Hi, everyone. Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the morbid question here--it is for a project. I am interested in knowing whether you recall any 50s or 60s sitcoms that directly reference a coffin/casket. You may find it in the 60's spooky ones, maybe (Muensters, etc.), but maybe not even. But I am also interested in other types of sitcoms as well. Thanks.

I can assure you there are frequent coffin references and gags in The Munsters - Herman works at the mortuary. And there is a "vampire" episode of Gilligan's Island.

I can't think of a sitcom in the 50s or 60s that had that reference.

Take away the sitcom restriction I immediately think of Dark Shadows (1966-1971), which has a lot of references to coffins, since Barnabas Collins, a vampire, is restricted to one during the days, and was freed from one by Willie Loomis, after being chained in one for a couple of centuries.

am interested in knowing whether you recall any 50s or 60s sitcoms that directly reference a coffin/casket. You may find it in the 60's spooky ones, maybe (Muensters, etc.), but maybe not even. But I am also interested in other types of sitcoms as well. Thanks.

Count Dragula comes to mind
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/26/6e/47266ee3618d758c175a895e6e395732.jpg

Wasn't there an episode of Beverly Hillbillies where Granny says that she doesn't need a casket "just bury me deep enough that the chickens don't scratch me up"?

Then of course there is this gem from the Monkees episode "A Coffin Too Frequent"

https://i.imgur.com/VweiXOj.jpg

And then there was Stretch Cunningham's funeral on All in the Family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf-TNVSCfsQ

On Gilligan's Island, when Gilligan constructed a wooden bathtub for Mr. Howell and laid in it himself , if I remember correctly Mary Ann and Ginger thought Gilligan was dying at that time -- and believed the tub was a coffin...! (Season 2, ep 13, Dec.16, 1965 "Gilligan Gets Bugged")

And who could forget McHale's Navy episode "The Vampire of Taratupa"?

https://i.imgur.com/tvKn8JT.jpg

In the 70s, there was an episode of Sanford and Son where Lamont bought two coffins and took them in the house and Fred was scared to death so he slept outside. Then Lamont heard a black cat scream and run across the casket and he got scared too and slept outside with Fred. Very funny episode!

On Three's Company, Jack was in a coffin pretending to be dead.

On Happy Days, they staged a funeral for Fonzie.

In the 80s on The Golden Girls, they had to go pick out a casket for a neighbor.

Since the previous post brought up funerals, there was also the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show episode where Chuckles the Clown died after being stepped on by an elephant. In the funeral scene, Mary tried to stifle a laugh and then she finally broke down in tears. It was my favorite sitcom episode of all time.

I just want to thank you all for all your wonderful replies. I'll have to check out some of the episodes you mentioned. Send more if you think of any!:)

I can assure you there are frequent coffin references and gags in The Munsters - Herman works at the mortuary. And there is a "vampire" episode of Gilligan's Island.

There's an F Troop episode, "V Is for Vampire" featuring Vincent Price. He arrives at Fort Courage driving a hearse wagon, but no coffins are seen in his house.