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Nov 06, 2023

Gravity Falls: Funniest Episodes, Ranked

Let's take a look at some of the funniest episodes across two seasons of Gravity Falls. Gravity Falls was a show that aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD in the early 2010s. Exploring the adventures

Let's take a look at some of the funniest episodes across two seasons of Gravity Falls.

Gravity Falls was a show that aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD in the early 2010s. Exploring the adventures of twin tweens Dipper and Mabel Pines as they spend their summer vacation with their great uncle Grunkle Stan, Gravity Falls quickly gathered a cult following across a much larger demographic than Disney usually targets.

The series proved hugely popular due to the elements of mystery and intrigue that peppered each episode, all leading up to a grand season finale at the end of the second season that also served as the series finale. Apart from its excellent world-building and interesting characters, Gravity Falls was also well known for its quirky, intelligent sense of humor which was best showcased in the following episodes:

Dipper Pines is the chief narrator and main character of Gravity Falls. An intelligent and well-meaning child, Dipper often gets swept up in the craziness surrounding his family and the town of Gravity Falls at large. Usually, Dipper gets stuck with the role of the straight man reacting to his twin sister Mabel's shenanigans. But in "Double Dipper" (Season 1, Episode 7) he gets to be the one pulling the hijinks.

Related: The Best TV Shows of the 2010s, According to IMDb

Dipper and the others are busy putting on a social event at their Grunkle Stan's tourist shop The Mystery Shack when Dipper and Mabel discover a printing machine that can clone body parts and entire human beings. Trying to get extra time with Wendy, the cute older girl who also works at the Mystery Shack, Dipper creates a clone of himself using the copier.

Naturally, things get out of control, the copier gets overused, and soon an army of Dipper clones with clashing personalities are wreaking havoc on the evening's festivities.

Aside from Dipper Pines and his family, the larger cast of the show also features many interesting and hilarious characters who get their time to shine in "Irrational Treasure" (Season 1, Episode 8). It's Pioneer Day in Gravity Falls, and the entire town's residents are out in full force celebrating their collective history. Grunkle Stan hates the ongoing festivities, but Dipper and Mabel decide to use the occasion to solve a mystery regarding the town's foundation.

With the help of a mysterious map, Dipper and Mabel embark on a treasure hunt while being pursued by shadowy but bumbling forces intent on keeping the truth about the town's history a secret. A hilarious chase ensues, culminating in the discovery of one of the funniest characters in the history of the show.

Namely, Quentin Trembley, the secret true founder of the town, was deemed just way too silly a person to be allowed to be known as a founding father.

While Dipper is the protagonist of Gravity Falls, the true breakout star is his sister Mabel, a hyper-energetic and preposterously imaginative tween with a knack for landing in awkward situations. Case in point, "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel" (Season 1, Episode 4), where Mabel draws the attention of local celebrity and town psychic Lil' Gideon, who asks Mabel out on a date despite his family being at war with Grunkle Stan.

A bemused Mabel tries to be polite and friendly with Gideon with no intention of dating him. But Gideon decides on her behalf that they are meant to be together forever. Soon Mabel has to call in Dipper and her allies for help in getting rid of her unwanted suitor and his annoying overtures.

This sends the love-struck Gideon into a rage, and he uses the magic powers of the town's various weird artifacts to mount an attack on Dipper and anyone else who would try to get between himself and Mabel.

Anthology episodes are often a fun way to break the narrative flow of a series, and that is what happens in "Little Gift Shop of Horrors" (Season 2, Episode 6). In honor of Halloween, the viewers are treated to three separate horror stories regarding the Pines family, and the various challenges they face, all conveniently grouped around various Mystery Shack merchandising that Grunkle Stan is trying to sell to a customer.

The first tale sees Stan stealing a fake watch from a witch, who curses him to lose his hands until he apologizes and returns the watch. The second story has Mabel's pet pig Waddles gain super intelligence and communicate with the world using the voice of noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

In the final story, Mabel must come to terms with her fear of claymation when a visit to a film director's house turns ghastly due to an army of clay monsters.

Aside from going on adventures and annoying Dipper, Mabel's chief governing passion in life is romance. This passion comes into focus in the episode "The Love God" (Season 2, Episode 9) where Mabel decides to help out the lovesick population of Gravity Falls with the help of a magic potion that forces people to fall in love.

Soon a number of romantic couples are formed without rhyme or reason, forcing Dipper and Mabel to embark on a frantic mission to find an antidote for the potion.

Meanwhile, Grunkle Stan has hit upon a new method of promoting the mystery shack with the help of a hot air balloon to carry a giant picture of Stan with a welcome message for the youth of the town to visit his establishment. Naturally, the plan goes awry, leading to one of the funniest visual gags in the show's history when the broken and battered balloon finally takes to the air.

Unlike a lot of children's shows, Gravity Falls features adults who are just as important to the story as the kids. Chief among them is Grunkle Stan, a grumpy, unscrupulous, but secretly very loving and supportive father figure for Dipper and Mabel during their stay in Gravity Falls.

In "Roadside Attraction" (Season 2, Episode 16), Stan takes the kids along with him on a road trip. Their mission? Sabotage all other tourist shops in the area to give the Mystery Shack a competitive edge.

Thus begins a hilarious prank war between Stan's group and the rest of the tourist industry mafia, which includes the likes of Granny Sweetkins and her giant yarn ball, and the folks over at Upside-Down Town. Also, Dipper is trying to get over Wendy by talking to other girls, and he makes the classic mistake of going to Stan for romantic advice.

By the end of Season 2, Gravity Falls starts wrapping up its narrative with the culmination of its big, overarching storyline that involves the dream demon Bill Cipher coming to Earth to lay waste to our dimension. Dipper, Mabel, and their family are the only ones who have a hope of stopping Cipher. Unfortunately, Bill is aware of that fact, and he has already taken the precaution of trapping Mabel in an impenetrable prison.

That prison turns out to be a dreamworld that springs from Mabel's overactive imagination, where she has everything she ever wanted. When Dipper enters the dreamworld to rescue his sister, he is confronted with a preposterous reality that only his sister could envision.

There are human/waffle hybrids who guard Mabel's home, and an adorable kitty presiding over the courthouse, voiced by Jon Stewart. Worst of all, there is Dippy Fresh, Mabel's version of a brother who is always supportive, and whom the real Dipper comes to loathe with a deep and abiding passion.

A big part of the humor in Gravity Falls comes from parodying things from the real world. Like the episode "Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons" (Season 2, Episode 13). As the name suggests, the story features a parody of the classic tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons, where Dipper and his family get trapped in a version of the game, Jumanji-style.

The whole thing is orchestrated by the main villain of the game, the dastardly math wizard Probabilitor the Annoying, who even gets his own hilarious intro rap. The wizard traps the Pines family in a game of chance where the only way to win is for Grunkle Stan to overcome his contempt for role-playing games, and embrace his gambling addiction to outplay Probabilitor's mathematical fantasy quest.

Many of the best comic side gags in Gravity Falls come from the non-ethical habits of Grunkle Stan, and his confidence in his way of life. But in "The Stanchurian Candidate" (Season 2, Episode 14), Stan's inability to get through a day without saying something inappropriate to someone becomes a problem when he decides to run for the position of the town's mayor.

Related: Gravity Falls: Funniest Characters in the Series, Ranked

Dipper and Mabel know that the chances of Stan being able to mount a successful election campaign are next to nil. So they roll up their sleeves and try to help their Grunkle present a winnable appearance in front of the public.

This includes dressing Stan up in a mind-control tie, so the kids can direct his speeches and stop him from embarrassing himself at every public appearance. Also in the mix is Lil' Gideon, who has his own plans to use dark magic to make sure his father wins the election.

At its best, Gravity Falls can be one of the most subversive children's shows ever made in terms of how the series upends the tropes of children's entertainment in intelligent and hilarious ways. Like in the episode "The Last Mabelcorn" (Season 2, Episode 15), Mabel embarks on a quest to find a unicorn's hair in an enchanted forest with a group of her female friends.

In typical fairytale fashion, the unicorn hair can only be found by someone "pure of heart." At first, Mabel tries to follow the dictum by doing a bunch of good deeds. But when all else fails, Mabel and her friends are forced to take matters into their own hands and prove that girls are capable of much more than being goody-goody and ladylike all the time.

Cue some hilarious interactions with the fairy "underworld" of the forest, and a final, exhilarating knockdown, drag-out fight between Mabel, her friends, and a bunch of prissy unicorns with a major superiority complex.