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{{trope}}
[[File:bulging-closet-
{{quote|''"No, don't open that door, McGee!"''
|'''Molly''', ''[[Fibber McGee and Molly]]'', [[Once Per Episode]]}}
A character opens a surreptitiously bulging door to a storage area, and is buried in an avalanche of junk, followed by a skier or something if the authors are feeling particularly silly.
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If the closet is continuously left in complete and utter chaos as a [[Running Gag]], no one will bother to organize this closet, and instead opt to quickly open it, retrieve what they need, and hastily shut it in one smooth movement.
Later, a character who is oblivious of the closet's nature innocently opens it, only to be buried under a heap of cleaning tools, souvenirs, novelties and whatnot.
Apparently, all household junk is rubbery and spongy enough that you can squeeze a roomful of the stuff into a single foot-deep closet, as long as you're strong enough to force the door shut afterward. Given the fact that many of these knickknacks can be comfortably squeezed into (and pulled out of) [[Hammerspace|thin air]], this may not be that inexplicable.
Alternatively, the closet could just be [[Bigger
Sometimes [[Truth in Television]].
{{examples}}
* A commercial for Rubbermaid food containers emphasized how one could keep their containers nicely organized versus other brands, demonstrated with an exploding kitchen cupboard full of Ziploc-esque containers.
▲== Advertising ==
▲* A commercial for Rubbermaid food containers emphasized how one could keep their containers nicely organized versus other brands, demonstrated with an exploding kitchen cupboard full of Ziploc-esque containers.
== Anime & Manga ==▼
* In ''[[Stellvia of the Universe (Anime)|Stellvia of the Universe]]'', Shima cleans up before a study session by cramming all of her [[Girls Love Stuffed Animals|stuffed toys]] into the closet. Jojo notices one sticking out and opens the door.▼
* In ''[[ROD the TV (Anime)|ROD the TV]]'', this happens with the three sisters' entire ''apartment'', which is stuffed to bursting with books.▼
* Happens in the very first episode of ''[[Mahoromatic (Manga)|Mahoromatic]]'', where Mahoro opens a bulging closet in Suguru's house only to promptly have an avalanche of matching shorts spill out all over her.▼
▲* In ''[[
▲* In ''[[
▲* Happens in the very first episode of ''[[
* In ''[[Adventures of Mini-Goddess]]'', Gan-chan's "food storage" is an Exploding Closet.
== Comic Books ==
* A minor [[Running Gag]] in Belgian comic ''[[Gaston Lagaffe]]''. We are once shown Gaston's technique for filling the dreaded cabinet so that things don't fall out: he lays it down and quite literally shovels everything in.
* In the comic ''[[Suske
* In ''[[Calvin and Hobbes (Comic Strip)|Calvin and Hobbes]]'', Calvin uses this trope to make it look like he cleaned his room -- until his mom opens the closet.▼
{{quote| '''Calvin's Mom:''' Back to work, kiddo.<br />▼
'''Calvin:''' YOU made THIS mess! YOU clean it up! }}▼
* ''[[FoxTrot (Comic Strip)|FoxTrot]]'' did the same gag.▼
* A [[Running Gag]] in the newspaper strip ''Big Nate'', with Nate's school locker exploding with an impossible volume of crap whenever he opens it (with Nate able to swiftly find whatever he wants to in the debris).▼
* Snoopy's doghouse, in [http://gocomics.com/peanuts/1963/02/16/ a 1963] ''[[Peanuts (Comic Strip)|Peanuts]]'' strip.▼
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* Happen with the Wardrobe in ''[[
* The "broom closet" Hoggle opens accidentally in the oubliette in ''[[
{{quote|
* [[The
== Live-Action TV ==
* Happened once in, of all places, ''[[Star Trek:
** The fact that tribbles are still falling on Kirk's head after the trap is open is [[Retcon|explained somewhat]] in the ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Trial and Tribble-ations", when it is revealed that the tribbles are being thrown out onto him by people trying to identify which one is a bomb.
* ''[[Zoboomafoo]]'': Whenever the Kratt Brothers want to go on an adventure, they open the closet and just shield themselves from the falling safari gear. Then they pick up what they need from whatever fell on the ground and leave. Also subverted, as a female guest-host who occasionally visited was able to open the closet, take out what she wanted, and close it again, without any problem. Of course, the next time the guys opened the closet, they again had all their stuff raining down on them.
* In an episode of ''[[
* Happens to [[House (TV series)|House]] in "Clueless".
* ''[[
** In an episode, Spencer is going on a camping trip and needs to get his sleeping bag out of the Shays' storage locker in the basement. Guess what happens next.
** In another, Sam rigs Lewbert's cupboards to bury him with golf balls.
* Used twice in one episode of ''[[Three's Company
* A ''[[
* An episode of ''[[
== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* In ''[[
▲'''Calvin:''' YOU made THIS mess! YOU clean it up! }}
▲* A [[Running Gag]] in the newspaper strip ''Big Nate'', with Nate's school locker exploding with an impossible volume of crap whenever he opens it (with Nate able to swiftly find whatever he wants to in the debris).
▲* Snoopy's doghouse, in [http://gocomics.com/peanuts/1963/02/16/ a 1963] ''[[
== Puppet Shows ==
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== Radio ==
* A [[Running Gag]] in ''[[
== Video Games ==
* ''[[The Adventures of Sam
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
** Used early, when Agatha cleans up a lab by stuffing a nearby closet with all the junk, and then the overlord's son Gilgamesh [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021220 decides to open it to get something]. ("That's the ''worst'' filing system I've ''ever seen''.") The bump on the head actually ''helps'' him clear up his thoughts.
** It's also used in a wallpaper that shows Agatha, Gilgamesh, ''[[
* In ''[[Sequential Art (
* ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* A [[Running Gag]] in ''[[
* ''[[
** In the short ''Fool Coverage'', insurance salesman [[Daffy Duck]] rigs up one of these to convince Porky Pig he needs a policy. Naturally, it backfires and Daffy's the one who ends up buried in junk.
** In ''Thumb Fun'', Daffy overstuffs the trunk of Porky's car to similar effect.
** ''Literal'' exploding closets are utilized in some shorts, as when a character finds himself in a dark closet and lights a match only to find it is filled with explosives, with [[Made of Explodium|predictable results]].
* In ''[[The Simpsons (
* ''[[Codename
* This happens in the ''[[
* [[
* Happens in the opening of ''[[
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:
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