Jim and Pam and the serious comedy

SPOILER WARNING FOR LAST NIGHT'S OFFICE. Continue at your own risk.

I'm so glad The Office got better. When it started out, it was trying way too hard to be a carbon copy of the British series, but without the charm of Ricky Gervaise. As time went by, the show got its own identity until last night when Jim and Pam got serious. Jim was in tears, and followed it up with a romantic-as-hell kiss to end the season. I have no idea where they're going to go from that, but I'm so glad they did it, and not just because I was jealous of Pam. There's no way the British version would ever have taken itself that seriously. But when a good sitcom does something serious it has all that much more impact because you're so used to laughing at these people that when they make you cry you feel it with more intensity.

On Scrubs a few weeks ago, Perry lost his will to doctor after losing all his patitients in a bunch of organ transplants. On the Friends episode where Ross and Rachel broke up, almost the entire show was their argument, ending in tears, only broken up by the comic relief of the rest of the gang hiding out in Monica's bedroom. It doesn't always work, but when it does it really packs a punch.

I wonder if that would work in a spec script? Would it be too much of a departure to throw a really serious and emotional moment smack into your comedy? It would almost certainly have to come at the end, like with The Office and Scrubs. Would that turn your reader off to go off on a serious note like that, or would they be impressed with your gumption as long as you did it right? Now I've got to go ask somebody.