"Slapstick" is the ninth episode of the third season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & George Pelecanos and was directed by Alex Zakrzewski. It originally aired on November 21, 2004.

The title is an ironic reference to the slapstick manner in which many of the very serious events (all of which could have been avoided) in the episode play out: Prez's tragic misfire; the breaking of the Sunday morning truce by Barksdale soldiers culminating almost comically in the shooting off of Omar's grandmother's church 'crown' before an awkward escape; Carver's decision to move the body out of the free zone, which is easily picked up on by homicide; Herc's and other Western District detectives' growing disenchantment with Colvin's initiative.

Spoken while Freamon tries to persuade McNulty to see that there is more to life than casework. The line comes from the famous lyrics by John Lennon, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Producer George Pelecanos has previously published a novel, Right as Rain, dealing with the fallout after a white police officer shoots an undercover black police officer. Much of Prez's situation is drawn from that novel, including several direct lines of dialogue.

McNulty makes reference to several real-life Baltimore police officers when saying the few people who have as good of a position as the detail, including co-creator Ed Burns.

Although credited, Frankie R. Faison and Wendell Pierce do not appear in this episode.

Jimmy McNulty is awoken in the middle of the night by a call from Theresa D'Agostino who invites him to her hotel room. He tells his son Sean that he is leaving and gives him his cell phone number in case of emergency. McNulty leaves quickly after meeting with D'Agostino, telling her that he has to return home (neglecting to mention to her his two boys, whom he left at home alone). He asks her if they can at least have dinner first next time. When he returns home, he tries to watch the same political show that she was watching, but soon grows bored and changes to a war documentary.

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