10 4th Wall Breaking TV Show Moments Everyone Hated
8. Brian Comforts Pam - The Office
Because The Office is presented as a "real" documentary, acknowledging the camera crew doesn't technically count as breaking the fourth wall.
And yet, because the show's first eight and a half seasons kept us ensconced firmly within the diegesis of the documentary itself, it nevertheless felt like a fourth wall break when the crew were finally revealed in season nine's controversial "Customer Loyalty."
The episode ends with Pam (Jenna Fischer) having an argument with Jim (John Krasinski) over the phone, after which Pam breaks down in tears.
At this point an off-screen voice asks Pam if she's OK, before the man in question appears on-screen and is identified as the doc's boom mic operator Brian (Chris Diamantopoulos).
As Brian comforts Pam, he tells the crew to stop filming, and the episode ends.
The idea here wasn't bad at all, but it's all about the execution, and that's where it falls down hard. Revealing the crew was largely in the service of teasing a potential new love interest for Pam in Brian - something just about no fan of The Office wanted to consider, and thankfully the show never pulled the trigger on it.
In response to the vitriolic fan reaction, Brian was nudged out of the series after just a few episodes, and the camera crew largely went back to being neither seen nor heard.