Holy Shit Quotient
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Sam: So that's it? That's your response? |
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Divide the number of times you said "Holy Shit!" by the number of scenes. This is the Holy Shit Quotient (or HSQ) for a given episode. The term originated somewhere among the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffistas.org, most likely) and Television Without Pity communities, where it is occasionally still possible to get a nice little flame war going over whether "HSQ" is pronounced "aitch-skew."
It is sometimes shortened to form the verb "skew." As in: "The episode skewed me to the chair."
This is probably why there are such long pauses in the action of movies like 300 or The Matrix: it gives the audience time to go "Holy shit!"
High Holy Shit Quotient is a typical feature of a Summer Blockbuster, perhaps even an Epic Movie.
Wham! Episodes tend to have a high HSQ, as do Professional Wrestling matches involving Spot Monkeys,[1] and videogame trailers. Heavy Metal and Visual Kei bands try to have at least a moderate one of these per promotional video and/or concert, though it often ends up as Mundane Made Awesome or Narm if failed. Obviously, that's a matter of opinion.
Anything that has Serial Escalation somehow is guaranteed to have a high HSQ.
When writers try to increase the HSQ of a scene that doesn't have punch by having the characters (or camera work) pretend it does, they often wind up saying What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome?
- ↑ This is in fact a common chant at pro wrestling events when something like that happens.