Biting the Hand Humor: Difference between revisions

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

{{quote|"Yes, videogames are going through a renaissance, and you should not miss out - like you are now, by choosing to watch TV instead, like some kind of medieval throwback farmhand fuck."}}

* Although not a comedy, ''[[The Bill]]'' had a moment where two character were checking a hotel's CCTV cameras during an undercover operation. They were making comments related to the order of channels on the TV set. [[BBC 2]] was gardening, ITV (the show's own channel, before it became [[ITV 1]]) was adverts and the final conclusion to the joke was that [[Channel 4]] (not named) was sex, as they discovered Dave and Polly kissing in a hotel room. Taking the joke further, [[Channel Five]] equals porn (although, not as much... [[CSI Verse|these days]].)

* In one skit on ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'', Colin Mochrie screamed at Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady: "You're not human! You're less than human! You're ''network executives''!" However, after the game, Drew Carey went to great lengths to point out that Colin wasn't talking about ABC (the American one).

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

{{quote|"NBC is like a Goat that Eats Money and Shits Trouble."}}

* ''[[The Daily Show]]'' and ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' do this frequently. One toss between the two shows had a jealous Colbert mocking fellow Daily Show alumnus Ed Helms for [[The Office|not having a nightly show]]. When reminded that his own show was on ''Comedy Central'', Colbert broke down sobbing: "I know! God, it's horrible! I wish I was on the Food Network!"

** An episode of the former once showed a clip of [[Barack Obama]] being asked if he had ever seen the [[Comedy Central]] show '''[[Lil' Bush]]'', to which he replied "I heard of it, but I've never seen it." Cut to Stewart saying "Join the club."

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

{{quote|"No free rides, [[The Daily Show|guy]] who made my career."}}

* ''[[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:

Yeah, we got trouble, right here at NBC

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

{{quote|So NBC asked the host of Late Night to come to LA and host a different show. [[Tempting Fate|What could possibly go wrong?]]}}

* ''[[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:

{{quote|'''Harry''': If you enjoyed the BBC's ''Who Do You Think You Are''? you may be interested in ITV's ''You Don't Know You're Born''...[[Follow the Leader|which is]] '''[[Follow the Leader|the same]].'''}}

* ''[[X-Play]]'' would occasionally jab at G4 after its [[Network Decay]], with specific references to being on the same channel as ''[[The Man Show]]''.

* 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."

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

{{quote|'''Jack Black''': Each year I do one [[Dreamworks Animation]] [[Kung Fu Panda|project]], then I take all the money to the Oscars and bet it on [[Pixar]].}}

* 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):

{{quote|'''Jon Stewart''': [[Sarcasm Mode|And none of those things were a problem ever again]].}}

* 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.

* ''[[The Goodies]]'' contains numerous swipes at the BBC, most notably in the episodes "Alternative Roots" and "The End", during which a service announcement warns of "cutbacks of a hundred percent" - and the screen immediately goes black!

'''Kid:''' There're trying to kill it! There're trying to kill it!

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

* One of the reasons ''The [[Dana Carvey]] Show'' was cancelled was because Dana mocked his sponsors so much that they stopped backing his show.

* 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]]s such as ''[[Hannah Montana]], ''[[That's So Raven]]'' and ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' use regularly.