Biting the Hand Humor: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:FoxSucks_3557.png|link=The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|right]]
 
{{quote|''"BBC bastards."''|'''Steve''', ''[[Coupling]]'' (a show financed by [[The BBC]])}}
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'''Kotetsu:''' Our sponsors, sir!<br />
'''Jackson:''' Good! }}
* A dub example. If you play [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZlIcJbbm08&fmt=18 a scene] in episode 130 of [[Pokémon (Animeanime)|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.
{{quote| '''Akiba:''' [[Gratuitous English|Its a Sony!]]}}
** Said show was produced by Aniplex, [[It Makes Sense in Context|so it's sponsored by Sony.]]
* "''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys (Manga)|Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'' was lazily brought to you by these sponsors..."
** "''Daily Lives of High School Boys'' was intermittently brought to you by these sponsors..."
** "''Daily Lives of High School Boys'' should have been brought to you by these sponsors..."
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== Comic Books ==
* 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|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?"
 
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** Case in point...
{{quote| '''[[Ben Affleck]]''': You're like a child. What've I been telling you? You gotta do the safe picture. Then you can do the art picture. But then sometimes you gotta do the payback picture because your friend says you owe him. ''[[Beat]] and [[Aside Glance]]''}}
* ''[[WaynesWayne'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]].
* [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Stardust Memories]]'' is one long lament against his fans, with Allen playing his own [[Author Avatar]] of a filmmaker who made his name with silly slapstick movies and whose fans are currently decrying his efforts at more sophisticated projects. Everyone he meets declares "I love your movies, especially the early funny ones."
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* In a similar way, ''[[Fight Club]]'' mocks most of its product placement (though one was intentional, as Edward Norton hates the New Beetle and intended to have a scene hitting it).
* In ''[[The Lion King]]'', Zazu starts to sing "It's A Small World". Scar freaks out and demands him to sing anything else but that.
** The stage musical uses "Be Our Guest". It doubles as a [[Mythology Gag]], since "Be Our Guest" was from [[Beauty and Thethe Beast (Disney)|the first Disney animated film that became a musical and paved the way for Lion King to come on Broadway]].
** When "Beauty and the Beast" closed, it got replaced with [[Mary Poppins|"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."]]
* In ''[[Impromptu]]'', a group of struggling artists put on a theater production for their wealthy patrons that insult said patrons. The artists give "true art is offensive" as their justification.
* After [[Robo CopRoboCop]] has been reprogrammed in ''Robocop 2'', one of his directives is to "avoid Orion meetings".
* ''[[Pee WeesWee's Big Adventure]]'' does this in the climax: Pee-Wee Herman sneaks into the Warner Bros. studio to find his stolen bike and escapes on it, but ends up being chased by studio security guards.
* The {{spoiler|near}} destruction of Pixar in ''[[Mission Impossible (Filmfilm)|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.
{{quote| '''Michael''': Gosh, there's a BBC''4'' in the future? They must be doing well.}}
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== Literature ==
* In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/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.
 
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== Live-Action TV ==
* [[Alfred Hitchcock]] used to do this to the ''advertisers'' sponsoring his shows a lot. For instance, in one episode he came on before the film to give a brief lecture about how pagans used to try to tell the future by looking at the internal organs of various animals. Then, looking at a modern X-ray of an animal, he predicted that we viewers were in for a "very gloomy" next minute or so. Cue the commercial break...
* ''[[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]]'' had a throwaway joke in ''[[Santa Claus (Filmfilm)|Santa Claus]]'' where, in response to kids writing letters to Santa, they quipped that writing to these [[Comedy Central]] contests was useless.
** Also in ''[[Godzilla|Godzilla vs Megalon]]'' when the radar dish-like Maser cannons are being deployed: "Man, all this and they still can't get the Comedy Channel!".
* ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'' had an episode in which the cast assumed "Fox viewing positions," which involved grabbing onto the rabbit ears, standing on one foot, balancing pots on their heads, etc. For you youngsters who've always had cable, the Fox network originally used mostly UHF stations, which were sometimes hard to tune in depending on weather, etc. This was just one of many, many pokes at Fox's programming reputation.
** Several episodes had a family member watching TV and hearing/listening to the promo for some utterly awful-sounding show, like "Psycho Dad" or "Psycho Mom". The promo would always conclude with the phrase, "On Fox!", to which the family member would reply, "Naturally."
* ''[[Seinfeld]]'' did this trope as well, by having Jerry and George pitch a [[Show Within a Show]] to [[NBC]]. The pitch -- a show about nothing -- was the real life pitch for the real life ''Seinfeld''. According to [[Larry David]], the meeting really played a lot like the episode.
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** Jay Leno of ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' must have similar writers - he makes a lot of jokes at NBC's expense, too. He even makes jokes about how bad his jokes are.
* [[The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson|CBS cares.]]
* ''[[30 Rock (TV)|Thirty Rock]]'' also can't seem to stop making fun of NBC and General Electric.
** ''30 Rock'' once devoted it's entire [[B Plot]] to mocking the real-life sale of NBC from GE to Philadelphia-based Comcast by switching it to Philadelphia-based Kabletown. With a K.
** The episode ''Khonani'' has Jack trying to deal with the scheduling conflict he caused between 2 janitors, [[Conan O 'Brien|Khonani]] and [[The Tonight Show|Lennon]]. [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|He even attempted an innovative schedule in which the 2 would split the shift. In the end Lennon stayed on the shift]].
* A number of [[British Series]] knock their own channel.
** For example, ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' constantly made fun of [[The BBC]].
*** And of Course, there'll be ''sport''.
** ''[[The Goon Show]]'' made fun of the BBC too many times to count.
** As does ''[[Dead Ringers (TV series)|Dead Ringers]]''.
** ''[[Look Around You]]'', anyone? Particularly the fake BBC promos in the second series.
** [[Top Gear]], and all [[The BBC]]'s [[Panel Games]] frequently comment about the number of times they'll be repeated on Dave in the near future
* Many comedy shows on the ABC (the Australian one) make fun of the network's usually low budget. ''[[The Chasers War On Everything|The Chaser's War on Everything]]'' also mocked the ABC's left-wing stance, and after Maxine McKew, an ABC News reporter, began running as a candidate for the Labor party, it had one sketch where Australia's parliament gave out Labor seats to ABC personalities.
* I've yet to see any comedy show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that does not make fun of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at some point, if not continuously.
* 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]].
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{{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."}}
** 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 Four4|E4]].
* 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 Four4]] (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? (TV)|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).
** In one episode, they attempt to do an improv of a theme song for a sitcom featuring Bill Cosby and [[Adolf Hitler]]. When the executives (mid-skit nonetheless) bring down the hammer and bans them from using Hitler in the skit. For the entire rest of the episode, almost every single bit of improv became a [[Take That]] towards the executives, calling them prudes, taking every single opportunity to bring up the Fuhrer, etc.
** There was one episode where Ryan had to play a weatherman who discovered the portal to hell was behind his green screen. He goes through the portal and looks at Drew and says: "So THAT'S how you got two shows!"
*** Everyone (but especially Ryan) rags on Drew.
* In an episode of ''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]'', a demon causes a member of an unspecified network's [[Media Watchdog|Broadcast Standards and Practices]] department to go crazy, culminating in a shooting rampage that results in the deaths of two actors dressed as aliens. The demon then remarks that, as a result of this one action, he damned millions of people, as not every network has such strict Broadcast Standards and Practices. Cut to grainy video of the shooting, now repackaged as the latest FOX network special: "When Humans Attack!"
* In ''[[The X-Files]]'' episode "Nisei", Scully dismisses an [[Alien Autopsy Video]] as "even hokier than the one they aired on the Fox network".
* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' has had plenty of jokes/skits about NBC over the years, but went wild with them in Seasons 4 and 5 (covering 1978-1980) when super-executive Fred Silverman, who had worked ratings wonders for CBS and ABC, failed to repeat that magic when he was head honcho of NBC over 1978-1981. Examples:
** The Kate Jackson episode has a running gag revealing that Silverman (played by John Belushi) was sent to NBC by [[CharliesCharlie's Angels|Charlie]] to ruin the network.
** The 1979 Christmas show has a running gag of promos hyping Gary Coleman appearances on every other NBC show and special, since ''[[DiffrentDiff'rent Strokes]]'' was one of the network's only hits at the time, along with ''SNL''.
** The "Limo for the Lame-O" [[wikipedia:Al Franken#Saturday Night Live|affair]]: Al Franken encouraged viewers to send letters to NBC asking that Franken get the use of a company limo -- since Silverman had one despite all the flops he'd launched, and Franken was on a hit show. This ''did not'' go over well with Silverman, and it led to him nixing Lorne Michaels' request that Franken succeed him as executive producer of ''SNL''.
** 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.
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** 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.
* ''[[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."
** Stewart also had a little fun at the network's expense during his feud with Jim Cramer. Cramer made appearances on every NBC network/show he could (his home channel of CNBC, NBC's Today, MSNBC, etc). Stewart responded by going on a "Viacom tour". Cut to Jon [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-10-2009/basic-cable-personality-clash-skirmish--09 appearing on ''Dora the Explorer'' (Nick Jr) and ''The Hills'' (MTV)], unleashing the [[Sarcasm Mode|awesome power of his employer's multimedia empire.]]
** 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.
{{quote| "No free rides, [[The Daily Show (TV)|guy]] who made my career."}}
** When ''[[The Colbert Report (TV)|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 Withwith 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 Withwith 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:
{{quote| Yeah, we got trouble, right here at NBC<br />
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** This all came full circle with Jimmy Fallon hosting the 2010 Emmys
{{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 HillsHill's TV Burp (TV)|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]].'''}}
** 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.
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** 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.
* ''[[The Goodies (TV)|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!
** And in the ''Gender Education'' episode they blew up the BBC Television centre! The rest of that one they spent taking the mickey out of [[Moral Guardians|Mary Whitehouse]]
* Every episode of ''[[This American Life]]'' (both on radio and TV) ends with Ira Glass attributing some quote from the show, taken out of context, to the general manager of WBEZ, the show's home radio station.
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** ABC took notice and changed the timeslot back not long after this.
* 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|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:
{{quote| '''Director of show in show''': They better make great TV, okay? Because I sold this to NBC. NBC! They make classics like [[Friends]] and...uh...um...uh...}}
* 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!
* An unusual case: ABC has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1995, and in the Tom Bergeron era of ''[[AmericasAmerica's Funniest Home Videos]]'' (which started at the [[Turn of the Millennium]]), the grand prizes each season are usually related to the [[Disney Theme Parks]] or the company's other vacation ventures. The show usually sends Bergeron to the venues in question to spend chunks of his host segments shilling them. Aside from those special episodes, however, Disney hasn't stopped the show from airing home videos that cast the parks in a less-than-ideal light (costumed characters falling off of parade floats or scaring toddlers, kids and adults being unpleasantly surprised by Epcot's famous "leapfrog fountains", etc.), and in one 2005 finale Bergeron joked that when his daughters are at Disney World, the three things they're most eager to see are "Mickey, Minnie, and Daddy's Wallet."
 
 
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** The rarity "Lookin' For Ya" (which they would re-work into "Love Lines") ends with Paul Westerberg ad-libbing "Keep your riches, give me a Budweiser!". This is because it was originally recorded for ''Trackin' Up The North'', a compilation put together as part of a "Rags To Riches" battle of the bands co-sponsored by Miller High Life.
* Mr. Bungle were apparently doubtful as to whether or not their major label debut would even be released: In one line of "Carousel" they ask "Will Warner Brothers put this record on the shelf?" (although, possibly as a way of [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]], the liner notes make the blatantly false claim that the lyric is "[[Grease|look at me I'm Sandra Dee]])".
** [[Devo (Music)|Devo]] was also known to mock Warner Brothers, and the music industry in general. Their promotional videos included characters that embodied every record executive stereotype: Rod Rooter, a pimply manager who didn't get Devo ("I can forgive you guys for being artists, but I can't forgive you for being stupid!" "Look at the airplay charts! No, no Devo!") and Daddy-Know-It-All, the boss of Big Entertainment who orders Rod to keep Devo in line.
 
 
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* The "Radio 3" episode of ''[[Absolute Power (Radio)|Absolute Power]]'' (on Radio 4) was full of digs at [[The BBC]] including "In the BBC ratings are like sex; of course they're not important, just as long as you're getting some!"
** ''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 (Radio)|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.
{{quote| '''Thomas''': Who are those two?<br />
'''Gary''': They're the demons in charge of torturing former BBC executives.<br />
'''Thomas''': I think they've gone native. }}
* ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (Radio)|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 (TV)|The Goodies]]'' will be repeated over my dead body" Root. After all, she started it.
* ''[[The News Quiz]]'' and ''[[The Now Show]]'', because sometimes [[The BBC]] ''is'' the news.
* ''[[The Goon Show]]'' started off a lot of their shows with digs at the BBC.
* ''[[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 (TV)|Winter Wipeout]]'':
{{quote| '''Tim Hartford''': I hadn't previously seen the show myself, but I now realise it's a bit like ''[[Its A Knockout]]'', but without the high philosophical concepts. After watching it, I had one question for David: ''Why?'' }}
 
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* In the Los Angeles mission of the Japanese Campaign in ''[[Command and Conquer|Red Alert 3]]'', the player can (and is actively encouraged with rewards) blow up the EA-Los Angeles building. Upon its destruction, a Japanese soldier will yell "''Your ill-begotten products shall taint the shelves no more!''"
** ''[[The Simpsons Game]]'' was also filled with jokes directed at EA.
* The first thing one saw upon booting up ''[[Conkers Bad Fur Day (Video Game)|Conkers Bad Fur Day]]'' for the N64 was the typical N64 logo...which is immediately ripped apart by Conker with a ''[[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw]]'', to be replaced by the Rareware logo. In all fairness, this is probably a good first indicator of what someone seduced by the game's disarming appearances is actually in for...
* Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo considers the ''[[Blur (Videovideo Gamegame)|Blur]]'' commercial, a [[Take That]] at ''[[Mario Kart (Video Game)|Mario Kart]]'', to be this [http://www.nintendoeverything.com/43116/ on the basis] that the game's publisher [[Activision]] is also doing the new ''[[GoldenGoldenEye Eye Wii007 (Video2010 Gamevideo game)|GoldenEye]]'' game exclusively for Nintendo.
* [[Dragon Age]], Human Noble origin: [[BaldursBaldur's Gate|"Giant rats? It's like the start of every bad adventure tale my grandfather used to tell."]]
* Strong Bad does this quite often towards [[Telltale Games]] in ''[[Strong BadsBad's Cool Game for Attractive People (Video Game)|Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People]]'' and its making-of mockumentary ''Behind The Bad'' (and eventually carried over in ''[[Poker Night At the Inventory (Video Game)|Poker Night At the Inventory]]''), usually complaining about how they never follow his idea of the "perfect" Strong Bad video game. This, however, is subverted near the end of "8-Bit Is Enough" when the developers [[Throw the Dog Aa Bone|finally made an albeit lo-res polygon render of a concept sketch from Strong Bad for the episode's final battle]], [["Hell Yes!" Moment|and Strong Bad couldn't be more happy about it.]]
* Online game makers Nitrome did this and a bit of [[Self-Deprecation]] with their 100th game, ''Nitrome Must Die''. Example: in one level, the whiteboard in the background shows ideas for a new game... with a deadline of 8 hours.
 
 
== Webcomics ==
* [[Web Comic]] example: Most of the jokes in ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', especially in the first 200 or so comics, are at the expense of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' or its publisher, [[Wizards of the Coast]]. Rich Burlew, the author, is a freelance game designer who mostly works for Wizards on D&D-related projects. An early strip based on Wizards' slightly bizarre copyright policy is actually titled [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0032.html Biting the Hand That Feeds Me].
** The ''OOTS'' strip in the last three issues of ''[[Dragon]]'' magazine had the Order discover the dragon from the cover of issue 1, whose subsequent career mirrored that of the magazine itself. The second of these strips was titled Claw/Claw/Bite The Hand That Feeds Me.
 
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** Later episodes have a [[Running Gag]] that David can't remember the name of the company that is sponsoring his podcasts. Eventually Bulldog got in on the joke by announcing "Robert Webb's Soapbox".
* ''[[Psycomedia]]'' hosts Tim and Ben both attended [[Oxbridge|Oxford University]] but many episodes focus on the bizarre research of their teachers and other faculty members. Lovingly. And not libellously.
* According to [[Todd in Thethe Shadows]], [[Lady Gaga (Music)|Lady Gaga]]'s "Telephone" has more advertisements than [[That Guy With theThe Glasses]].com. And "I've realised something about my new workplace. YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF NERDS! NERDS! ''NERDS!''"
** Continues in [[Atop the Fourth Wall (Web Video)|Linkara's]] review of KISS comics. When asking Todd if he'd like to co-review after giving the history of KISS, he just laughs at the thought of him reviewing a comic. "I forget how nerdy this site is." Linkara didn't look pleased.
** In "The Sexual Awakening Of The Human Nerd" by [[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Chick]]'s supporting cast, Dr. Tease interviews the other reviewers, describing them as "These creatures - I mean, humans - I mean, nerds".
* [[Zero Punctuation (Web Animation)|Yahtzee]] has an infrequent habit of calling the Escapist out on having him play and review games he'd rather not. Its not exactly suprising, considering he [[Hates Everyone Equally|he insults bascially everyone else]].
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[Family Guy]]'' both have histories of poking fun at the [[FOXFox]] network. Probably the most striking example was [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 [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."
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*** "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" has Homer and company tangling with Rupert Murdoch, who refers to himself as "the billionaire tyrant". (Murdoch was [[Self-Deprecation|actually playing himself]].)
*** 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... Withwith Children]]'' (complete with sinister lightning).
{{quote| '''Ned''': Oh Maude, the network slogan was true! "Watch Fox and be damned for all eternity!"}}
 
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*** 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 ''[[Dawsons Creek|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:
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'''Announcer:''' ...[[Nipple-and-Dimed|on]] [[Edited for Syndication|TBS]].<br />
'''Peter:''' Aww. }}
* In an ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' 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:
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{{quote| '''Technician''': Oh my God. You knocked FOX off the air!<br />
'''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 Dis Continuity|forget]] the show was ever cancelled by [[FOXFox|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.
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* ''[[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.
* Yet another Fox example occurred from J Jonah Jameson on ''[[Spider-Man: theThe 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.
* When ever an evil corporation is mentioned in ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney Atat Law]]'', a little neon sign turns on the background saying "An AOL/TimeWarner company."
{{quote| '''Reducto:''' No! [pulls out a complicated schematic] There is no government, just a few multi-national corporations that run everything.<br />
[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 (Animation)|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."