10 Unexpected Sitcom Scenes That Made Us Bawl Our Eyes Out

3. Brent Gets Made Redundant - The Office

Tragedy, in Ricky Gervais's work, is never far from comedy. And in the final episode of The Office, before the Christmas specials, we see glimpse of this, as David Brent is made redundant from his post at Wernham Hogg. The genius of this moment is that it comes after we've seen such absurd attention-seeking, horrible selfishness and a complete lack of responsibility from Brent. Gervais manages to strip all that away though, because at the end of the day, Brent is just like everyone else; he just wants to be loved. He's terribly lonely, and the way he begs for his job, about how he'll work harder is really touching, because it becomes obvious that despite the facade, he really doesn't have anything else. The way that Brent's played in the Christmas special only highlights how wonderful this scene is; he becomes desperate, laughed at and he has to stand up for himself, which he does. It's a fitting development for one of the most excellently-crafted comedy characters ever.