however.

** PR's fourth wall was actually broken long before ''Ninja Storm'', actually. In an episode of ''PowerRangersZeo'', when the Rangers were faced by Rita's Impursonator monster, Prince Sprocket commented "A purse monster? That's SO last season!" This, of course, referred to Zedd and Rita's habit of making monsters out of ordinary items.
** This is not explicitly an example, because "so last season" is a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall common phrase to describe something as being out of style]].
** ''PowerRangersSamurai'' has Antonio, the Gold Samurai Ranger, who's Barracuda Blade attack is too fast to actually see. After he quickly defeats some [[{{Mooks}} Moogers]], he ''turns to the camera and gives an instant replay of what happened, with the fight slowed down so the audience can see what happened.''

-->'''Jack''': Not quite. Seven items are different. See if you can spot which ones.

* ''{{iCarly}}'': This dialogue about the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.

** This is the whole point of the Proms special short "Music of the Spheres".

*** In the season 2 premiere where after she saves Wiloow & Xander, Buffy looks at the camera and asks "Missed me?"

* Done a few times on ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. At the end of the "Crunchy Frog" sketch, for example, Mr. Praline turns to the audience and says "It's a fair cop," as he's being led away by the police, and the officer leading him away admonishes him with "And stop talking to the camera!"

** There tends to be a fair amount of leaning on the fourth wall with ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. Usually it's fairly subtle. Then again sometimes (I'm thinking of a very specific episode in season 4... John's in a coma? Trippy visions? Cartoons? yeah, you'll find it...) it's not so subtle.
*** Then again that could be John-in-the-dream addressing the "real" John, who's watching.

** The episode "Three Stories" features a plot line that is told from House's point of view through a series of flashbacks to different time periods. At one point House suddenly decides to move onto a different time and asks his team "What about snake-bite guy?" They look at him in confusion, whereupon he realises that they have no idea of the alternate timelines taking place. He says "Oh, that's right, you guys don't know about him yet. He doesn't get bitten until three months after we treat the volleyball player." He then turns to the camera and says, "It's already been well established that time is not a fixed construct." When the camera pans back around a few seconds later, the symptoms on the whiteboard have changed to match the new case and Chase, Cameron and Foreman are wearing different clothes and sitting/standing in different positions; thereby humorously referencing the habit of TV shows never following a plausible, linear timeline.

* ''{{Malcolm in the Middle}}'' did this on a regular basis, as it was part of the show. Several times in every episode, Malcolm would turn to the audience and speak to them as if they were a diary, explaining his feelings about what was going on in the show.

** And in the episode "The Play's The Thing" Joxer, as the producer of a particularly horrendious play, is left hanging from the ceiling as the main characters walk off to watch [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffus, the Bacchae Slayer]], yells 'Hello?! You guys?! Hey! I'm the producer! Anybody?! Hello?! ''I'm gonna tell my brother!!!'.'' Now, the character does have two brothers, but neither of them would be very useful here, nor is he very close to them. The ''actor's'' brother, on the other hand, is Sam Raimi, the executive producer (with Robert Tapert) of ''{{Xena Warrior Princess}}'' (Joxer's final line coincides with the credit for Raimi and Tapert coming on screen).
** In one of the ''{{Hercules The Legendary Journeys}}'' AU episodes, three of the male characters start [[ThemeTuneCameo whistling the]] ''[[ThemeTuneCameo Hercules]]'' [[ThemeTuneCameo theme song]] while peeing at the urinals. (Yes, ''urinals''... it's set in the present day. Long story.)

** Too many examples to name here (watch any episode, and there's bound to be at least one...or ten). The Monkees' wacky sitcom universe literally had NoFourthWall.

* ''{{NewsRadio}}'' did this in the Titanic ParodyEpisode where Dave and Mr. James comment about the lack of peril around them as the "ship" sinks. They say it was probably due to the production team blowing the special effects budget on the previous breakroom scene.
* Greek Live Action series ''S1ngles'' breaks the 4th Wall constantly via various means but in the second season (S1ngles 2) the main characters go as far as taking the Director and the Script Writer as hostages, requesting changes in the plot.

--> '''Kenan''': "Oh, come on! It's more orange than the [[{{Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon's]] logo.
* The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Journey to Babel" ends with Kirk, Spock, Sarek, Amanda and Nurse Chapel all starting to argue about something. One by one, [=McCoy=] gets them all to shut up, then when he finally has silence he turns to face the camera and says "Well, what do you know? I finally got the last word."

-->'''Mr. Farrell''': No... [[ThatsAllFolks OUR SERIES!!!]]
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' broke the fourth wall plenty of times, especially in the episode ''The French Mistake'', when Sam and Dean crash through a window and land in an Alternate Reality where they're actors ''{{Jared Padalecki}}'' and ''JensenAckles'' for the show Supernatural. When they look for Castiel, the end up finding ''MishaCollins'', the Twitter addicted actor who plays Castiel.

* 1960s ''{{Series/Batman}}'' series episodes

* In GilligansIsland, the Skipper often looked at the camera in response to Gilligan doing something stupid.

* Chyna on ANTFarm does this in the episode "[= you're the one that I wANT=]. After Olive explains what theatrical asides are.

* In the final episode of ''{{Series/The Avengers}}'', Steed and Tara are in a rocket heading into outer space...

* The ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Journey to Babel" ends with Kirk, Spock, Sarek, Amanda and Nurse Chapel all starting to argue about something. One by one, [=McCoy=] gets them all to shut up, then when he finally has silence he turns to face the camera and says "Well, what do you know? I finally got the last word."

* After dealing with the [[HolodeckMalfunction holodeck-generated Moriarty]] in the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Elementary, Dear Data", Picard muses that perhaps his reality is simply a simulation being played out on a box on someone's table.

* In the ''{{Charmed}}'' episode "The Bare Witch Project", Piper tells Godiva to keep her clothes on. It was even featured in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW4craxcr1s episode promo]].

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* In a rather bizarre episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', a playwright with the ability to bring his characters to life and destroy them if they get unruly erases RodSerling during Serling's trademark epilogue.
** The episode is "''A World of His Own''" (1960). Keenan Wynn plays the playwright.

* Done in ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' in the episode "Lyre Lyre Hearts on Fire", when Xena starts her guitar solo (don't ask) with [[ThemeTuneCameo a riff of the]] ''[[ThemeTuneCameo Xena]]'' [[ThemeTuneCameo theme song]].
** And in the episode "The Play's The Thing" Joxer, as the producer of a particularly horrendious play, is left hanging from the ceiling as the main characters walk off to watch [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffus, the Bacchae Slayer]], yells 'Hello?! You guys?! Hey! I'm the producer! Anybody?! Hello?! I'm gonna tell my brother! Mommy?!'. Now, the character does have two brothers, but neither of them would be very useful here, nor is he very close to them. The ''actor's'' brother, on the other hand, is Sam Raimi, the producer of ''{{Xena Warrior Princess}}''.
** In one of the ''{{Hercules The Legendary Journeys}}'' AU episodes, three of the male characters start [[ThemeTuneCameo whistling the]] ''[[ThemeTuneCameo Hercules]]'' [[ThemeTuneCameo theme song]] while peeing at the urinals.

* In the older show ''MagnumPI'', often after some event, Thomas Magnum (played by TomSelleck) would look directly at the camera and grin.

* {{MoonLighting}}, its fair to say that the show did not break the fourth wall as it never had a fourth wall to begin with. It was the show that ended with a scene in which an ABC suit walks on stage to inform the characters that they have been canceled and will cease to exist in six minutes while stagehands are tearing down the set around them.

* The '60s ''{{Series/Batman}}'' TV series
** In one episode, Batman and Robin are climbing up the batrope, when Santa Claus sticks his head out of the window. Santa offers to bring them a present, if they'll tell him the location of the Batcave. Batman looks at the camera and says, "If you can't trust Santa Claus, who can you trust?"
** Episode "King Tut's Coup". Commissioner Gordon calls Bruce Wayne and they realize that King Tut has returned. When Gordon calls Batman, Batman tells him that he knows that Tut has returned even before Gordon can tell him. Gordon looks into the camera and says "You'd think the man could read my mind!"

* Another show that did this was ''Series/{{House}}'', where for most of Season 3 Chase would refer to once a week reminding Cameron that he loved her. He said that he did this every Tuesday, which (not-so-)coincidentally is when FOX airs new episodes of {{House}}.

--> '''Chyna''' Can you believe she is picking an idea where characters breaks the reality of the play and speaks directly to the viewer, it makes no sense.