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Missed Him by That Much: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:Contrived_Proxmity.png|link=An American Tail|
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Usually played for laughs, but can be used in an attempt to build suspense. Also used to execute and maintain a [[Not-So-Imaginary Friend]]. In any event, as some of the examples below will indicate, it is a schtick that is very ''very'' easy for a plot-creator to painfully over-do. For works with contemporary, real-world settings, this trope may soon fall victim to the prevalence of [[Tech Marches On|cell phones]] and wind up [[Discredited Trope|discredited.]]
A somewhat more realistic variation on [[Scooby
The trope's name is a riff on one of [[Get Smart (TV)|Maxwell Smart's]] many catch phrases, but he never actually engaged in it himself.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In what is probably the longest running example, ''[[Sesame Street]]'' spent over a decade (from 1971 to 1985) exhausting pretty much every conceivable variation of this trope with regards to [[Not-So-Imaginary Friend|popular character Snuffleupagus]]. He was perceived by the vast majority of the adult cast as a figment of Big Bird's imagination until extreme efforts were made to forcibly prevent him from once again fulfilling this trope and leaving just as the gathered adults were supposed to meet him. Behind the scenes, the evident reason for his final unveiling was due to fears about young viewers learning the wrong lesson about attempting to tell the truth.
* ''[[
** Not only the beginning of the episode, but almost all the way to the climax of the episode. Other instances include Donna parking her car and walking away, and mere moments later the TARDIS appears right behind the car; running down intersecting streets and stopping just short of the actual intersection; and so forth. Donna even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] the trope by listing off a number of bizarre events that she investigated, believing the Doctor to have been involved, but dismisses the one where the Titanic almost crashed into Buckingham Palace... which was the only one that the Doctor was ''actually present for''.
** In "The Romans", Barbara is sold as a slave and ends up working in Nero's palace. At the same time, the Doctor and Vicki are guests at the palace. Through the middle two episodes of the serial, they repeatedly just miss seeing Barbara (though Vicki does unwittingly save her life).
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[[Category:This Index Is Not an Example]]
[[Category:Missed Him By That Much]]
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