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Running gag

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The running gag is a popular hallmark of comic and serious forms of entertainment. A running gag is an amusing situation or line that reappears throughout the work. They are often unintentional at first, but familiarity or popularity of such gags among viewers encourage their reappearance. Often, the humor in a running gag derives entirely from how often it is repeated.

Examples of well-known running gags

  • For several seasons of the television series South Park, the character Kenny McCormick died in nearly every episode, followed by the character Stan Marsh shouting, “Oh my God, they killed Kenny!” and then Kyle Broflovski shouting “You bastards!” Kenny reappears in each subsequent episode as if nothing happened (even in two-parters), yet the children know that Kenny has died more than once.
  • In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is a running gag about the “airspeed velocity” of an unladen swallow (“What kind of swallow?”) and that King Arthur confuses the numbers 3 and 5.
  • Kramer's way of entering Jerry's apartment (bursting through the door, sliding in) in the american sitcom Seinfeld.
  • On each Cheers episode, Norm Peterson's initial entrance into the bar is always met with a shout of "Norm!" from all the patrons. As he approaches his traditional barstool, another character always addresses him with a commonplace greeting and Norm always makes a woeful, pessimistic (and frequently literally interpretive) reply. For example: Sam Malone asks, "What are you up to, Norm?" and Norm says, "My ideal weight if I were eleven feet tall."
  • The sitcom Friends contains numerous running gags such as Ross’s line “We were on a break!”, references to Monica being overweight as a child, and the fact that nobody is sure what Chandler does for a living.
  • In Futurama, there is a running gag wherein New Jersey is considered to the worst place to live in the universe (“I, Roommate”). Another running gag involves Bender saying “Neat!” and taking a picture with a purple camera. Another one is that whenever a problem happens, everyone uses Zoidberg as the scapegoat for blame.
  • In the Metal Gear video game series, the cardboard box is an item used by the main character, Solid Snake, in order to hide from enemies. His fondness for the trick developed into a running joke over the course of the series.
  • In The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air a favorite running gag is Jazz getting thrown out of the house after offending one of the Banks. Once Jazz was in the driveway and offended Phil, so Phil threw him inside the kitchen door after Jazz made a remark about already being outside. In another character’s dream sequence, a successful Jazz throws a down-on-his-luck Phil out of his house in the same manner.
  • In the television series Quantum Leap, Rear Admiral Albert “Al” Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) frequently confuses his third and fourth wives.
  • In Animaniacs, Yakko, Wakko and Dot frequently run through sketches not starring them, chased by Ralph the Guard. Also, whenever the brothers see a pretty woman, or the nurse in the series, they shout together, "Hellooooooooo Nurse!!!", but Dot says it in reference to any well-built and studly man.
  • On Whose Line Is It Anyway? is when Drew Carey is introducing the show. He always states that “Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter” before saying something that reflects the points’ unimportance (for example: “That’s right, the points are like vows at a celebrity wedding. They just don’t matter”). The comparisons vary each time, but they are all considered “useless” humorously. At times, the comparisons are even referenced by the Whose Line cast during the show.
  • In both the English and American versions of The Office, a character always refers to himself as Assistant Regional Manager, only to be corrected by the boss that he is “Assistant to the Regional Manager.”
  • In the Movie The Naked Gun, it is a running gag that Nordberg keeps getting badly injured, but somehow manages to survive.
  • In That 70s Show, Red Forman always uses the phrase "I will put my foot up your ass" anytime he is on the verge of losing his temper to anyone. He usually says this to Eric.
  • In Invader Zim, many references are made to Dib's huge head. Gir is often found watching the Scary Monkey Show, and Zim usually responds, "I hate that monkey...". According to the commentary, the Chihuahua that appears in several episodes was originally going to be somewhere in every episode, but they were too lazy to continue the gag after a few episodes.

See also