Bad News, Irrelevant News/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Bad news followed by irrelevant or unimportant good news.

  • Straight: "Bob, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is you just lost your job. The good news is, I got free tickets to see a movie!"
  • Exaggerated: "Bob, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, our town had just been attacked by a horde of disfigured monsters, your family is nowhere to be seen, and you lost your puppy. The good news is, I found the penny you lost yesterday!"
  • Justified: For some reason, free tickets to a movie is more prioritized in the universe than losing one's job.
  • Inverted: "Bob, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, I just lost a nickel. The good news is, you just got promoted!"
  • Subverted: "Bob, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is I lost all of our life savings gambling. The good news is, I found a penny. The penny is a misprinted coin and is actually worth $4,000,000 if sold to collectors."
  • Double Subverted: "But then I lost the penny down a storm drain."
  • Parodied:
    • Already a parody of Good News, Bad News.
    • The bad news is you just lost your job. The good news is that I just got promoted to fill your job!
  • Deconstructed: Alice is telling Bob that she got free tickets because she's such a narcissist that she thinks everyone is always happy to hear what's good news to her. It makes other people distant and cold toward her.
  • Reconstructed: Bob is cheered up by Alice having tickets, because he's genuinely happy that she's happy, and because it means he has a chance at going on a date with her to see the movie.
  • Zig-Zagged: "Bob, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, you just lost your job. The good news is, the vending machine's working again. Another bad news is, your son is in jail. Another good news is, the papercut I had just healed!"
  • Averted: The bad news and good news is balanced.
  • Enforced: ???
  • Lampshaded: "Why do fate has to put irrelevant good luck along seriously bad luck?"
  • Invoked: ???
  • Defied: "Wait, wait. If the bad news is much worse that the good news, why not put the good news first? At least that'll reduce my shock!"
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: "In this show, the bad news is always worse than the irrelevant good news!"
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
  • Played For Drama: ???

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