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You're watching your favorite show one day. The episode seems to start as normal... but wait, what's this? Does everything seem completely against continuity? Are the characters acting as if dosed up on tranquilizers? Does everything happening not make sense within the pre-established context? Everything looks surreal or strange?
 
Welcome to a [['''Bizarro Episode]]'''. A [['''Bizarro Episode]]''' is what you get when a [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]] spans the entire screen time. If the show DOES have a continuity, this episode will [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again|never be mentioned again]], save perhaps as a [[Mythology Gag]], and none of the likely wild events will ever be repeated.
 
A [['''Bizarro Episode]]''' can also be applied to movies. If nothing in the movie seems to follow any previous event or plot and [[Random Events Plot|the whole thing seems to be one spontaneous series of events]], you've probably got a [[Big Lipped Alligator Movie]] on your hands.
 
When the finale of a series is this, it's a [[Gainax Ending]].
 
Not to be confused with a [[Wham! Episode]], which completely changes the direction of a series. See also [[And Now for Something Completely Different]]. If every episode is like this, a summary may mention that it's [[Widget Series|That Kind Of Show]]. Rarely, though, a [['''Bizarro Episode]]''' may be redeemed if a skillful or cunning writer uses it to construct an [[Innocuously Important Episode]].
 
'''NOTICE:''' Please do not use Musicals as examples, as the numbers are part of the show and are rarely anymore out of the ordinary than conversation within context. If it's a musical with absolutely no cohesive [[Plot]], ''then'' you have a [[Big Lipped Alligator Movie|Bizarro Movie]]. However, a particular song may qualify as a BLAM, such as the [[Trope Namer]]; in that case, put it under [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]].
 
'''Very Important Corollary:''' If you have ever tried to convince other people to watch a show you like, and they say, "Okay I'll watch ''one episode'' with you if you ''promise'' to stop bothering me about it," we [[Troper|Tropers]]s can '''guarantee''' that the one episode you watch together will be that series' [['''Bizarro Episode]]'''.
{{examples}}
 
== Advertising ==
* This has really become a fairly popular [[Trope]] to use in ads-- possiblyads—possibly playing off the Internet's fascination with Japanese-crazy ads. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eFvIJ_GD0Y here] (and if you see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHtMHgzt01k this one] without seeing that one, it makes even less sense), [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6iHCFiSqIw this one], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgSv1SKCteQ this one, though only if you don't watch the last five seconds]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5pBm2UBTF8 This Wine Gums ad].
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C48BTtAVsK0 The Kia Soul commercial].
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** Many [[Filler]] episodes of ''[[Bleach]]'' can feel like this, but special mention goes to episode 228. Beach party featuring all the most [[Fan Service|fan-servicey]] characters? Check. [[It Makes Sense in Context|Boob Buckets?]] Check. Giant [[Naughty Tentacles|edible watermelon tentacle monsters?]] Double check.
*** And that one wasn't even filler. It was actually in the manga.
* Almost every episode of ''[[Gintama]]'' can count as a [[Bizarro Episode]].
* The episode "Warehouse 13" from the 2003 ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' anime. The men on Mustang's staff (note, men - Hawkeye was not involved; nor were Ed or Al) believe they have seen the haunted military warehouse 13 and are terrified to walk by the warehouses at night. Mustang is the only one who really stays in character, denouncing the warehouse as foolishness and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rPF2zt45sg going out at night with his men] to prove to them that it doesn't exist. What really makes this a [[Bizarro Episode]] is the fact that four trained military professionals are suddenly freaking out about an urban legend.
** That episode consisted of two shorts. The other one was Havoc trying to marry Armstrong's sister.
* The episode of [[Ouran High School Host Club]] wherein young!Haruhi suddenly steps into a pastiche of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' with characters from the show in all the major roles. Of course, this is really [[All Just a Dream]], but surprisingly, the entire episode is not only entirely in continuity but it actually is important for developing several of the characters. Especially {{spoiler|Haruhi's mom, who doesn't appear in person in any other episode. Because she's dead.}}
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* The zombie episode of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', which has overtly supernatural elements that would be out of place in the rest of the series, and ends with the [[Main Character|main characters]] either dead or undead. A very brief and light [[Lampshade Hanging]] later, and next episode, it's like none of this ever happened.
** In ''[[Cowboy Bebop]],'' an earlier work by the same director, one episode has some sort of alien [[Blob Monster]] {{spoiler|[[It Came From the Fridge|that had come to life in the refrigerator]]}} attack all the crew and apparently kills them. Then again, it might not really count as a BLAM since in the next episode the first shot you see is the [[Main Character]] [[Catapult Nightmare|waking up from a nightmare]], though it's still ambiguous as to exactly what the hell happened.
*** [[Lampshade|Lampshaded]]d by [[Cloudcuckoolander|Ed]] in the "Next Episode" preview on the English dub, which leads to a humorous exchange.
{{quote|'''Edward:''' And so, they all passed away, every one. It was a short series, but thanks for your support. [[Blatant Lies|That was the last episode.]] May they all rest in peace. Amen. ''[pause]'' And for the next series, we bring you ''Cowgirl Ed'', [[Third Person Person|Ed]] is the main character! ''[giggles]''<br />
'''Spike:''' Hey! Wait a minute!<br />
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* The final episode of ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]''. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] at the very end when the creator of the [[Manga]] shows up, ready to kill the director because of it.
** You know what? ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]''. [[Widget Series|PERIOD]].
*** ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'', the [[Anime]] where [[No Fourth Wall|the fourth wall is nonexistent]], nothing is too crazy, and every episode is a wild parody of something different, pulls the ultimate [[Bizarro Episode]] by doing exactly what no one would expect: making one episode that's {{spoiler|[[Mood Whiplash|dead serious]].}} Though said episode still cracks a number of gags, so the success of this attempt is debatable.
* Episode 101 of ''[[Naruto]]''. Apparently they were trying to figure out what Kakashi looked like without his mask... Oh dear GOD, that will never make sense.
** The "prison escape" arc during the Part 1 [[Filler]] also qualifies. Two of the main villains are giant men shaped like giant Russian dolls (tiny at the top and wide at the bottom) and equally bottomless; their battle cry is "Food! Food! Food!", and Naruto plays hide-and-seek with them (?). Meanwhile, it turns out that the [[Big Bad]] of the day is none other than {{spoiler|Mizuki}}, who is now fully [[Ax Crazy]] and has an old grudge against Iruka. For some reason he has grown giant muscles over the previous year, so the previous [[Bishonen]] now looks like one of those scary bodybuilders with a serious case of [[Testosterone Poisoning]]. And {{spoiler|Orochimaru supplied him with a potion that turns him into a sort of tiger-thing}}. Pass the [[Brain Bleach|mind bleach]], please.
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== Comics ==
* ''[[Countdown to Final Crisis]]'' is effectively a BLAM ''series'' for the entire [[DCU]]. With [[Out of Character]] moments, random deaths, nonsensical and time-wasting [[Plot|plotlinesplot]]lines, it firmly cemented itself as a BLAM when [[Grant Morrison]], the author of ''[[Final Crisis]]'' (the event Countdown was supposed to lead up to) ''ignored it completely'' and effectively put the entire thing into [[Canon Discontinuity]].
** [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/2725-linkara-top-15-wtf-moments-in-comics Just] [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/8982-countdown ask] [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/9725-top15count Linkara].
* The ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''/ImageComics [[Crossover]] special. Chronologically meant to take place between the ''Return of the King'' special and issue #57 in the ''Sonic'' timeline, it has Particle steal the Master Emerald and bringing it to Dr. Ian Droid, so Sonic, Knuckles, and the Freedom Fighters travel to the [[Image Comics]] Earth to reclaim it, and end up joining forces with the Image Heroes. [[Reset Button|In the end, Knuckles ends up wishing for everything to be restored to the way it was before,]] and afterwards, all but Particle and Shadowhawk forget the whole thing ever happened.
** Dr. Droid was supposed to make a return appearance in a later miniseries, as the threat Knuckles was prophesied to defeat. Thanks to [[Executive Meddling]], though, that [[Plot]] was dropped and the miniseries got turned into the infamous "Mobius: 25 Years Later" arc.
* Like the above example, almost every intercompany [[Crossover]] is a [[Bizarro Episode]]. They remain popular because of the potential for a [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]], and if nothing else there's always the hope that fans of one character will read the [[Crossover]] and decide they like the other character as well and start reading that - basically, companies trying to cross-pollinate their [[Fandom]]. However, for legal reasons these [[Crossover|crossoverscrossover]]s very rarely have any impact on ongoing continuity (although it happens occasionally), and works set in different universes tend to have different assumptions and physical laws, in particular about [[Power Levels]]. Most intercompany [[Superhero]] [[Crossover|crossoverscrossover]]s have involved characters casually running into each other even though if they existed in the same universe they really should have had plenty of encounters before now or something, and afterwards are never mentioned again in-story unless there's another [[Crossover]].
* Issue 34 of the first incarnation of [[Marvel Comics]]' "[[What If]]?" consisted of nothing but humorous takes on the [[Marvel Universe]] and its characters (a good number of them one-panel stories, even), culminating with "What Will Happen When [[Stan Lee]] Reads This Issue?" {{spoiler|He fires the entire staff. [[Catch Phrase|'Nuff said]].}}
* A better example is ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|Uncanny X-Men]]'' #153, the classic "Kitty's [[Fairy Tale]]", in which Kitty regaled young Illyana Rasputin with a made-up [[Fairy Tale]] casting herself and Colossus as heroic pirates, and other members of the X-Men as their allies to rescue the Phoenix Genie. Some see this issue as a coda to the Claremont/Byrne era, as it shows Kitty fully assimilating with the team to the point where she can gently rib her teammates for their peccadilloes (as the story progresses the rest of the X-Men listen in and enjoy a good laugh), and even give the Scott and Jean in her story the happy ending which they were denied.
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** A later episode had Pearl in the theater quipping with the bots while Mike hung out with Observer and Bobo on the planet below.
* The B-plot of the ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' episode "The Mermaid Theory", in which Future!Ted's usually impressive memory breaks down while telling his kids about a fight Lily and Barney once had, and he starts describing things that make no sense, like a motorcycle roaring through McLarens, Barney magically levitating a beer bottle, or Barney and Lily switching personalities; then going "Wait, wait, that's not right" and starting the whole story over again. This causes an unusually high degree of [[Medium Awareness]] on the parts of "Barney" and "Lily", who are shown referring to the topic of their fight in-dialogue as "something" ("I'm still mad at you because of something!") because Ted can't remember what they were upset about, and at one point they wind up suspended in limbo, casting glares at the screen and checking their watches impatiently while Future!Ted mutters "um...hang on...let me see..." to himself.
* From ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]]'': The episode "Black Market". Oh, where to begin? We find that Apollo has been seeing a single-mom hooker and her child regularly on the black market ship Prometheus. This was never mentioned before or ever again. He is seeing and helping out her and her kid due to guilt over leaving his former pregnant girlfriend shortly before the Cylons attacked. This was never mentioned before or ever again. He winds up killing the black market's ringleader in a totally out-of-character manner. THEN he declares that the black market can continue because it's necessary or something. And we never hear anything more about it. It's saved from being a complete [[Bizarro Episode]] by dint of two factors: 1) {{spoiler|Commander Fisk's murder}} in this episode starts a chain reaction of events that eventually puts Lee in command of ''Pegasus'', and 2) the head of the black market is played by Bill Duke. Ron Moore later discussed ''Black Market'' very frankly both on his blog and in the episode's commentary, admitting that it was completely nonsensical and explaining the logic that went into making it that everyone ''thought'' made sense at the time, only to realize with growing horror that it just didn't work.
** Black Market has a third point of relevance: it's the episode where {{spoiler|Baltar decides to run for President when Roslin realizes he could be a thorn in her side and tries to convince him to resign}}. Obviously though, the scene where this happens has ''nothing'' to do with the plot of the episode.
** "The Woman King" came along one season later and stole "Black Market"'s crown. This episode involves a [[Villain with Good Publicity|well-beloved but insanely racist doctor]] who sets about killing citizens of the "poorer" Colonies under the guise of a free clinic he's operating right on ''Galactica''. Helo's tasked by a woman ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|named King]]) to put a stop to the [[Mad Doctor]] and avenge her son (who the doc allegedly killed). Helo spends much of the episode on a [[Cassandra Truth]] wild goose chase because no one believes him, what with the better half of the cast coming down with a sudden case of 24-hour [[Fantastic Racism]] Disease. Everyone acts [[Out of Character]], the episode just goes in circles, and everyone forgets it even happened by the next episode.
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* Once or twice a season ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' will include a comedy episode, with a ridiculous [[Plot]] which is just an excuse to use situations like 'Sam and Dean are suddenly trapped on the set of this weird TV show called ''Supernatural'', and we are now going to spend 40 minutes making fun of our own premise, crew, actors, and viewing figures'. This does not necessarily make these episodes ''bad''.
** For those who are less familiar with the show, I think this deserves a little clarification: these episodes are insanely popular, and are widely considered to be the best episodes of the series in terms of sheer entertainment value, once again proving that [[Tropes Are Not Bad|tropes are most definitely not bad.]]
* Significantly, ''[[The Prisoner]]'' did this ''twice'', in the episodes "Living In Harmony" and "The Girl Who Was Death" -- both—both of which massively change the entire format of the show just to fuck with [[The Protagonist]], [[Mind Screw|not to mention the audience]].
** There was also "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling," which Patrick McGoohan isn't even ''in'', where the Powers That Be basically put Number 6's brain in some other guy and send him on an errand outside of The Village for them.
*** This was sort of a [[Real Life Writes the Plot]] episode; Patrick McGoohan was off making [[Ice Station Zebra]] when this episode was filmed.
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** Similarly to "Plato's Stepchildren" mentioned above, this is [[Averted Trope]] in the case of "The Naked Now". Although it fully appears as though this is a [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again]] episode, albeit an absolutely hilarious one, what with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hih2THljVjw Data getting drunk and Dr. Crusher grabbing Picard's crotch just offscreen], the fact that [[The Spock|Data]] and [[Sacrificial Lion|Tasha Yar]] had intercourse ''is'' mentioned in later episodes, notably in "Measure of a Man" where it is used to help establish [[The Spock|Data's]] sentience.
*** It even gets a [[Call Back]] much, ''much'' later in ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'' with [[The Spock|Data]] telling the Borg Queen that he is "fully functional" in the sex department.
** "Justice" arguably counts -- forcounts—for no clear reason, the crew of the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]'' is schmoozing with what appears to be a pre-warp culture, when [[Creator's Pet|Wesley]] knocks over an outdoor decoration and is sentenced to death. And even though the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]] didn't prevent them from making contact with this planet, all of a sudden it prevents [[The Captain|Picard]] from saving Wesley.
** "Conspiracy" is another ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|TNG]]'' example of this. Starfleet command has apparently been infiltrated by parasitic slugs that inhabit the brain of the host creature. This is obviously an event of considerable political magnitude, but it is never again referenced. However, it was [[Foreshadowing|Foreshadowed]] several episodes earlier, making it a kind of [[Aborted Arc]].
*** [[Executive Meddling]] is to blame for that. The story was originally intended to have a purely human conspiracy within Starfleet, but [[Gene Roddenberry]] himself vetoed that because of how it clashed with his vision of ''[[Star Trek]]'' as an [[Utopia]] where all humans work towards a common goal in harmony. So they added mind-controlling alien infiltrators to the [[Plot]].
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* "iSpace Out" from ''[[iCarly]]'' has a BLAM subplot, with a random little girl wandering into the apartment when Spencer is there, and not doing anything until she walks out again, it takes up half the time of the episode and literally nothing happens or is resolved. "iMake [[Chaotic Neutral|Sam]] Girlier"'s entire plot was [[Chaotic Neutral|Sam]] wanting to get a boyfriend; [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|she tries to act more girly]], but in the end [[Be Yourself]] wins out. The guy vanishes and is never spoken of again, not even to explain why.
* ''[[iCarly]]'' and ''[[Victorious]] each aired an ''April Fools'' episode back to back. Both were utterly nonsensical episodes. Nothing made sense, and it was completely random. There was [[No Fourth Wall]]. They were both pretty much aware of this trope all the way through
* Even ''[[Police Stop]]'' isn't infallible to this. The episode ''Police Stop! 3'' has subjects [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|that are never mentioned again for the rest of the series]] and doesn't mention the United Kingdom very much. The same can be said for ''Police Stop! 4'', its sequel that followed in 1995, which had no [[ident|idents]]s between episodes. This is surprisingly rare for a documentary to do such things. However, your opinion will differ on this. If you do wish to see the series, watch it on ITV4, it's nearly always shown as reruns.
* ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' gives us the 4th season episode "... And Fancy Free", in which Hercules enters a dance competition. Nothing rests on this competition other than his partner's self esteem, and a nice trophy. Apparently, in spite of this, the town magistrate finds this competition important enough that he spends most of the episode sending assassins after Hercules and his partner to stop them from winning. No other motivation is given, he just wants his daughter to win. [[Bonus Points]] for guest starring Michael Hurst in drag as the dance instructor.
** "Stranger in a Strange World", which is referred to as a "Bizarro World episode" by the writer in the interviews feature on the DVD. This episode features an alternate universe with Hercules an evil tyrant marrying Aphrodite, the Xena cast in different roles, and a battle using a wedding cake. And Iolaus as a jester.
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* Episode 200 of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', which [[Word of God]] states is out of continuity.
** "[[Groundhog Day Loop|Window of Opportunity]]" also counts. Golfing through the Stargate, resigning to kiss someone of a lower rank, ''cycling through the tunnels of the base with a bicycle bell''...
* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' [[Musical Episode]] "[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E07 Once More, With Feeling|Once More With Feeling]]" is a bizarre case of a BLAM episode that '''''is''''' based on an utterly ridiculous premise, '''''is''''' important to the season's major story arcs and remains one of '''''the''''' most loved episodes of the entire series, like a [[Bizarro Episode]] and [[Wham! Episode]] mixed together.
** The season 4 finale, "Restless", starts like this. Eventually what's going on is clarified, as well as the fact that it contains large amounts of [[Foreshadowing]].
** "Superstar". Season 4, ep 17.
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* "Bakerman" on the Midnight Oil album ''Red Sails in the Sunset''. It's a Japanese school band playing an instrumental oompa ditty, in the middle of an otherwise pre-alternative rock album. Also very [[Mood Whiplash]].
* ''[[The Police|Synchronicity]]'': "Mother", a repetitive tune in 7/4 with screamed vocals and weird lyrics, shows up after the comparatively normal "Synchronicity I" and "Walking in Your Footsteps".
* "You're Gonna Die", a 9&frac12;½-minute song (using the term loosely) at the end of [[Reel Big Fish]]'s ''We're Not Happy Till You're Not Happy'' album. It's essentially nothing but screaming and static in the same vein as [[The Beatles (band)|"Revolution 9"]] and even contains a [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]] of it's own in "Aaron is Made of Babies," a one-minute novelty song thrown smack-dab in the middle of the hectic track.
* "Anyone's Daughter" from [[Deep Purple]]'s ''Fireball''. The lyrics are typical DP - a man sleeps with a bunch of women and marries one of them when he gets her pregnant - but the music is in a C&W style that's out of place for this period of the band.
* ''Tell Me What to Swallow'' by [[Crystal Castles (band)|Crystal Castles]]. A dark acoustic song in the middle of electronic stuff. Also [[Mood Whiplash]].
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* ''[[Command & Conquer]] Red Alert'' had two: the secret Giant Ant missions and one multiplayer map set on the moon which randomly reassigned all the units' weapons, so you had helicopters firing flamethrowers and V2 rockets.
* The ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' DLC Old World Blues has your brain, spine and heart being stolen by incompetent [[Mad Scientist]] [[Brain In a Jar|Brains In Jars]] who are all drugged out of their gourds, an area exhibiting all the craziest pre-War [[For Science!|SCIENCE!]] (and since this is ''[[Fallout]]'', that's really saying something), a gun with a living dog brain as a component, a talking stealth suit that calls you her best friend and plays pranks on you, a base full of talking appliances who all hate each other, and a surreal conversation with ''your own brain'' in a tank, who sounds suspiciously like Seth McFarlane if even you're a woman.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' has this issue with the Mission Architect system. Due to the [[Sturgeon's Law|overwhelming amount]] of player-made content in the database and a ratings system that leaves something to be desired, it's inevitable that BLAM [[Story Arc|Story Arcs]]s will come up fairly frequently in any random sample. If the first time a player tries the system results in having one of these thrown at them it can easily be the last time they will ever bother with the Mission Architect.
** Which is why a number of authors have been taking it upon themselves to review arcs and compile lists in the official forums make it easier to find the "good stuff."
* Atlantica in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' also counts. It has absolutely no [[Plot]] relevance and features the characters [[Musical Episode|singing in order to keep Ariel happy with undersea life]]. Even more BLAM is the fact that the entire story of the world is based on mini games and seems to just be an excuse to put the world in the game.
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** ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' had at least one completely insane episode per season, and the tone of the average episode wasn't much less wacky. If anything the episodes which focused on continuity and drama were the ones out of place. "Fractured", "Mad Mod", "Bunny Raven/How To Make a Titanimal Disappear", "Mother Mae Eye", and "Episode 257-494", the episode where Control Freak causes the Titans to become [[Trapped in TV Land]].
**** Well, the last one was referenced in the big Finale, when Control Freak was using the Lightsabers he got from TV Land.
*** Oddly enough, most [[BLAM Episode|BLAM Episodes]]s are right before the season finale. Going from a deranged Hansel and Gretel [[Whole-Plot Reference]] to Raven fulfilling her destiny and ending the world, or from the aforementioned Larry episode to Terra picking off the team one by one led to some absolutely beautiful [[Mood Whiplash]] and gave the show its signature schizophrenic tone.
** A good rule of thumb was this: if the opening [[Theme Tune]] was in Japanese, as opposed to the usual English, you were about to see some weird shit.
*** Especially when the one singing in Japanese is Larry.
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* ''[[Ben 10]]'' has the episode "Gwen 10". In that episode, they were all back to the first day of summer and Ben was the only person remembering the previous episode's events. As the title episode suggested, Gwen was the one to find the Omnitrix this time. At the end, it got detached from her and Ben thought he'd finally have it like in the original timeline but it went to Max instead. It becomes [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] when it's revealed in a later episode that the person who sent the Omnitrix to Earth expected '''Max''' to have it in the first place. The next episode had Ben with the Omnitrix again with no explanation and "Gwen 10" events were never mentioned in any other episodes of the series.
** The start of the episode explained how it worked much like a comic book plot, of different realities and different stories. Gwen 10 (or Max 10) probably went very radically in its own direction, but for the sake of continuity and story of the main plot hook, went with Ben 10 still having the Omnitrix. However, that doesn't explain how the mainstream Ben went to the Gwen 10 reality, how he returned to his own, or what happened to that reality's Ben.
** Supposedly, all episodes that start by displaying a comic book at the start are such episodes. Another one had the series ending with Ben starting school again--exceptagain—except it was just before the actual series ending and contradicted it.
* In ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars|Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'' season four there's "Mercy Mission" and "Nomad Droids" - episodes that focus on R2-D2 and C-3PO in their own misadventures when they get separated from the army. The episodes pay homages to various works like [[Alice in Wonderland]], [[The Lord of the Rings]], [[Gulliver's Travels]], [[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]], and [[Real Steel]].
** Also possibly an homage to the 1980s ''Star Wars: Droids'' cartoon, which contained many blam moments if not entire episodes (C-3PO blinking and sprinting, R2-D2's hammerspace gadgets and breakdancing).
** Season 3 has the Mortis trilogy of episodes. The basic plot is that Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka get stranded on a surreal planet whose only three inhabitants -- Fatherinhabitants—Father, Son and Daughter -- areDaughter—are the living embodiments/avatars/personifications of the Balance of the Force, the Dark Side and the Light Side, respectively. {{spoiler|During the course of the episodes Father, Son and Daughter either kill each other, or arrange for the Jedi to do so on their behalf.}} Unsurprisingly it is never referred back to and, aside from the anvilicious hints that Anakin has more sympathy for the Dark Side than is strictly healthy, comes off as extreme padding.
*** It later gets tied into the story of [[Fate of the Jedi]]'s [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Big Bad]] Abeloth. With mixed results.
* ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'' had more than its share of camp, but by far the most bizarre and memorable example is "Curse of the Lion Men" - a passing comet awakens a group of ancient mummified lion-men who aim to conquer the world by turning every non-robotic human on the planet into lion creatures using [[Eye Beams]]. No, it doesn't make any more sense in context.
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