The Delivery of a "Brute Fact"

The Delivery of a “Brute Fact”: 
The Construction of Acceptance & Security to Chuckle in The Mary Tyler Moore Show

        To laugh or not to laugh—that is the question when confronted with the absurd and surreal death of an acquaintance. In “Chuckles Bites the Dust” (Season 6, Episode 7) of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, this conundrum is transformed into a sophisticated interrogation of the boundaries between comedy and tragedy, irreverence and respect. The episode, set within the close-knit microcosm of “WJM-TV”, a pioneering workplace comedy (Garrison, History of Sitcom Family), places its ensemble of characters under the strain of navigating their responses to the untimely death of Chuckles the Clown. While the characters display conflicting coping methods, the episode culminates in Mary’s failed attempt to uphold her own rule—not to laugh. This situational irony arises as she chastises others for laughing at the solemnity of death, especially during the funeral. 

        The writing of this episode employs deliberate circumlocution. Though Chuckles is central to the narrative, he is never directly shown; he exists only as a name, a symbol, and a spectral presence in the dialogue. This rhetorical strategy consistently withholds any visceral engagement with the reality of death, compelling the audience not to reckon with Chuckles as a person but with the very concept of death itself—its inscrutability, remoteness, and, paradoxically, its omnipresence.

        Before exploring the comedic theories at play, we must first examine the cultural backdrop of death—specifically how society collectively conceptualizes it and the level of reverence (or lack thereof) it is afforded. Becker argues that all societies engage in some form of "death denial" (Becker, The Denial of Death), while Dumont and Foss highlight a paradox at the heart of American culture: death is both accepted and denied (The American View of Death). This paradox arises from a deeply ingrained fear of death, which is often "tamed" not by confronting the existential dread of a "good death" (Kellehear) but by humor that subverts death itself. Comedians bypass the terror of mortality by focusing on absurd or unnatural causes of death. This comedic treatment requires a series of "buffers"—set-ups and build-ups that gradually desensitize the audience to the brutality of the subject. In this context, death often becomes less about its inevitable nature and more about its absurdity or its role as the aftermath (or preconception) of some collective trauma. In other words, death is often not where the punchline lands.

Comparing examples of jokes and plotlines that build upon death in comedy, “Chuckles Bites the Dust” shares a common approach with others in marginalizing death by assigning it to a character outside the "sitcom family." In this way, the construction of acceptance of the tragic nature of the jokes is built. In “The Saga of Cousin Oscar” from All in the Family, Archie’s outrage over the funeral cost—“You want me to spend over 600 bucks for a funeral for a cousin who sat on my face?” (“All in the Family: What Happened to Cousin Oscar”)—contrasts sharply with the expected solemnity of death, turning it into a petty concern. The hyperbole of magnifying financial objections aligns with the Incongruity Theory, which violates our expectations and disrupts mental patterns (“Humor”). Edith’s response, “He’ll never do it again,” adds dark humor, lightening the death with a dismissive tone that undercuts expected grief. Similarly, in “Chuckles Bites the Dust”, Chuckles’ death is trivialized as the focus shifts to Archie’s bigoted character, or in Chuckles' case, Lou's remark about the absurdity of the death—dressed as a peanut and mauled by an elephant—with Murray’s deadpan, “After all, you know how hard it is to stop after just one peanut” (Youtube, “Chuckles”). Notably, Chuckles’ death is not a “good death,” but rather an unnatural, brutal end, underscored by the absurdity of its execution. The use of deadpan comedy, which evokes laughter through emotional detachment while discussing absurd topics, serves as a buffer in tragicomedy, making the demoted character’s death a “brute fact”, softening the harshness of mortality and invoking both fear and respect. 

Interestingly, in his 2019 Netflix stand-up special, “Asian Comedian Destroys America”, Ronny Chieng, senior correspondent on The Daily Show, addresses the collective trauma of the Nanjing Massacre, a war crime committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1937 (history.com, “Nanjing Massacre”). He briefly discusses the widespread view of Japan in other Asian countries affected by these atrocities, making a sharp punchline about Japan’s transition "from human experimentation, rape, and murder to Sailor Moon and ass-washing toilets” (Netflix, “Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America”), juxtaposing modern Japan with its brutal past. The punchline, “giving ISIS a few years and see if they can cure Cancer,” serves as a satirical commentary on this stark contrast. While Chieng introduces the collective trauma without explicitly emphasizing its aftermath, the references to death are undeniable. This special stands out as the only one to openly mention the historical tension and zeitgeist between Chinese and Japanese people, presenting it as both humorously jocose and, beneath the surface, a “brute fact” of unresolved historical pain.

        From a historical perspective, the iconic role of this episode is rooted in the audacity and excellence of its script, as well as the era in which it aired. Sitcoms of the 1960s reflected a decade in flux, marked by the loss of innocence following the JFK assassination in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, the rise of protests with slogans like “Make Love, Not War,” and the emergence of Black Power ideology with figures like Malcolm X. Shows like The Andy Griffith Show depicted rural America, while Julia broke new ground by showing that not all TV families were white. This era highlighted the idealization of America through the growing diversity on TV. In the 1970s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show continued to push the envelope by presenting a more realistic view of America. Characters like Archie Bunker in All in the Family embodied conservative views and lamented the changes in the country, while The Mary Tyler Moore Show offered a feminist agenda disguised by humor. Mary, after being dumped by her boyfriend, must navigate life in the “Big City” and find a job, breaking traditional gender roles. The workplace comedy of “WJM-TV” revealed the idea that families need not be biological and that we have the power to create our own relationships. “Chuckles Bites the Dust” aired in this context, already stepping outside the norms by discussing death, women's independence, and breaking away from the conventional "sitcom family."

What makes Chuckles’ tragic death the ultimate delight on TV, as named the best sitcom episode by TV Guide? And why does the “sitcom family’s” reaction to it outshine others? Distinctively, the debate of “to laugh or not to laugh” is already in action within the episode itself, with Mary initially chastising the callousness of her colleagues, and Murray stating, “It’s a release” (“Chuckles Bites the Dust”). The dialogue between the characters accurately enacts the duality of “poking fun out of death” in the mind of the audience: on the one hand, Mary’s moral principles mirror the social conventions and norms when treating mortality, with grief and solemnity, to mourn instead of laugh, even if that means restraints, which uncontrollably release during the eulogy of Chuckles at the funeral; on the other hand, Lou and Murray acknowledge the possible indecency in their banter, yet propose a counteractive excuse to critiques over their action: the trifle bizarre nature of the incident. By being empathetic to the audience, the writers unknowingly draw both parties as representations of the laughable-or-not dilemma, comforting the viewers by making them feel secure and accepting behavior to gradually embrace the absurdity of it all.

In terms of plot and joke writing, the former can be seen as a process of storing three types of energy to release emotions, as illustrated in The Relief Theory, while the latter provides both one-time laughter and callbacks later in the episode. Holistically, the final scene at the funeral serves as a release of pent-up nervous energy through buffoonery. According to Freud’s analysis of laughter, Mary’s earlier refusal to accept the comic nature of Chuckles’ death can be seen as a form of emotional suppression. Although she personally finds the Aunt Yoo-Hoo joke hilarious, she discourages others from using it (Youtube, “Chuckles”), which aligns with Freud’s concepts of Der Witz, the release of energy used to suppress emotions, and "humor", the release of energy to feel emotions—two of the three energies expressed in laughter (“Humor”). 

        Individually, the jokes also contribute significantly to the funeral scene. Shifts between seriousness and witty punchlines occur throughout the planning of Chuckles' funeral. When Mary accuses others of being “callous” and showing irreverence, Murray imagines the insurance claim as “Cause of death: a busted goober,” introducing unexpected reactions to Mary’s serious accusations, demonstrating the incongruity theory (“Humor”). Later, as Mary once again urges others to reconsider the cruelty of Chuckles’ death, Murray wryly suggests, “He could have gone as Billy Banana and had a gorilla peel him to death” (“Chuckles Bites the Dust”). This mirrors Chuckles’ death by an elephant while dressed as Peter Peanut, drawing parallelism that subtly prompts the audience to envision the absurdity of the scenario, thereby reinforcing the nonsensical nature of his death. Additionally, the names of Chuckle’s roles: Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo, Billy Banana, and Aunt Yoo-Hoo also rely on alliteration—the repetition of the "B" sound in Billy Banana, the "Y" sound in Aunt Yoo-Hoo, and the "P" sound in Peter Peanut. These jokes, when read seriously by the minister, add to the situational irony, subtly reminding both Mary and the audience of the absurdity of earlier jokes. The Credo of the Clown— “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants”—originally aimed for comedic effect, but is later delivered deadpan, turning into a satirical contradiction of its nature in the funeral. A juxtaposition of Mary suppressing her laughter during the minister’s dignified eulogy was created, followed by an emotional release when the minister permits her to laugh, which ultimately manifests as tears—a moment of dramatic irony, as Mary is granted the security to chuckle (YouTube, “Chuckles”). 

        In a nutshell, the title “Chuckles Bites the Dust” already uses a euphemism for death to soften the harsh reality of mortality. However, the acclaim The Mary Tyler Moore Show received for this episode is not only due to its use of the common strategy to “trivialize” death for punchlines but also for confronting the debate of “to laugh or not to laugh.” Through excellent writing, the show gradually helps the 1970s audience—living in a society torn between death denial and acceptance—feel secure in laughing.

1. Garrison, Laura Turner. “History of Sitcom Family.” Vulture, 1-2, 2011, https://www.vulture.com/2011/10/the-evolution-of-the-sitcom-family.html

2. Dumont, R. G., and D. C. Foss. The American View of Death: Acceptance or Denial? Schenkman, 1972.

3. Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death. Collier-Macmillan, 1973.

4. Kellehear, Allan. “Are We a ‘Death-Denying’ Society? A Sociological Review.” Sociology of Health & Illness, vol. 6, no. 3, 1984, pp. 211-226.

5. “All in the Family: What Happened to Cousin Oscar.” YouTube, 19 Dec. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fB94iAcxo.

6. “Humor.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, Fall 2020 edition, Stanford University, plato.stanford.edu/entries/humor/#IncoTheo. Accessed 24 Dec. 2025.

7. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 6, Episode 7: ‘Chuckles Bites the Dust.’” YouTube, uploaded by Steven Maginnis, 17 Mar. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o-xrio1ESA&t=284s.

8. “Nanjing Massacre.” History, 11 Aug. 2023, https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/nanjing-massacre.

9. “Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America.” Netflix, 2019, https://www.netflix.com/title/81070659.

10. “Chuckles Bites the Dust.” Forever Dreaming Transcripts, 28 Apr. 2022, https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?t=71508.

The final paper of my "Comedy, It's Serious Business" course.