Amazing TV Moments That Were Never Supposed To Happen

There usually isn't much room for improv on the set of a TV show. Schedules are tight, and actors show up and recite the lines on the page as quickly and efficiently as possible so everyone can move on to the next shot. But every once in awhile, a little bit of improv manages to squeeze into a day's work—mostly on comedies, but in dramas, too. We'll bet you had no idea these terrific TV moments didn't come from a script, but off the top of an actor's head.

If you don't know, "Frak" was the rebooted Battlestar Galactica's version of the F-word. Its use is what kept the show on the air and not in constant trouble with the FCC. It was used creatively and colorfully over the show's run, but never better than in the 12th episode of the fourth season, titled "A Disquiet Follows My Soul." Felix Gaeta and Kara Thrace get into a verbal tiff. As Kara storms out, Gaeta (played by actor Alessandro Juliani) ad-libbed a beauty of a line: "So I guess a pity frak is out of the question then?" Show creator Ronald D. Moore loved it and kept it in the final cut.

Daryl on The Walking Dead is a man of few words. He's mostly into expressing himself through action, like shooting zombies with his trusty crossbow. When he speaks, he speaks truth. He means it. That's what makes Norman Reedus' ad-lib from the fifth-season episode "Remember" such a classic line.

Daryl and Carol have a special relationship. It isn't sexual, or familial. It's one based on the deepest respect for who they are and how far they've both come. They both know exactly who the other person is, deep down. So, when the survivors find a new community to live in—one that, on the surface, looks untouched by the horrors of the outside world—Carol takes the opportunity to change her manner of dress, going from post-apocalyptic survivor chic to suburban soccer mom. When Daryl first lays eyes on her new getup, actor Reedus spit out a single line that said exactly what the audience was thinking: "You look ridiculous."

Sherlock Holmes is an abrasive, inconsiderate, selfish person. He's also a hero and possesses one of the greatest analytical minds in all of fiction. So it's only fitting that in the BBC's modern retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock as every bit of the pain in the butt as he was in Victorian England—even when he forgets a line and just makes something up to cover. That's exactly what happened during the season three episode "The Sign of Three," when Watson falls asleep drunk while he and Sherlock work a case. We'll never know the exact line Cumberbatch was meant to recite in this scene, but all that came out after "Apologies on behalf of my...thing." The line drips with Sherlock's contempt for every living creature; in other words, it's perfect.

Does it count as improv when a famous line borrowed from one show is appropriately ad-libbed into another show? Let's just say yes. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resident super-nerd Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) doesn't get to do as much field work as the rest of the team, so when he's out there mixing it up with bad guys with crazy powers and he's armed only with his smarts and inventions, he can get a little excited. Such as in this scene from the season two episode "S.O.S.", in which Fitz and the team are trying to lure a teleporting bad guy into a trap. The villain is toying the with agents, vaporizing into nothing and reappearing every time they take a swing at him. No one can catch him...until Fitz switches on his tech that stops the teleporter from dematerializing. Recalling a meme inspired by Breaking Bad, De Caestecker confidently ad-libbed the drug drama's famous catchphrase like it was his own: "Science, b—-!"

Shows like The Office and Parks and Rec don't feature much improv, even if this list seems to suggest otherwise. With a season's worth of episodes to shoot every year, actors stuck to the script more often than not; they simply didn't have the time to shoot a scene 10 different ways. That's what makes Patton Oswalt's incredible marathon of improvisation in the season 5 episode "Article Two" so special. To prevent city council members from voting on a subject near and dear to him, Oswalt's character rambles off his idea of an insane crossover movie between the Star Wars and Marvel universes. Not a single bit of it was written. Amazing? Yeah, but the truly amazing part is that, as nuts at the crossover idea is, it doesn't feel entirely implausible in today's Hollywood.

Many fans were left heartbroken when Oliver's (Stephen Amell) mother Moira (Susanna Thompson) bit the dust on The CW's Arrow. Despite her occasional deadly lapses in judgement, Moira would do anything for her children, and she proved that once again in her dying moments as she tried to protect her daughter Thea (Willa Holland) from her deathbed. Thompson revealed that part of Moira's speech to her daughter was actually improvised, with the actress coming up with the "close your eyes" comment as a way to bridge the gap between Moira telling Slade (Manu Bennett) to let her children live and her actual death.

"The last thing I wanted was for Thea to see that," Thompson said, adding that she threw in the line without telling anyone. "She had to connect mother to daughter there." Executive producer Marc Guggenheim ended up loving the line and requesting for it to be kept in the final product.

If you're one of the (unfortunately) small number of people who tuned into ABC's Happy Endings, you'll know that the Friends-esque comedy was a joke machine, constantly pulling out reference after reference for some quick-paced and hilarious laughs. With a hilarious cast, it makes sense that some of the jokes would be improvised—including a small but fun moment featuring a Mary Poppins reference from Eliza Coupe's Jane.

Coupe threw in the line referencing the "Feed the Birds" song from the classic film during a fake fight with her husband Brad (Damon Wayans Jr.), referring to him as "tuppence a bag" as she talked about his ability to attract pigeons, something Coupe thought would either be forgotten about or removed. However, she was surprised to see that people on Twitter noticed and appreciated the joke. "I think we have enough broad jokes," she argued. "And if some get the obscure ones, it's like a little gem."

Bill Hader's Stefon has been one of the breakout characters of Saturday Night Live's recent years, and, on a show known for its improv talent, it comes as no surprise that one of the key pieces of the character's persona would have been made up on the spot. According to Hader, the reason he always covered his mouth when playing Stefon is because of Seth Meyers.

Meyers was the Weekend Update host for most of Stefon's appearances, and apparently, him being the straight man against Stefon's "insane person" was just too much for the actor to keep a straight face. As Hader explained years later during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, "You were being so patient with this maniac who had the simplest job in the world."

There were a lot of heartbreaking moments in Breaking Bad over the years, but one of the biggest tearjerkers came when Walt's (Bryan Cranston) baby daughter Holly started calling out for her mother after her father abducted her. As it turns out, Holly wasn't actually scripted to be saying anything in that moment.

According to co-executive producer Moira Walley-Beckett, the two actresses playing Holly were both only on set for about 20 minutes at a time as they worked through the emotional scene. During the bathroom scene, baby Holly saw her real mother just a few feet away, and ended up calling out to her. Credit goes to Cranston for rolling with it, because the moment ended up being an instant classic.