Shaun Murphy is definitely a much nicer doctor and protagonist than Gregory House, but that doesn't stop him and his co-workers from making the viewer burst out laughing.
WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.
- "If you don't do Dr. Melendez's test right now, I will throw a rock through your window." The delivery is what turns it from a threat into something hilarious.
- While "Quarantine" is mostly a serious and tense two-part episode, it's not without its moments of hilarity, including Shaun very seriously telling Santa Pete "I'm sorry, Santa" while giving him a saline enema and the moment from part two where, while Morgan tries to calm Shaun during his meltdown by talking about cases, Alex notices the buzzing light that's disturbing Shaun and suddenly jumps up and smashes it. Even better, Morgan stares at him like she's wondering what he's on... but only for about half a second before shaking her head and turning away as if she's accepted that that's just normal for him.
- Shaun and Glassman getting stoned on marijuana-laced pills in "Faces" and trashing Glassman's house. Then, Glassman gives Shaun the nickname "Smurph" following a scheme (from "S. Murphy") that he remembers from school. He then says the scheme doesn't work on himself. Later one of his school friends greets him as "Glaaron Assman".
- In "Trampoline", after asking Carly out and her agreeing to a date, Shaun abruptly leaves while still holding the flowers and chocolates he had brought for her. Carly can only watch him go in bemused amusement.
- In "Disaster", Alex and Morgan have a patient with dementia and (apparently) kidney stones. Morgan tries to foist it off on Alex.Morgan: Not it.
Alex: What?
Morgan: He's got dementia, and even worse, it's boring. Probably stones. Best case scenario, it's a kidney tumor. We've assisted on eight nephrectomies. It's your case, your chart, you're primary.
Alex: Kellan's coming to town. I need to be out of here at a decent hour, [holds clipboard up to Morgan's chest] and we are not children. We do not decide things by who called it. [suddenly drops it] You touched the chart first. It's yours.
Morgan: Did not.
Alex: Did so.- Then, when they find out that Lim will be allowing third-year residents to start getting their feet wet by taking lead on simple surgeries, they start fighting for the case. Best is when Morgan points out Alex wanted to spend time with his son.Alex: Kellan's sixteen. He barely talks to me.
- Then, when they find out that Lim will be allowing third-year residents to start getting their feet wet by taking lead on simple surgeries, they start fighting for the case. Best is when Morgan points out Alex wanted to spend time with his son.
- In "First Case, Second Base", when Glassman is bemoaning the issue that his new wife owns a gun, Shaun asks him, "Has Debbie let you touch her breast?" "Yeah." "Then you shouldn't worry about anything else."
- In "SFAD", With Carly away at a conference, Shaun has been texting with her—somewhat unsuccessfully, since he doesn't seem to think a lot of her texts require a response. When Carly sends him an eye roll emoji, Shaun enlists Lea to help him make sense of it all. Shaun first tries to imitate the emoji in such a comical way that Lea says he better show what Carly sent. Then, Lea explains that Carly is saying that she misses him and that she wants to make that clear to him. Lea then advises Shaun to answer that he thinks about her all the time. Shaun replies that he stopped thinking about her at various times of the day. Lea immediately tells him not to say that to Carly.
- "Fixation" is a sad episode in general, but there is a genuine funny moment when Shaun asks lea to see him at home as soon as possible. She arrives thinking it is serious, only to find that Shaun is trying to convince her to give them a chance as a couple. For that, he shows that he no longer cares about the positions in which she places the toilet paper (something that was a matter of discussion between the two in Season 2). Lea is not only unimpressed, but she points out to Shaun that the fact that he called her in the middle of the day to this does not support his argument that he can change his attitudes.
- In "Heartbreak" admit it, you laughed your ass off when one of the dwarf man's girlfriends found out about the other and smashed up his car. Meghan Heffern's acting the entire episode added to that scene, and this was considered a Star-Making Role for an actress largely known for One-Shot Character roles and Wynonna Earp.
- "I Love You" is a tragic episode with a genuine moment of humor in the final scene. After promising Vera (the woman he saved) that he would move on, he is about to say this to Lea... and before he can finish speaking, Lea gives him a Big Damn Kiss. Shaun is confused and asks if it was a kiss of pity or goodbye. Lea says she loves him and when she gives him another kiss, Shaun immediately uses a Loophole Abuse, saying that he promised that he would move on if Vera didn't survive, which was not the case.
- Shaun learns about the "carrot and stick" approach and takes it a bit too literally, trying to buy a carrot muffin from the cafe at the hospital for Dr. Glassman when he is trying to get him to do physical therapy after his brain surgery. This is how he explains it to Debbie:Shaun: It's a metaphor for moving a donkey. I need a carrot because I don't want to beat Dr. Glassman with a stick.
