Four Greatest Broken Fourth Walls Ever

Next week Deadpool is arriving in theaters.  From the very beginning of the promotion for this film the title character has been speaking into camera and making meta jokes as he is wont to do.  This movie is potentially the most meta film that has ever been made but absolutely not the first.  It is only a continuation of a long tradition of comedies that have broken the fourth wall; a tradition that will likely continue even farther when Disney cowboys up and does something with my Pearls Before Swine script.

Horse Feathers

There are few things in modern comedy that wasn't done better by the Marx Brothers over half a century ago.  They may not have invented meta-comedy but when they used it they did so with as much precision as they did everything else.  In some ways Groucho is one of Deadpool's clearest predecessors.  He was a joke assassin with deadly accuracy who could also be extraordinarily silly as he drew ire from those around him as much with his stinging insults as with his absurdity, and yes, at times he broke the fourth wall.  The best example is in the Brothers' classic Horse Feathers.  As Chico is just beginning one of his typical piano numbers his dearest brother Groucho walks straight up to the camera and says "I've got to stay here but there's no reason why you folks shouldn't go out into the lobby until this thing blows over."  As wonderful as that joke is, there were at least a couple of reasons to stay in the theater.  Not only is Chico a fairly impressive pianist but it's just not worth the risk of missing any more Groucho jokes.

Duck Amuck

Where Marvel has Deadpool, DC Comics have a superhero character named Animal Man who also knows that he is fictional.  In place of Deadpool's antics Animal Man's reaction to this realization is nearly tragic, a philosophical tale of what happens when one realizes that they lack control in a big crazy universe.  Somewhere in between is Daffy Duck in the Looney Tunes classic  "Duck Amuck."  The short begins like any other and Daffy enters prepared for a swashbuckling adventure.  He swings his rapier threateningly at a nonexistent foe and advances right past the background, finding himself in a white void.  He prompts the animator and a paintbrush enters the frame to deliver a quaint farm scene instead of a 17th century French castle.  Daffy changes his wardrobe just in time to saunter from the farm to the arctic.  For the next five minutes the all powerful hand of the animator tortures the Duck, at one point erasing him out of existence until the only thing on screen is a bill.  According to director Chuck Jones it was all a test of the strength of Daffy as a character, supposedly saying "who is Daffy Duck anyway? Would you recognize him if I did this to him? What if he didn't live in the woods? Didn't live anywhere? What if he had no voice? No face? What if he wasn't even a duck anymore?"

It's Garry Shandling's Show

For some reason wall breaking is hard to do successfully on TV.  Just ask all the Community fans, myself included, who had to beg and plead for each new season.  Two decades before the phrase "six seasons and a movie" was ever uttered there was It's Garry Shandling's Show.  It was kind of like Seinfeld (which premiered two years later) if all the characters were at least vaguely aware that they were on TV and Jerry was very aware to the point that instead of doing stand up in a comedy club he delivered expository monologues while facing the camera, treating the audience like another character.  The show was so self-aware that the theme song contained lyrics of how it came into existence; "Garry called me up and asked if I would write his theme song."  Fortunately the show was successful enough to last four season and earn as many Emmy nominations without so much as a single hashtag.

It's surprisingly difficult to find gifs of late 80's
 semi-forgotten cult classics.

Blazing Saddles

Mel Brooks is one of cinema's greatest wall breakers.  Since some of his most famous movies are parodies of other movies it makes sense for self-awareness to be a key element.  There are a lot of moments to choose from.  The "Abott and Costello Meet Inception" from Spaceballs is a strong contender but the clear winner comes from the end of Blazing Saddles.  It is perhaps the funniest, and certainly most literal, broken fourth wall since Juliet asked the audience where Romeo was.  It also might be one of the greatest surprise endings since Macbeth's butler did it (I haven't seen that movie), so this might get into spoiler territory.  After a long battle between a noble sheriff and corrupt politicians, a fight broke out, then broke through a literal wall onto a sound stage where another film was being shot.  The rest of the fight takes place throughout the Warner Bros. lot, climaxing with a shootout in front of the theater where Blazing Saddles is premiering.  A few characters even go inside the theater.  I always thought it would be incredible if someone dressed like the characters walked in to the actual theater at that moment.  You know, there are an awful lot of Deadpool cosplayers out there.