WJM's Chuckles the Clown is at a parade dressed as "Peter Peanut" and, as Lou Grant so succinctly put it, "a rogue elephant tried to shell him". Poor Mary Richards is emotionally devastated because of Chuckles' death, but unfortunately shows it in some not-quite-appropriate ways, culminating in a meltdown at Chuckles' funeral.
This is probably the funniest episode of this terrific series, and continually makes the lists of Top 10 comedy episodes. It's not every sitcom that can make comedy gold out of someone's death, but they pull it off flawlessly here. Everything is just letter-perfect: the writing, the directing, the acting--even Murray, probably my least favorite character on the show, comes off well. It's Mary Tyler Moore's turn to shine here, and she's just perfect. There were some episodes of the series that didn't quite come off particularly well--not many, but some-- but this is definitely not one of them. Besides being the funniest episode in this series, it's quite possibly the single funniest episode of any series, period. It's about as close to perfection as you can get.
