"Everybody Laughs" Ending: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

An Everybody Laughs Ending is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|exactly what the name suggests]]: an episode (usually from a [[Western Animation|Saturday-morning cartoon]], though [[Live Action TV|live-action]] [[Comedy Tropes|comedy]] episodes have also been known to do this) that ends with all the main protagonists laughing, either at one last lame joke the writers squeezed in, at the expense of the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] character, or as part of the defeated villain's [[Humiliation Conga]]. This may be intended to let the viewer know that whatever problem the episode focused on has been vanquished and [[Status Quo Is God|everything is fine and just as it should be]]. Often follows the characters learning an [[Anvilicious]] [[An Aesop|Aesop]] or [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]]. The return of a [[Brick Joke]] from the start of the episode is a common way of setting this up. Especially satisfying if the characters plant their fists on their hips and throw back her heads, [[Boisterous Bruiser]]-style.

 

Compare [[Oh, Cisco]], in which the episode ends on one last short joke right after a commercial interruption (Like [[The Colbert Report|Stephen Colbert]] ending his show with one last quick quip seconds after the last commercial) and may or may not include an Everybody Laughs Ending. In works aimed at children or very far on the idealistic end of the spectrum, you might also see a [[Yeah! Shot]].

 

== Advertising ==

* This is how the various ads of Miller Lite's "Man Up" campaign tend to end, with on one occasion even the [[Butt Monkey]] laughing too.

 

 

* About 75% of the episodes of ''[[Digimon]]'' (at least the first two seasons) end this way. Season 1 was particularly bad about it.

* [[Kirby Right Back At Ya]] has a lot of episodes that end this way as well.

* Quite common in [[Super Robot]] episodes

* [[Sonic X]] has a few episodes that end with this.

 

 

* Dell/Gold Key, the 1940s-1980s producer of licensed comic books featuring the [[Classic Disney Shorts|Disney]], ''[[Looney Tunes]]'', [[Woody Woodpecker|Walter Lantz]], and [[Tom and Jerry|MGM]] cartoon characters, used this ending incessantly in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in hundreds of stories written by Carl Fallberg and/or Vic Lockman. Many Gold Key writers also worked on TV cartoons and sitcoms, suggesting a direct influence.

*** Divide the typical Fallberg sidekick into Scooby AND Shaggy, and it becomes obvious how this trope took the path that it did.

* ''[[Batman]]: [[The Killing Joke]]'' ends with Batman and [[The Joker]] laughing together in the rain. It's unsettling, and definitely not the way this trope is normally played.

* Played completely straight in, of all things, the 1999 film adaptation of [[Oscar Wilde]]'s ''An Ideal Husband''.

* Hilariously parodied in a scene of ''[[Wet Hot American Summer]]'', ending several characters' ''subplot'', but it's long before the movie ends.

** It happens roughly in the middle of the movie, but it still counts. A group of public-relations people are advising the Penguin on the sort of image he needs to cultivate to run for Mayor of Gotham City. The Penguin looks noticeably uncomfortable as the advisors [[Mythology Gag|stick an FDR-style cigarette holder in his mouth]] [[No Smoking|(he promptly spits it out)]] and try to tug some gloves onto his flipper-like hands. Then one of the advisors quips: "Not a lot of reflective surfaces down in that sewer, huh?" The Penguin, who actually ''has'' been living in a sewer for most of his life after [[Parental Abandonment|having been abandoned by his parents when he was a baby]], snickers self-deprecatingly, prompting everyone else to nervously laugh as well. Soon Penguin's laughter [[Laughing Mad|mounts to maniacal proportions]], and he pauses only long enough to make a quip of his own: "Still, it could be worse. My nose could be gushing blood!" The others, thinking this is just a joke as well, continue to laugh even harder - until Penguin shocks everyone by sinking his fang-like teeth into the nose of the man who insulted him, spraying blood all over the room!

** An earlier and even less funny example occurs when Max Shreck discovers that Selina Kyle has been snooping around his office and has uncovered his plot to siphon electricity from homes and businesses around Gotham City and sell the power back to them at below market price. Seemingly angry, Max orders Selina not to tell anyone about this and then backs her toward a window, accusing her of trying to thwart his attempts to establish a family legacy for himself and his son. Selina is apologetic all the way until Max actually pins her against the window and appears to be on the verge of hitting her - or worse. She turns defiant, calls him a bully, and snaps: [[Tempting Fate|"It's not like you can just kill me!"]] But Max is [[Villain with Good Publicity|one of the most admired figures in Gotham City]], while Selina is a nobody, and he points this out to her; of ''course'' he can do whatever he wants to her. Selina whimpers until Max (seemingly) reveals that [["Just Joking" Justification|it was all an act]], and he chuckles at Selina's expense. Too relieved to be embarrassed, Selina starts to awkwardly laugh as well, mentioning: "For a second, you really frightened me" - just before Max turns on her in a rage and shoves her through the window, sending her falling several stories to what he is sure will be her death.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the live-action adaptation of ''[[George of the Jungle]]'': one of the villain's [[Mooks]] trips and falls face-first in a pile of elephant dung, prompting a minor character to point this out as a "classic staple of physical comedy"; he then instructs everyone to "throw back their heads and laugh," which they do.

* A bittersweet version can be seen in ''[[The Wild Bunch]]''.

 

 

** Also happened in ''TNG'' when Geordi and Ro get cloaked; it ends with Geordi cracking a rubbish joke and fake laughing with the fade out.

*** Also, at the end of "The Outrageous Okona", [[Cannot Tell a Joke|Data]] manages to make the crew laugh with one unexpected joke, he then thinks he's on a run and ruins it by telling countless other lame jokes.

* The Australian [[Affectionate Parody]] of '70s cop shows ''[[Funky Squad]]'' always ended in this, with conspicuously fake "spontaneous laughter".

* Mocked remorselessly in ''[[Garth Marenghi's Darkplace]]'', a spoof of 80's TV. The episodes tend to end with all the cast laughing... and [[Overly Long Gag|laughing...]] and ''[[Crosses the Line Twice|laughing]]''.

* Nearly every episode of ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'' ended this way, no matter how grisly and gratuitous the murder featured in that particular episode, [[Epileptic Trees|as Jessica reveled in successfully pinning her crimes on someone else yet again.]]

* Parodied in ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' where they would frequently all end the episode laughing hysterically after giving a [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]], "I didn't have to join the debate team to get attention from my family, I just had to starve myself to the brink of death! Ahahaha!" or by having one character stare at them bemused.

* Played straight in the ending of the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial "The Time Monster".

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' - at the end of the early episode "I Robot, You Jane", Buffy and Xander console Willow over her falling for the wrong guy (a malevolent demon) - they remind her of their own romantic disasters and how none of them are ever going to have a normal, happy relationship. Xander chirps "We're all doomed!", everyone laughs...[[Made Myself Sad|then stops laughing as that sinks in]].

* ''[[Young Blades]]'': The ending of "Four Musketeers and a Baby," after the Musketeers find out that {{spoiler|a woman [[The Casanova|D'Artagnan]] had been trying to track down because he thought she was the mother of his baby had become a nun after he passed out "like a useless turnip" before they could do the deed.}}

* The first few seasons of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' end with bulk and skull getting humiliated, and all the teens laughing

 

 

== Radio ==

 

 

'''Both:''' Ahahahahahahahah!

{{spoiler|'''Hades:''' [[Wham! Line|Now wait just a second.]]}} }}

 

== Web Animation ==

* The web cartoon ''The Mr. Gear and Clippy Show'' lampshaded this at the conclusion of the "Return of Dr. Disc" arc, where after all the loose ends are tied up, everyone starts laughing for no apparent reason. One of the characters asks "Why are we laughing?" before the scene moves to the closing credit screen.

* The web animation ''[[Bonus Stage (web animation)|Bonus Stage]]'' ends this way.

* Done a few times on ''[[Homestar Runner]]''. The Strong Bad E-mail "ISP" parodied this by having Strong Bad's laughter reach maniacal, mildly disturbing levels before the cartoon cut back to [[Brick Joke|the GIF Strong Bad was trying to download earlier in the cartoon]].

 

* [[Exterminatus Now]] [http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2008-08-09/comic/mort-to-it-than-zombies/alls-well-that-ends-in-bloodshed/ plays it straight before brutally subverting it].

* Happens in a guest strip of ''[[Gastrophobia]]'' [http://www.gastrophobia.com/index.php?date=2011-03-14 here].

 

 

== Web Original ==

* Parodied by ''[[Tobuscus]]'' in the first episode of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfwXi5LgNms Tobuscus Animated Adventures]. Toby and Gabe go to ''[[Dead Island]]'' thanks to a hilarious misunderstanding and get attacked by zombies. Gabe helps Toby fight off the zombies, then makes an [[Incredibly Lame Pun|absolutely atrocious pun]]. Both laugh uproariously... and then Toby, who was bitten earlier, [[And Then John Was a Zombie|attacks Gabe]]. The end.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Monster Buster Club]]'' plays this trope completely straight and ''utterly whores it to death.'' You'd be hard-pressed to find an episode that doesn't feature this.

* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', in general, was not too bad an offender, but the page quote comes from "[[Trapped in TV Land|Episode 257-494]]" (season four, episode one) parodies this: In addition to the above quote, if you pay close attention you'll notice everyone ''starts'' laughing but the Titans almost immediately stop and look somewhat worried while the [[Laugh Track]] continues for about an extra second.

* ''[[The Magic School Bus]]'' normally played this straight. However, it was lightly spoofed in the bat episode. At the end, Ms. Frizzle and Ralphie burst out laughing over his ending joke while Ralphie's mother looks back and forth between them with a deadpan expression.

* ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'' used this in the episode "Curling Flower Space". At the end of Space Ghost's retelling of the last episodes events, everyone laughs twice and [[Hanna-Barbera]] ending music is used during both laughs.

** Parodied at the end of the episode where Sideshow Bob attempts to romance (and kill) Selma by opening a gas line: Bart closes by saying "Now let's get out of this gas-filled hallway before we all suffocate." Everyone laughs, presumably from the effects of the gas leak.

** Parodied in "Last Exit to Springfield", where the main characters are gathered in a dentist's office and laugh very loudly at a mildly amusing joke, then it is revealed that the doctor left the laughing gas on.

** Subverted in a much later episode, "Spongicus". SpongeBob, Patrick, Krabs, and Squidward begin laughing as the music cue signals the end of the episode, but the scene continues. One by one, the characters get bored, stop laughing, and walk away.

*** [[Overly Long Gag|And then]] [[Brick Joke|the sea lion from before roars]]. Then the episode ends abruptly.

{{quote|'''Spongebob''': [to Gary] Looks like training is gonna start early, ladies. I called you a lady to humiliate and demean you. It's a motivational tool we coaches use.

[Elsewhere in Bikini Bottom]

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (animation)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'' spent a ''lot'' of endings [[The Complainer Is Always Wrong|mocking Eric]].

* A fairly common ending for stories on the Playhouse Disney classic ''[[PB and J Otter]]''.

* The [[PBS Kids]] show ''[[Dragon Tales]]''. ''Excessively.'' Of course, "everyone" in this case generally means Emmy and Max (and Enrique in the third season), as stories from this show almost always end with these characters returning home.

* Most every episode of ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'' ends with Orko doing something stupid and everybody laughing at him.

* A bunch of episodes of ''[[The Beatles (animation)|The Beatles]]'' ended this way, sometimes ''without resolving the plot.''

** There were just as many afterwards with the Superfriends laughing at stuff Gleek the monkey does at the end of episodes.

* Likewise, most episodes of ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' TOS end with the gang laughing at [[Non-Human Sidekick|Bandit]]. Examples: "The Robot Spy", "Pirates From Below", "Riddle of the Gold".

* The ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' episode "Pet Rockey" ended this way, at [[Butt Monkey|Samy's]] expense.

* 90% of all ''[[Care Bears]]: Adventures in Care-a-Lot'' episodes ended this way.

* Some episodes of ''[[Adventures from the Book of Virtues]]'' ended this way.

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' does this in quite a few episodes.

* A particularly disturbing example came up in "B.O.T.", an old episode of ''[[Transformers]]'', which featured two boys dragging a girl to a fate likely hinted to be [[Nightmare Fuel]], while all the Autobots, who don't notice, are ''just laughing away''. Earned the title "Worst Episode Ever" on the TF Wiki.

* Happens at the end of the ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' episode "Misty Island Rescue". "You'll be laughing on the other side of your boilers soon, silly steamies! [[Evil Laugh|MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!]] [[Big Yes|Yessssss..."]]

* The ''[[Space Ghost]]'' episode "Ruler of the Rock Robots". Space Ghost, Jan and Jace laugh at Blip for posing on one of the robots and wanting his picture taken.

* ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)|Beetlejuice]]'' had this happen gradually after the Ghost with the Most Puns gave Doomy [[Incredibly Lame Pun|windshield vipers]].

* ''[[Rugrats]]'' had babies and adults alike laughing at an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]''.

* Episodes of ''[[Dragon Booster]]'' pretty much always end this way.

* Several episodes of ''[[Birdz]]''.

 

----

'''Both:''' Do-ho-ho-ho-hoh! }}

 

[[Category:Laughter Tropes]]

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]

[[Category:Ending Tropes]]