Stumble Is Doing Sight Gags & Wordplay Better Than Any Current Sitcom

Just like the cheer team featured in the mockumentary, Stumble is such an underdog show with incredible potential. Stumble is the best new sitcom audiences haven’t discovered yet, but those who have seen it love it, as shown by its 96% Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score. NBC’s sitcom was inspired by the popularity of cheerleading documentaries like America’s Sweethearts and Cheer.

Stumble follows the redemption of spunky, determined Coach Courtney Potter, starting over at a new college with the novice cheerleaders that make up the cast of Stumble. With a fresh perspective on an often-ignored sport, Stumble carries on the Zucker brothers’ tradition of Airplane! or The Naked Gun in bringing the best sight gags and wordplay to the small screen.

Stumble Has The Best Sight Gags & Wordplay Of Any Modern Sitcom

Stumble relentlessly commits to visual jokes and linguistic absurdity as world-building. When Coach Courtney arrives on campus, she walks into the “Slitely-Awf Center,” a building whose name is noticeably off-center. The rival school, Sammy Davis Senior Junior College, and Courtney’s own hilariously unpronounceable Headltston are jokes that exist purely for rhythm and repetition.

Kristen Chenoweth’s Tammy Istiny is a perfect example of how Stumble marries wordplay and sight gags. Her name is a nod to her short stature, but the gag escalates when her office door is built to her height, forcing every other character to awkwardly duck while she passes through comfortably.

The younger cast is made up of new faces, but the coaches are all comedy veterans. Taran Killam’s Boon, Courtney’s endlessly supportive but concussed husband, becomes a running visual punchline. Each cut back to his injury lingers longer and grows more absurd.

Many mockumentaries like Modern Family chase emotional resonance. Stumble remembers that the format is also a delivery system for jokes, and it exploits that better than any current sitcom.

Why Aren’t More People Talking About Stumble

Stumble has clearly connected with the people who have actually found it. Critics have been favorable, and its 96% Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score reflects genuine audience enthusiasm. The problem isn’t reception but visibility.

Stumble‘s bad timeslot on Fridays at 8:30 p.m. is a major hurdle. Fridays are historically where broadcast shows are placed as a soft landing before cancellation, a slot associated with lower live viewership and reduced promotional urgency. Audiences aren’t conditioned to look for new sitcoms at the end of the week.

The Peacock factor doesn’t help. After its linear airing, Stumble lands on Peacock, which still lags behind Netflix, Disney+/Hulu, and Prime Video in terms of casual discovery. A great show can only travel so far when fewer viewers are browsing the platform in the first place.

Many beloved comedies, from Parks & Recreation to The Office, took time to find both their voice and their audience. Today, few shows are given that runway.

But there is hope for Stumble! NBC reairing episodes on Monday nights after St. Denis Medical, a popular medical mockumentary, is a smart first step, as it may be a more natural carryover audience than with Happy’s Place. With a stronger lead-in and better placement, Stumble could still go for gold.