TV shows always depict the workplace to be a place of general hilarity and fun.

So not true. A workplace is where you do work, it’s not where you play.

In my career, I’ve seen people play pranks, send emails, make a joke in the spirit of “being funny.”  So here’s the biggest difference between work and personal: in your personal life, if someone thinks it’s not funny, they’ll just ignore you. When someone at work thinks it’s not funny, they can make a complaint or worse, or you can set off a chain of events which you did not intend. (BTW,  I have never seen this end well, no matter how innocent the act was.)

Once there is a complaint, it will need to be investigated. And your intent will not matter: what will matter was whether or not the injured party was justified feeling the way they did.  They will look at emails. They will look at text messages. They will interview other employees.

If it crosses your mind that “this might not be a good idea”, listen to your instincts and suppress the urge. Want to be funny? Poke fun at yourself.