Is This Thing Still On?: Difference between revisions

* ''[[The Vinyl Scratch Tapes (Fanfic)|The Vinyl Scratch Tapes]]'': It takes them until part three to figure out when they aren't on the air.

* ''[[Yet Again]] [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5218118/1/Yet_again_with_a_little_extra_help With a Little Extra Help]'' gives us one when, after Sarutobi welcomes the crowd to the Chunin Exam Finals, followed by Naruto and Sasuke performing their Firestorm combo. After {{spoiler|Orochimaru}} and Hiruzen comment on the jutsu, one of the latter's aides informs him his mic is still on, leading to the following:

* In the ''[[Calvin at Camp]]'' episode "[[Legends of the Hidden Temple|Legends of the Hidden Campus]]," Eddy is caught on tape admitting that the game is completely rigged. Luckily for him, no one seems to notice or care.

* Frank Drebin wears a remote mic in ''[[The Naked Gun]]'' first movie, before taking a trip to the can. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* Slightly before the climax of ''Problem Child'', Ben asks his [[Jerkass]] father Big Ben for money to pay the ransom of his kidnapped wife and son while the former is preparing for his Mayor campaign speech. When he turns him down, Ben then asks "Hey dad! Why don't you tell all the voters what you really plan on doing with this town!" and surreptitiously turns on the camera:

* In a deleted scene from ''[[Young Frankenstein]]''.

* Subverted in ''[[Escape From L.A.]]'': Snake Plissken has covertly swapped an [[EMP]] control device with a similar-looking but useless playback device. The fascist President, in the middle of a nationally broadcast speech, orders Snake's death so they can find the real one. When reminded that the camera is on, he actually tells the cameramen to '''film the execution'''.

* ''[[Airplane!]]''

** Right after Rex Kramer says that their only hope is to build up Ted Stryker's confidence, he launches into a rant about how poorly suited Stryker is to fly the plane, not realizing that his microphone button is pressed.

'''Kramer:''' Shit! It's a goddamn waste of time. There's no way he can land it! [snip] Route him into Lake Michigan. At least avoid killing innocent people! }}

** ''[[Airplane!]] 2: The Sequel'', Commander Buck Murdock of Alpha Beta Base on the Moon.

'''[[William Shatner|Buck Murdock]]:''' If it weren't for the people up there, I'd say let Ted Stryker go down in a fiery twisted mass of molten metal. }}

* Twice in ''[[Apollo 13]]'': the first time, Jim Lovell uses some colorful language while attempting a tricky bit of piloting, not realizing (until [[Mission Control]] informs him) that his mike is live. Later, the astronauts are having a heated argument when Houston calls; Lovell snaps, "Are we on [[wikipedia:Voice-operated switch|VOX]]?" This time they aren't, and he's able to switch to polite-and-professional mode before answering. The first one actually happened, the second was made up by the film makers.

** In the ''[[Mitchell]]'' episode, Frank accidentally contacts the Satellite of Love by leaning on The Button. Since Joel and the 'bots are on survival test maneuvers, Gypsy is the only one to respond. She overhears the Mads discussing how to kill temp worker Mike - and thinks they're planning to off ''Joel'', which leads to Joel's escape from the S.O.L.

** Played with in a later episode: Mike decides to find out whether the communications system works both ways and tries calling the Mads... who, not even knowing they're on in the first place, are caught engaging in some very suspect [[Ambiguously Gay]] pastimes.

* Somewhat on one episode of ''[[Babylon 5]]''; Marcus sings, "I Am the Very Model of a Model Major General" near the end -- it continues into the credits, and finally you hear the director yell "CUT!"

* Occurs frequently on Aaron Sorkin's shows, especially ''[[Sports Night]]''.

* This is the basis for an episode of ''[[Yes Prime Minister]]''. Humphrey, as a senior government official, records a radio interview on the subject of unemployment, but while chatting to the host afterwards, he freely admits that "nobody tells the truth about unemployment" because "no politicians have got the guts to do anything about it". Of course, the microphone was still on, and the rest of the episode is about Humphrey trying to get hold of the recording before it can get him into trouble with the Prime Minister. The PM does find out, and is surprised that the usually sophisticated Humphrey didn't know better than to fall victim to this trope, saying that you should always treat every microphone as if it were a live microphone.

* ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' parodied the [[Bill O Reilly|Bill O'Reilly]] "Inside Edition" clip ([[Stupid Statement Dance Mix|"Fuck it! We'll do it live!"]]) with Colbert unable to say the words "I'm sorry." when they appear on the prompter. The expected fit of rage follows, Colbert [[Cluster F Bombs]] the show's producer and everyone else within earshot...

'''Producer:''' Stephen... this ''is'' live. }}

* On ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'', [[Guest Host]] [[Top Gear|Jeremy Clarkson]] managed to offend several countries with offhand remarks. Panelist Charles Kennedy noted that he'd offended Scotland and Ireland and wondered if he was planning to try for Wales next. Jeremy added that he'd also offended Birmingham, but that it was before recording had started. Paul Merton pointed out that they were, however, recording ''now''.

* On ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'', one of the Scenes From a Hat was "things the pilot wishes he hadn't said when the intercom was on." The performers listed:

'''Brad Sherwood:''' Did you see the jugs on the girl in row 4? }}

* Used [[Running Gag|frequently]] on ''[[Reno 911]]'' whenever the officers make announcements.

* A regular feature of ''[[Frasier]]'', which justifies the trope by having the title character repeatedly broadcast embarrassing or insulting comments on his radio show (in one instance actually having sex on the radio), unaware that he is on the air. Notable uses include:

** "The Adventures of Bad Boy and Dirty Girl":

'''Niles:''' ''(listening to them from his car radio)'' STOP TALKING! ''(Niles rear ends another car, causing the airbag to inflate in his face)'' }}

** "A New Position for Roz", when she is teaching Noel how to produce Frasier's show:

'''Frasier:''' ''(from the booth)'' Thank you, Roz, now that Seattle knows how we do things around here, perhaps you could let Noel know to keep his elbow off the mic button! }}

* In ''[[Ellen]]'', the title character accidentally broadcasted her [[Coming Out Story|coming out]] over an airport PA system.

* From ''[[Firefly]]'':

'''Mal:''' Jayne, you aware that your radio's transmittin'? Cause I ain't feelin' particular girlish or dirty at the moment. }}

** Also in the Pilot, where Jayne tests an earworm transmitter... while standing right next to Mal.

* In ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia|Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', Frank goes on a monologue about how people can do whatever [[I Love the Dead|sick and twisted thing]] they want to his corpse when he's dead. At the time, he's mic'd and backstage at a children's beauty pageant that he's hosting.

* In an episode of ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'', Justin reports to Rudy, the head of the Monster Hunter Council that three level 6 monsters (his vampire girlfriend and her parents) have been detected on Waverly Place and Rudy says he'll send over their best available monster hunters. After the conversation ends, Rudy says "That kid'll be a bone necklace inside of an hour", prompting an appropriately frightened look from Justin. Rudy notices this and begins backpedaling, saying that he meant a different bone necklace.

== Tabletop Games ==

* The old airline joke was used as the basis of a ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' joke:

A new recruit sitting opposite turns and says, "Whoa! Calm down Ma'am! He's gotta take that shit first!" }}

* ''[[Ratchet & Clank (video game)|Ratchet & Clank]]''

** Supreme Executive Chairman Drek broadcasts his plan to take parts of other planets (destroying them) to piece together a new planet to replace his polluted homeworld. He starts in a polite tone, but drops it after a crewman yells "cut!

'''Chairman Drek:''' ... and if you don't like it, you can take your whiny, sniveling, snot-nosed population, form a line behind me, and kiss my--! What, is it still on? Well, turn it off, you idiot! }}

** When you reach a certain point in ''[[Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal]]'', Big Al professess his love for Helga over the intercom at the Starship Phoenix, then realizes the intercom is on.

* ''[[Tyrian]]'' has this happen in Episode 4. [[Big Good]] Transon Lohk leaves the mic on after recording his messages twice; the first time is only mildly interesting, but the second time drove the protagonist to do [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|this]].

* In ''[[ER]]: The Game'', the player is frequently called over the intercom to be assigned a new task. One of these calls...

* In ''[[The Movies]]'', on the radio announcement two years before the depression event hits early in the game.

* Both of the UNN reporters in ''[[Starcraft II]]'' are terrible about this. For instance, when Kate reports on Donny Vermillion's sudden hospitalization in a neutral "news" tone, and wishes him well - and forgets to turn her mic off before [[Crowning Moment of Funny|celebrating her promotion to anchor]].

* Used in one of Eggman's PA announcements in ''[[Sonic Colors]]'':

* During ''[[World of Warcraft]]'''s Operation Gnomeregan event, the [[Mad Scientist]] who's taken over the gnomes' underground city uses a "Brag-Bot" to taunt the heroes. First he launches into his rant, stops to make sure that the mike is on, and then starts over. Later, while gloating how his trump card will vaporize everyone, he wishes aloud that he could see his arch-rival's face before realizing that the mike is ''still'' on.

* In [[Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee]], the Vortaak leader finishes his speech, pauses for about two seconds, and realizes the camera is still rolling.

* Terrorists McLocke, Kaige and Rice from ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' accidentally activate the PA system in their headquarters, treating the students to a charming rendition of a [[Slash Fic]] (involving two ''of'' the students) they found on the web. [[Bad Boss|Danya]] is not pleased, particularly when they go from reading the fic to insulting him and the entire organisation.

* Parodied in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' Season 9's trailer, where Pelican pilot 479'er insults the air traffic controllers, leading to this exchange:

'''479'er''': "Yup. That's cause I transmitted it." }}

* [[De Rez]] [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/de-rez/41-Searching-for-Gordon-Freeman "Searching For Gordon Freeman"]: While having a private discussion about the fact that the cameraman doesn't know how to edit, Dave decides they can work with it, doing everything in one take, as long as there are no screw-ups. Then, "Is that on?"

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''

** Subverted with Groundskeeper Willy on "Do What You Feel Day" in "Bart's Inner Child":

'''Willy:''' ''I know it's on!'' }}

** In one Halloween episode, a vampiric Burns greets the Simpsons over the intercom:

'''Burns:''' Oh, [[Curse Cut Short|son of a bi]]-- }}

** Let's not forget the episode with Gabbo and "all the kids in Springfield are SOBs" (a line inspired by a [[Truth in Television|real life kids' entertainer]] who got caught in his own [[Is This Thing Still On?]] moment. [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|Allegedly.]]). Although in the case of Gabbo, it was more of an [[Engineered Public Confession]] than an actual "Is this thing still on?" moment, as the camera was actually off, but Bart managed to stealthfully turn it back on while Gabbo was ranting about how Springfield's children are Sons of Bitches. It is played completely straight with Kent Brockman shortly thereafter, however, with [[Youre Fired|predictable results]], ironically right after chastising Gabbo for the faux pas.

** In yet another episode, Homer is brought on stage to demonstrate a motion capture suit for animation. After hamming it up a bit, he goes off to the bathroom, complete with the CG dog doing likewise. "Urinal cake eroding...eroding...gone!"

* On ''The [[SpongeBob SquarePants]] Movie'', SpongeBob steps into the podium thinking he's just been named manager of the Krusty Krab 2. He starts making his speech when Mr. Krabs whispers in his ear:

* In a 1996 episode of ''[[Animaniacs]]'', the Warners are heard over the closing credits, complaining about work, dissing their voice actors, even trying to figure out who [[Steven Spielberg]] is. It is at the end when they discover they still had their microphones on.

** And in "Yes, Always", Pinky does it. He makes a rude remark regarding Brain to the sound engineer, not realising that he is standing on the microphone button.

* The following occurs in an episode of ''[[Justice League]]'':

''(Linda slaps her reading card on her forehead in embarrassment)'' }}

* Lrrr from ''[[Futurama]]'' after he makes a threatening transmission to Earth and cues for the camera to be off.

* Used in an episode of ''[[Sushi Pack]]'' to give the villain of the day, a [[Nice Character, Mean Actor]] kids' show host, his comeuppance.

* ''[[South Park]]'':

'''Aide:''' Uh, Mayor, the mic is on. }}

** Another episode has a demon manipulate a Republican speaker into supporting the extended life support of Kenny even though he was stuck in a vegetative state, so every time he spoke the Republican would repeat what he just said. However, his tendency to speak in snarls had the Republican repeat that too, then he complained about how he wasn't supposed to say that, only for the Republican to repeat that he wasn't supposed to repeat that.

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{{reflist}}