Sometimes we come to expect ludicrous moments from TV programmes. If something is deliberately crafted to be far away from reality like The Goodies or is science fiction like Doctor Who, ludicrous moments are an integral part of its whimsical escapism. But we also find find ludicrous moments in more straightforward shows. Thats not to say that normal shows cant have a decent ludicrous moment now and again (as some of the entries on this list will show), but more often than not a ludicrous moment will do nothing for a programme thats grounded in reality. And this is a list of both the good and the bad but most of all: the ludicrous...
10. The Sopranos Livias Last Scene
This moment from critically acclaimed crime drama The Sopranos isnt ludicrous because of its content but because of how poorly its put together. After actress Nancy Marchland passed away, the makers of The Sopranos used archive footage and CGI trickery to give her character Livia Soprano one final scene. Its pretty much just a standard dialogue scene but because it was constructed around pre-existing footage, its ludicrous in how jarring it feels. Partly because the CGI is very unconvincing and creates a noticeable visual difference between shots of Livia and Tony but mainly because very little of the archive footage fits the dialogue written around it. For example, Livias response to Tony saying he bought her some audio-books is I wish the Lord would take me now and after he tells her the titles of some of the books he has bought, she says Why? Whats wrong? Because a scene featuring an actor who died before the scene was written cant be pulled off well, this scene is more than a little bit bizarre. Its also pointless in hindsight since Livia doesnt actively contribute to the plot here for obvious reasons and is later revealed to have died offscreen.