Is This Thing Still On?: Difference between revisions

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== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Subverted in ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' -- "What? I'm on right now?... I don't believe you." Ron Burgundy in fact cheerfully and obliviously subverts this two more times in the movie, being compelled to say anything that's written on the ~~teleprompter -- something~~ which takes a much darker (though still hilarious) turn when a mean-spirited prank causes him to drop the F-Bomb on live television.

* Subverted in ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' -- "What? I'm on right now?... I don't believe you." Ron Burgundy in fact cheerfully and obliviously subverts this two more times in the movie, being compelled to say anything that's written on the teleprompter—something which takes a much darker (though still hilarious) turn when a mean-spirited prank causes him to drop the F-Bomb on live television.

* A time reverse case in ''[[Head of State]]'' when Mays make a bad comment regarding school shooting to the camera, thinks it wasn't on yet, but it was revealed that it was on all the time and is still recording. Lewis then use the tape to attack Mays' presidential campaign.

* How Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) finally destroys his political career in the classic 1949 movie ''[[All the King's Men|All the Kings Men]]''.

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* 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'''.

* In ''Bringing Down the House'' Steve Martin "infiltrates" the bad guys' club in a very bad "wigger" disguise, complete with his own boombox. After sitting down with the bad guy, he is ordered to turn off the ~~boombox -- and~~ he carefully presses Record as well, getting the entire confession on tape in the end.

* In ''Bringing Down the House'' Steve Martin "infiltrates" the bad guys' club in a very bad "wigger" disguise, complete with his own boombox. After sitting down with the bad guy, he is ordered to turn off the boombox—and he carefully presses Record as well, getting the entire confession on tape in the end.

* In the [["Weird Al" Yankovic|Weird Al Yankovic]] movie ''[[UHF]]'', the villain goes into a tirade before one of the protagonists on [[Viewers are Morons|what he really thinks of his viewers]], unaware that he's being taped. Near the end when he's going to make a public announcement, they put the recording on instead, putting the final nails in his coffin.

* Occurs toward the end of the classic ''A Face in the Crowd'' from 1957. Antihero "Lonesome" Rhodes spends the bulk of the film riding his television-friendly image to fame and power, cynically hiding his true nature behind an aw-shucks facade. {{spoiler|At the conclusion of one broadcast, Rhodes is sitting on stage with his fellow performers, apparently engaging in casual chitchat. As the show's theme music dominates the soundtrack, the home viewers can't hear what Rhodes is really saying: he's expressing his venomous contempt for his audience. Marcia Jeffries, a disillusioned former lover and business partner, commandeers the studio's control room and switches the audio so Rhodes's words are broadcast to the world. Rhodes is thereby ruined.}}

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** 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.

{{quote|'''Dr. Forrester:''' ''(looks suspiciously toward console)'' ...Oh my God. ''Switch on the game, Frank! Switch on the game!'' ''(Frank hurriedly finds a football game on TV; the Mads sit back down on the couch as far away from each other as possible)''}}

* 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!"

* 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]]''.

* And subverted in ''[[The West Wing]]'', when Bartlet makes an insulting comment about his election opponent while the mic was still open just after a radio interview. Panic sets in amongst the staff and it seems they get away lucky when the opposition's response is totally inept. CJ is the only one to realize, at the end, that the president had to have done it deliberately.

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== Music ==

* In the last chorus of ''Steve Earle'' by [[Sugarland]], the line "The others wanted your whole heart, but I just want your sleeve..." degenerates into a rapid-fire stream of speech-- "...and the shirt that goes with it 'cause it smells like you and you know I like to sleep in that, and a vacation house, at the beach, and a really small wedding, only 'bout three hundred people, did I tell you that I've got kids?..." ~~-- until~~ Jennifer Nettles finally stops to ask, "Is this thing on?"

* In the last chorus of ''Steve Earle'' by [[Sugarland]], the line "The others wanted your whole heart, but I just want your sleeve..." degenerates into a rapid-fire stream of speech-- "...and the shirt that goes with it 'cause it smells like you and you know I like to sleep in that, and a vacation house, at the beach, and a really small wedding, only 'bout three hundred people, did I tell you that I've got kids?..."—until Jennifer Nettles finally stops to ask, "Is this thing on?"

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'''Smithers:''' Sir, you have to let go of the button.

'''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.

** 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.

{{quote|'''Kent Brockman:''' Gabbo's kind of language has no place on or off TV. And that's My Two Cents. Heheh, that oughta hold the little SOBs. Heheh... ''(a prompt comes up with his picture while giddily saying this previous statement and a caption saying "Brockman in Trouble")''... WHAT THE?!}}

** 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!"

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'''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.

* An episode of ''[[Doug]]'' combined this with [[Engineered Public Confession]]; Roger, who framed Doug for stealing one of Vice-Principal Bone's yodeling trophies, goes into the office to taunt Doug, sits at Bone's desk and kicks his feet ~~up -- switching~~ on the intercom just in time for Bone to hear the whole thing. Doug even tries to warn him, but Roger's too full of himself to notice until it's far too late.

* An episode of ''[[Doug]]'' combined this with [[Engineered Public Confession]]; Roger, who framed Doug for stealing one of Vice-Principal Bone's yodeling trophies, goes into the office to taunt Doug, sits at Bone's desk and kicks his feet up—switching on the intercom just in time for Bone to hear the whole thing. Doug even tries to warn him, but Roger's too full of himself to notice until it's far too late.

* The [[Urban Legend]] mentioned in the Radio section is given a nod in the ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' song about the parts of the brain, by The Brain, naturally.

* In the ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]'' special regarding Francine starting a rock band that quickly becomes a celebrity band, the Principal, after doing the announcements, is muttering bitterly to himself about the band's choice of a band name ("You Stink!"), only to realize shortly thereafter realize that he left the mic on.

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* [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090323/SPORTS/90323012 Three employees] were [http://www.kcci.com/news/19010464/detail.html fired] from a Des Moines sports radio show when their [[Cluster F-Bomb|profanity-riddled]] argument over credentials in a high school sports league was aired behind a commercial break.

* While attending a course during his time posted to Egypt, then-Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham (later winner of TWO Victoria Crosses) once looked out into a briefing-theatre full of generals and muttered, "My oath -- what a galaxy of bloody talent!"... not realising he was standing next to a live microphone.

* When showing live coverage of a speech given by George W. Bush on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, CNN anchor Kyra Phillips [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7QhEeQF_o visited the bathroom, leaving her mic on]. Parts of a personal conversation between Phillips and a ~~colleague -- criticizing~~ her sister-in-law and giving advice on ~~men -- were~~ broadcast live as though it were color commentary. How this was not noticed by a sound engineer before Kyra returned to the studio is unknown.

* When showing live coverage of a speech given by George W. Bush on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, CNN anchor Kyra Phillips [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7QhEeQF_o visited the bathroom, leaving her mic on]. Parts of a personal conversation between Phillips and a colleague—criticizing her sister-in-law and giving advice on men—were broadcast live as though it were color commentary. How this was not noticed by a sound engineer before Kyra returned to the studio is unknown.

* Similarly, several years ago during some sort of Hollywood celebrity event Joe Pantoliano left his mic on after he thought the interview was over and proceeded to take a long and luxurious leak in the men's room, an act which gives new meaning to his nickname Joey Pants.

* In July 2009 Michael Duvall, a California state assemblyman, was captured on tape describing to a ~~colleague -- in~~ graphic ~~detail -- his~~ ongoing extramarital affairs with two different women, one of whom turned out to be a lobbyist for a company in a sector (energy) that Duvall's legislative committee was in charge of overseeing. The tape in question was eventually aired by a TV station, prompting Duvall's eventual resignation.

* In July 2009 Michael Duvall, a California state assemblyman, was captured on tape describing to a colleague—in graphic detail—his ongoing extramarital affairs with two different women, one of whom turned out to be a lobbyist for a company in a sector (energy) that Duvall's legislative committee was in charge of overseeing. The tape in question was eventually aired by a TV station, prompting Duvall's eventual resignation.

* There's an extra on the fourth season DVDs of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' that has a panel of the stars and writers answering questions. Toward the end, Neil Patrick Harris gets up and goes to the bathroom, but forgets to remove his mic. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* During the eighties and early nineties it was very common for US TV networks to transmit satellite feeds without any form of scrambling or encryption so anyone with a satellite dish and satellite TV tuner could view them. Because of this it was possible for people to watch (and record) satellite interviews as they were being conducted. For live broadcasts, the feed was usually setup far before the interview began and when the network cut to commercial or another segment of the program the satellite feed usually stayed on leading to many real-life instances of this trope. Several of them were collected in a documentary called ''Spin''

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* During the September 11th, 2001 attacks, broadcasters had far bigger things to concentrate on than FCC regulations, so most news broadcasts gave viewers an almost uninterrupted 8-hour stream of [[Cluster F-Bomb|Cluster F Bombs]] and pointed [[Precision F-Strike|Precision F Strikes]] from frightened civilians running by the cameras. This included lines such as, "This is all fucking crazy! This is the fucking end!"

* In 2009, Chilean senator Fernando Flores is about to finish an interview for the CNN Chile channel. His host makes some questions that he dislikes, then finishes the interview. Just before the transmision was about to finish, a pissed-off Flores rants about how the guy's questions were [[Precision F-Strike|"fucking dumb"]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqqD3b4ap78 among other things.] That part was caught on-tape and then uploaded to youtube...

* During the Apollo 16 lunar mission, while the astronauts were resting after a moonwalk, John Young told his colleague Charlie Duke how the potassium-laced orange juice they were given to drink was giving him gas, and how he intended never to eat another [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] orange again after the flight was over. Eventually Mission Control warned him that he had a "hot mike". It seems that his mike key was stuck in the "on" ~~position -- quite~~ possibly by some dried orange drink that had been spilled earlier. The very same orange drink he'd been complaining about.

* During the Apollo 16 lunar mission, while the astronauts were resting after a moonwalk, John Young told his colleague Charlie Duke how the potassium-laced orange juice they were given to drink was giving him gas, and how he intended never to eat another [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] orange again after the flight was over. Eventually Mission Control warned him that he had a "hot mike". It seems that his mike key was stuck in the "on" position—quite possibly by some dried orange drink that had been spilled earlier. The very same orange drink he'd been complaining about.

* Shortly after the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 moved to the lunar module, the mike setting was switched to [[wikipedia:Voice-operated switch|VOX]] (voice-operated transmission) by accident. The Capcom first tried to hint that the mike was hot by responding to the astronauts' private conversation; despite the hint, [[Failed a Spot Check|the astronauts still failed to see that the mike setting was not on "Normal Voice".]] It eventually had to be pointed out directly by the Capcom, similar to [[Apollo 13|the movie]]. Even worse, later in the mission, Lovell accidentally made a comment that it would likely be the last mission for a long time; again, this was while the mike was on a VOX setting.

* At a city council meeting in 2010, [[Stargate City|Vancouver]] mayor Gregor Robertson landed himself in hot water when he was recorded [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDcmUQa0WM insulting his constituents as "hacks" of a rival local political party] because they opposed his rental housing development plan. Annoyingly, the media (and inevitable backlash against the reports) focused on a [[Windmill Political|supposed outrage over his use of profanity]] rather than the fact that he was [[Unfortunate Implications|belittling anyone who disagreed with him]] as a "hack" of a local political party. (The idea of a "hack" of any municipal political party sounds hilarious to this Vancouverite).