Biting the Hand Humor: Difference between revisions

* The first episode of the [[OVA]] ''[[Dangaioh]]'' had the AIC building (''Dangaioh'''s production company) destroyed by the invading bad guys.

* With ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', [[Sunrise]] figured out that the best way to make use of blatant [[Product Placement]] was to make fun of blatant [[Product Placement]].

'''Jackson:''' Good! }}

* A dub example. If you play [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZlIcJbbm08&fmt=18 a scene] in episode 130 of [[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]] [[Subliminal Seduction|backwards]], you will hear James say "Leo Burnett and 4kids are the devil! Leo Burnett!" 4kids is the company that dubbed the series.

* In-universe example in [[Kannagi]]. Akiba brings a taped show for the main character Jin, because Jin accidentally taped over a show that Nagi hadn't watched yet on a VHS tape. He first hands out a Blu-ray, then when Jin mentions not having a Blu-ray player, he pulls out a tape. Nagi asks what it is, and turns out it's a Betamax tape, which Jin also doesn't have a player for. Cue the characters looking at Akiba.

** Said show was produced by Aniplex, [[It Makes Sense in Context|so it's sponsored by Sony.]]

* "''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'' was lazily brought to you by these sponsors..."

* ''[[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]'' was full of these jokes.

** Case in point...

* ''[[Wayne's World]]'' actually had this as a plot point, with the boys making fun of their show's sponsor.

** And in the sequel, their trip to London is shown via second-unit footage with incredibly bad stand-ins while they marvel in voice-over [[Sarcasm Mode|how nice of Paramount it was to send them to London for real]].

* The {{spoiler|near}} destruction of Pixar in ''[[Mission Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible]]: Ghost Protocol'', as seen in the trailer.

* At the end of ''[[Holy Flying Circus]]'', [[Stephen Fry|God]] tells Michael Palin that he's having a dream that will probably be used as the ending for a heavy-handed [[BBC 4]] comedy/drama.

** God's response is to chuckle.

 

* Because it's his job to make fun of everything on television, [[Charlie Brooker]] makes fun of the Beeb on his BBC Four show ''[[Screenwipe]]'' just as much as anyone else. While he does make light jabs at BBC Four's pretentiousness with fake shows like ''Harpsichord Challenge'' and ''The History of Corners'', and BBC Three's pandering to the base with ''Sick on a Widow'', he also gives well deserved criticism at recent BBC recommendations relating to the [[Credits Pushback]].

** At least one jab was aimed at the viewers, in a piece about computer games:

** Also, he often lays into Endemol produced shows such as ''[[Big Brother]]'', while Brooker's production company is itself a subsidiary of Endemol. At one point this is [[Lampshaded]], by immediately following a particularly vitriolic attack on Endemol with the Zeppotron/Endemol [[Vanity Plate]] from the end of the show.

** Brooker's ''[[Dead Set]]'', in which ''[[Big Brother]]'' contestants face a [[Zombie Apocalypse]], was also made by Zeppotron and was broadcast on [[Channel 4|E4]].

** Then there was the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JLKw0q4kY "Conspiracy Theory Rock"] short from the 1998 season, which is about major corporations like General Electric controlling the media. It was banned from re-airing, but would appear on a TV Funhouse "Best Of" DVD.

** In an installment of ''Weekend Update'':

'''The Devil''': Well, just NBC. }}

* Towards the end of his run on ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', Conan got absolutely ''vicious'' with these. For example, he mentioned that his rating were up 50%(due to the controversy), and continued that he was on the wrong network. He also introduced new one-shot characters for no reason other than to be ''really'' expensive, such as the mouse made out of a Bugatti Veyron, with the backing track of the original studio recording version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". As he pointed out, both the broadcast rights and the syndication rights to the song were "crazy expensive", bringing the price tag of the character, who appeared for all of ''two minutes'', to '''1.5 million dollars.''' [[Sarcasm Mode|"What're they gonna do, fire me?"]]

** And then, when word got out that the network was banning him from saying bad things about them, he got around it by SINGING insults.

*** And then, when that didn't work, he said them in ''Spanish'' (complete with ''subtitles''):

**** The Bugatti Veyron was on loan. Conan admitted the "crazy expensive" skits were jokes after fake ground sloth skeleton spraying fake beluga caviar on a fake authentic Picasso painting. It's also unclear how much NBC tried to prevent Conan's incredibly popular ravaging of the network and how much Conan just made up for laughs. Nearly all of his final two weeks at NBC were this trope, however.

** Not only that, Conan would often bash NBC and promote other networks, ''simply while conversing with guests'' and not making a bit out of it. It's likely Conan was saying these things simply because he really felt that way (hosting the Tonight Show was a life-long dream of his) and mostly got laughs because they were very cathartic.

** An example of another network getting its hand bit on ''[[The Daily Show]]'': In 1997 [[Keith Olbermann]], a ''[[Sports Center]]'' anchor at the time, appeared as a guest on the ''[[The Daily Show]]'' with [[The Pete Best|Craig Kilborn]] (himself a ''[[Sports Center]]'' anchor before becoming host of ''[[The Daily Show]]'') without permission from his bosses at [[ESPN]], as required by that network's rules. During the interview Olbermann was asked (as part of the now-retired Five Questions segment) "What's the most god-forsaken place on the East Coast?" and answered "Bristol, Connecticut." Bristol happens to be the headquarters of [[ESPN]]. He got a two-week suspension, and the incident partially led to his departure from [[ESPN]] that year.

** Colbert also mocks this trope a lot, when he was feeling uneasy about giving Jon advertising.

** When ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' debuted it was followed by a short-lived talk show called ''Too Late With Adam Carolla''. One night Stephen closed his show by saying, "Stay tuned for Adam Carolla. His guest tonight? Comedy."

* ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' bit the hand hard in their final episode. Two property developers show up at Flatpoint High and repeatedly deny that they're tearing it down and building a strip mall, even as classrooms are demolished and food outlets built in their place. At the end of the episode, the teachers and students [[Trash the Set|go on a rampage of destruction and burn down the school]], with one teacher gloating "They'll never turn it into a strip mall now!" The [[Reality Subtext]]: the property developers were based on two Comedy Central network execs. ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' was being cancelled, and replaced with a show called ''Strip Mall''.

* During the 2006 Emmy Awards on NBC, host Conan O'Brien, whose show is also on NBC, puts it delicately:

I hate to disrespect, but my lawyer checked and I can't be sued! }}

** There was also a hilarious crack about how since the ceremony was on NBC, it would probably be canceled halfway through.

** In early 2010, Conan is once again taking shots at NBC, although this is less "Biting the hand that feeds" and more "Mauling the arm that hit you."

** This all came full circle with Jimmy Fallon hosting the 2010 Emmys

* ''[[Harry Hill's TV Burp|Harry Hills TV Burp]]'' makes fun of all channels about equally and does not spare its parent ITV. For example:

** Harry's earlier Channel Four series frequently made fun of that channel, depicting numerous run-ins with the Controller of Channel Four, who was portrayed as a child.

*** Not just a child, but a ventriloquist's dummy that had the personality of a child.

* In one episode of ''[[Dirty Jobs]]'', there was an incident in a salt mine where one of the camera men narrowly avoided getting hit on the head by a large rock. One of the mine workers joked that when someone is injured to 'go for the wallet first.' Cue Mike Rowe's reply "He's a camera man. For the ''Discovery Channel.'' There's nothing in his wallet."

** Also, this fun exchange:

'''Mike:''' Sir, I've been in television so long, I'm a pro at [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|bending over and taking it.]] }}

* Something similar happened on ''[[Destination Truth]].'' Josh Gates is browsing through a marketplace in Turkey (I believe) and sees a beautiful rug. The shop owner tells him the price and Josh looks surprised. They then cut to him looking at much smaller rugs, roughly the size of a sheet of paper (the shop owner suggests using them under a telephone,) and Josh says "I work on cable, my friend, this is all I can afford." He never explicitly mentions Syfy, but the implication is there.

* While presenting the Best Animated Feature nominees at the 2009 [[Academy Awards]], [[Jack Black]] explains to co-presenter Jennifer Aniston his secret to success when it comes to making money at voice acting:

** [[Laser-Guided Karma|And the winner]]? ''[[WALL-E]]''. (to which Black jumped and cheered...)

*** What was especially funny about the moment, though, is that one of the people who laughed hardest when he made this joke was...Jeffrey Katzenberg.

* While we're on the topic of the Oscars, after the 2008 show played a montage of movies addressing the social issues of their time (in a very "look how awesome we are for doing this" tone):

** John Oliver's segment on the 78th academy awards where he says they managed to move past the dark clouds of failure from the previous year (the one Jon Stewart hosted).

* In the [[Spike Milligan]] series ''Q6'' (1975), the first episode features several digs at the BBC's security guards, the "crummy wardrobe department" and the high prices in the canteen.

* Satirical BBC panel game ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' does this a lot. One of the most notable occasions was in the late 1990s when the BBC director-general John Birt banned BBC programs from discussing rumours that politician [[Peter Mandelson]] (a close friend of Birt) was gay; this act by Birt was widely regarded as an abuse of Birt's position and clear bias towards a friend who was otherwise an obvious target for satirists. Viewers eagerly awaited the first show after this became public, to see if the show would break the BBC's rules. Early on, guest Jackie Mason made a reference about Mandelson, and soon everyone else was at it, so the entire show became an attack on Mandelson's hypocrisy and Birt's attempt to get the BBC to cover for his friend.

* [[Eric Idle]]'s post-[[Monty Python]] sketch show [[Rutland Weekend Television]] was un-necessarily crippled by a miniscule budget grnted by a parsimonious BBC. Idle, Innes, Woolf and Batley ended the first series on a bitter spoof song about the mean and miserly attitude of the BBC, where the male characters sat naked on a row of stools in a bare studio, with only minmal modesty-saving towels (Gwen Taylor was absent for this one).

* An episode of ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'' (made by the BBC) has Howard watching a bland, seven-hour documentary about an obscure film director and his [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|incomprehensible]] [[Le Film Artistique|works]]... on BBC Four. They got to use the real BBC Four logo.

* ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' delivered a really big [[Take That]] at ABC for moving the show's timeslot. It happens in the episode where Cory and Topanga are babysitting a kid and are discussing his bedtime:

'''Cory:''' Those are bad bad people. }}

** ABC took notice and changed the timeslot back not long after this.

* The 2011 episode of [[Saturday Night Live]] with guest host [[Miley Cyrus]] had a sketch called "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZdIFRKeSso&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL19B7160BD391FE59 Disney Channel Acting School]", where Miley (dressed in an exaggerated [[Hannah Montana]] costume and poofy hair) and [[Raven-Symone]] (played by [[Kenan and Kel|Kenan Thompson]]) host an infomercial for the school. The sketch parodies the writing, wardrobe and comedic devices [[Disney Channel]] [[Kid Com|Kid Coms]] such as ''[[Hannah Montana]], ''[[That's So Raven]]'' and ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' use regularly.

* [[Psych]], which airs on USA (an NBC affiliate) had this gem:

* The made-for-tv movie ''[[Special Bulletin]]'', which aired on NBC, featured a terrorist remarking "NBC would kill its mother for this footage!"

* ''Babylon 5'': At the start of season 2, Executive Meddling made the creators sex up Ivanova's appearance. She started wearing redder lipstick and had her hair loose instead of pulled back. When Garibaldi came out of his coma and returned to duty, he commented on her 'new look'. Ivanova snapped back "With everything that's been going on around here I'd think you'd have other things on your mind besides my look!" Take That, Executive Meddlers!

** ''Absolute Power'''s [[Spin-Off|parent show]], ''In The Red'' and sequels were ''made'' of this trope; BBC radio comedy dramas about an inept BBC radio journalist and his unpleasant BBC bosses.

* In Season One of ''[[Old Harry's Game|Old Harrys Game]]'', Thomas persuades Gary to lead a rebellion of the demons. Two demons keep insisting they need mission statements and brightly-coloured charts.

'''Thomas''': I think they've gone native. }}

* ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'' often made fun of the BBC. In particular Tim and Graeme spent the early 2000s taking potshots at the Controller of [[BBC 2]], Jane "''[[The Goodies]]'' will be repeated over my dead body" Root. After all, she started it.

* ''[[Car Talk]]'' has an inversion via [[Self-Deprecation]]: the [[Stinger]] for the show is inevitably something to the effect of "And even though [something indicating deep disapproval/disappointment happens] every time ''we'' say it, this is NPR, National Public Radio." In other words, they compliment their network by calling themselves unworthy of it.

* Radio 4's statistics programme ''More Or Less'', reporting that one of their regular mathematician guests was appearing on BBC One's ''[[Wipeout 2008|Winter Wipeout]]'':

 

 

*** An even better example was in [[The Movie]]: During one of the scenes, a [[Commercial Pop-Up]] crawler advertising the Fox networks starts moving across the bottom of the screen, ending with "Yes, we even advertise during movies now".

*** Also there was Krusty bemoaning his good-for-nothing half-brother Luke Perry:

'''Krusty''':Yeah...[with disgust] on ''Fox''. }}

*** "Missionary: Impossible" begins with [[Betty White]] hosting a PBS pledge drive. At the end of the episode, she pops up again, this time hosting a pledge drive for ''Fox''. She urges viewers not to let "crude, lowbrow programming disappear from the airwaves". A ''Family Guy'' logo appears on the TV set she's standing next to.

'''Rupert Murdoch''': Not nearly enough! }}

**** That particular example is more of a swipe at ''Family Guy'' than at Fox. The rivalry between those two shows is not particularly friendly.

*** Another example is when a promo for ''Joe Millionaire'' goes across the top of the screen. Homer then eats part of it, but disgustedly spits out the Fox logo.

*** In another episode, the Flanders' kids have been infected with the "Osaka Flu" going around town. Ned then asks himself why God has "forsaken" them only to have a flashback to the one time they watched ''[[Married... with Children]]'' (complete with sinister lightning).

 

*** In "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy", the family criticizes Lisa's recent activism:

 

*** In "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" you may remember Troy McClure from such Fox network specials as ''Alien Nose Job'' and ''Five Fabulous Weeks of "The Chevy Chase Show"''.

*** In-universe example in one episode. Krusty bad-mouths a particular drug company (I think Percodan) while being taped, then mentions "a word from our sponsor", who also happens to be the same drug company he just criticized. Cue [[Oh Crap]] moment for him.

*** In "Sideshow Bob Roberts" Larry King is moderating in a mayoral debate. Before the debate, he addresses the audience.

'''*Cue obnoxious hooting and hollering*''' }}

** ''[[Family Guy]]'': "What are they gonna do? Cut our budget?"

**** 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:

*** In "Meet the Quagmires" we get this exchange:

'''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]].

*** 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":

'''Peter:''' Yeah!<br />

'''Announcer:''' ...[[Nipple-and-Dimed|on]] [[Edited for Syndication|TBS]].<br />

** Their treatment of the network censors in "Valuable Lesson"...

** From the Thanksgiving episode, arguing over a turkey:

'''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 The 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.

** 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.

** Fox is repeatedly the target of jabs during the series. Such as this exchange from "When Aliens Attack":

'''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.

'''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.

** 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:

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.

* ''[[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.

* 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.

* When ever an evil corporation is mentioned in ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law]]'', a little neon sign turns on the background saying "An AOL/TimeWarner company."

[The words "An AOL/Time Warner Co." appear on the bar's sign in the background.] }}

* 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".

** The ending of "Don't Touch That Dial" is probably the show's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. After chastizing a toddler for vegetating to "electronic pablum," Mighty Mouse turns to us and says "But enough of all this lying and hypocrisy. Time for what television's ''really'' about." Cut to commercial.

* The beginning of "Tortoise Beats Hare" has Bugs Bunny reading the credits out loud. He blows his top after seeing the cartoon title:

* "Blooper Bunny" has [[Daffy Duck]] kvetching about his role in the Bugs Bunny 51-1/2 anniversary special:

* After ''[[Re Boot]]'' was dropped by ABC the show retroactively dubbed [[Big Bad|Megabyte]]'s forces "'''A'''rmored '''B'''inome '''C'''arriers. Which leads to the line:

Treacherous Dogs. }}

* ''[[Duckman]]'' frequently made jabs at the USA Network.

* 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:

'''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:

'''Bullwinkle:''' (''looking to camera'') Neither did ''they,'' apparently. }}

 

 

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{{reflist}}