Cutaway Gag: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

'''Quagmire:''' It's the best show you're not watching!

'''Cleveland:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|I hate shows that cut away from the story for some bull crap.]]

 

 

A staple of the [[Gag Series]], or those using [[Rapid-Fire Comedy]] (after all, it's easy to have lots of jokes if you don't need them to make sense).

 

Compare [[Non Sequitur Scene]], [[Imagine Spot]], [[Crazy Memory]], [[Product Promotion Parade]] (which this can overlap with), [[Separate Scene Storytelling]]. Also an Aversion to the [[Noodle Incident]], especially when they briefly start off with a bit of dialogue that would imply such a trope.

{{examples}}

* The General Auto Insurance television commercials has a character who is a "General" for obvious reasons. Not so obvious is the reason for the penguin sidekick.

 

* Used and explicitly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in one episode of ''[[Cromartie High School]]'', which suddenly cuts to a sequence titled [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Let's Strum A Guitar In The Mountains!"]], at the end of which the man playing the guitar throws the instrument up in the air, screaming ''"Oh my god, this is a non-sequitur!"''

* Seen in ''[[Inuyasha]]'' when the group are trying to stop two warring brothers from tearing up the countryside. When Inuyasha gets side-tracked complaining about how warring brothers cause needless hassle for everyone and then defensively claiming that he and Sesshoumaru have nothing in common with these two brothers, Sango - in a moment of complete randomness - wonders if Sesshoumaru's the kind of person who sneezes when he's talked about. Cue the momentary Cutaway Gag which doubles as a [[Sneeze Cut]] to reveal that it's actually Jaken who sneezes on Sesshoumaru's behalf and that he really dislikes this aspect of being Sesshoumaru's servant. Then the normal plotline continues.

* Episode 16 of ''[[Slayers]]'' had Lina, Gourry, and Amelia travelling with a theater company. The director decided to cast them in an upcoming play, with Amelia as the hero. In one scene where she reads a line from the script (in her usual [[Large Ham]] / [[Love Freak]] way), the background shifts to make it look like she is a voice actress in a recording studio. Then she asks "how was it?"—cut to Gourry behind the recording desk, who says "Sorry, you were blowing into the mic." The background then shifts back to normal, and Amelia responds "I was ''what''?!"

 

* ''[[Darkwing Duck (comics)|Darkwing Duck]]'' (in the new comics): After Darkwing welcomes Launchpad back as his sidekick:

{{quote|'''Launchpad:''' There aren't really a lot of positions open for sidekicks/pilots.

'''Gadget:''' No. No, you cannot. }}

 

* ''[[Turnabout Storm]]'': Before the trial starts, [[Ace Attorney|Phoenix]] wonders what would his [[Friendly Rival]] prosecutor [[The Stoic|Edge]][[Closet Geek|worth]] do if he was the one stuck in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Equestria]]. Cut to an [[Imagine Spot]] of Edgeworth gleefully riding and playing with the ponies through the land.

{{quote|'''Edgeworth:''' This is just like that one episode of the Steel Samurai where he meets the Pink Princess! '''''WHEEEEEEE!!!'''''

'''Phoenix:''' ''(Doctor, I'd like the part of my brain responsible for that image [[Brain Bleach|lobotomized please...]])'' }}

 

== [[Film]] ==

* In ''[[Ernest Scared Stupid]]'', there's a cutaway gag in which Ernest's 4th grade teacher confirms that "[[Actually Pretty Funny|He never knew when to quit.]]" after whapping young Ernest over the head

 

* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' was filled with this trope, and lampshaded it on occasion:

{{quote|'''Mrs. Turpin''': That's Mr. Kamikaze, the pilot. He's very nice really, but make sure he stays clear of battleships.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' does this occasionally, one example being in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0718.html this comic].

{{quote|'''Elan:''' But what game? What competition should we choose that you [[Chess with Death|could beat Death himself at]]??

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Family Guy]]'' doesn't go an episode without at least twenty Manatee Gags being thrown in (and yes, the ''[[Family Guy]]'' writers liked the ''South Park'' episode enough that [[Appropriated Appellation|they started using the nickname]]). Most are only a second and a half long, and often take the format "This is worse than the time that..", allowing virtually anything to be slotted in anywhere. The show is widely acknowledged to be the most [[Egregious]] example of this trope. An example, from "One If By Clam, Two If By Sea":

{{quote|'''Lois:''' Nigel's charming. All British men are!

** The episode where pot is legalized in Quahog leaves Peter too baked to set up a cutaway. He stumbles through the setup then gives up and instead resigns to throwing a scrolling list of celebrities he dislikes up on the screen.

** In another episode, Peter claimed to feel "like Lady Macbeth when she was betrayed by Duncan." We then cut to a spaceship, where Lady Macbeth is fighting a bear. Peter then walks onscreen, and admits "I don't really know Shakespeare."

* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'' had a few per episode [[Follow the Leader|that all seemed to be directly inspired by]] ''[[Family Guy]]''.

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' has some examples:

'''Woman:''' That'll be $10.95.

'''Slappy:''' Hey, quit rushing me! Can't you see I'm trying to catch up on the news here? }}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Absurdity Ascendant]]

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Cut to the Index]]