All The Tropes

Biting the Hand Humor: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Biting the Hand Humor (view source)

Revision as of 14:38, 17 August 2023

241 bytes added ,  9 months ago
no edit summary
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
(6 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 31:
* In the first ''[[Great Lakes Avengers]]'', [[Squirrel Girl]] and Grasshopper appear in an offstage prologue. Grasshopper says "The only people reading comics now are [[Take That, Audience!|overweight thirty-year-olds]] [[Basement Dweller|living in their mother's basement]]." [[Squirrel Girl]]'s sidekick replies in an inset: "Hey, fanboys, don't take that lying down! Write angry letters to [[Marvel]] today!"
* Hazmat in ''Avengers Academy'' #10: "Today's gonna suck as much as all the others... but just a little bit ''harder''. Because it's ''[[One More Day]]''... with ''no end in sight''."
* A comic story of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and& Mandy]]'' has Grim using his scythe for a rather ridiculous reason, to which Mandy responds "Doesn't this comic have ''any'' standards?"
 
== Film ==
Line 57:
 
== Literature ==
* In ''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'', Terry Pratchett manages a dig at the publishing industry and the morality of book publishers by having Nanny Ogg bilked over a publishing deal, in which her payment for a best-seller is the usual gratis author's copy of the book and nothing else. Granny Weatherwax plays catch-up on her friend's behalf and demonstrates that a publisher's worst nightmare is a cheated witch. They leave the offices with an advance payment of five thousand dollars.
* Sci-fi author [[Philip José Farmer]], in his ''[[Riverworld]]'' series where all the Earth's population is resurrected into a wholly unexpected afterlife, has the character who is his [[Marty Stu]] in the book (legitimate, as we are ''all'' characters on the Riverworld) meet a publisher who once cheated him. Near-lethal vengeance is administered. The publisher is given the name Sharko.
 
Line 244:
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has a long history of poking fun at the [[FOX]] network.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[Family Guy]]'' both have histories of poking fun at the [[FOX]] network. Probably the most striking example was [https://web.archive.org/web/20090828170638/http://www.hulu.com/watch/41275/family-guy-canceled the first scene in the first episode of ''Family Guy'' after it had been revived from cancellation], where Peter recites the long list of every prime-time show that Fox cancelled after ''Family Guy''.▼
** There is a list [https://web.archive.org/web/20131108070159/http://www.snpp.com/guides/foxswipe.html here] of many of the jabs at Fox. Specific ''Simpsons'' examples:
*** ''The Simpsons'' reached a disturbing new nadir in its "MoneyBART" episode, its [[Couch Gag]] (storyboarded by subversive street artist [[Banksy]]) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1iplQQJTo depicting] the production of ''Simpsons'' episodes and merchandise taking place in a toxic sweat shop within a bulding shaped like the 20th Century Fox [[Vanity Plate]]. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510513 This BBC report] claims the sequence "led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walk out by the animation department."
Line 287:
{{quote|'''King''':I'm your moderator, Larry King. Now, a word to our audience: even though we're being broadcast on...Fox, there's no need for obnoxious hooting and hollering.
'''*Cue obnoxious hooting and hollering*''' }}
▲* ''[[TheFamily SimpsonsGuy]]'' andis ''[[Familyno Guy]]''better. both"What haveare historiesthey ofgonna pokingdo? funCut atour thebudget?" [[FOX]]Peter networkmused in one episode. ProbablyOne of the most strikingwell exampleknown instances was [https://web.archive.org/web/20090828170638/http://www.hulu.com/watch/41275/family-guy-canceled the first scene in the first episode of ''Family Guy'' after it had been revived from cancellation], where Peter recites the long list of every prime-time show that Fox cancelled after ''Family Guy''. This was revisited in the episode "Family Gay". At a horse race, the announcer rattles off the list of entrants, all of them named for recently cancelled Fox shows. Other examples include:
** ''[[Family Guy]]'': "What are they gonna do? Cut our budget?"
**:* TheyAn alsoinversion invertedof this tropeTrope, in the episode "Death Is a Bitch". Assigned by Death with the task of killing the cast of ''[[Dawson's Creek]]'', Peter demurs:▼
*** And their first episode after coming back, as previously mentioned.
**** Revisited in the episode "Family Gay". At a horse race, the announcer rattles off the list of entrants, all of them named for recently cancelled Fox shows.
▲*** They also inverted this trope, in the episode "Death Is a Bitch". Assigned by Death with the task of killing the cast of ''[[Dawson's Creek]]'', Peter demurs:
{{quote|'''Peter:''' I'm not gonna kill those kids. If they die, I'll have nothing to watch on Wednesdays. ''[Glancing at the camera, and breaking out in a nervous grin]'' Other than the fine programs on Fox.}}
**::* In "Meet the Quagmires" we get this exchange:
{{quote|'''Molly:''' Hey did you guys hear on the news how President Gore hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden with his bare hands?
'''Lois:''' Yeah, who woulda thought that bin Laden was hiding out in the cast of [[Mad TV]]?
'''Quagmire:''' Man, the perfect hiding spot. The one place no one would look! }}
***::* Also an [[Actor Allusion]], as Alex Borstein who voices Lois had a recurring role on [[Mad TV]].
**::* Then there was the episode where they took one potshot after another at [[Fox News]] when Lois went to work for them.
***::* In ''Something Something Something Dark Side'' the opening scrawl turns into a ramble about how Fox thought so little of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' franchise that it did not bother to retain merchandising rights, handing those off to Lucas. It then goes on to point out precisely how valuable those merchandising rights turned out to be and questions the sanity of Fox stockholders for sticking with a company that makes such unbelievably stupid choices about money.
**::* In "Big Man on Hippocampus", there was what appeared to be the trademark black with white lettering panels from [[Adult Swim]] questioning why anyone would watch the show on Fox since it is much funnier on [[Adult Swim]].
**::* Peter closes the episode "Three Kings" with "Now stay tuned for whatever Fox is limping to the barn with".
**::* They've even made fun of TBS in "Hell Comes to Quahog":
{{quote|'''Announcer:''' We now return to [[Fan Service|Showgirls]]...
'''Peter:''' Yeah!
'''Announcer:''' ...[[Nipple-and-Dimed|on]] [[Edited for Syndication|TBS]].
'''Peter:''' Aww. }}
* ''[[Animaniacs]]'':
** In an ''[[Animaniacs]]''the Wheel of Morality segment, Wakko's response to Yakko's "It's that time again!" is "[Time] to [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|make the Fox censors cry?]]"
** Their treatment of the network censors in "Valuable Lesson"...
** From the Thanksgiving episode, arguing over a turkey:
{{quote|'''Pilgrim:''' Give me the bird!
'''Yakko:''' [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|We'd love to, really]], but the Fox censors won't allow it. }}
*:* In the ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' [[Spin-Off]], the opening song commented on [[Pinky, Elmyra and& Thethe Brain|the addition of Elmyra]] with the lines "[[Executive Meddling|It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?]]". At the end of the song, Brain also says "I deeply resent this", and, given the very real hatred of the idea by the show's own writers, it seems likely enough he was referring to more than just his in-story predicaments with Elmyra. This was itself preceded by the episode ''Pinky and the Brain and Larry'', with an intentionally lame and useless extra character inserted just to show how the show didn't need a third wheel... but it was railroaded through anyway.
**:* The most notable example would be the episode "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again", which features the titular lab mice as the stars of a hit TV show [[Executive Meddling|being heavily meddled with by network executives, who think heavily altering the show's premise will increase ratings]].
*:* After being forced to switch from FOX to The WB, practicallythey proved to not be the type who played favorites. Practically every episode of ''Animaniacs'' used the [[Couch Gag|rotating gag credit]] at the end to bash their new network: "Be The First Kid on Your Block To Actually Watch The WB!"
* [[The Critic]]'' had a few, which make sense, seeing as the protagonist was, well, [[Captain Obvious|a critic:]]
** [[The Critic{{quote|'''Jay Sherman]]:''' "It's a giant horse's ass! ''(turns to the camera)'' You're watching Fox. Give us 10 minutes; we'll give you an ass."}}
*:* Hearing the word 'ass' on TV doesn't sound like much nowadays, but back then it was long before [[South Park]] made swearing okay and a fairly surprising shock to hear.
*:* One of his voiceovers during the [[Eyecatch]]: "You're watching Fox. Shame on you!"
* The intro to the first ''[[Futurama]]'' movie is a long string of jokes where the cancellation of the show is compared to Planet Express' flight license being canceled by the "Box Network", which is in turn an unending string of attacks on Fox for canceling the show in the first place.▼
* ''[[Futurama]]'', being a [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' had many:
▲** The intro to the first ''[[Futurama]]'' movie is a long string of jokes where the cancellation of the show is compared to Planet Express' flight license being canceled by the "Box Network", which is in turn an unending string of attacks on Fox for canceling the show in the first place.
** The [[Couch Gag]] tagline for that movie is ''[[Self Deprecating Humor|"It just won't stay dead!"]]''
** In the first string of Lampshade jokes that opens the movie, the Professor mentions that the executives responsible for their cancellation had been fired, then beaten up, badly mauled and finally ground into a fine powder that was then packaged and sold as 'Torgo's Executive Powder,' a product with a million and one uses.
Line 323 ⟶ 324:
{{quote|'''Fry''': Wow, so this is a real TV station, huh?
'''Technician''': Well, it's a Fox affiliate. }}
**::* Fry then spills his drink on the control console, knocking the station off the air. The technician panics, but Fry is confident that nobody will notice.
{{quote|'''Technician''': Oh my God. You knocked FOX off the air!
'''Fry''': Pfft, like [[Exact Words|anyone on Earth]] cares. }}
*::* The trope strikes again in the very first Comedy Central episode, which opens with a still of the Hypnotoad while a voiceover by Bender tells the viewer, on the count of three, to [[Canon Discontinuity|forget]] the show was ever cancelled by [[FOX|idiots]] and revived by... ''bigger'' idiots.
**:::* This is something of an inversion of this trope, for instead of mocking their old network, they mock the one they are just picked up by. They don't have a single bad word to say about [[Cartoon Network]], and for good reason.
*::* Back when they were on Fox, the crew go on a tour of Hollywood, where the tour guide says the Fox logo spotlights are used to blind pilots so that they can film the resulting plane crashes.
* ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' took aim at network execs in general in its very first episode:
{{quote|Babs: "It takes a group of highly-paid network executives YEARS to come up with a TV show!"
Buster: "Which means it should take US... about as long as this next commercial break!" }}
*:* In a segment featuring instructions on how to make your own cartoon, Buster comments after a long list of writers, animators and other personnel.
{{quote|'''Buster:''' And one guy who does nothing except sign his name on it! ''[Steven Spielberg falls onto the top of the pile.]''}}
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' had a minor character named 'Nick' who was created as a symbol for [[Nickelodeon]]. Nick had various disturbing science experiments performed on him by the main character. Considering that Nick was perpetually happy, it might be a jab at how Nickelodeon disliked the dark stuff ''Zim'' was putting out, instead living in an eternally happy rainbow land.
** Considering that Nick was perpetually happy, it might be a jab at how Nickelodeon disliked the dark stuff ''Zim'' was putting out, instead living in an eternally happy rainbow land.
* Yet another Fox example occurred from J Jonah Jameson on ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'': "All the networks are laughing at me. Even FOX!"
* In the "Cartoon Wars" episodes of ''[[South Park]]'', the creators had a very public disagreement with Comedy Central over their right to visually portray the Islamic prophet Mohammad in their show, after a French satirical magazine was fire-bombed by terrorists for doing just that. The episode is essentially an extended debate between freedom of speech (in regards to comedy and satire) and censorship in the name of political correctness. During the scene where Mohammad was supposed to appear, South Park inserted a neutral title card stating (truthfully) that Comedy Central had ultimately refused to allow Mohammad to be show. The irony was that South Park had featured Mohammad as a character in the episode "Super Best Friends" and had him hidden in the title sequence of the show for the last two seasons.
Line 341:
{{quote|'''Reducto:''' No! [pulls out a complicated schematic] There is no government, just a few multi-national corporations that run everything.
[The words "An AOL/Time Warner Co." appear on the bar's sign in the background.] }}
* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'':
** After the original version of the episode was rejected for not meeting Broadcast Standards and Practices guidelines, the ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' episode "Gee Whiz" was rewritten to be an extended slam of said organization, complete with a filmstrip about network standards that ends by congratulating the viewer for making "a bland show that no one can relate to".
** A filmstrip that makes its point by showing the incorrect and then the correct way ''[[Crosses the Line Twice|to blow a nun's head off]]''.
** Another example in the one hundredth episode has Shake trying to push the show's merchandise at the Adult Swim Shop, saying they "sell all our stuff for more than you can buy in other places."
Line 351 ⟶ 352:
* The beginning of "Tortoise Beats Hare" has Bugs Bunny reading the credits out loud. He blows his top after seeing the cartoon title:
{{quote|'''Bugs:''' ''(angrily)'' Why dese guys don't know what they're talkin' about, the big buncha joiks! (''smugly'') I oughta know. I woik for 'em.}}
* "Blooper Bunny" has [[Daffy Duck]] kvetching about his role in the Bugs Bunny 51-1/2½ anniversary special:
{{quote|'''Daffy:''' Who writes this slop?! (''Groans'') Warner Brothers doesn't have a creative bone in their...}}
* After ''[[ReBoot]]'' was dropped by ABC the show retroactively dubbed [[Big Bad|Megabyte]]'s forces "'''A'''rmored '''B'''inome '''C'''arriers. Which leads to the line:
Line 357 ⟶ 358:
Treacherous Dogs.}}
* ''[[Duckman]]'' frequently made jabs at the USA Network.
* ''[[Eek! The Cat]]'' has an episode of Eek visiting his own production studio, to find out that series writers are treated as slaves, being forced to write to the point of getting crazy of it and haven't seen the outside world for a long time and that [[Executive Meddling|executives will do anything to get their way]], including ''riding them over with a steamroller''.
* The years when ''[[Daria]]'' was on the N! network... whose other shows oozed the same dumb popularity-obsessed teen attitude that Daria mocked.
* ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' has been known to poke fun at their producers on occasion. Example:
Line 368 ⟶ 369:
'''Rocky:''' I'm not talking about the Bullwinkle Show.
'''Bullwinkle:''' You had better; we could use the publicity. }}
*:* Another example, as Boris and Natasha look for an A-bomb to blow open a giant trunk:
{{quote|'''Rocky:''' They said A-bomb! Do you know what that means, Bullwinkle?
'''Bullwinkle:''' Sure. "A bomb" is what some people call our show!
'''Rocky:''' (''miffed'') I didn't think that was very funny.
'''Bullwinkle:''' (''looking to camera'') Neither did ''they,'' apparently. }}
* In one scene from ''[[Amphibia (TV series)|Amphibia]]'' (a cartoon produced by [[Disney]]) Polly goes into a store in the mall where kids can construct their own stuffed animals. After perusing the available pieces, she finds a nose-mouth piece that resembles that of Mickey Mouse. "Eh, no thanks," she says and tosses it aside.
----
{{quote|:[[Self-Demonstrating Article|Oh look, another "witty" self-demonstrating]] [[The Stinger|stinger]] to show that [[All The Tropes]] is dumber-- – more informal!-- – than [[The Other Wiki]]. [[Flat Joy|Joy]].}}
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Insult Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1938654...2025032"