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{{trope}}
[[File:The More You Know 2011.png|thumb|400px|''"I like how it's totally not clear what the rest of this claim is supposed to be. "THE MORE YOU KNOW<!--all-caps in original-->..."... what? The happier you are? The more cultured you are? Are you better able to survive a life-or-death trivia contest?"'' —Randall Munroe, ''what if? 2'']]
'''Sora:''' The other half is shooting somebody.
|'''''[[Ansem Retort]]''''' #120}}
▲{{quote|'''Riku:''' Now you know. And knowing is half the battle!<br />
▲'''Sora:''' The other half is shooting somebody.|'''''[[Ansem Retort (Webcomic)|Ansem Retort]]''''' #120}}
The episode of your cartoon series is over already, and the kids haven't yet had [[An Aesop]] or a science lesson? Well, we can't have that!
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A type of [[Public Service Announcement]] or PSA, which often contains these when it uses characters from the show in the same timeslot.
Sometimes it wasn't even a moral lesson, but a science fact related to the [[Sci Fi]] setting. The first season of ''[[
Most commonly seen in [[The Eighties]], and a lot in [[The Seventies]] as well, its main use can be seen in police documentaries as a way to end the programme and to finish off with lessons learned - mainly aimed at drivers. So it's not quite a [[Dead Horse Trope]] or a [[Discredited Trope]] yet. And, [[Undead Horse Trope|as long as]] cartoons need E/I ratings or family shows need approval from [[Moral Guardians]], ''someone'' will play this trope straight.
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[[I Thought It Meant|This trope does not refer to]] knowing a [[Puzzle Boss|specific strategy]] that makes it easier to defeat a [[Boss Battle|boss]].
{{examples
== [[Trope Namer]] ==
* The name comes from the moral tack-ons from the end of ''
{{quote|
'''Random Joe:''' "[[Trope Namer|And Knowing Is Half The Battle]]!"
'''Chorus:''' "[[Title Drop|G.I. JOOOOOOEEEEEEE!]]" }}
** [[Sigmund Freud]] is spinning in his grave.
** Nintendo Power referenced this. They ran a shot in their preview of the new ''G.I. Joe'' video game of two members of the team getting ready to charge into battle, and underneath, the caption...
{{quote|
** This is actually [[Truth in Television]]: good intel is vital for military operations and, to a lesser extent, life in general.
* The ''GI Joe'' comic packs parodied these, with ads featuring kids in some sort of problematic situation and the Joes showing up to...tell them about their awesome new action figures.
* ''[[G.I. Joe Extreme]]'' also had PSAs, and even used the "Knowing is half the battle" line too.
{{quote|
* ''[[G.I. Joe:
* ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]'' drops this in as a [[Mythology Gag]] in the first episode as Cobra Pharmaceuticals ''corporate motto''.
* A somewhat-recent internet phenomenon was the spoof [[Redubbing|redubs]] of the original ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' shorts by Fensler Films, which usually turned them into [[Detournement|something utterly incoherent and surreal]] ("Alright, give 'im the stick - DOOOOON'T GIVE 'IM THE STICK!").
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ-ckU_D1fg G. I. JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE..!]
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** (9 seconds of seeing someone [http://youtu.be/W5a_fEzpDik fall of a cliff] before cutting to the GI JOE title) "[[Curse Cut Short|Shiiiiiiii]]-"
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]''
▲== Anime and Manga ==
** Some of these took ''extremely'' vague lessons out of the material. As [[That Guy With
▲* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' -- the "Sailor Says" segments which were created solely for the North American dub.
▲** Some of these took ''extremely'' vague lessons out of the material. As [[That Guy With the Glasses|That Chick With The Goggles]] points out two good examples-- "[[It Makes Sense in Context|Today we saw buses vanish into thin air]]. If only we could make the smog that buses cause vanish into thin air, too! Even though we're just kids, we can carpool and make a difference." ...yeah. Another example given was that one episode had a lesson to believe in yourself and have confidence, because the episode was about an insecure artist who was afraid to draw what she really looked like because she didn't believe she looked good enough. The end of that episode included a reminder that [[Drugs Are Bad]].
*** Because artists take drugs. Right.
*** Not to mention that the lead in bit about the buses doesn't fit at all because the bus would technically be more efficient (as a single bus would house more people than a single car) than just a carpool. This goes double for cities that have invested in hybrid/electric buses, though the segment probably came before those became common. Not that energy efficient cars were common either... So yeah.
** ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]'' loves to mock these.
*** "So....Studying....Yeah...."
* The "science lessons" in ''[[
** Though in ''[[
* An anime which plays this straight is ''[[Mari and Gali]]'', which attempts to teach middle school students about scientific principles. Its makers still throw in a lot of slapstick and general silliness, so the result is [[Widget Series|rather strange]]
* ''[[Yakitate!! Japan]]'' ends each episode with a random factoid about bread.
* ''[[Moyashimon]]'' ends each episode with a segment teaching about a microorganism involved in fermentation featuring anthromorphic bacteria.
* ''[[Hikaru no Go]]'' ends episodes with a live-action segment that discusses actual Go strategy.
* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' ends each episode with basic safety tips for beginning football players.
* ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka
** ''[[La Corda D Oro|La Corda d'Oro - Primo Passo]]'' does the same with "Lili's One-Point Classic" and music.
* ''[[Nyan Koi]]'' ends each episode with a segment called MewView, where the main character cats recap the episode in a humorous way, and then sign off with an "interesting fact" about cats.
* ''[[Bartender]]'' ends each episode with a recipe for an alcoholic drink. The ending sequence also shows a bartender preparing said drink.
* Used in one volume of the English edition of [[Kindaichi Case Files]] talking about the differences between Western and Japanese computers. They also use it to justify the heavy edits by explaining that if they used a literal translation, the English reading audience won't get a fair chance at solving the mystery themselves.
* Some of the ''[[
== Comic Books ==
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** These were actually required by law. In order to qualify as second-class mail, a publication had to have a certain amount of straight text.
* Comic books from a lot of different companies back then also sometimes had the starring characters advertising and selling war bonds on the front cover.
* DC Comics once commissioned a series of in-house PSAs in the early 90s featuring several DC heroes like [[Batman|Robin]], [[Booster Gold]], [[The Flash]], among others getting informed about the real facts concerning HIV and AIDS. The most well known of the bunch was the adult-oriented Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean authored ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120308200136/http://members.fortunecity.com/bookdepository/comics/death/life.html Death Talks About Life]'', featuring Death of the Endless from ''[[The Sandman]]'' and John Constantine.
== Film ==
* Parodied by ''[[Love Actually]]'':
{{quote|
* In ''[[Looney Tunes: Back in Action]]'', after Bugs Bunny explains the art technique of Pointillism, he says: "I think, when you go to the movies, you should learn somethin'."
* Steven Seagal's speech at the end of ''[[On Deadly Ground]]''
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 2'' has an in-universe example where the last aired episode of [[Show Within a Show|Woody's Roundup]] had the show Woody address the audience about not forgetting their friends and family while singing the recurring song "You've Got a Friend in Me". This convinces the Woody watching, who had just decided to abandon his old friends and his owner Andy to go to a museum in Japan with the rest of the roundup gang toys, to reverse his decision and take the roundup gang with them.
== Live
* Each major American network has their own version of these. The most well-known and often parodied are NBC's "The More You Know Segments", which featured celebrities of the time in [[Public Service Announcement
** A special feature on ''[[The Office]]'' season 2 DVD, where the show's characters tell you important facts about life. Dwight informs viewers that he could survive on a wolf's diet, Jim tells you that the black jelly beans are bad, and Ryan tells you, if you're hanging out with your friends, and someone tries to sell you a $9 beer, just say no, because $9 is way too much for a beer. ''[[The Office]]'' [[Biting the Hand Humor|airs on NBC.]]
* ''[[
** It also parodied it with 'The More You Wish You Didn't Know' on a segment concerning the ACORN scandals.
* One of J.D.'s fantasies in ''[[
{{quote|
* The other three "big four" networks have their own answers to NBC's "The More You Know" PSAs. As for TMYK, the logo at the top of the page is no longer used; they've
** ABC had "A Better Community".
** CBS has "CBS Cares".
*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fun9s4lsPI8&feature=related Can't find that special holiday gift for the man in your life? Get him a prostate exam!] Not sure if this is [[Squick]], a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] or a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]], but it's '''something'''.
** Fox has "Pause". ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|Get it?]]) The "Pause" segments are innovative because they are
* ''This Is the Life'' and virtually all of the now-disappeared religious anthology dramas that aired from the early 1950s through late 1980s. After the situation at hand reaches its resolution, an off-screen narrator (or sometimes, on-screen host, invariably a clergyman) will review a given situation, offer appropriate commentary and give a brief Scripture reading to recap the [[An Aesop|lesson of the day]].
* Indeed (through at least the early 2000s), many stations would offer a brief, pre-taped message from a clergyman from their broadcast area, usually an inspirational message or some other quick lesson on applying Christian values to daily life.
* ''[[Double the Fist]]'' gives us Mephisto Knows. Mephisto tells us about something he doesn't like such as Athletes, Vegetarians, and Traffic Signs.
* ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' ends one episode with a special message from Barney:
{{quote|
** The camera then pans away to show that he's not addressing the audience, but a girl in the bar, and the music cuts out as she rejects him. He immediately turns to another girl and begins the speech again.
* In the early seasons, all episodes of ''[[Power Rangers]]'' ended with "a message from the Power Rangers." Though not as frequent as before, Rangers doing a public service announcement or two has made a comeback in recent years (apparently, listening to your parents is as important factor in being a hero as far as the Overdrive Rangers are concerned... even though [[Broken Aesop|their Red Ranger became a Ranger by ignoring his father's prohibitions]] against his putting himself in danger that way).
* The show ''[[Dinosaurs]]'' parodied this at the end of a parody of a [[Very Special Episode]], with Robbie exhorting viewers to "end preachy [[
* Has happened at least twice in the FOX series ''[[
* ''[[
* The [[ABC Family]] series ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]'' features a clip of [[Shailene Woodley]]'s character prompting teens and parents to talk about underage sex, because "Teenage pregnancy is 100% avoidable!"
** Sometimes other characters do this, like [[Francia Raisa]]'s character, Adrian.
* ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'' had this invoked at the beginning of every ep, thanks to Kivat.
{{quote|
* The ''[[Clueless]]'' TV series once had one where the audience was earnestly told that the only safe sex is ''no'' sex.
* An episode of the ''[[Rotten Tomatoes Show]]'' had a Three Word Review that described the movie ''Knowing'' as "Half the battle".
* The 80s show ''[[Voyagers]]'' always had star Meeno Peluce tell the viewers, during the closing credits, that if they wanted to learn more about the historical periods and/or people from the episode, they could visit their local library ("It's all in books!").
* ''[[Attack of the Show!]]'' will occasionally mock this trope. When they teach the audience a "lesson," Kevin or Olivia will inform then that they "just got learned!". Cut to a parody of the shooting star made famous by NBC; only it's a rocketship flying over the Earth, and it crashes into a blimp, and the blimp [[Too Soon|hindenbergs]] back into the atmosphere.
* ''[[Code Red]]'' episodes had a coda where a cast member give a fire safety or first aid lesson.
* The ''[[Son of the Beach]]'' show attempted to parody this. Unfortunately, the parodies weren't funny.
* ''[[Eureka]]'' has a series of PSAs called ?Live Smart, Eureka? featured on the Season 2 DVD. They consist of reminding the really smart scientists that what they are doing could potentially be really dumb.
* ''The [["Weird Al" Yankovic
* ''[[Police, Camera, Action!]]'' started doing from 2007 onwards at the end of the show. Even the episode ''Ultimate Pursuits'' had one, although that could be considered as [[The Parody|a parody]] of ''[[Back to
* ''[[
{{quote|
* Spoofed by ''[[The Late Late Show]] with Craig Ferguson'', which ends every episode with a segment named "What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?" right before the ending credits. Quite often, the segment contains no lesson whatsoever, and on the occasion it does have one, it's never a serious one. "Lessons" have included a Spanish vocabulary word and "The kitten in the [[What Did We Learn on the Show Tonight, Craig?]] graphic is a computer animation, not a video of a real kitten."
** Craig Ferguson also parodies this trope and combines it with [[Biting the Hand Humor]] by frequently saying "CBS Cares" after giving some unhelpful advice. He sometimes combines this with a [[Spoof Aesop]].
* ''[[The
** Indeed, in the original version, the producers explicitly advised this in a disclaimer shown at the end of each program.
* [[Wizards of Waverly Place]] did this once.
* The Z-Trip, MURS and Supernatural song "Breakfast Club", being a love letter to Saturday morning cartoons, parodies several of these. "[[America Takes Over the World|Even in cartoons, Americana can't be tackled]], but at least you know now,
==
* This trope is [[Older Than You Think]], as some old-time radio dramas did the same thing. ''[[The Shadow]]'', for one, sometimes offered in-character advice on how to properly operate and maintain a coal-burning furnace after an episode was over. This rather shamelessly combined
▲* The Z-Trip, MURS and Supernatural song "Breakfast Club", being a love letter to Saturday morning cartoons, parodies several of these. "[[America Takes Over the World|Even in cartoons, Americana can't be tackled]], but at least you know now, [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]]", "let a ho be a ho, and that's one to grow on", and such.
== Tabletop Games ==
* The tabletop RPG ''[[Cartoon Action Hour]]'' is designed to evoke the feel of action cartoons from the 1980s. In fact, players can earn bonus experience points by role-playing their characters in an After-The-Show Message.
▲== Theater ==
* The epilogue of ''[[William Shakespeare|Pericles]]'' can be roughly summarized as "Look at all these characters! The gods punished the wicked ones and rewarded the righteous ones!"
* Mozart's (somewhat) dark comedy ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' unexpectedly ends a night of ribald hijinks and catchy tunes with a final scene of the antihero (antivillain?) being dragged down to Hell. The rest of the cast then come onto the stage and [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Break The Fourth Wall]], lecturing that [[Scare
* Most plays written in the 18th century had prologues that basically said, "this is a good play, you'll enjoy it" and epilogues repeating the moral of the play. Probably justified, since few people at the time actually went to the theater to watch a play - they went to see and be seen.
* ''[[The Matchmaker]]'' ends with Barnaby stating a somewhat facetious moral.
== Video Games ==
* One occasionally sees arcade machines in [[Attract Mode]] stating "[[Drugs Are Bad|Winners don't use drugs!]]" for games that may or may not have anything to do with the subject.
* Parodied in passing conversation in ''[[
* ''[[
* When drinking in Catherine, a [[Disembodied Voice]] will interrupt you to tell you about some random trivia about the drink you chose.
== Web Animation ==
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* Parodied by [[Legendary Frog]], who had a transforming toaster warn Kerrigan about the dangers of electric shock.
** [[Legendary Frog]] also gave us "[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/193439 The Matrix Still Has You]," in which inadvertent phasing by The Twins leads to a car accident, and Neo gives us a lecture on seatbelts.
* Parodied on ''[[Video Game/Homestar Runner|Homestar Runner]]'', where the [[Show Within a Show|Cheat Commandos]] do an educational cartoon on avoiding "inappropriate peer-to-teen choice behaviors" called ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131112215917/http://www.homestarrunner.com/cheatcommandos4.html Commandos In The Classroom]''.
** And parodied again in [https://web.archive.org/web/20131112200123/http://www.homestarrunner.com/2manyknives.html An Important Rap Song], where Crack Stuntman (voice of Gunhaver on the Cheat Commandos) does a corny rap song about not playing with too many (some are alright, then?) knives (and spring break, [[Totally Radical|for some reason]]).
* In a [[Sonic Shorts]] Collaboration, one of the 'episodes' had this to parody the morals that used to be at the end of [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]] cartoons, with an Aesop about Internet plagiarism.
{{quote|
'''Sonic:''' And knowing is half the battle!
'''Chorus:''' G I JOOOOOE! }}
* Parodied in a [[Transformers]] short on [[Newgrounds]] too:
{{quote|
'''Kid 1:''' Thanks Optimus! Now we know!
'''Optimus:''' And knowing is half the battle!
'''Kid 2:''' So what's the other half?
'''Optimus:''' Huh?
'''Kid 2:''' What's the other half of the battle?
'''Optimus:''' Hmmm... never really thought about that before. Let me answer that question... with MERCHANDISE! ''(merchandise rains down)''
'''Kids:''' YAY! }}
== Web Comics ==
* Parodied in [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717220714/http://www.pvponline.com/2008/03/22/safety-first-kids/ this PVP comic] that suggests what "the other half of the battle" is.▼
▲== Webcomics ==
* Also parodied by ''[[Overcompensating]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20110810185338/http://www.overcompensating.com/posts/20050809.html here].▼
▲* Parodied in [http://www.pvponline.com/2008/03/22/safety-first-kids/ this PVP comic] that suggests what "the other half of the battle" is.
* ''[[
▲* Also parodied by ''[[Overcompensating]]'' [http://overcompensating.com/posts/20050809.html here].
* Parodied by name, in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0145.html this] ''[[The Order of the Stick
▲* ''[[Scott Pilgrim (Comic Book)|Scott Pilgrim]]'': [http://www.scottpilgrim.com/index.php?id=previews Free Scott Pilgrim] ends with "Scott Pilgrim Says", where we are taught never to hit a girl. Unless it is an emergency. And that's what Scott Pilgrim says!
* ''[[
▲* Parodied by name, in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0145.html this] ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', complete with a ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' [[Shout Out]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090221155913/http://theslackerz.com/index.php?nav=Comic&Page=106 The Slackerz] features G.I Derek: Magical Marine Pimp Supreme, a parody of [[G.I. Joe]] complete with [[Shout
▲* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' concludes every chapter with one of these.
▲* [http://theslackerz.com/index.php?nav=Comic&Page=106 The Slackerz] features G.I Derek: Magical Marine Pimp Supreme, a parody of [[G.I. Joe]] complete with [[Shout Out]]
* ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'' parodied the good touch/bad touch "Sonic Sez" in [http://samandfuzzy.com/580 this strip.]
* Used in [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229192549/http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=625 this] ''[[Brawl in
* ''[[The Dragon Queen]]'' gives one on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140803130735/http://www.dragonqueencomic.com/2010/08/18/transgender-tips/ proper way to pick up a transexual].
== Web Original ==
* Also parodied in [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eILYTLKJqtQ this] ''[[Mass Effect]]'' fan video, in which [[Action Girl|Ashley's]] line "shooting people isn't always the answer" is presented as one of these.
* Parodied in [https://web.archive.org/web/20110813035428/http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=176 McCourt's In Session] where the eponymous judge delivers a slightly disturbing warning to kids.
* Given the contents of the website, it seems only fitting that ''Encyclopedia Dramatica'' uses a variant of NBC's TMYK logo for their section, "THE MOAR YOU KNOW."
* Quoted in ''[[Chad Vader]]'', S2 Ep8 "Bandito Beatdown" :
{{quote|
'''Weird Jimmy''': "Well, knowing ''is'' half the battle. The other half is doing. Well, not half but [mutters]...65 for knowing [mutters] the doing is-is..." }}
* For some reason, ''[[Sonichu]]'' issue 10 has a message not to let your kids play M-rated games.
* ''[[Full Metal Panic Abridged]]'' parodies this in the first episode, after warning it's viewers about the dangers of creating an abridged series!
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
* Anything by [[Filmation]], including:
** ''[[Fat Albert and
{{quote|
** ''The New Adventures of [[
** ''[[He-Man and
*** The 2002 series ''did'' have morals, following in the format of the original series, but they didn't air with the American episodes; only the international releases. However, they do come on the DVD sets for the curious viewer. They also tend to softened the blow by always making it the exact lesson the episode as a whole was meant to teach you, rather than clumsily segueing into "yo, kids — don't smoke."
** ''[[She
** ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Superman:
* Several PSA segments were prepared for ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'', another Hasbro property produced by Sunbow and Marvel Productions concurrent with G.I. Joe. The segments even used the "and knowing is half the battle" line (and the scripts from the G.I. Joe
** Parodied in an episode of ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' where Optimus Prime talks about prostate cancer.
* ''[[Jem]]'', another Hasbro property produced by Sunbow and Marvel Productions (like ''G.I. Joe''' and ''Transformers'') also featured similar PSA segments. Like the Transformers ones, these also mimicked the G.I. Joe versions, sometimes word-for-word, but the "Knowing is half the battle" line was replaced with "Doing the right thing makes you a Super Star".
* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]''.
* ''[[
** Like ''[[
* ''[[Captain Planet and
* ''[[
* ''[[
{{quote|
** "Early to rise/And early to bed/Makes a man healthy/But socially dead."
** Possums have pouches like kangaroos.
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** Be sure to brush your teeth after every meal. This moral was brought to you by the American Dental Association.
*** A touch of [[Hilarious in Hindsight]], as Animaniacs animator [[Jon McClenahan]] created Dudley the Dinosaur for the ADA.
** [[Bob Dylan
** Slow and steady wins the race, but it's faster to take a taxi.
** Don't go towards the light. Especially if it's a headlight.
** It's easy to be
** If you can't say something nice, you're probably at the Ice Capades.
** Do not back up. Severe tire damage.
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** In another episode, the wheel landed on [[Wheel of Fortune|Bankrupt]].
** In yet another episode they lampshade the whole purpose of the wheel of morality mandates from the FCC.
*** Of course, at the end of [[The Movie]] ''[[
** This was also spoofed at the end of [[Power Rangers|Super Strong Warner Siblings]].
{{quote|
Yakko, Wakko and Dot: Right! }}
* ''[[
{{quote|
And God has a lot to say in his book.
You see we know that God's word is for everyone,
And now that our song is done we'll take a look! }}
* ''[[Clerks the Animated Series]]'' parodied this with a number of post-episode shorts, such as having Jay and Silent Bob present a ''[[Mr Wizard]]'' inspired magic-from-science segment. They showed a simple sleight-of-hand trick, with the twist that a key element of the trick required invoking the power of Satan.
** Making it better, the third segment didn't do much but have Charles Barkley try to do the segment, then Jay and Silent Bob kick the crap out of him ''[[The Godfather
* Spoofed in an episode of Disney's ''[[
* ''[[
** In the 13th season premier, Kyle and Cartman actually quoted the phrase verbatim {{spoiler|after Kenny's death from syphilis, caught by getting oral sex from his girlfriend}}.
* ''[[Care Bears]]'', usually a lesson about sharing or not lying, or how bad it is to shoplift, etc.
* Also present and parodied (at the same time!) in the animated series based on ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (
* This was used in ''The [[
** listen to the mighty sloth and not take rides in clothes driers!
** And remember
** There is also that one PSA that had the bumbling villains Scratch and Grounder [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqVRCUBPc4E swigging booze] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZhM2m_dYBA smoking cigarettes]. But, you know, it was to encourage kids not to. Talk about [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]. "Hurry up, Grounder, I wanna try this booze!"
* ''[[The Simpsons (
{{quote|
** A later episode, "Bart Starr", had guest star Joe Namath break the fourth wall to deliver an inspiring message.
{{quote|
** A later [[Halloween Special]] provided a message about adult illiteracy.
** And then there was the episode where 'N Sync (of all people) delivered one about how mocking the U.S. Navy was wrong - [[Hypocritical Humor|although the characters had just spent the episode doing exactly that]].
** "Kids, always recycle. TO THE EXTREEEEEEEME!"
* Spoofed at the end of the ''[[
** The whole episode was essentially a parody of these. The animators were informed that they absolutely '''had''' to do [[Executive Meddling|an Aesop-heavy episode about kids' health,]] so they complied, but tried to make it as deliberately [[Anvilicious]] and thus hilarious as possible.
*** Don't forget the [[Space Whale Aesop]]!
* One of ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** The books did this too, ending with a couple pages that addressed complaints about inaccuracies and safety/physics violations.
* ''[[
** Well, Thundercats did have a consultant child psychologist on the staff. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure if the anviliciousness was deliberate, or just the way that Tygra (and it was almost always Tygra) was written - even the voice actor who played him regarded him as a rather "square dude".
** The exact line was "Rules are only meaningful if people agree to follow them. Otherwise, they're just words". In retrospect, it's strangely ambiguous. It ''sounds'' like a worthy and moralistic exhortation to follow the rules, but could equally be taken as saying that rules have no meaning if you don't agree with them, or could even be a veiled attack on rules that have no mechanism for enforcement (it was in response to a comment that the "Interstellar Council" ruled against a weapon that the mutants were using).
* ''[[
** Which was a bit odd, given that interstellar space was depicted as containing [[Batman Can Breathe in Space|breatheable air]] and Earth-normal gravity throughout the show proper.
** In fact everything about that universe was divorced from our own laws of physics. This was a world where banging a tuning fork in space created wind and ice.
* ''[[
* Spoofed in an ''Ambiguously Gay Duo'' animated short, from ''[[
** As long as we're on the topic of SNL...
{{quote|
* The otherwise obscure ''[[Back to The Future (
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Mister T (
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* In one early morning commercial on [[Nickelodeon]], Katara from ''[[
** You should also keep in mind that when you have characters who can [[Making a Splash|control the very water]] around them, and [[Healing Hands|heal you]] if you do get hurt, drowning is probably not high on their list of worries.
* ''[[
** Interestingly enough, Doc Hammer actually suffered from testicular torsion when he was younger and based Dean's experience in the episode on his own.
* The [[The Pond|football]]-themed cartoon ''[[
** There were. Amanda Carey (a.k.a. the [[Token Girl]]) is usually the one to explain the episode's lesson (there's at least one lesson for each episode). One notable exception was "Football Fugitives" where it was justified by the fact she wasn't involved in the episode's main plot. Surprisingly enough, she ''did'' explain the moral of an episode where she made no appearance at all other than the [[All Just a Dream]] episode "The Relegator". Napper explained the moral of another episode where it was left ambiguous if he dreamt the whole thing or not.
* The ''[[
{{quote|
** ''[[
*** Specifically, it was Flint. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Voiced by the original actor.]]
** At the end of "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington", an episode about smoking, Peter is lounging in his chair and starts "We've had a lot of laughs tonight..." the lesson: Killing hookers is bad. Cause they're people too.
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* ''[[Growing Up Creepie]]'', about a gothy girl raised by creepie-crawlies, included short inserts with educational insect facts.
* ''The [[Popeye]] and Olive Show'' had various safety messages, usually featuring Popeye's identical quintuplet nephews, between the shorts.
* ''[[King Arthur and
* ''[[Liberty's Kids]]'', a public-broadcasting educational series set during the American Revolution, initially included pieces of bogus news, reported by [[Benjamin Franklin]], in the middle of each program. These interludes, intended to teach (very) young viewers about life in the 18th century, were cut from non-PBS broadcasts to make room for commercial breaks.
* Spoofed in the ending of the ''[[Duck Dodgers]]'' episode: "The Fudd":
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* ''[[Spliced]]'' parodies this with ''Knowing is Growing''
* Spoofed multiple times in ''[[Yin Yang Yo
* ''[[
* Viewers of ''[[Tenko and
* ''[[King of the Hill]]'' often acknowledged social issues, but these were only used a couple of times. One was encouraging viewers to vote, another was about working to get Antonio López de Santa Anna's leg returned to Mexico.
* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** In fact, so much so that in Part 2 of "The Return of Harmony", these letters (sent back by Celestia) gave her the resolve she needed to rescue her friends, power up the Elements of Harmony, and defeat Discord when all hope seemed lost. Even more impressive, she turns the aesop of ''that'' episode into an ''epic'' [[World of Cardboard Speech]]/[[Shut UP, Hannibal]] against Discord.
** Interestingly, Season 1 of My Little Pony has the EI rating, while season 2 does not. The production team apparently decided this change of rules ''awesome'', and thus made "Lesson Zero", an episode where Twilight is unable to learn a new lesson about friendship and [[Sanity Slippage|goes a little nuts]]. At the end of the episode, Princess Celestia tells Twilight she only has to write letters when she feels she has learned something and not all the time, effectively freeing this from being mandatory. This hasn't stopped the end-of-episode aesops as they still show up in subsequent episodes afterwards, but interestingly, though, fans and staff liked the idea so much that the writers also utilized the opportunity to allow ''other'' members of the mane cast to occasionally write their own letters to the Princess.
** This is given
* Spoofed in a ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney
* Every episode of ''[[Rescue Heroes]]'' would end with the characters recapping the lessons learned earlier in the episode. These typically were reduced to restating the emergency situation of the episode, telling you how it should be dealt with, and ending with the <s>clever</s> annoyingly cheesy phrase, "Think like a Rescue Hero. Think safe."
* Occasionally parodied in the ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (
* [[
* ''[[
* Every ''[[Invisible Network of Kids]]'' episode ends with the 'Science Club' segment where Cosmo Soper discusses the scientific or hostoric basis for something that had been the theme of that episode; like amnesia, or chess.
* ''[[Pound Puppies]]'' had a "Pet Care Corner" where viewers were given hints on how to take care of their pets.
* The Captain Atom episode of ''[[Batman:
* Parodied at the end of an episode of ''[[The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat]]'', in which Felix steps up to deliver a [[Fantastic Aesop]] based on the episode's storyline. Instead of being about just saying "no" to [[The Aggressive Drug Dealer]], it's about not ever buying a magic bag from anyone. (And no, it's not supposed to be analogous to not wasting money or something, since Felix then urges to viewer to [[It Makes Just As Much Sense in Context|purchase an edible wig instead]].)
* Davey's father in [[Davey and Goliath]] got this duty, recapping the lesson of the day by talking with Davey (and sometimes others) about it. Mountain Dew even produced a commercial that parodied this practice (and subverts this trope in the process).
== Real Life ==
* Frequently applied by teachers. Sometimes, the teacher will wrap up the school day by recapping a lesson from the day, or give information that could affect the students the next day (e.g., "Don't forget the permission slips for the field trips. If they're not signed, you don't get to go to the zoo.")
* Many small-town newspapers still have columns where local
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''You know, we've had a lot of fun today. But you know what's not fun? [[Red Link
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