I cant remember what show it was but maybe you can.

The main characters hide a dead body/casket in the living room while having a party and cover it with a tablecloth and some food. A magician or someone of the sort later pulls the tablecloth out from under the food, leaving many people startled.

maybe it was a movie, a dream, i dont know. anyone?

Something kind of like that happened on night court once, I think. The person wasnt really dead though, i think they were doing a magic trick and scared the heck out of everybody ---- although, i imagine there are hundreds of similar situations in the many love and short lived sitcoms. Do you remember any other details? a person, a uniform, or a decade even?

Theres an episode of Drew Carey like that. But its in the back yard.

It sounds sort of like the 1948 Alfred Hitchcock film, Rope.