The Gmod Idiot Box
DATELINE: November 2008, location unknown—From one of the deepest, farthest-flung corners of the internet, a man emerges. His name is Das Bo Schitt, and he holds the power of Garry's Mod at his fingertips. His mission is simple: Blow. Your. Mind.
Thus, The Gmod Idiot Box is born.
Bo Schitt's acclaimed Youtube series, described by some as "Valve meets Robot Chicken meets explosions", consists of a mashup of skits per episode that runs the gamut from awesome to hilarious to just plain absurd; they're created using the titular video game mod and set to all manner of wonderful sound clips and effects. Recurring favorites include:
- The episode intros: Das Bo Schitt and his Metrocop fan #1 deal with such problems as DBS slacking off on new episodes and various Youtube annoyances.
- Harmless Shenanigans(?) with Chuckles the Cheat: Chuckles tries to play a prank, which somehow causes far more harm than intended.
- Everybody Loves Francis
- Pet Peeves The Aggressive Way With Father Grigori: The good priest deals with common grievances in a completely audacious manner.
As of October 3, 2011, the Idiot Box clocks in at ten full installments, and aside from the series proper, Bo Schitt has created a metric crapton of video shorts that either tie in with the main episodes or simply stand alone. You can watch his works in chronological order here.
Tropes used in The Gmod Idiot Box include:
- Actor Allusion: Chuckles the Cheat uses quotes from the crazy "Better Safe than Sorry" guy in Left 4 Dead as well as Scout from TF2, both played by the same actor.
- All There in the Manual: BoSchitt's blog contains suprisingly in depth bios of all of the popular recurring characters.
- Always Beats His Cheater: Dr Hax. Except when he doesn't.
- Anachronic Order: Update Day
- Angst Nuke
- Anti-Magic: Dr. Hax can pummel you clean out of
Dr. ManhattanGod Mode. - Art Evolution: The author has made better use of Garry's Mod throughout the series. It definitely shows. Compare the first episode, which has the HUD and death messages showing, to the latest, which not only has those addressed, but also features stop-motion style lip movement with other stuff going on in real time, a major feat when it comes to a Gmod video.
- Ascended Meme: Sort of. Dr. Hax is available to download into your own game via the Garry's Mod Toybox, and will punish you if you attack him or cheat. As Kit Harrison found out to his infinite dismay in A Smooth Introduction to Garry's Mod, he is near-completely invincible, even to the undo button.
- Ass Kicks You: This is what I do I sit on you, sit on you, sit on you...
- Atomic F-Bomb: Das Bo Schitt himself does this upon finding out his computer's dead and gone in Computer Quest.
- Author Avatar: Sort of. The author's appearances consist of him sitting either getting nagged by Metrocop #1 to create another episode, or getting his butt handed to him by said Metrocop. Otherwise, he doesn't do much.
- Badass: #1
- Beam Spam: UberKleiner
- Big Damn Heroes: #1 in The Tale of Dirty Renamon.
- Also, Louis in Episode 5.
- Big No: #1 realizing that Bo Schitt's new computer had a feminine text-to-speech voice.
- Scout gets a few in Episode 10. Borrowed from a certain cartoon.
- Bowel-Breaking Bricks: In Episode 5, the BLU Demoman farts a grenade before being eaten by the RED Heavy.
- Break the Haughty: One treatment out of many visited upon Mr. Goldblum in the Treat or Else short.
- Brick Joke: In Episode 9, the guy from Episode 1 is still trying to break those cuffs.
- Francis proving himself to be indestructible in Episode 2.
- Building Swing: The Boomer and Smoker team up to pull this off against the Survivors.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: #1
- Butt Monkey: Renamon, big time.
- Ellis appears to be edging into this territory lately.
- Fred was a single-episode example.
- Caffeine Bullet Time: Not from the series proper, but this turns up in Update Day.
- Car Fu: Performed by #1 in the Chaotic 50,000 Subscriber Milestone video. Not a minute later, he tops himself with Firetruck Fu.
- True to form, the series has also given us a few heaping helpings of Train Fu to go with the rest.
- Call Back: Gravity Cat from Episode 2 reappears in Episode 6.
- The baby from Episode 1 returns in The Tale of Dirty Renamon.
- #1's candy bucket from Treat or Else returns in Update Day outside Mr. Goldblum's office.
- Caption Humor
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Hey, would you prosper if Dr. Hax hit you with a CRT monitor every time you cheated?
- Comedic Sociopathy: Francis
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Quick-Draw Heavy. He even ignores the use of the "slowmo" cheat.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mr. Goldblum.
- Cowboy Cop: #1, and believe us when we say that he makes it awesome.
- Curb Stomp Battle: Episode 5 has a prime example of this. You'll know it when you see it.
- Death From Above: Gravity Cat
- Destination Defenestration
- Disproportionate Retribution: Basically the whole point of the Pet Peeves skits.
- Let's face it: this really is #1's modus operandi.
- Episode 6: You'll follow proper theater courtesy...if you know what's good for you.
- Derrick knocks Alex's treat out of his hand...causing Alex to destroy the planet out of sheer rage.
- Don't Try This At Home: Hilariously inverted in Episode 8 with a Will It Blend? spoof.
- The Door Slams You: Courtesy of #1.
- Notable in that standing away from the door won't help. More often than not, he breaks it off its hinges so that it flies directly into whomever he's chasing.
- Dope Slap: Dr. Hax gives one to Duke Nukem for his "Unwanted Software Tampering" remark.
- Double Entendre: The RED Heavy slams his fist into the bottom of a table repeatedly, trying to hit a button. From Max's point of view... it looks like something completely different.
- Drives Like Crazy: Headcrab Zombie
- Dynamic Entry: #1; Louis in Episode 5; eventually, Augustus Cole pulls it off with a train.
- Enemy Mine: DBS and #1 spend most of the Chaotic 50,000 Subscriber Milestone video fighting each other, until they see Francis videotaping the whole thing, and gang up on him.
- Enfants Terrible: The babies
- Entendre Failure: The G-Man buys a "male enhancement" product, but his thick-as-a-post wife has no idea what he's talking about.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies
- Extreme Omnivore: Scout, if Episode 8 is to be believed
- Fartillery: In Episode 2.
- Power to main thrusters!
- In addition, Gravity Cat in Episode 6.
- Flawed Prototype: #1.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus
- Fun Personified: Notice how often #1 appears in this list?
- Funny Background Event
- Genre Savvy: Mr. Goldblum in "Update Day"
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Goldblum: Episode Three isn't going to delay itself...oh, wait; yes, it will! Hah, the rich guy's a jerk! Classic! |
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- Gory Discretion Shot: What the baby did to Sniper.
- Bill siccing Renamon on Ellis in Episode 8.
- Groin Attack: #1 uses this one on the Author Avatar in Episode 4. Louis also performs it on Francis, sending him rocketing into the air.
- Apparently, this is what the Medic considers an 'examination'.
- Don't forget what happens when RED Scout eats BLU Scout's Force-A-Nature.
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RED Scout: I... eat... your... Force-A-Nature.
RED Scout: Lot of good that gun did ya! *laughs madly*
RED Scout: What, you're gonna cry? You're gonna cry now? Yeah, I dare ya, Rage Quit! Come on--
RED Heavy: Oh, this is bad! |
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- Inverted in Episode 9:
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Nick: Coach, you do that again, and I will bury you alive. |
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- Hannibal Lecture: Mr. Goldblum lectures #1 about Halloween, of all things.
- Helicopter Blender: Scout falls victim to this, courtesy of Heavy, in Episode 8.
- Hilarious Outtakes: In the credits, from Episode 6 onwards.
- How We Got Here: Update Day starts with a glitched TF2 game with strange things happening to the BLU team, and an explosion at the RED base; the rest of the episode is Mr. Goldblum reviewing the game to fix the problem.
- Humiliation Conga: Fred experiences an epic one in Episode 8.
- Idea Candle
- I'm a Humanitarian: Heavy
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Heavy: I am full of... Demoman! |
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- See also Meet The Spy Abridged in Episode 7.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Episode 5...just...Episode 5.
- Incendiary Exponent
- Incoming Ham: In The Tale of Dirty Renamon: "Numbuh 83!!! Da Cole Traaiinnn!!!"
- Jerkass: Mr. Goldblum in the Treat or Else short. He's swiftly, frighteningly, and awesomely brought down a few pegs.
- Kill It with Fire: How Heavy eventually gets rid of the babies.
- Laugh Track: As a parody of Sit Coms, the Everybody Loves Francis segments always end with this, followed by a theme song (the Everybody Loves Raymond theme), and a title card.
- Leet Lingo: #1 lapses into this, but only when he has access to the speech function on Bo Schitt's computer.
- Literal-Minded:
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Rochelle: Don't make me get ugly with you!
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- Loony Fan: #1.
- Mad Libs Dialogue: "I hate Louis."
- Made of Explodium: A good 70% of things in the series.
- Made of Iron: Francis
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"Whew. Good thing I'm indestructible." |
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- Man On Fire: This happens in Episode 1's take on an infamous clip from COPS. It's pretty awesome.
- #1, notably. Also, Renamon.
- Megaton Punch: #1
- Metaplot: The intros from Episode 2 onward. The blog explains that the Idiot Box started as a pirate television show airing in City 17 created by Das Bo Schitt. One of the Combines discovered it, but it got such great response from them that Dr. Breen allowed Bo Schitt to return to his own home outside of the jurisdiction of the Combines so he can continue making episodes. To see to it that he does on a regular basis, Metrocop #1 is quartered in his home.
- Mind Over Matter: Dr. Hax, according to Word of God.
- More Dakka: In The Watchable Subscriber Milestone Video, #1 frags the hell out of a microphone when he gets a rather nasty bit of feedback; he uses so much more dakka that his gun spontaneously combusts.
- Musical Slapstick Montage: Silent Hill Homecoming in 30 seconds, to the tune of Yakety Sax.
- My Car Hates Me: Parodied in Episode 7. A guy tries to escape from #1's wrath, only for a car, a doorknob, and a telephone to all produce the "failed ignition" sound.
- Nightmare Face: UberKleiner near the end of Episode 1.
- Off with His Head: This happens every now and again.
- "Old Spice body wash can't block odor for sixteen hours!" "WHAT?!" *BLU Demoman punches off the right side of the screen, which loops around and punches his own head off*
- Oh Crap: The Scout has a few since he has an "Oh Crap" voice sample, but there are other moments.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: In Episode 8, #1's tirade against YouTube is set to Neodammerung.
- One-Liner
- The Pollyanna: Fred is of the "funny to watch him getting his ass kicked while totally oblivious to how much his life sucks" variety; although the Medic did fix his voice, so it isn't all bad.
- Potty Emergency: Don't mix Bonk with Sandvich!
- Pressure Sensitive Interface: To make the elevator come down faster, not only does #1 press the button by launching at it with his head, he then wails on it with his crowbar.
- Quip to Black: Sent up and played with throughout the series.
- Rage Quit: A Boomer gets frustrated while playing Left 4 Dead (as a Boomer) and tries to commit suicide, with "RAGEQUIT" appearing on screen.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: The Heavy in Update Day, when he goes absolutely Kenshiro on Rochelle and Francis.
- And let's not forget Saxton Hale channeling Jotaro Kujo / Star Platinum against Chuck Norris('s crotch, nonetheless! Ouch!) in Computer Quest.
- Reality Warper: Chuckles the Cheat has discovered how to warp reality using a cell phone, according to Word of God. Dr. Hax is the only man keeping him in check.
- Record Needle Scratch
- Refuge in Audacity
- Refuge in Vulgarity: Renamon, notably.
- Remonstrating with a Gun: Episode 2's take on a scene from Falling Down.
- Rich Bitch: Mr. Goldblum, and he knows it.
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- Ridiculously Human Robot: Metrocop #1, according to Word of God (see All There in the Manual above). He is the product of an experiment to create an army of androids to supplement the Combine forces, but he proved to be a Cowboy Cop and the experiment was terminated after his creation in favor of old-fashioned brainwashing. #1 is also a Bunny Ears Lawyer, so he remains the only robot in the Combine army.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: #1 very nearly pulls one off in Episode 8 when he realizes that the Youtube channel format has been changed.
- Rule of Cool
- Rule of Funny
- Running Gag
- The recurring appearances of Dr. Hax. If you're hacking something, he'll find you no matter where you are, yell his catchphrase, and smash you with a computer monitor.
- Louis chasing after a jar of pills.
- The DBS Author Avatar is nagged by #1 to make the next installment. This carries over into non-Idiot Box works.
- "Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?"
- "POW! HAHA!"
- dont use hax fag lol
- The Scout's gonna headbutt ya.
- Gravity Cat not amused.
- Francis hates _____.
- Schmuck Bait: "No pissing"
- Serial Escalation: How crazy and over-the-top can #1's rampages get?
- Also, how much more can Renamon be abused and killed?
- Three words: bus barrel roll.
- In "Computer Quest", Bo Schitt gets so angry he reaches into the black letterboxes and physically changes the aspect ratio
- Serious Business: Halloween candy to #1. As evidenced here, he's more than willing to prove it.
- He's a robot. How can he eat?
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: A running plotline in Episode 4 involves Chuckles being trapped in an elevator. He tries many different ways of getting out of it and tries to attract the attention of the security camera all to no avail. He finally makes it out via hacking, only to take a computer monitor to the head from Dr. Hax.
- Shout-Out: Episode 8 features a certain oft-quoted line from Troll 2.
- From the beginning of the same episode, we have #1 channeling his inner Kenshiro. With a crowbar.
- The Stinger of episode 9 gives one to the unrelated Garry's Mod series The Adventures of Coach.
- Shut UP, Hannibal: In episode 6, the "I'm a Mac" segment leads to the Mac bragging about how much better he is than the PC. PC's response?
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iDON'T GIVE A SHIT *explodes* |
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- Sophisticated As Hell: In the Update Day video, Duke Nukem (yes THAT Duke Nukem) says "TF2 is broke as Hell" due to "Unwanted Software Tampering".
- Spam Attack: Dr. Hax takes out Pyramid Head with one of these.
- Spot the Imposter: Remember, the real Francis hates stairs.
- The Stinger
- Stuff Blowing Up: Yes.
- Stylistic Suck: TEH GMOD IDIOT BALL (TOTALL ORIGINUL!!!!!)
- Super Strength: #1; justified in that he's a Ridiculously Human Robot.
- Take That: Fred is actually a real YouTube user who posts videos of himself with his voice sped up. This video was the basis for the scene in episode 8, where Das Bo Schitt apparently found Fred quite annoying.
- Take That, Critics!: Negative comments about the "misuse" of Renamon in Episode 8 prompted the creation of this. The description says it all.
- This Is Gonna Suck: In Episode 5, Alyx tries to use the slowmo cheat on Quick Draw Heavy, and still loses, getting thrown across the room into a rack of computer parts. She sees Dr. Hax creeping up behind her, then looks at all the computer monitors on the shelves.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Angry German Kid evolved into Furious German Man!
- Time Paradox: Francis causes one in Episode 4.
- Troll: #1 in the April Fools short. He's even got his own trollface. Your Mileage May Vary on whether he's any good at this, though.
- Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: #1 and Renamon in an elevator...
- Understatement: The Medic's reaction to accidentally blowing up the Soldier and the Scout? "How embarrassing!"
- Use Your Head: Only #1 would think to open an elevator door this way.
- Viewer-Friendly Interface: Played straight and averted, usually with YouTube pages. Some occasions involve close-ups of YouTube pages while others rely on overlays of large text.
- Viewers are Morons: Parodied in the Cold Open of Episode 7, where an unscrupulous YouTube user asks about a song in an Idiot Box episode, despite the very clear notice that songs are listed in the description. #1 is quick to express his disapproval.
- Wave of Babies
- Weapon of Choice: #1 uses a crowbar instead of the stunsticks normally carried by Metrocops.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: DasBoSchitt himself. He has been accused as being a Renamon hater due to repeatedly killing her in his videos as well as other offensive portrayals in The Tale of Dirty Renamon, but his reasons for doing this are to use her as a vessel against those who use her for porn, making him more of a Renamon defender.
- What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: In Episodes 4 and 5, Hax in the real world of the series are triggered with a cell phone; a dramatic camera effect declares what was just turned on in big, epic letters. Other episodes employ this trope in spades: we have Das Bo Schitt getting hit by a car, Francis tripping over a teddy bear...the list goes on.
- EXTREME COMPUTER BUILDING
- What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Mr. Goldblum does not like Halloween.
- Word of God: The Bo Schitt Blog
- You Are Number Six: #1, naturally.
HAAAAAAAAAX! *klunk*
- ↑ The BLU Scout punches the RED Scout in the stomach, firing the Force-A-Nature, which was pointing down, launching the RED Scout into the air.