Don't Try This At Home: Difference between revisions

* In the first episode of ''[[Sonic X]],'' Sonic jumps on top of an S-Team race car during a chase, causing the driver to protest that they don't want any kids copying him; Sonic duly warns the kids in the audience never to stand on moving cars.This is possibly a parodical [[Shout-Out]] to the original ''Sonic Sez'' segments of the first animated series.

** The dub [[Spoof Aesop|plays it a little differently]]. Sonic does the same thing and receives the same complaint from the driver: "What if some kid tries this?" Sonic turns to the camera and says:

** In a later episode, a Chaos Emerald was found under a water, and [[Creator's Pet|Chris Thorndyke]] was helping Sonic go get it. During an attempt with a hosepipe, Chris holds up a sign saying, "Good kids: don't imitate this!!" Sonic then holds up a sign saying, "You mean I'm not a good kid?" This only happens in the Japanese version, as [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]] ruined the joke by blanking out the signs and not bothering to put in any replacement text. This happens again a bit later, when Chris holds up a similar warning sign as they are about to use a bell in their scheme, and 4Kids, of course, blanked it out senselessly.

* In episode 10 of ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' Hatsuharu trips Kyo with a rope while Kyo is running (fortunately Kyo gets an [[Instant Bandages|Instant Bandage]]). Hatsuharu then [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|breaks the fourth wall]] to say that doing this could cause serious injury to anyone besides Kyo, so '''Don't Try This At Home'''.

* Parodied in episode 25 of the first ''[[Slayers]]'' anime, when [[Engrish|"Pritty Lina's Magic Lecture"]] explains how Zelgadis does one of his spells.

'''Lina & Gourry:''' Like they could?! }}

* When [[Flipping the Table]] in ''[[Bleach]]'', a note attached to the table reads "CAUTION: For use in sight gags only!"

* In one of the [[Mai-HiME]] sound dramas after the main events of the series, Nao (who is in ''middle school'') offers Mai and the others (who, except for the middle school age Mikoto, are in high school) some alcohol, and they start drinking. Nagi then [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|reminds]] listeners that they shouldn't try this until they're 20.

* In the [[Cooking Duel]] of ''[[Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya]] 2wei'', while Suzuka was wrapping up Tatsuko like a mummy to prevent her from further screwing up the cake they were baking, Nanami breaks the fourth wall to address the readers.

* When Walker uses an [[Aerosol Flamethrower]] in the sixth ''[[Durarara]]'' [[Light Novel]], the narration notes that this is, in fact, a ''terrible'' idea and more likely to set ''you'' on fire than your opponent. It then notes that Walker knows this and does it anyway, [[Cloudcuckoolander|because he's Walker.]]

* In the second ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'' OAD, packaged with vol. 43 of the manga in September 2011, Keiichi does the old Mentos and Diet Coke eruption trick by holding the Mentos in his mouth and spitting them into a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. An onscreen caption says "He is using it the wrong way. Children, don't do what he's doing." (Putting the Mentos in his mouth would probably make them less effective anyway, since the nucleation points on their surfaces would dissolve away.)

** But then this was subverted in the very first issue of ''[[Great Lakes Avengers|G.L.A. Misassembled]]'' when Grasshopper hops in and announces that there are no kids who read comic books, [[You Bastard|only overweight thirty-year-old men who still live with their parents]], so he encourages readers to [[Too Dumb to Live|try these very questionable acts]] and do the human gene pool a favor. And then this trope is subverted yet again when he dies during his very next appearance.

* One ''[[The Far Side]]'', showing a kid sticking his head in a missile silo, had the following caption:

* Spoofed in one ''Rubes'' strip that showed a man's gravestone with the epitaph "He tried it at home". The widow viewing the grave says "I told him not to".

* Cliff Steele of the [[Doom Patrol]], to goggle-eyed youths with skateboards following one incident: "And remember kids, don't walk through plate-glass windows!"

* When Ling Ling Fat is demonstrating his gunpowder at the beginning of Forbidden City Cop, he reminds the audience that Fat Yun is highly trained for such feats, and that children should never attempt detonating gunpoweder {{spoiler|in their mouths}}.

* In the climactic scene of ''[[Sesame Street|Follow That Bird]],'' Big Bird is in the back of a truck, in a giant cage, doing about 30 on the interstate. Gordon and Susan have followed him in a Volkswagen Beetle that's had the trunk cover chewed off by Cookie Monster (keep in mind, Volkswagen Beetles have the trunk in the front of the car). Despite the vehement protestations of driver Susan, Gordon leaves the inside of the vehicle through a Cookie Monster-created hole in the roof, and tries to get Big Bird to jump from the cage into the hood.

'''Gordon:''' You ''have'' my ''permission!'' Just this once. NOW, COME ON! }}

* ''[[Ice Age]]'' had a TV spot for its home video release that showed comic violence throughout the spot over an announcer admonishing "Don't try this at home... or this... or this... or this... [[Overly Long Gag|or this]]..."

* Aside from the ''[[Good Omens]]'' quote at the top of the page, [[Terry Pratchett]] pulls this trope in ''[[Discworld/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'': When fireworks are mentioned, Rincewind tries to clarify as "The sort of thing where you light the blue touch paper and stick it up your nose?" The helpful footnote on the same page reads, "KIDS! Only very silly wizards with very bad sinus trouble do this. ''Sensible'' people go off to a roped-off enclosure where they can watch a heavily protected man, in the middle distance, light (with the aid of a very long pole) something that goes 'fsst.' And then they can shout 'Hooray.'"

** Another footnote, this time from ''[[Discworld/I Shall Wear Midnight|I Shall Wear Midnight]]'':

** [[Call Back|One of the Tiffany Aching books had a Feegle queen boiling water in a leather cauldron.]]

* Another Pratchett example: ''[[Nation]]'' features an afterword discussing the truth behind some implausible-sounding things that happen in the story; most of them are accompanied with warnings that you should not try this at home. The last one ends, instead, with "Whether you try it at home is up to you."

* [[Stephen Colbert]]'s ''I Am America (And So Can You!)'' After a comment that the father's role in the family is as protector, so all men should sleep with a 9mm under their pillow and "wake up firing" at any sign of movement:

'''''([[Footnote Fever|Margin note]]:''''' ''Do it.)'' }}

** [[Footnote Fever]] struck again when Stephen huffed Axe body spray on screen.

* [[Roald Dahl]]'s ''George's Marvellous Medicine'' begins with a warning to children not to follow the protagonist's lead and start mixing up things they find in their medicine cabinets at home and drinking them because it might make them sick.

** Or well and truly ''dead''.

== Live Action TV ==

* The Nickoloden game show Guts had a disclaimer from host Mike O Malley:

* "We're what you call 'experts'." Jamie and Adam on ''[[Myth Busters]]'' warn off the brain-dead at least twice every episode, with frequent reminders at the start of especially dodgy (or deceptively safe-looking) experiments. See also "We've got thirty years of experience that keeps ''us'' safe," and the blanket admonition usually seen at the outset:

'''Jamie:''' ''Ever!'' }}

** In an interview, they claimed that they hated to have to say this, because they ''wanted'' people (at least those who knew what they were doing) to try their experiments. They did comment that "Diet Coke and Mentos" was entirely safe to try at home, but advised not to do it indoors, since it does tend to make a bit of a mess.

** This punchline was also used by [[The Reduced Shakespeare Company]]. The guys are about to perform ''Hamlet'' really fast (as in the entire play in under a minute). They give a short disclaimer to the effect that props will be thrown about, etc., and the audience should not try this at home. Adam tosses back "go to a friend's house" as he assumes his position.

** Once when crushing random things with a huge block, Letterman used this variant:

** Once while wearing a suit of magnets, Letterman warned kids not to walk up to the TV with magnets because they will destroy it. A few seconds later he said, "Hell what do I care. Try it at home."

* Avoided in ''[[MacGyver]]'': There probably was no single instance of this happening, and MacGyver did some awesomely dangerous stuff with things kids could easily get their hands on. Granted, a number of the things while technically possible and based on scientific principles are pretty much impossible to pull off. Plus, in interviews the writers stated that if something was truly dangerous they'd often omit a crucial component so that people couldn't get hurt trying it.

* In ''[[Escape from Monkey Island]]'', just before he does a false alarm prank with a fire alarm on a school, Guybrush turns [[No Fourth Wall|to the player]] and says that you should never, ever do this in [[Real Life]].

** Also used in [[The Curse of Monkey Island|the previous game]], where Guybrush makes a similar disclaimer, with plenty of [[No Fourth Wall|fourth wall breaking]], right before cheerfully ingesting a spiked drink.

* In ''[[Day of the Tentacle]]'', Laverne revives a hamster from cryogenic suspension by putting it in a microwave. She then [[No Fourth Wall|turns to the camera and remarks]] that you should never do this unless you have access to a [[Fantastic Aesop|highly advanced future microwave]]. "Kids who put hamsters in microwaves back where I'm from get taken away from their parents and put up for adoption. So DON'T do it!"

** This is most likely a reference to a (in)famous scene the previous game, ''Maniac Mansion'', in which certain characters could blow up Weird Ed's hamster in the microwave. DOTT treat this event as canon: Ed is still traumatized by the loss of his hamster and has undergone several years of therapy. (Which makes it all the more amusing that the hamstersicle is also his pet).

** The manual is more serious, stating the game is for entertainment purposes and states not to try and use the moves at home.

* From ''[[Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People|Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People]]: Baddest of the Bands'':

* ''Hedgewars'' [http://www.hedgewars.org/node/1444 manual], disclaimer:

* ''[[Rune Factory: Frontier]]'' pulled this when you're trying to cheat on your wife by triggering the "Love Confession" scenes. If Raguna is already married, his wife will come and beat him up, following with the line "* Do not try this at home." after the screen has turned white.

* ''[[Monday Night Combat]]'' announcer Mickey Cantor sometimes lampoons the trope as parting words. An example:

* The ''Spider-Man'' game tying into the latest set of movies had a spoof message in the tutorial. When it comes to web-slinging, Spidey informs children that they should not try this at home... because "your house isn't ''nearly'' tall enough".

* Both [[Jet Set Radio]] games have the following disclaimer at the start of the game.

== Web Comics ==

* [[Irregular Webcomic]]: In the annotations of [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2568.html this comic.]

* Used seriously in [[Collar 6]], which has warnings that it's a fantasy world, NOT a guide to BDSM safety.

* ''[[Amazing Super Powers]]'' did it in [http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2008/05/watercooler/ the strip about the watercooler] (see [[Alt Text]]).

* On an episode of ''[[Drawn Together]]'', Captain Hero says "No one ever dies, watch!" before cutting his head off with a sword, and walking back onscreen. He then states "Now ''you'' try!"

* Parodied in the ''[[Futurama]]'' where Bender becomes famous, then infamous, for children imitating his televised behavior.

'''Disclaimer:''' Don't try this, kids at home. }}

** Parodied again, in the same episode. The kids decide to mimic Bender's actions, and find that drinking and smoking only makes them puke. So they decide to steal instead. [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|One of the kids mentions TV gave them the idea]], summoning the disclaimer that ''Futurama'' (with a voiceover from Bender no less) does not condone robbery.

*** And ''yet again in the same episode'': Farnsworth, leading an anti-Bender mob, after failing to get the Execu-bots to listen to him, pulls out a gun [[Hypocritical Humor|because it's something Bender did on TV.]]

* Every episode of ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' begins with Chris informing us that "This episode of TDI contains scenes of extreme stunts performed by animated teens. Do not try any of what you see here at home. Seriously, you could get really messed up." The latest version has him going out of his way to stress the part about "Animated Teens"; as he says the words 'animated teens' very slowly, the letters A-N-I-M-A-T-E-D T-E-E-N-S are themselves animated to emphasize how stupid it would be to do what he forces his victims to do.

* In one episode of ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (animation)|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'', Sam says "Remember, kids, we're professional cartoon characters. Don't try this at home!" and proceeds to use Max as a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u5M_kzeoN projectile battering ram] (just after the 4:00 mark).

** And in another short, after in an attempt to show how useful a vice is for randomly crushing things, Max detonates a sea mine.

*** In fact, he crushes a sea mine specifically labelled "Do not crush in Dad's vice".

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has Homer lecture Bart after taking him to see a UFC [[Expy]], telling him "Don't try this at home. Try it at school, somewhere where we can sue if you get hurt - and not ''just'' the school, but the county, the state, and that jackass Joe Biden!"

* [[Ka Blam!|"Remember kids, don't try this at home. June is a profesional comic book character"]]

* In the [[Space Goofs]] [[Christmas Episode]], the aliens are trying to drive away Santa Claus by lighting explosives under the chimney:

'''Santa Claus''': "...and happy holiday!" }}

* In the first episode of [[Johnny Test]], Johnny tries to fly using cardboard wings from atop a ladder. Dukey addresses the camera:

* An episode of ''[[I Am Weasel]]'' featured the creation of onion rings by putting onion rings all over someone's face and then sticking said face in a vat of boiling oil. The creator acknowledges that the man about to undergo this is "a professional boiling-oil stuntman" and adds that you really, ''really'' don't want to try doing this at home.

* In an episode of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', Jackie and Jade swap bodies, allowing Jade to finally do all the things she's been warned never to do every episode beforehand. Jackie as Jade, then dropkicks some Shadowkhan, runs up a wall to knock out another two, and immediately warns Jade never 'to try that at home'.

* Even the animated series ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]'' would have the cast members [[Lampshade Hanging|saying this from time to time]].

** [[Ur Example|Igor Smith is seen hitchhiking in the episode]] ''[[The Phantom of the Opera|The Phantomato]] [[Affectionate Parody|of the Opera]]''. A 18-wheeler passes him by, kicking up a big cloud of dust and truck exhaust in its wake.

* Episode 4 of ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man (animation)|Ultimate Spider Man]] begins with Spidey riding the Spider-Cycle in a subway tunnel. He looks at the audience, in the way he often does on the show, and says, "No, I'm not allowed to do this. And neither are you."

* Dane Cook joked about turning the nozzle for a glass cleaner halfway between on/off and to not try it at home, but knew someone in the audience would do it when they got home anyway.

** More specifically that doing that would either do nothing or release a ghost.

* At one of his concerts, [[Meat Loaf]] noticed some young children in the audience. He told them "Kids, don't talk like I do when you get home." (Meat Loaf tends to use swear words on stage.) And adds "Wait 'till you get to school!"

* One psychology textbook talks about neurosurgeons a half century ago discovering that stimulating different areas on the exposed motor cortex caused different parts of the body to respond. In parentheses, the book adds, "Kids, don't try this without parental supervision."