17 of the Funniest TV Episodes and Sketches Involving Basketball

Episodes

Big Mouth, “Ejaculation”: Basketball is a frequent topic and setting in Big Mouth. Andrew (voice of John Mulaney) can be counted on to miss every shot he takes, and emotional breakthroughs take place on the court. This preoccupation goes all the way back to the series premiere: After Nick (Nick Kroll) accidentally gets a look at Andrew’s fully nude body and can’t help comparing the difference between Andrew’s, er, physical maturation compared to his own, Nick’s anxieties manifest in a memorable fantasy.

The Bob Newhart Show, “Duke of Dunk”: Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart) had a lot of tough cases in his career as a therapist. One of the toughest may have been his time with Dwayne Granger (Anthony Costello), aka the episode’s titular “Duke of Dunk.” Bob — an NBA fan throughout the show’s run — takes on the Duke as a patient, and tries to convince him that success requires him to respect his colleagues, not just to show off at the expense of the team. The Duke comes around on the value of therapy, as we all might if it still only cost what Bob charges: $35 a session.

Broad City, “B&B-NYC”: It feels fair to call the third season of Broad City it’s basketball season. First, in Episode Two, titled “Co-op,” the cold open finds Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana (Ilana Glazer) happening upon a group of youths, who take a break from their basketball game to catcall them.

But it’s a cameo that gives the season its biggest basketball moment, quite literally. When Abbi and Ilana’s respective roommates all take off on the same night, they decide to list their apartments on a homestay site that’s decidedly not Airbnb. Their plan to camp on a roof turns out to be a bad one; wandering the city to kill time brings them to a hot club, where Ilana has a chance meeting with NBA star Blake Griffin. A hookup is negotiated, but when Ilana is alone with this 6-foot-5 man, it seems like the physics of fitting key parts together isn’t going to work out.

Note to future showrunners of scrappy, low-budget, basic-cable comedies: If you write a celebrity a role that makes his giant penis canon, he’ll probably agree to do it.

Cheers, “Cheers Fouls Out”: The rivalry between the gang at Cheers and the dastards at Gary’s Old Towne Tavern is a recurring premise for “Bar Wars” episodes, revolving around not-so-friendly competitions over softball and bowling, among others. “Cheers Fouls Out” breaks from the title convention, but is very much a Bar Wars installment: Gary (Joel Polis) prepares for a 3-on-3 basketball game against Cheers by hiring a couple of suspiciously tall guys to work at the bar. Not to be outdone, Sam (Ted Danson) calls on his recent golf buddy, Boston Celtic Kevin McHale (as himself), to represent the bar in what he claims is a charity game. It’s a good thing that McHale’s available, since Woody (Woody Harrelson) — like everyone from Hanover, Indiana — disdains the residents of French Lick, and vice versa.

Frasier, “Hooping Cranes”: It’s foundational to the characters of Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) that sports aren’t part of their culture; therefore, when athletics do make it into an episode, it’s hard to forget. Relatively early on, in the Season Four episode “Head Game,” Niles is filling in for Frasier at KACL when he meets a SuperSonics player named Reggie McLemore (Lorenzo Newton) who’s experiencing a slump. Reggie then convinces himself that what’s turned things around for him is ruffling Niles’s hair before a game, which doesn’t work for Niles either as a psychiatrist or as a human being who has other things to do with his evenings. 

Several seasons later, Frasier and Niles are reluctant company for Martin (John Mahoney) at a Sonics game. Rounds of seat-switching result in Niles sitting in the one that gets called, at halftime, for its occupant to try to make a half-court shot. 

Fun fact: Pierce actually did make that shot! But… not on the first take. 

Niles dines out on this victory for a few days — as does Martin — but, of course, it can’t last.

Futurama, “Time Keeps on Slippin’”: There are a lot of reasons to fear our coming dystopia: If it’s not the machines rebelling and killing us all, it’s that the trash-talking residents of the Globetrotter Homeworld will land on Earth and threaten to humiliate us at basketball. That’s the premise for this episode, and the reason Professor Farnsworth (voice of Billy West) alters the genes of a group of human babies to make them grow very fast, very large, and have mutations that are very useful on the court (for instance: one has a cannon in his chest that fires basketballs).

Naturally this causes a crisis that makes time lurch forward randomly, so it’s a good thing Bubblegum Tate (Phil LaMarr) is a renowned physicist who can possibly help solve the problem.

Happy Endings, “Full Court Dress”: We keep hearing how hard it is for men to make new friends later in life; it’s basically the only thing David (David Hornsby) is talking about this season on Mythic Quest. So it’s commendable when Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Dave (Zachary Knighton) invite their letter carrier Drew (Rob Riggle) to join their pickup basketball game. How can they know he’s going to be extremely aggro about it?

And then resist being disentangled from their lives, to a nearly supernatural degree?! They can’t. But this is why you need to tighten up your screening process situations like these.

New Girl, “Basketsball”: Winston (Lamorne Morris) is a retired athlete who played basketball professionally for two seasons — in Latvia, and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) is so called for being bossy during one of Winston’s games, so the sport does come up from time to time. Coach is absent for most of the series run until the third season, however: Wayans departed the show when Happy Endings got picked up, and Morris replaced him; then Happy Endings was cancelled, clearing the path for Coach to rejoin New Girl’s regular cast, and to be a pivotal character in “Basketsball.” Jess (Zooey Deschanel) is concerned that she and Coach have not jelled since his return, largely because he just thinks of her as an add-on to his relationship with Nick (Jake Johnson), Jess’ boyfriend. So to create a bond with Coach, Jess decides she’s going to become a fan of “his” team, the Detroit Pistons, putting her in direct conflict with Nick, an extremely loyal Chicago Bulls fan. Nick and Jess are both very stubborn and very ridiculous, so it turns into a sex standoff that implicates both their teams’ jerseys.

This is what you’re not going to see if you watch games at your local sports bar. Well, what you’re probably not going to see.

NewsRadio, “Movie Star”: Some might remember “Movie Star” for the guest who gives the episode its title: the late James Caan, playing himself. Officially, Caan is at WNYX to shadow Bill (Phil Hartman), since Caan is playing a radio journalist in his next movie, but soon after his arrival, he discovers that Matthew (Andy Dick) is too fascinatingly weird to ignore. Others will remember this as the episode in which Mr. James (Stephen Root) has an extra ticket to a Knicks game that both Catherine (Khandi Alexander) and Beth (Vicki Lewis) want — and which Joe (Joe Rogan), mysteriously, does not. To determine which of his co-workers is most deserving of the ticket, Joe devises an obviously unfair basketball trivia quiz that gives Beth such questions as “name three basketball players” and which she still can’t win. In the end, it turns out there’s a very good reason Mr. James can’t get anyone to go to games with him more than once.

The Office, “Basketball”: The first season of The Office (U.S. edition) is infamously uneven. But: It’s also the season with a basketball game! Several of the office staffers face off against the staffers from the warehouse in a pickup game. At stake is the obligation to work that Saturday. Unsurprisingly, Michael (Steve Carell) goes in way too cocky; picks his teammates for idiotic/racist reasons; and is horrendous to play either with or against.

Considering how early in the run it is, it’s impressive how well the writers and actors already know these characters — much better than Michael knows the game, anyway.

Parks and Recreation, “Ron and Tammys”: Tom (Aziz Ansari) is a showman and trendsetter; conceivably, there are circumstances under which he could have made Entertainment 720 a successful marketing or event planning business. Such circumstances aren’t what get portrayed on Parks and Recreation: Tom and Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) launch without hiring anyone who is good at the economy to help them budget it, and soon their company is dying. Among the preposterous wastes of money: hiring NBA players Detlef Schrempf and Roy Hibbert (as themselves) to play one-on-one in the cavernous office space.

Then again, as someone who’s also justified buying something stupid because it was 75 percent off, I don’t not get it.

Scrubs, “My Friend the Doctor”: It’s okay, you can watch this one — Hulu cut the offensive AND unnecessary cutaway blackface joke! It leaves less junk around the very good plotline in which Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley), trying to show off for his younger colleagues in a pickup basketball game, goes for a dunk that ends in disaster.

Those of you who, like me, are at the age where our various aches and pains are met by doctors with “Yeah, that’ll happen”: consider yourself warned.

Seinfeld, “The Limo”: George (Jason Alexander) is a good friend to Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), so he comes to pick him up from the airport after a gig in Chicago. George is, alas, also a loser, and has to tell Jerry when he lands that his car broke down on the way. Jerry soon notices a limo driver standing nearby holding a sign that reads “O’Brien” and snorts that he’s going to be waiting a while, since O’Brien missed their overbooked flight and loudly informed the gate agents that he had to get to Madison Square Garden that night. George decides he should claim to be O’Brien (Jerry will be his associate, “Dylan Murphy”) so they can take the limo themselves. When the driver tells him he has their four passes, they assume O’Brien was on his way to a Knicks game. But you know what happens when you assume! O’Brien turns out to be the head of the Aryan Nation, on the way to MSG for a rally.

Okay, it’s a stretch to put this one on a list about basketball. But it’s one of Seinfeld’s S-tier episodes, and a good reminder of how badly a high jink can backfire on you.

Clips

30 Rock: The Timeless Torches: In the Season Six premiere, Liz (Tina Fey) has a positive attitude about life so uncharacteristic for her that Jack (Alec Baldwin) can’t help being suspicious enough about it to enlist Tracy (Tracy Morgan) in figuring out what her deal is. 

What he does NOT expect is that she’s joined The Timeless Torches, and has been dancing at WNBA games. Sure, everyone’s into New York Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant now, but never forget that Liz Lemon got there first.

“Basketball Ninjas”: If there were justice in the world, we’d all be gearing up for Season Nine of Detroiters right now. Since we’re not, and since we’re between seasons of I Think You Should Leave, we can use “Basketball Ninjas” as methadone: a United Center security guard (Sam Richardson) and an aspiring player (Tim Robinson) meet at the stadium and become instant friends.

Saturday Night Live: “Roundball Rock”: You may think you know how the NBA on NBC theme “Roundball Rock” came about. But you have no idea. Welcome back to the list, Tim Robinson!

Ge-ge-ge-ge-ge-genius.

Dawson’s Creek: Pacey Takes A Basketball to the Face: You or I might not think it’s a big deal for Pacey (Joshua Jackson) to tell Jen (Michelle Williams) that Dawson (James Van Der Beek) was once nicknamed Oompa Loompa because, at the time, he was short. How could Dawson possibly still be mad about that now, when he’s tall?!?! And yet, he is, and picks a fight about it with Pacey when they’re both in the gym…

…which is how Dawson ends up bouncing a basketball off Pacey’s face. Twenty-four years later, a new generation discovered this clip on social media, and a new viral sensation was born.