Memorable Moments: People Falling Out of Bed is Hilarious

I don't know why. 

I am generally speaking not a fan of slapstick. I never enjoyed the Three Stooges. The equivalent in cartoons (Roadrunner, etc.) always had me rooting for the wounded parties. 

But people falling out of bed makes me laugh my head off--more than once. I keep laughing even when I've seen the episode multiple times. 

1. Stargate SG-1, "Crystal Skull"

Daniel is apparently lost. O'Neill and the rest of the SG-1 team are suffering from radiation poisoning. Only Teal'c is doing fine. O'Neill tries to get out of bed in the infirmary to go find Daniel and--

Lands on the floor. 

Teal'c hauls him up and resets him on the bed. 

I laugh every single time.

2. Boston Legal, "Gone"

Alan is suffering from night terrors. Denny, who sleeps like a log, agrees to sleep beside him. Because Denny sleeps like a log, they tie their legs together. Alan tries to get out of bed to go to the bathroom (hey, he is a 44-year-old man!) and falls over. 

Then Denny rolls over and Alan falls again. 

Then they start arguing.

It is hilarious.

3. Monk, "Monk Gets Cabin Fever"

Monk and Natalie and Stottlemeyer are staying at the "FBI Cabin" on a mountain lake the weekend before Monk will give testimony regarding a gang murder. In the meantime, another (more domestic) murder occurs on the other side of the lake. A shot rings out. Stottlemeyer wakes up abruptly and--since Monk tied his leg to the bed for OCD reasons--falls out of bed. 

So funny.

4. Psych, "Shawn Gets the Yips"

Shawn decides to work out on his running machine during a case to track down a violent drug dealer. He finds a water bottle with the note, "If your heart rate drops below 150, you die." He keeps going only to discover that Juliet left the note to motivate him. Neither Shawn nor Gus are in Lethal Weapon 2 where "Danny Glover finds the bomb attached to his toilet." When Juliet clears things up, Shawn gets off the machine and collapses--in a very showy way, but he doesn't even try to recover his balance. 

Not out of bed but still--LOL.

The only conclusion I can form is that the suddenness of the fall (NOT the Coyote hovering in mid-air) provokes my response. Come to think of it, I find John Cleese's sudden collapses in Fawlty Towers when he can't remember people's names also hilarious.

In all cases, all the actors exhibit perfect comedic timing. And they collapse like marionettes let off their strings--they don't brace themselves, which is impressive.