The 20 best improvised lines in TV history

There are hundreds of lines from Friends that are funny to this day, but the final line of the series — “Sure. Where?” — was improvised by Matthew Perry. Chandler says this hilarious line after Rachel suggests the gang stops for coffee before Monica and Chandler take their twins to their new house. 

Perhaps the funniest line in all of Parks and Recreation wasn’t written. Chris Pratt improvised this iconic line while his character was trying to help his boss, Leslie Knope, figure out what illness she had. The showrunners were just glad they caught the moment on tape. 

Will Friedle as Eric Matthews became synonymous with his incredible nickname for his neighbor and former teacher, Mr. Feeny. But the first time we heard Eric make what came to be known as the "Feeny Call," it was totally improvised. 

Captain Holt had tons of great deadpan lines on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but some of his best were when he was showing emotion, like when he yelled, “Hot damn!” after correctly guessing why Santiago was late for work for the first time. The improvised moment caught the entire cast off guard. 

Not a singular line, but Zendaya and Nika King improvised their entire infamous fight scene in Euphoria. The mother and daughter were fighting over Rue’s drug use, which proved to be one of the most emotional moments of the series. Zendaya earned that Emmy. 

When Marshall’s dad died in How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel delivered one of the most heartbreaking lines in all of TV history. To have a genuine reaction, Segel didn’t know what the news would be, which resulted in an incredibly emotional moment. 

Who would’ve thought that a baby would be responsible for one of the best improvised lines of all time? While filming a scene of Breaking Bad , baby Holly uttered the word “mama” repeatedly. She wasn’t supposed to say any lines, but the baby saw her real-life mother off-screen and started calling for her. Bryan Cranston remained in character, and the crew captured an unbelievable unscripted moment. 

Emotion took over for Sophia Bush when she filmed her final scene in the hallways of Tree Hill High School. Her heartfelt speech about high school was totally improvised, and as Bush said, it was equal parts her and Brooke Davis speaking in that scene. 

A lot of what made it into the final cut of Veep was improvised, but one of the best moments of unscripted content was when Tony Hale and Matt Walsh dropped and broke a plate of china. The two actors stayed in character and decided what to do with the broken pieces as Gary and Mike, making for a truly hilarious TV moment. 

Dead to Me only lasted for three seasons, but each was rife with wild drama, unforeseen plot twists, and some hilarious improvisation. Most of the script was written, but Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate did have the opportunity to take some creative liberties, like when Cardellini improvised, “And by the pipe, you mean his penıs? … It’s so hard for me to put that down.”

Much of what Dr. House said on House was either scathing or sarcastic. Hugh Laurie understood the character so completely that he was able to improvise a line he said to Wilson. “ Look, I know you're friends with her, but there's a code! Bros before hoes, man!” House quipped after his friend took a woman’s side in an argument. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a comedy master, and she’s proved that time and again. One of her funniest improvised moments was in an episode of Seinfeld when George was complaining that Elaine hadn’t sent him her Christmas card, which inadvertently featured a photo of Elaine’s nipple. “You want a Christmas card? You want a Christmas card? Alright, here. Here’s your Christmas card,” she says as she rubs his head against her breasts. 

The characters of The Office didn’t necessarily show growth over the course of the show, but if one did, it was Dwight. Prior to his growth, however, he finds himself at Toby’s desk to ask, “Where is the clitorıs?” And the entire bit was improvised by Dwight Schrute himself, Mr. Rainn Wilson. 

Friends has more iconic storylines than perhaps any other sitcom in television history. One such storyline was Ross and Rachel’s marriage in Vegas. That storyline also produced terrific improvisation from Jennifer Aniston, who uttered the line: “This isn’t a marriage; this is the world’s worst hangover.”

In season 5 of The Walking Dead, Carol and Daryl find themselves in a new town, causing Carol to change outfits. Daryl and Norman Reedus were caught off guard by the look, causing Reedus to improvise the line “You look ridiculous.” The producers found the moment hilarious and left it in. 

The Big Bang Theory had audiences laughing unlike few other television shows of its time. Fans of the show who were just as big Star Trek fans as Sheldon appreciated all of the galactic guest appearances, but none were as epic as one of Wil Wheaton’s episodes where he yelled at an angry theatergoer at the Star Wars premiere, “Live long and suck it!”

Moira Rose quickly became known for her unusual pronunciations of words, but none were as iconic as the way she said “baby.” The first time Catherine O’Hara said “bebe” in her Moira way, it was a complete accident. Since those who heard it found it hysterical, O’Hara officially integrated it into her lexicon. Thank goodness she did. 

Nick and Schmidt had quite the dynamic on New Girl, and all of their flashback scenes were instant knee-slappers. Not much of the show was improvised, but one of their flashbacks was. While speculating about the future, Schmidt described the girl of his dreams as wearing the same outfit as Nick at the time, leading to a very uncomfortable Nick.  

The White Lotus is damn near perfect, and one of the best lines from the second season came from improvisation. About to embark on a mini Italian adventure, Tanya, dressed in a pink ensemble and donning a head scarf, asks Valentina to tell her who she looks like. “Peppa Pig,” Sabrina Impacciatore improvised after being told by creator Mike White that she could. Impacciatore was delighted to learn the moment had made the final cut. 

Steve Carell could make any moment funny. One of the most memorable moments from The Office was his character Michael kissing Oscar. The moment was totally unscripted, and it’s gone down as one of the funniest improvised bits in all of television.