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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Whoever wrote this episode SHOULD DIE!!"''
|'''Gwen'''|''[[Galaxy Quest]]''}}
Sometimes [[Lampshade Hanging]] isn't enough. That's when this trope comes in, which is outright bashing on bad writing. Often expressed in the phrase, "Who writes this crap?" but there are other ways as well, of varying subtlety.
Keep in mind that in order to qualify as true to this trope, it has to be [[Lampshading|lampshaded]] in the actual
When used in ''another'' work (usually a parody), often overlaps with a [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer]].
See also: [[Self-Deprecation]], [[Take That]], [[Who Would Want to Watch Us?]]. Often a symptom of [[Better Than a Bare Bulb]]
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* In one Hanes commercial, a character tells spokesman Michael Jordan he finds it unrealistic that random people would show him their underwear. [[Hypocritical Humor|He then proceeds to show Michael Jordan his underwear.]]
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* In one ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]'' episode, the heroes were facing the villain (named Big Cheese) directly. In the English version, the narrator describes the conclusion of the fight: "With his Ginzu-Sword, Speedy cuts the cheese once again! Who writes this stuff?"
* ''Oh-so-very-used'' by Kyon, resident [[Deadpan Snarker]], during episode #0 of ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', except it's more along the lines of "Who wrote this crap? Oh yeah, Haruhi."
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* HOLY agent [[Gratuitous English|Mad Script (okay, "Sprict", but come on)]] from ''[[S-Cry-ed]]'' had the ability to [[Rewriting Reality|forcibly rewrite]] [[More Than Mind Control|someone's perception]], so long as everyone around them follows his script. Unfortunately, he's a little too in love with his own maudlin "genius", so when he tries to rewrite rogue Alter [[Anti-Hero|Kazuma]] into joining HOLY, his "players" are often shown complaining to him about their parts... [[Shattering the Illusion|including, inevitably, Kazuma]].
== [[Comic Books]] ==
== Comics ==▼
* A staple of ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]''.▼
* In an issue of ''[[Booster Gold]]'', Rip Hunter refers to Superboy Prime's reality-altering tantrums in the same way that many fans had already done. "Punching time? Ridiculous."
* Would occasionally crop up in Giffen and DeMatteis's ''[[Justice League of America|Justice League]]''.
* [[Power Girl]] never quite gets out the actual line, but when Vartox reveals that he has come to Earth because his planet is dying and [[Only You Can Repopulate My Race|he needs her help to repopulate the species]] she finds the entire story completely ridiculous.
* Done '''literally''' in the final issue of [[Grant Morrison]]'s run on ''[[Animal Man]]'', when Animal Man ''meets'' [[Author Avatar|Grant Morrison]].
* During her [[Meta Guy|"meta" phase]], [[She
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series]]'' and Megami33's ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]'' like to take [[Macekre
{{quote|"In a few hours the sun will rise!" -- Tristan}}
** Finally, Raye got fed up with this.
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** Turns out Iroh taught Zuko how to break the fourth wall.
* In episode 7 of ''[[Wedding Peach Abridged]]'', Jama P told the love angels about the devil infecting rice with "the essence of fatness", and when they said it was lame, he said, "Hey! I didn't write this script, so don't complain to me!"
* ''[[Ranma
{{quote|'''Kunō:''' And so it falls out that we have we prize not to the worth whilst we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost, why then we wrack the value, then we find the virtue that possession would not show us whilst it was ours.
'''Ranma:''' What the f*** does that mean?
'''Kunō:''' I have no idea. But it sounded sexy. }}
** That one is actually a quote from Shakespeare, ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]''. Slightly misquoted, but it's at least partially understandable as the
* In ''[[Evangelion Abridged]]'', Misato says "I have a bad feeling about this... who writes this crap?"
* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8urXdyee7g Avatar The Last Puppet Bender]'' has this as the final punchline to the episode.
* ''[[
** The words in the original manga were "What's that? You say you beat your pistol?", which isn't much better.
* ''[[
{{quote|'''Bob:''' No-one knows for sure... oh you know what, screw it, I hate this stupid line.}}
* In ''Zelda's PRIDE Force'', a flash cartoon on Newgrounds, the final words come from animated versions of the creators.
{{quote|'''Nimdok:''' Who wrote this crap?
'''Nalem:''' There was a script? }}
* In
* In the fanfic ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120407030033/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6320139/5/Ed_Edd_n_Eddy_The_High_School_Years Ed, Edd N Eddy: The High School Years]'', this is done subtly in chapter 4 by Kevin and then in chapter 5 by Eddy in references of the budding relationships of Rolf and Marie and of Ed and Edd.
* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12682621/1/The-Parselmouth-of-Gryffindor The Parselmouth of Gryffindor]'' by "Achille Talon", when Hermione deduces that Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy about Harry and that's why she's kept at Hogwarts as a profoundly substandard teacher, she goes on a bit of a rant:
{{quote|"''Who wrote this reality!?''" vented Hermione. "The closer I look at it, the more my life -- no, ''Harry's'' life, in which I am apparently a secondary character now -- it seems to follow every literary convention in the book! The orphaned hero! With the distinctive scar! Sworn enemy of the Dark Lord! Raised by awful relatives, unaware of his past! ''Gah!'' And now a bloody ''Prophecy'', which the mysterious old wizard mentor knows about, because of ''course!''..."}}
▲== Films -- Animation ==
* From ''[[Fantasia 2000]]'':
{{quote|'''James Earl Jones:''' ''(introducing the Carnival of the Animals)'' Here the sensitive strains of impressionistic music combine with the subtle artistry of the animator to finally answer that age-old question: What is man's relationship to nature? ''(is handed a note)'' Oh, sorry... that age-old question: What would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos? ''([[Beat Panel|beat]], turns to look off-camera)'' Who wrote this?}}
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{{quote|"Attention. Tonight's supper will be baked beans. Musical program to follow... Who wrote this?"}}
▲== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''[[Galaxy Quest]]''. [[And You Thought It Was a Game]] plus [[No OSHA Compliance]] equals [[Death Course]]:
{{quote|'''Gwen:''' I'm not doing this! This episode was badly written!
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* ''[[My Name Is Bruce]]'' starring [[Captain Obvious|Bruce]]... [[Bruce Campbell|Campbell]], to [[Adam Westing|self-deprecating effect]] has a kid coming to the drunken "[[Small Name, Big Ego|star]]" and extolling his need for help and explaining what is effectively the movie's plot. Bruce takes it as an indie film pitch, tells him to keep the budget under $500,000 and get one named actor, then gives himself an aside saying it's the [[Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard|stupidest pitch he's ever heard]].
* ''Delirious'' has a show-within-a-show example: the repairman fixes John Candy's cable, allowing them to see the lurid soap opera his TV producer character spends the movie [[Trapped in TV Land|trapped in]], prompting this exchange: "You watch this crap?" "No, I write this crap."
* ''[[Singin' in the
* Fenster's reaction to the words he was given in the lineup scene of ''[[The Usual Suspects]]''. This was actually a case of [[Throw It In]], as Benicio Del Toro could only say "Hand me the keys you fucking cocksucker" so many times with a straight face.
* In ''[[True Lies]]'', Schwarzenegger's character has [[Everythings Sexier in French|a French agent]] record some dialogue as part of a complicated scheme to punish his wife for (almost) cheating on him while also bringing some passion back into their marriage. Midway through, the agent complains, "Who wrote this shit? Harry? ''C'est la [[Foreign Cuss Word|merde!]]''"
* In ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'', during the completely over the top and absurd song Cabin Fever, one character's contribution to the song is the line "I'd like to get my hands on whoever wrote this script!"
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* In ''[[Heralds of Valdemar|Winds of Change]]'', Wintermoon describes the reunion of Skif and [[Catgirl|Nyara]] in similar terms. He found it funny, but also touchingly sweet:
{{quote|"A meeting out of a silly ballad, Darkwind, I could [[Left the Background Music On|almost hear a harp a-playing]]."}}
* ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'', as a very self-aware ''[[The Lord of the Rings|Lord of the Rings]]'' parody, is filled with moments like this:
{{quote|"Observing this near impossible escape from certain death, Frito wondered how much longer the authors were going to get away with such tripe. He wasn't the only one."}}
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==▼
▲== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[The A-Team]]'': In the Episode ''The Crystal Skull'', the natives' chants at the end of the show are clearly ''Who wrote this? Who wrote this?'' repeated over and over again.
* In one of the ''[[MTV Movie Awards]]'', the cheesy writing in awards shows was mocked. Someone said a horrible banter line, and the presenter said, "Who writes this crap?" What followed was a pre-filmed sketch with David Cross pretending to be an awards show
* [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]] and [[Stephen Colbert]] at the Emmys, complaining about the quality of the [[Witty Banter]] [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JZu63SqFd38\].
** For that matter, Jon Stewart whenever he has to do one of his uncomfortably innuendo-laden segments (such as Uncle Jon's Story Hole...).
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{{quote|'''Kelly:''' I'd like to spend a hundred years of solitude -- with you!
'''Garcia Marquez:''' I can't read this crap. }}
* ''[[Law
{{quote|'''Detective Odafin Tutuola:''' Damn, who thinks this stuff up?}}
* In ''[[Blackadder]] III'', the actors hired to give Prince George elocution lessons look over Blackadder's speech, snort, giggle, then finally say "Who wrote this drivel?!" This slight, combined with his general hatred of actors, is what causes Blackadder to seriously consider resigning as George's butler. Of course, being [[Magnificent Bastard|Blackadder]], he ends up {{spoiler|having the actors ''wrongly executed for treason''}}.
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* ''[[The Basil Brush Show]]'': "I'll have a word with the head writer when he gets home from school...."
* Characters on ''[[The Electric Company]]'' would occasionally ask "Who's the dummy writing this show?", particularly J. Arthur Crank.
* This trope is a recurring gag on ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]''.
** An episode parodying ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'' started with the Crusoe and Man Friday characters watching ''[[The Monkees]]'', and Friday saying "Who writes this stuff?'' Once the band arrived, he would repeat this frequently.
** Not exactly this trope, but in another episode, Micky is frustrated by a turn of events and stomps off the sound stage, past the cameras and crew, into a back room, and demands that the writers give him an idea to resolve the plot. They do, but he rejects it and returns to the set.
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* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': Pretty much the point of "Wormhole X-Treme" is to give SG-1 and Co. a chance to say this. A good example is someone proposing that the third shot from a Zat Gun vaporizes its target (a retconned plot point from the early seasons) only to have a TV writer retort that that's "the stupidest thing [he's] ever heard."
** They also used "Citizen Joe", an episode where [[It Makes Sense in Context|a barber could see Jack O'Neill's life]] to mock some of their old episodes, particularly "Hathor", as well as some of the more complicated story points.
** They also took potshots at [[Roland Emmerich]]
** ''[[Stargate: Continuum]]'' has a line that's actually not [[Played for Laughs]]. As Daniel, Sam, and Mitchel are trying to explain to the incredulous [[Alternate Universe|alternate Air Force]] about the Stargate Program they get increasingly frustrated, causing Daniel to yell "Seriously, who would make this shit up?!"
* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' had a quick mention, too, in ''Doppelganger'':
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{{quote|'''Waiter:''' Fine, sir, he said in between clenched teeth knowing full well it was a most unrewarding part.
'''Interviewer:''' This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in. }}
* A potential example occurred in the fifth season finale of ''[[Lost]]'': after leading the Others to the statue where {{spoiler|Jacob}} lives, Richard suddenly claims that only Locke (the leader) can speak to {{spoiler|Jacob}} when Locke asks if both he and Ben can go inside. Locke angrily accuses Richard of simply making things up as he goes along. This is likely a reference to one of ''Lost''{{'}}s most famous criticisms in popular culture; the idea that (especially during earlier seasons) the writers had no long-term gameplan and made things up with no intention of resolving them.
** Although this has a slightly different meaning when you find out later that {{spoiler|this Locke is actually the Anti-Jacob and therefore already knows all the rules, meaning that Richard
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''
** The episode "Normal Again" had several lines of this nature during the [[Cuckoo Nest]]
** In the episode
** In "Tabula Rasa", after everyone loses their memories, Buffy has to tell Spike that he's a vampire and they're both pretty confused that he seems to be one of the good guys. This leads to a playful [[Take That]] to both [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]] and [[Angel]] and a [[Shout-Out]] to the latter, including the catchphrase for "Angel Investigations."
{{quote|'''Spike''': I must be a noble vampire, a good guy on a mission of redemption. I help the helpless. I'm a vampire with a soul.
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* A variation in ''[[Doctor Who]]'': "...clothes designed by a first year fashion student..."
* At least one suspect on ''[[CSI]]'' has said the situation seemed like "something from a bad TV show".
*
* An implied use of the trope was used in Season 9 promos for ''[[Two and A Half Men]]'' promoting Ashton Kutcher's appearance on the show. Alan is talking with Jake while dressed up as a surgeon, an Astronaut, and an explorer while giving various stories about how he met the guy whose going to stay with him, and eventually just turns to the crew and says "Aw come on, there has to be a better way to introduce the character."
* Happens all the time with ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'', a news based [[Panel Show]], with [[Guest Host|guest presenters]] reading the auto-cue and having to give out the awful one-liners. However that's all part of the fun of the show.
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* In "Particle Man" by [[They Might Be Giants]], after describing Person Man (basically a [[Chew Toy]] turned [[Up to Eleven]]), they then proceed to ask "Who came up with Person Man?"
* [[The Beatles]]' "Only A Northern Song" is this trope from start to finish, with lines such as "You may think the harmony/is a little dark and out of key/you're correct." Likewise, the song is an echo-filled cacophony, overlaid with tuneless instruments and random sound effects. (George wrote this song as an intentional slap-in-the-face to [[The Beatles]]' publishers, Northern Songs.)
* [[Mindless Self Indulgence]], in "2 Hookers and an 8 Ball": "Can you believe that I write this shit" (Basically the whole song, too.)
▲* A staple of ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]''.
==
* Then meta-heels Degeneration X decided to sit on the stage during a broadcast of ''RAW'' and play the part of angry fans. Triple H held up a sign that read "Who Booked This Crap?", the wrestling equivalent of the question. DX had almost unlimited access to the McMahon family then, and Trips married into the family later. As the years go by, [[Memetic Mutation|a screencap of that moment]] [[Reverse Funny Aneurysm|gets funnier and funnier]].
** Shawn Michaels would later ask this in 2007 after a particularly confusing DX promo. Trips retorted with something along the lines of "I don't know, they're all on strike!"
*** The WWE didn't actually have this excuse, since WWE programming is non-union since [[The Scrappy|Vince McMahon is a controlling]] [[Curse Cut Short|bast-- uh, I mean,]] the existing trade unions in America are not set up to handle Sports Entertainment or its writing.
* [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]] turned this [[Up to Eleven]] while doing ringside commentary during the August 23, 1999 RAW where [[Triple H]] won his first world title (considering what HHH's reputation would become, [[Fridge Logic]] could make this [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]):
{{quote|"[[
== [[Puppet Shows]] ==
* ''[[The Muppet Show]]''...
{{quote|'''Miss Piggy:''' Whoever wrote this should be shot!}}
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** After reading the last line she snaps "Whoever wrote this should be ''shot''!".
== [[Radio]] ==▼
▲== Radio ==
* In ''[[The Goon Show]]'' episode "The Scarlet Capsule", the Guest Announcer Andrew Timothy at one point says:
{{quote|"Ting-tong-billy-bong! I would like it known that though I read this stuff, I don't write it. Ftang!"}}
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'''John:''' It's not bad, is it? }}
== [[Theater]] ==
* The ''[[Firesign Theatre]]'' has a running gag in recent releases: "Boy, those Canadians can really write!"
** There seems to be a similar [[Running Gag]] with England in ''[[Forbidden Broadway]]'', it's never fully explained.
* [[Show Within a Show]] example: In the musical ''[[City of Angels (musical)|City of Angels]]'', Stine finds out that his secretary has been helping with the [[Executive Meddling]] on the script to his [[Film Noir]]:
{{quote|'''Stine:''' ''(reading from the script)'' "Wild, bloodshot private eyes?" That's atrocious! Am I supposed to run up and down the aisles in every movie house in the country and say I didn't write that?
'''Donna:''' I thought it was clever, to be honest.
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'''Donna:''' I tried to make it sound like you.
'''Stine:''' It doesn't rub off. Sometimes not even on me. }}
* [[The Flying Karamazov Brothers]]' adaptation of [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Comedy of Errors]]'' starts off with this after
{{quote|"Ding-dong, I wouldn't believe this story if they played it on the stage!"}}
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* In the SNES/Sega game ''[[Bubsy]]'', the stage names were all [[Incredibly Lame Pun
▲== Video Games ==
▲* In the SNES/Sega game ''[[Bubsy]]'', the stage names were all [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Incredibly Lame Puns]]. Bubsy was one of the first voice-acted characters in the 16-bit era. His response to one of the worse puns? "Hey, I didn't write this stuff...."
** Possibly, in the sequel, he even flat out said, "Who wrote this stuff?"
* In ''[[No One Lives Forever]]'', one level sees Cate visiting various informants who all have to use extremely goofy and horribly misogynistic (even for 1960s standards) pick-up lines as passwords and wonder who the heck chose to use them as such.
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* Captain Smiley says this in the tutorial level of ''[[Comic Jumper]]'':
{{quote|'''Text Box:''' Captain Smiley is used to grabbing poles to make progress.
'''Smiley:''' I'm "[[A Date with Rosie Palms|used to grabbing poles]]"? Who writes this stuff?!
'''Star:''' [[Vitriolic Best Buds|Someone awesome!]] }}
* One of Eggman's PA announcements in ''[[Sonic Colors]]'' has one too many "ocean" puns for his taste, leading him to wonder "who writes this drivel?". [[To Make a Long Story Short|As it turns out]], ''[[Hypocritical Humor|he]]'' [[Absent-Minded Professor|does]]!
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{{quote|"That ball is really moving! Is there a urologist in the house? [[Don't Explain the Joke|I guess they work well with fast-moving balls]]...whadda...who writes this?!"}}
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
▲== Web Comics ==
* Variation in ''[[Adventurers!]]'': Having found yet another legendary sword, Ardam wonders who writes all these legends about swords. Of course, right on cue, a scholarly-looking fellow carrying a big book walks up and says, "I do. Got a problem with that?"
* Even greater variation in ''[[L's Empire|Ls Empire]]'' where one of the authors asks this question, only to answer themselves.
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{{quote|'''Phil:''' Deal with it.}}
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
▲== Web Original ==
* In the ''[[Neurotically Yours]]'' sketch "Jiggly Butt", Foamy is outraged by the cartoon's [[Lampshade Hanging|declining standards]] when Germaine starts jiggling her butt onscreen.
{{quote|'''Foamy:''' That's it. I'm leaving. [[Self Deprecating Humor|This is the worst cartoon ever made]]. Scripts about jiggly asses don't cut it with me, alright? Who writes this crap? I want names. Give me names.}}
* In ''[[The Decline of Videogaming]]'', Dim, Dan, and JT find a copy of ''Devil May Cry 4: Who wrote this crap?!''
* In episode 7 of ''[[
* In ''[[Asdfmovie]] 4'', one character's reaction to [[Piano Drop|getting a piano dropped on his head]] is to shout "Whose idea was this?!"
* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] and combined with [[Self-Deprecation]] in [[The Spoony Experiment|Spoony's]] review of Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge.
{{quote|'''Linkara:''' I am...[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|the beekeeper!]]
'''Spoony:''' Oh my God, I wrote that! }}
* In his Virus review, the [[Joueur Du Grenier]] (Basically [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'s French equivalent) had this reaction after saying a cringe-inducingly lame pun about evil in a fake movie trailer for Virus 2.
* [[Newgrounds]]' ''Legend of Pokémon'' had this; when Gary sees the ship, he says, "Who the fuck wrote this shit?"
* In the Julian Smith sketch [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1FS504JnjM&ob=av3e Rerun], the characters are cartoons in a scene complaining about how dreary the show they're on is. It's multilayered [[Lampshade Hanging]].
{{quote|'''Character B:''' This scene is complete rubbish! Why would anyone want to watch this?
'''Character A:''' That's why we got canceled... }}
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* There is a ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' episode in which Buster complains that the episode appeared to have been written by 13-year-olds.
** The joke, naturally, was that the episode '''was''' written by 13-year-olds.
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'''Babs Bunny:''' Be nice! }}
* One episode of ''[[Drawn Together]]'' ("Little Orphan Hero") ended with the cast walking out in disgust, saying the plotline had obviously been written by a special-needs child.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** Krusty, when he is introducing himself with Brooke Shields for the cartoon awards, ends up being fumed about a joke in his opening line.
{{quote|'''Krusty:''' Well, here we are. Star of ''[[The Blue Lagoon]]'' and me: The blue-haired goon! What the...? It's terrible! [...] First of all, my hair is green, not blue! I've got nothing to work with here! Nothing!}}
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** Mr. Burns gets one of these moments in "The Mansion Family", when he wins an award for Oldest Man in Springfield (the previous winner has just died via [[Kiss of Death]] from [[Britney Spears]]), and tries to pass off the guy's written speech as his own:
{{quote|'''Burns:''' "Thank you all so much. I love Springfield, from the cuddliest infant, to--" ''(grimaces and rifles through the rest of the speech)'' "Puppies"? ... "''Patriotism''"? ... "''Bluebirds''"?! ... Pffft! I'm not reading this drivel! This speech is over!}}
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* In one episode of ''[[Sheep in The Big City]]'', the Narrator reacted to a particularly weird plot twist by asking "Who writes this stuff?!"
* From the [[Tex Avery|Droopy]] short ''The Shooting of Dan McGoo'':
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** One of them is Shakespeare. Stereotypical clothing and everything.
** More specifically, in one cartoon Slappy asks Skippy why he's delivering bad dialogue. He says that's what's in the script, to which she reminds him that scripts are only good for lining the bottom of bird cages.
* In ''[[The Fairly
{{quote|'''Timmy:''' Some forty-year-old who lives with his mom.
'''Crimson Chin:''' Any money in it?
'''Timmy:''' ''([[Medium Awareness|indicates own speech bubble in previous panel]])'' [[
* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'': In "Brother, Can You Spare An Ed?", after Edd goes on a dramatic, guilt-ridden monologue about Eddy convincing Ed to buy jawbreakers with Sarah's money (instead of fudge, like she asked), Eddy responds with "Who writes this guy's stuff?"
* ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'': As listed on the [[Who Writes This Crap?/Quotes|quote page]], Dr. Robotnik demands to imprison the cartoonist who made fun of him in his comic book.
* On ''[[Futurama]]'', we ''know'' Fry writes this crap. ([[Rouge Angles of Satin|"I am the greetest. Now I will leave Earth for no raisin!]]") But there's also this, as part of his opera that was crashed by the Robot Devil:
{{quote|'''Farnsworth:''' I can't believe the devil would be so unforgiving.
'''Zoidberg:''' I can't believe everybody's just ad-libbing. }}
** More appropriate to this trope is the Robot Devil's comments on Fry's characterization of him.
{{quote|'''Robot Devil''': This play is as lousy as it is brilliant! You can't just have your actors announce how they feel. [[Hypocritical Humor|That makes me]][[That Makes Me Feel Angry|feel angry!]]}}
* Probably the instance that started it all in animation is the 1937 [[Porky Pig]] cartoon "Porky's Duck Hunt," where Porky sends his dog to retrieve the duck he's ostensibly shot, but the duck throws the dog back on land. Porky takes out a notepad, studies it for a second, then exclaims "Hey! '''''That''''' wasn't in the script!"
* In ''[[Recess]]'', King Bob reminisces about his days as the Prankster Prince. One of these pranks had this:
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{{quote|'''Mickey:''' He may be the richest duck in the world but he's turning the "House of Mouse" into the "House of Baby Chicks".
'''Horace:''' Huh?
'''Mickey:''' You know. [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Cheap-cheap.]]
'''Horace:''' [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Even the writing's gotten "cheap-cheap".]] }}
* In the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon, Blooper Bunny, Daffy is seen doing a mini-rant while going over his script.
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* ''[[Taz-Mania]]'': Francis X. Bushlad gets an epic one in one episode, berating the writers for the [[All Just a Dream]] ending and pointing out the unfired [[Chekhov's Gun]] of the 16 ton weight that had been dangling over the characters' heads for most the episode. [[Tempting Fate|This proves unwise]].
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* Truth in Television: Prime Minister Jean Chretien of Canada once was giving a speech, and in the middle, he looked up and said, "Who wrote this crap?" on National Public Radio. Ironically, he's a notorious [[Malaproper]] whenever allowed to speak extemporaneously.
* Reportedly the father of Werner Klemperer (a.k.a. [[Hogan's Heroes|Colonel Klink]]) read the script of the first episode and said to his son "Your work is good... but who is the author of this material?".
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* There was a moment on New Zealand TV when Leighten Smith, the "colour" presenter for the then relatively new [[TV 3]] channel, interrupted a lead-in to say, without changing his serious tone of voice; "Who writes this stuff? [Long Pause] I did". He then went on as though nothing had happened.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAuGI0pxyHQ&list=QL&playnext=8 This] behind-the-scenes video of rehearsal footage from ''Late Night With Conan O'Brien''. The look on Conan's face and the tone in his voice as he reads the name "Yakov Smirnoff" is absolutely laced with contempt.
* A famous example of 'celebrities at their worst' is an [[
* The infamous ''Frozen Peas'' tape, featuring outtakes from Orson Welles' readings of various commercials where he complains about the directors, the inane pronunciations, and the writing.
{{quote|'''Wells''': Because it's full of--of--of things that are only correct because they're grammatical, but they're tough on the ear. You see, this is a very wearying one, it's unpleasant to read. Unrewarding.}}
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