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Steff: "Freakazoid, why did you say his name?" |
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Be careful of what you say.
The Gilligan Cut is a classic staple of comedy in which someone announces something forcefully and the scene immediately cuts to the same character doing something in direct contradiction to what he just said.
For example, a character protests vehemently, "What, you expect me to wear a grass skirt, stand up on top of the Empire State Building and belt out the chorus of 'New York, New York'? Well, I'm not gonna... I'm just not gonna..." Whip Pan over to the character wearing a grass skirt on the 102nd floor, singing "I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!"
The Gilligan Cut. Comedy ain't pretty.
Simply put, if the character says "I'm not doing this", chances are, the character will do this for the sake of comedic effect, while responding "I can't believe I'm doing this". May involve a bit of Leaning on the Fourth Wall when the victim will demand to know how they were talked into this situation. Overlaps with Tempting Fate.
As a note of historical significance, this trope has the honor of being the element that started it all for TV Tropes.
Anime & Manga[]
- Ranma One Half
- The second movie has this, and plays with it at the same time. The women of the group are being abducted by unknown shadowy creatures one by one. Currently, Akane is the only one they can use as bait, except everyone's looking at male Ranma. Cut to female Ranma struggling against the pole she's been tied to. Of course, there's a kettle on the top of the pole, it's clearly a trap, and Ranma was only acting like s/he was tied up.
- Happens when Akane becomes injured and unable to participate in the Martial Arts Gymnastics tournament. They try to convince Ranma to change into a girl to take her place but he loudly protests that there is no way he is putting on a leotard. Cut to Ranma wearing a leotard.
- While there was a bit of time between the protest and the wearing of the leotard in the anime, the above scene was done with a single cut with Gilligan-esque sound effects in Ranma Abridged, complete with appropriate setup.
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Ranma: Oh no. There is no way I'm going to be wearing a leotard for the sake of others. |
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- In Fullmetal Alchemist, Ed and Ling are trapped in Gluttony's stomach. A tired Ling collapses and Ed tries to get him to get up again by starting to walk away while repeatedly saying he's leaving without him. We then cut to Ed carrying Ling over his shoulder.
- In Naruto, right before Jiraiya leaves to investigate Akatsuki's ties to Amegakure, he goes to Tsunade's office, and, instead of just telling her that he thinks their leader is there, suggests they go out for a drink and talk at the bar. Tsunade rightfully points out that as a Hokage with many ninja in the field, she can't just go out and get plastered in the middle of the afternoon. Cut to the two of them at a bar, Tsunade clearly getting plastered, and Jiraiya telling her she should take her own advice.
- Happens in an early episode of Sora no Woto. Kanata and Noel think that they saw a ghost in the barracks of their base. Kureha disagrees, suggesting that they're seeing things. Rio agrees with Kureha... cut to Kureha and Kanata standing at the entrance to the barracks, with Rio ordering them to investigate before turning around and running herself (and shouting those orders from a safe distance, no less).
- Used when Shippo is introduced in Inu Yasha. After Kagome was captured, Shippo, with no other choice, turns to Inu-Yasha. However, he's still pissed about Shippo putting a Buddhist statue on his hand, making him immobile. Shippo promises to free Inu-Yasha if he promises not to hit him. After he agrees, it cuts to Inu-Yasha beating the shit out of Shippo.
- In Minami-ke, after Chiaki laughs at Kana's anti-rain charm idea:
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Kana: I'm going to roll you up in a sheet and hang you! |
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- From Kaze no Stigma ("Catherine Returns"):
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Jugo: Perhaps if this girl were to challenge her true feelings, Ayano will be a little nicer to Kazuma, before it's too late. |
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- In a recent chapter of Gamble Fish, Tomu asks Mika if he could sit on her shoulders so he can get a better look at the cracks on the cave's ceiling. She refused, saying that it is usually the woman that sits on top, but he debates that with her being a tennis pro, her legs are stronger to support them. She ultimately suggests they Rock-Paper-Scissors for it. The next scene, she is seen caring him on her shoulders cursing that she should have never gambled with a cheating gambler.
- Fujimura Kun Mates: Fujimura suspects that two of his unwanted girlfriend candidates are up to their usual no good hijinks. But he refuses to spy on them for ethical reasons. Next page, he eventually gives in.
- The first episode of the Universe canon of Tenchi Muyo has Tenchi's dad, Nobuyuki, vowing to stay up all night to protect Ryoko. One Gilligan Cut later, he's asleep on the couch.
Comedy[]
- Larry the Cable Guy had a running gag of this sort throughout one of his shows. For instance, his wife urged him to shave his balls. Like he was going to do that. "So there I am, shaving my nut sack...."
- Robert Schimmel is a fan of this one too. "Yeah, like I'm going to stick my dick, which shoots a liquid, into something that plugs into the wall." "So I'm on the floor fucking this thing..."
Comic Books[]
- Empowered
- Sistah Spooky gets one of these during her Backstory. A rather plain black girl in a school full of Blonde Bimbos, she summons a demon to take revenge — only to be told that he can't act against other clients. He then offers her the chance to enroll in the same program to sell her soul for beauty, which she emphatically rejects. The next page has her admiring her new body, and receiving a phone call from Hell saying that there was a minor problem with the spell, making her a Vain Sorceress on top of things.
- There's no way ThugBoy's going to wear his old Sparta-esque "Centurion 3000" minion costume with the breastplate nipples and short skirt. No way in hell. Nuh-uh.
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Empowered: Put it on, please. |
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- A variant played for incredibly dark comedy appears in Mark Waid and Alex Ross's Kingdom Come. Superman prevents a group of Darker and Edgier heroes from letting a bystander get killed, then gives them a genuinely moving Superman-style lecture about the value of human life. The next panel is Vandal Savage breaking a woman's neck because she put the wrong amount of sugar in his coffee.
- Appears in the second issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Mina Murray, Captain Nemo and Allan Quartermain are investigating a school under the guise of a married couple and their manservant. They are given two rooms for the night, one with a couple's bed and another with a shabby servant's bed.
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Nemo: (to Murray) The sooner we have a good night's sleep and can be gone from here, the better. You, of course, will take the single room. |
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- A running gag in Bone, where somebody will say, "Those rat creatures would have to be pretty stupid to [fill in the blank]!" In the next frame, we see the rat creatures have done just that, and the same person will say, "Stupid, stupid rat creatures!"
- Also a running gag in Carl Barks' (and, later, other authors') Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics.
- Used in the Swedish comic-strip Rocky when the title-character freaks out when he runs into Martin, the man who stole his ex-girlfriend, only to learn that she in turn had left Martin.
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Rocky: Ha, suits him right. If he thinks that I will forgive him, he must think again. Rocky never forgets a wrong-doing. |
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- This page of a Looney Tunes comic featuring Lola Bunny working at a pizza joint. Her boss offers her to wear a pizza suit while participating in a Delivery Girl Pageant, but she refuses to do so:
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Lola: Whotta freak-show! |
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- Another dark variant appears in Identity Crisis when Sue's murderer is revealed and argues "You can't just throw me in some cell and toss the key!" Cut to Arkham Asylum.
Comic Strips[]
- Calvin and Hobbes
- Happens often, especially when Calvin refuses to take a bath. The next panel will have him in the bathtub complaining.
- There was also this memorable exchange:
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Calvin: I don't think I'll go to school today. |
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- Lampshaded in Daddy's Home. Elliot asks his dad if they can take a pelican home with them. Dad: "We are not bringing that pelican home with us, and that's final!" In the next panel, Elliot says, "Cut to plane ride home ...", and, sure enough, the third panel shows the pelican on a plane going home with the family.
- In France during the Dreyfus affair, this cartoon by Carand'Ache:
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Top: Above all! let's not talk about the Dreyfus affair! |
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Fan Works[]
- In this Team Fortress 2 fan video, Scout has problems with his car. A helpful Engineer drives by, offers a ride, and gets pushed away by Spyper. Scout politely declines.
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Scout: Uuh, no. No way! Frickin' no! |
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- In this Harry Potter fanfic, Harry and Draco are getting married and Harry has somehow been convinced to let Fred and George officiate the wedding (not the smartest of moves). Draco is not happy about it, but Harry has reassured him that it will be fine.
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Harry: (thinking) I'm sure they won't do anything stupid. |
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- In the Leviathan fanfic Double Dutch, the author goes from claiming the characters behave in a "chaste, Christian manner" to the first line being two males checking out each others chest hair and not being homoerotic. At all.
- Code Ment:
- It's a running gag for certain parties to comment on Lelouch's effectiveness as a threat, only to cut to him doing something incredibly stupid.
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Viceroy Cornelia: This "One" character seems to be our most dangerous threat-- |
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- On another occasion:
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TV correspondent: This just in! In order to draw out the criminal mastermind known as One-- |
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- The Penguins of Madagascar fic Princess: Julien declares that he will handle the penguins' contempt "the way a king should — with dignity!" The next sentence shows him weeping uncontrollably into a tub of ice cream bigger than he is.
- This occurred in the Bleach fic Uninvited Guests after Hitsugaya snapped, had a massive breakdown, and ran off to try to kill the Big Bad single-handedly.
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Matsumoto: Now, Captain Hitsugaya is, well... a Captain. So he's faster than we are, no doubt, but we can probably still catch up to him, just because he's going to be in the living world for a long time. I mean, he'd have to find a gate to Hueco Mundo, and I seriously doubt anyone will actually help him get there! Nobody could be THAT completely irresponsible! |
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- In None Piece:
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Nami: Can you do me a favor? |
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- Dragon Ball Abridged: At the start of episode twenty-seven Goku reflects that everybody is doing just fine without him. Cut to:
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Vegeta: Healer's down! |
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- OjamajoSakura15's Transformers: Animated Fanisode, Virus: After a fight with a supervillainess named Freeze-Up, Bumblebee's virus illness was cured after his stasis rest. Sari asks Bee where did that illness come from that made him sick, Bumblebee replies that at least no Autobot ever heard of this sickness he got or ever catch one like he does usually, cuts to Prowl who has caught the same virus as Bumblebee in his room.
Films — Animation[]
- The Lion King uses a Gilligan Cut just before Simba & Co.'s battle with Scar and his hyena minions.
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Timon: A diversion? What do you want us to do, dress in drag and do the hula? |
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- Bonus points for Timon's voice actor ad libbing the "dress in drag and do the hula?" bit.
- In the Broadway Musical version, it becomes "What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the Charleston?" Cut to Timon wearing a flapper hat and doing the Charleston in front of the hyenas; the change makes sense mostly because it's easier for the actor on stage to only have to hide one hat instead of a grass skirt and a lei.
- Made even funnier in the 1 1/2 sequel, where Timon and Pumbaa are heading to the Pride Lands to help Simba, with Timon saying this is their glorious moment, then it cuts to that scene.
- In The Land Before Time, the main characters have to get rid of the Tyrannosaurus (which they call a "sharptooth") that's been hounding them throughout the movie. They plan to lure it to a very deep pool of water, then push a heavy boulder onto it. But first, they need bait, so Ducky is chosen as the bait.
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Ducky: Me? No, no, no, no, no... |
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- In The Rescuers Down Under, Bernard attempts to recruit Wilbur to sit on Marahute's eggs to keep them warm.
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Wilbur: Oh no. Ohhhh no. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong! I... don't look at me like that! You're getting "no" from me! I am never going to have to sit on those eggs! |
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- In Monsters, Inc., Sulley and Mike are discussing how to get Boo back to her home:
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Mike: What do you expect us to do? March out into public with that thing?! And then I suppose we should just waltz right into the factory, right?! |
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- In Shrek 2, after Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey are invited to Far Far Away:
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Shrek: We're not going, and that's final! |
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Basil: Young lady, you are not accompanying us, and that. Is. Final! |
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- Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, a short film included in certain versions of the How to Train Your Dragon DVD, has Snotlout doing one of these:
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Snotlout: There's no way I'm getting on a boat to go after a fake dragon. |
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- Tangled
- The film features a rapid-fire string of Gilligan Cuts when Rapunzel first escapes her tower, alternating between her feelings of guilt for disobeying her "mother" Gothel, and her feelings of joy over leaving the tower for the first time in her life.
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Rapunzel: I'm a horrible daughter, I'm going back. |
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- During the musical number in the Snuggly Duckling:
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Big Nose Thug: What's your dream? |
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- Used in Cats Don't Dance, when the other animals try to convince Sawyer to take part in the performance for L.B. Mammoth, complete with corresponding dialogue:
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Tillie: Well? |
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- In the first Cars movie, while they're heading for California, Lightning McQueen promises to Mack the truck that he'll keep him awake all night long by talking to him so he can keep driving. Cut to McQueen sleeping soundly in the trailer.
- In the 2005 movie of The Magic Roundabout
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Dougal: That's the spirit, Brian! Nothing short of a sea of boiling lava will keep me from that diamond now. |
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- In The Emperor's New Groove, Kuzco asks about the chances of Pacha carrying him, which the latter replied, "Not good." Then, a sceen with Yzma and Kronk later, Pacha is seen carrying him.
- This could be justified, however, as Kuzco suffers from low blood sugar.
Films — Live-Action[]
- In Mystery Men, the Shoveler is completely against holding the Super Hero try outs at his house. Next scene, they are all having a pool party at his house.
- The Living Daylights, when Bond and Kara Milovy, a cellist, need to get out of Bratislava really fast:
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Kara Milovy: I must get my cello. |
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Rhodes: Now, what am I supposed to tell the press? |
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- Earlier in the film, an angry Rhodes lectures Tony on responsibility while rejecting his offer of alcohol during their flight to Afghanistan. One Gilligan Cut later, they're both drunk, and the flight attendants are dancing around a retractable stripper pole.
- And even earlier in the film:
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Stane: The best thing about Tony is also the worst thing about Tony: he's always working. |
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- In The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner and Betty Ross are at New York, and they settle on a taxi when it became apparent that using the subway when there were crowds and typical New Yorkers onboard might result in his transforming. It then cuts to them in a taxi with an Eastern European driver who acted as one of the worst drivers in history, with Banner just barely keeping his cool when they arrive at the university that Blue was at, with Betty actually snapping at the driver when she disembarked.
- From the movie Tootsie:
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Michael: Where will I say I got the money? What am I going to do? Tell [Sandy] somebody died and left it to me? |
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- From the movie The Girl Next Door: Matthew sees the title girl next door from the window, undressing. He winds up alone in a car with her a short time later. In order to make up for it, she wants him to expose himself to her.
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[Paraphrased] |
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- Happens in This Is Spinal Tap: "We're not going to do a free-form jazz exploration for a festival crowd." Guess what happened next.
- Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis did something like this without a cut at all. Martin's character was trying to convince Lewis' to be a ventriloquist's dummy, Lewis kept refusing until the guy they were trying to convince walked in the door — and Lewis instantly flopped over like an oversized dummy. Hilarity Ensues.
- Clear and Present Danger. Jack Ryan and CIA man Chavez are in Columbia; Ryan wants to meet Escobedo, the drug cartel Big Bad.
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Chavez: What are you going to do, just knock on his door? |
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- In Heathers, Veronica is coerced into going on a date with someone other than JD and agrees: "Okay, just as long as it's not one of those nights when they get shit-faced and take us to a pasture to tip cows." You can guess what happens next.
- Also happens to the chaplain in Von Ryan's Express, the variant where he is clueless as to what the others are planning for him to do.
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
- When Kumar decides to take a detour at Princeton.
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Harold: Forget it. End of discussion. I am not seeing Cindy Kim. |
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- A later scene has Kumar telling Harold: "You don't have rabies. We're not going to a hospital. You're fine." Guess the setting of the next scene.
- Hot Fuzz uses this frequently.
Mr. Staker: *Over the phone* Mr. Staker. Mr. Peter Ian Staker. Nick: P.I. Staker? Right, Piss taker! COME ON! *Cuts to him talking to Mr. Staker in person* Right, Mr. Staker...
- Independence Day: "If you feel compelled to leave these cities, please do so in an orderly fashion..."
- The original Italian version of the film Swept Away: The two castaways are approaching their island destination on a rubber raft, and Raffaella brushes aside Gennarino's worries about the raft getting punctured on hidden rocks. Cut to them dragging the shredded remains of the raft up onto the shore.
- In the Loop: Sir Jonathan Tutt, the British Ambassador to the United Nations, informs Malcolm Tucker at length why he cannot and will not reschedule a key U.N vote. So, of course, we immediately cut to Sir Jonathan attempting to smarm the other members into rescheduling. And then, when Malcolm needs the vote re-rescheduled, it happens again.
- A non-edit variation occurs in Four Weddings and a Funeral. After he's seated at a table with six of his ex-girlfriends, Charles complains "I seem to be trapped in the wedding from hell, the ghosts of girlfriends past at every turn. Next thing you know, I'll meet Henrietta and the horror will be complete." He turns to the woman that's just walked up: "Hello Hen, how are you?"
- From Thirteen Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis. JFK has been trying to keep up his schedule to avoid questions from the press, but now he needs to cancel a trip to Chicago.
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JFK: You scared to cancel on Daley? |
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- Back to the Future Part II: Marty and Doc are back in 1955, and Marty needs to trail Biff. But first, he needs some Fifties clothes.
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Doc: Something inconspicuous! |
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- Dreamscape. Alex Gardner is refusing to take part in a dream experiment.
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Alex: I'm never going to do this for you, ever! |
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- In But I'm a Cheerleader, after Megan's friends and family stage an intervention and tell her that she is going to anti-gay camp, she protests, "There is no WAY I'm going!" Cut to her looking miserable in the back of the car.
- In That Man from Rio, the hero is dragged into an adventure involving a lost civilization, stolen statues, and a kidnapped archaeologist. His girlfriend says "We'll need a car!" The resourceful street kid asks, "What color?" He snarks, "Rose colored with green stars!" Next moment, they're in a roadster — rose colored with green stars.
- In Cop Out, Jimmy wants Paul to give him a boost into a house. Paul's response is "Fuck no!" Guess what Paul is doing next.
- Thank Your Lucky Stars:
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Farnsworth: We have decided to make you chairman of the benefit committee. But it is to be clearly understood that the position is entirely honorary, and you are not to interfere with the show. |
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- A very direct version occurs in With Six You Get Eggroll. As Abby tells her sister she's not going to wear the red dress to the party, the camera shows her back, then immediately cuts to her back in the red dress at the party.
- Lake Placid: "I'm not going to Maine. I'm NOT going to Maine!" Cut to plane flying over Maine.
- Happens in Lethal Weapon 2, the 'bomb-in-the-toilet' scene. Riggs says he has to call in the bomb squad, and Roger reluctantly agrees, but urges Riggs to keep it quiet. Cuts to Roger's house filled with all sorts of people, a huge crowd outside, and several firetrucks and police cars with their sirens blaring.
- Mel Brooks's To Be or Not to Be:
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Mrs. Bronski: Siletski and Earhart have never met, if we could find somebody to play... (looks to her actor husband) Colonel... Erhardt... |
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- In Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, Harry is looking for a date to Slughorn's party:
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Harry: I'll ask someone I like. Someone cool. |
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- Twister uses this after Jo's truck is destroyed.
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Jo: That's a very nice truck. |
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Cut to Jo, Bill and Melissa in the red truck with the Dorothy equipment in back
Literature[]
- Happens once in Starfighters of Adumar. Red Flight steals four sets of women's clothing, Hobbie asks Wedge to tell them that they're not going to wear it, Wedge says, "Very well, I'm not putting us in women's clothing"...
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Hobbie: You lied to me. |
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- The Dresden Files
- From Grave Peril:
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Michael: Don't worry. Let me do all the talking. |
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- During Dead Beat, Butters wants to take his polka suit with him:
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Butters: I'm not leaving it here for God-knows-what to mess with. |
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- In the novelisation of Gremlins, one chapter ends with Pete swearing he won't forget to feed Gizmo while Billy is away. The entire next chapter is two words: "Pete forgot."
- My Family and Other Animals
- Happens in the two last paragraphs.
- Also at the shift from Part 1 to Part 2:
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"We are not moving to another villa," said Mother firmly. |
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- In Shadowplay, Briony absolutely cannot play the lead in a theater group. Next paragraph, she has only ten days to learn her lines.
- Happens surprisingly often in Tom Clancy's books, though they aren't always exactly humorous in nature, given the tone of the books.
- In The Secrets of Droon, Keeah, Eric, and Neal have to disguise themselves as two girls and a boy to get into Maliban's court. With only one girl in the group, we get this:
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Neal pulled a blue gown off a rack and draped it over Eric's shoulder. |
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- Dr. Seuss' "The Zax" (from his book The Sneetches and Other Stories) featured a Gilligan cut in the last few pages:
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"I'll stay here, not budging! I can and I will |
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- When Locke, the Gentleman Bastard fomr The Lies Of Locke Lamora, encounters the Bondsmage for the first time, we get a short flashback in which his old mentor explains that one must always be very respectful to a Bondsmage or horrible retribution will occur. The first line of the next chapter is Locke addressing the Bondsmage with the words "Nice bird, arsehole."
- A Song of Ice and Fire
- There're some from Tyrion's perspective. At one point when things are going very badly, another dwarf who performs a comedy act asks him to join in, and he refuses blatantly. Guess what he's doing the next time we see him?
- A decidedly un-funny one happens mid-chapter during Tyrion's trial for murdering Joffrey. Tyrion thinks to himself how unfortunate it is that Shae has been forced to testify, but reassures himself that she doesn't know anything that can harm him. The next sentence has "the girl he loved" lying to the court about how he planned the assassination and horribly mistreated her (both of which are totally untrue).
Live-Action TV[]
- Lost has a couple of darkly humorous examples:
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Abaddon: Everything relies on you getting them in, getting them out, and preventing anyone from getting killed. Think you can do that? |
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- Cut to Naomi's corpse.
and
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Miles: If Faraday said get people off the Island... I'd do it. |
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- Cut to Faraday's corpse.
- Friends has one in the One Where Rachel Quits, when she says that it feels so good that she doesn't have to serve coffee ever again. Cut to her new job, where a man tells her how her superior wants his coffee.
- The trope namer, Gilligans Island, has a number of these. To cite one of many examples: in one episode, a group of natives visit the island searching for a "White Goddess" to take back to their island, which presumably has contact with civilization. Rather than putting one of the women in danger, the men decide that one of them dress up in drag to be the White Goddess. When it becomes apparent that the task will fall to Gilligan, he immediately protests, "I'm not gonna dress up like a girl, and you can't make me!", upon which the scene immediately cuts to Gilligan dressed as a woman (and still saying "You can't make me, you can't make me!").
- Stephen Colbert does this right before the interview with his first-act "mini guests". First, he furiously rails against something or someone in the intro, and then he cuts straight to welcoming that person to his show. "[...] I will never, in a million years, ever understand what Jake Tapper was thinking! Here to tell me what Jake Tapper was thinking, please welcome the host of 'This Week', Jake Tapper."
- Done constantly in Married... with Children, usually after Al says something to tempt fate.
- In one instance, Marcy was telling him he needed to see a dentist due to his bad teeth, but Al reassures her that his teeth do not hurt and never have. Gilligan Cut to later in the night as Al screams "Now my teeth hurt!"
- In the episode "Oldies but Young 'Uns", Al becomes obsessed with finding an old song. When he eventually sees it in a record store, the cashier says that it costs 60 dollars:
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Peggy: 60 dollars?! For a record? Hey, look. You must look at my husband, and mistake crazy for stupid. He's not paying sixty dollars for a record, and if he does, I'll kiss your-- |
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- Mamas Family pulls this move in season 1 episode 2. Vint declares to his mother that nothing can make him stop seeing (his mother's mortal enemy & neighbor) Naomi Oates. Immediate cut has Vint doing the very thing. They're married by episode 4.
- Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye has declared his hatred for this trope, considering it a sitcom cliché, and managed to get away with only using it once in the entire run of MBB (Ken has taken over the pub; Gary declares that he and Tony will not set foot in there again until Les is restored as barman — Gilligan Cut to him and Tony convivially sharing a drink with Ken inside the pub).
- Subverted in The Mighty Boosh when Howard refuses to dress as a panda, saying no man should ever be forced to do that. Cut to Vince dressed as a panda instead.
- Hogan's Heroes. In "Everyone loves a Snowman", Hogan and his men are trying to hide a recently downed bomber crew and the Gestapo finds and needs to fill a false tunnel in the barracks. Hogan tells the airmen not to worry, "There are twenty barracks on this base and we have tunnels to all but one, barracks 4." Cut to the men standing in front of Barracks #4.
- In a segment of Beakmans World on magic, Phoebe complains how they're gonna make her the bubble-brained assistant just because she's a girl. Beak says, "If anyone around here is going to be humiliated, it certainly won't be you." Everyone agrees, including Lester... until he realizes what that means. A half second later, Whip Pan to the stage, and Lester as the bubble-brained assistant, complete with costume.
- Variation both in the original series and The Movie of The Beverly Hillbillies: Granny loudly declares her opposition to leaving, stating that they won't get her out of her rockin' chair. The next scene shows the truck packed and loaded, including Granny's rocker. Granny's still in it.
- Chef did this all the time.
- A rare dramatic Gilligan Cut occurs in the My So-Called Life episode "Life of Brian":
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Brian: (voiceover) I vow to never again show up at Angela's door with some lame excuse! |
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- From one episode of Home and Away:
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Cassie: I am not getting in Brad's car with you! (cut) I don't know how you talked me into this. |
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- And Jules doesn't know either.
- Wings
- In the episode "Death Becomes Him", Joe and Brian accidentally fly the wrong corpse in for a funeral. Brian suggests that Joe masquerade as the dead man until they have time to switch the bodies.
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Brian: Get in the box, Joe. |
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- Subverted in the episode "I've Got a Secret". Alex confides to Helen and Antonio that she once posed in Playboy. When Joe and Brian discover that Antonio knows a secret about Alex, they begin to badger him.
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Joe: Come on. Tell us what you know. |
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- However, the cut ends up being deceptive, as it was not Antonio who blabbed, but Helen.
- Used for an extremely rare dramatic effect in the HBO Miniseries Generation Kill. The Marines of First Recon is stopped in the middle of the night at the edge of the Euphrates River, preparing to launch an assault into Nasiriya.
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Lt. Nathaniel Fick: I promise you, we will move out under cover of darkness. |
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- Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel made frequent use of these.
- "Bad Eggs":
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Willow: Maybe you could get Angel to help you find the Gorches. |
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- "First Date":
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Xander: (captured by a demon he'd been dating after his tendency to date dangerous demons was pointed out once again) I knew it. See? I knew it. |
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- "Selfless"
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Flashback!Anya: I'm the Mrs.! I will be his Mrs.! I'll be... |
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- "I Will Remember You":
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Doyle: You don't know what Buffy and Angel are doing down there. |
|
- Plus, there's the scene that references the title of the episode. Buffy is in tears, and swear she will never forget that day. Then, the Elders press the Reset Button, and Buffy (along with everybody else except Angel) has forgotten everything that happened that day.
- "Over The Rainbow":
|
(Angel and the gang get into a fight) |
|
- "The Puppet Show"
|
Snyder: From now on, you're going to see a very different Sunnydale High; a tight ship. Clean, orderly... and quiet. |
|
- From "I Robot, You Jane"
|
Buffy: Follow Dave? What, in dark glasses and a trench coat? Please. I can work this out myself. |
|
- From Merlin in the episode "To Kill the King", Morgana challenges Uther.
|
Uther: Take care child, or I'll have you restrained. |
|
- From Supernatural 6.07 "Family Matters", as Dean wants to get involved in the hunt on the Alpha Vampire:
|
Dean: (to Samuel) Big Daddy bloodsucker? I ain't gonna miss that. But this is your deal, I get it. I'll follow your lead. I trust you. |
|
- In Babylon 5, Londo and G'Kar are on Centauri Prime just when yet another conflict between the Centauri and the Narns starts, and a Centauri official demands G'Kar to be imprisoned as a security liability until the crisis is over. Londo responds "Where he goes, I go", and turns to G'Kar to comment that even one as arrogant as him wouldn't dare to imprison his own Prime Minister. Scene cut, and they're both standing in a cell, and Londo shouts "Shut up!" to G'Kar before he can say anything.
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 loves to put this trope in the mouths of the victim-movie's characters.
- Top Gear
- In series 5, episode 2, there are two in rapid succession.
|
James May: All you have to do [to enter the competition] is answer this very, very tricky automotive question: "Which Italian super car maker features a prancing horse on its logo?" |
|
- It should be noted the rest of the segment was packed full of Pink Floyd tracks, as well as numerous "The only thing as awesome as this car is this book I've been reading" lines.
- Another example, from the Vietnam episode:
|
(Hammond and May are sitting comfortably in a bar, drinking) |
|
- And from the same episode:
|
Clarkson: (voiceover) Still, at least I'd been assured it wouldn't rain. |
|
- And still from the same episode:
|
Clarkson (with his bike having broken down yet again) Still, at least my mates wouldn't leave me behind this time. |
|
- From series 16, episode 3, where they go to Albania:
|
Clarkson: (After reading a letter requesting a car test for the Albanian Mafia) This caused one hell of a row in the office. The producers said, 'We should go out to Albania and do the test,' and we said, 'No! We can't be seen to be helping the Mafia!' We were adamant. We said, 'this is our line in the sand. We will, not, go.' |
|
- In one commentary on Father Ted, Graham Linehan called this trope the "bicycle joke", giving an example that begins with the line "You'll never catch me riding a bicycle".
|
Dougal: If you're a solicitor, then I'm Boy George! |
|
- "The bicycle joke" happens about Once Per Episode on Last of the Summer Wine, exactly as Linehan describes.
- Episode 4 of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight has Maya tell her friend she will not get coffee for anyone. The next scene has her getting coffee for the woman she is working with.
- Myth Busters
- Reversed in an episode where they tested a bulletproof plexiglass, because Jamie said it was bulletproof. Jamie: "I never said it was bulletproof". Cut to an older episode, with Jamie gesturing to the substance and saying "It'll stop a bullet". Repeated for comic effect.
- Also reversed on Adam during the American Graffiti myth with his prediction of the outcome, which spawned the now-famous "I reject your reality and substitute my own" line.
- Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire has an episode where Matt Lucas's character says to his girlfriend (who has just contracted a serious illness) that he is not going to let her die. The next scene has him crying over her grave.
- The first episode of Frasier has Frasier closing a scene by refusing to let Eddie, his father's dog, move in with them. The very next scene opens with Eddie staring at Frasier on the couch.
- One Foot in the Grave enjoys these. Example:
|
Victor: I. Do. Not. Want. A Dog! |
|
- Monk has a number of interesting Gilligan Cuts.
- In Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny, Monk and Sharona are seen at a homeless shelter. Monk asks if there is a more subtle disguise that will prevent them from standing out. Cut to Monk and Sharona at the serving counter.
- In Mr. Monk Is on the Run Part Two, there is a scene where Stottlemeyer makes Natalie promise not to look for Monk after he fakes his death. Natalie promises, then we immediately cut to her hurriedly packing a suitcase.
- An interesting one is this exchange in Mr. Monk Buys a House:
|
[Jake is assessing some damage to a wiring fixture and the likely repair needed] |
|
- A few seconds later:
|
"Honest" Jake Phillips: But I know a great plumber. His name is Ramone. They call him "Honest Ramone". |
|
- The West Wing: Josh has made a political deal that helps the White House but screws over Mandy, his old girlfriend:
|
Mandy: You know what the worst part about this is? |
|
|
Bryn: There is no way you are getting me out clubbing in Cardiff tonight! |
|
- 60 Second Sitcoms were minute-long sitcom parodies (complete with opening and ending titles) that TV Land used to show between programs. One called Spin and Cutter was a parody of this trope.
|
(spin and Cutter trudge into the living room) |
|
- Lampshaded by Pete in Thirty Rock:
|
|
- In the Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode "Visionary":
|
Sisko: And Major, when you're with the Romulans, try to be... diplomatic. |
|
- On Breaking Bad, Marie is giving a sponge bath to her husband, Hank, while he's recuperating from surgery after being shot. He's reluctant to leave the hospital, while Marie wants him home, so Marie strikes up a deal: if she can make his... you know... stand up, salute, and... you know... within one minute, he will leave the hospital. He laughs at her, saying that there is no way, just no w--... jump cut to an annoyed Hank being wheeled out of the hospital, followed by a smirking and, presumably, triumphant Marie.
- Yes, Prime Minister does this in the episode "One of Us":
|
Hacker: Don't discuss this with Arnold until I've spoken to him. |
|
- Reba
- In an episode, Reba's son-in-law becomes a driver in a pizza joint while having no vehicle of his own, so he requests Reba to drive him for deliveries. Reba refuses and refuses...and cut! In the next, scene she is driving her son-in-law for deliveries, albeit reluctantly.
- In an earlier episode, her ex-husband begs her to come with him to help him spread his father's ashes on a golf course. She declares, "Uh-uh! Those puppy-dog eyes aren't gonna work on me anymore!" Cut to the golf course, where she stands next to him holding a rake.
- How I Met Your Mother uses this from time to time.
- In the episode where Ted and Barney drunkenly talk about getting Robin back:
|
Barney: I should probably leave... before I do something I regret... |
|
- Another example is in early season 6. Barney needs help moving, and asks for help. The gang point out that not even he, the master manipulator, can get them to help him move. Barney smiles, loosens his tie, cricks his neck, flexes his knuckles, takes a breath and...
|
(cut to the gang in Barney's mother's house, packing boxes) |
|
- In the second episode of Season 7:
|
Marshall: I wanna be the kind of man my child can look up to. So, sweeping declaration, I am never getting drunk again as long as I live. (the rest of the gang laughs) I'm serious! (scene briefly stops so Future Ted can narrate) |
|
- The ICarly special iQuit iCarly had this:
|
Spencer: NO! WE NEVER SURRENDER THIS BOAT! |
|
- A very early episode of Zoey 101 had this, when Zoey is telling Chase about how living with Quinn is giving her a hard time:
|
Chase: You can't just look a girl in the face and say, "I don't want to live with you anymore." |
|
- In the Victorious episode "The Wood":
|
Beck: The producers took two seperate phone conversations and cut them together! |
|
- Big Time Rush
- From the episode "Big Time Demos":
|
Kelly: What are you gonna do, chimp-nap Lolo and train him to like Big Time Rush? |
|
- Subverted in "Big Time Wedding", when Mrs. Knight says that she absolutely refuses to marry Buddha Bob. Cut to the two at the Palm Woods pool in wedding clothes, where a "sermon" is reciting a passage and asks Mrs. Knight if she's sure about this...and she refuses.
- And lastly, in the pilot, a Gilligan Cut without the cut. Gustavo yells at Kendall, saying that he absolutely refuses to take James, Carlos, and Logan with him to Los Angeles. Kendall says, "So... we have a deal." And Gustavo agrees.
- The Sarah Jane Adventures episode "The Nightmare Man Part 1" features this exchange:
|
Luke: Are you really gonna make scrambled egg? Remember what happened last time? |
|
- Done in reverse order in the Back to Front Seinfeld episode "The Betrayal":
|
FDR: Are--are you dense? I said I wanted you to drop dead. Now... drop dead! |
|
- Taxi. A Gilligan Cut without the cut: the gang is helping Jim out at his new bar. Jim hears that Alex plays piano and loudly introduces him as a performer. Alex adamantly states that he won't play — a gorgeous woman sidles up to him and purrs "I'd love to hear 'Ebb Tide'." Alex promptly launches into "Ebb Tide".
- Dexter has one of these when the title character goes after a new killer who poses as a car salesman. He's duped quite well in a funny moment.
|
Dexter: I go in there to hunt a serial killer, I come out with a new car. How the hell did that happen? |
|
- In his defence, it was a great car for his purposes (transporting his victims).
- In the No Ordinary Family episode "No Ordinary Quake", Jim & Stephanie are talking about how to test their son JJ for superpowers
|
Jim: So what're you going to do, honey? You gonna tell your son you don't believe him and, what, ask him for his DNA? |
|
- Played with, perhaps unintentionally, in the Star Trek the Original Series episode "Spectre of the Gun": the group decide they'll wait right here until 5:00, when they're scheduled for the shootout at the OK Corral (It Makes Sense in Context), but are instantly teleported there.
- This happened at least once per episode in Johnny Tolengo, where Juan Carlos Calabró played a snarky pop singer half his own age.
- From an episode of Sledge Hammer, when it's suggested that the police hold a fund-raising telethon:
|
Captain Trunk: That is the most preposterous thing that I have ever heard! We will have a telethon over my dead body! |
|
- Justified: Arlo to Raylan: "You're not gonna arrest me!" Cut to Raylan dragging him off in handcuffs.
- In the Spartacus: Blood and Sand episode "The Thing in the Pit", Spartacus is condemned to fight in the pits, as is Kerza.
|
Kerza: I'm not dying in the pits. I'll show these cunts. My cock was forged in Vulcan's flames! I will fuck! Them! All!! |
|
- On Boy Meets World, Cory wants to dress up as a girl as part of a "Chick Like Me" plot, but when he tries it out he looks very unconvincing. He and Topanga then suggest that Shawn do it instead, to which Shawn refuses. Cut to school the next day where Shawn is dressed as a girl.
- In the BBC adaptation of The Body in the Library, Colonel Bantry's "I am not going downstairs to ask if there is a body in my library" is instantly disproved.
- In part two of the Power Rangers Dino Thunder/Ninja Storm crossover episode, Blake insists that there's absolutely no way he's going to follow Hunter and Cam into the Abyss of Evil to reclaim their powers. Cut to him wearing a helmet and rappelling gear, stating once more for the record that he thinks this is a bad idea before they begin climbing down.
Tabletop Games[]
- Feng Shui, in keeping with the action/comedy genre, actively advised this as a way of resolving disputes with recalcitrant players. If one person adamantly refuses to go along with something, Gilligan Cut to him going along with it anyway.
Theater[]
- In Lysistrata, the title character tells the Greek women that she has a way to end the war. One of the women says she'll do anything, just anything. L. says, "We have to stop sleeping with our men." "Anything but THAT!" Which makes this Older Than Feudalism.
Video Games[]
- The Starcraft custom campaign, "The Shifters". The pre-mission briefing for Chapter 3, between space-pirate Yvonne and his girlfriend/XO went thusly:
|
XO: Please tell me you have a plan. We're not just going to walk in the front entrance, are we? |
|
- Flight of the Amazon Queen. Joe King escapes from the hotel room he was locked up in, but is caught by two goons at the hotel entrance.
|
Eddy: I don't know how you got out of your room, King, but this time I'm going to make it difficult for you to leave the building! |
|
- There's a text one at the start of Big Shell Evil in Metal Gear Solid 2's "Snake Tales". Otacon wants Snake to go to the Big Shell to look after his sister, Snake tells him no, Otacon continues asking, Snake says "Leave me alone!", and the next paragraph starts "Six hours later, I was standing on the Big Shell".
- In World of Warcraft, the Alliance quest that brings you to the Twilight Highlands has one of these. Fargo Flintlocke, the airplane pilot, tells you to not black out after using the entire fuel supply to get you to the highlands as fast as possible. Then it cuts to you waking up with the dwarf standing in front of you looking at the plane, crashed in a ship's mast. Fargo's response was, "Oh, like you coulda done any better."
- In the "Get Tannen!" episode of the Telltale Games adventure game Back to The Future: The Game, Artie McFly (Marty's grandfather) is hiding from Kid Tannen (Biff's father), a mobster and Artie's former boss. Marty and Doc Brown try to convince him to go to Kid's speakeasy to meet with Kid's singer and lover Trixie (who is secretly in love with Artie). He utterly refuses, which immediately cuts to "I don't know why I let you convince me..." as they are approaching the speakeasy.
- In Halo: Reach, this little conversation:
|
Catherine-B320: All we need is a green light from Holland. |
|
Visual Novel[]
- In Kira Kira, Shikanosuke swears he will not dress as a girl to get into Sarina's mansion. No way. Not happening. Even if he can pull off an extremely effective girl, it will never ever happen again. After that declaration, he gets an entire line before we get a cut to him. You have to hand it to him, he manages to actually look better than any of the real girls.
- In Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1, the Christmas event with Reiichi Himuro in the third year has the protagonist ask him to take her with him to his friend's bar after the school's Christmas party. He adamantly refuses, saying it's no place for him to take a student. Cut to "Yo, welcome. A table for two?"
Web Animation[]
- Subverted in the Homestar Runner cartoon "Bug in Mouth Disease". Strong Bad is watching a Caleb Rentpayer marathon, and the announcer says, "And coming up next on Caleb Rentpayer, find out who shot Caleb." "'Who shot Caleb?' Oh, there's no way I'm missing that one. NO. WAY." Fade out and fade in on the couch now empty. It turns out he was just sitting right in front of the TV with his head taped to the screen.
Web Comics[]
- R Typic: I do NOT want to go with some strangers that pull off an ass pull, even if it means not going to the HardSuit cup. AND THIS IS FINAL
- Gai-Gin: "On my honour, I solemnly swear I am not going to sleep with that boy..."
- The Way of the Metagamer likes this trope. It's used at least twice.
- Suicide for Hire: Arcturus doesn't want to go to an acid orgy.
- The Devils Panties: Jennie's friend lends her a car and warns her, "Just be careful, it's really easy to speed in this thing."
|
Jennie: Oh, don't worry. We won't have any trouble. |
|
- Done while Lampshade Hanging in El Goonish Shive in this strip. A comic book geek rants about how midichlorians ruined the Star Wars prequels because they explained something no-one cared about. Immediately, it cuts to Susan explaining why only women can use Hyperspace Mallets.
- The Order of the Stick
- When Roy finally stands up to Miko, he says, "If you want to bring us to your master, you'll have to drag us there in chains." Cut to the entire party (except Durkon) in chains, being dragged by Miko.
|
|
- Also, when Belkar meets an Eye of Fear and Flame.
- Homestuck's Dave Strider insists he doesn't cry. Anachronic Order ensures that in the very next panel we see, he does exactly that. (Although you might blame the onions.)
- A chapter of Fans involved a court ruling against a polygamist sect. When the judge essentially declared Polyamory as amoral, Rikk and Ally (who are two-thirds of a mutually consenting threesome with Rumy) were concerned about Rumy's response. Rikk told Ally, "We'll follow our usual house rules. No b-s, no sitcommy half-statements, just the truth." Next frame, they start acting overly nice to Rumy, knowing that she will blow her top when she learns that her love for Rikk and Ally is being challenged.
- Rain
|
Rain: (thinking) And even if he did, he probably wouldn't even believe what he saw, right? Yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't tell anyone... |
|
- And then this comic.
- Bobwhite: Cleo refuses to work at Gameplace.
- A Flash Back in Skin Horse has Violet Bee of Anasigma, visiting reculusive and bearded inventor Sergio Mendoza, and telling him they are interested in his inventions. He's horrified by this, and sets off to Anasigma, with the intention of shutting down the one they've actually built. Cut to present day, and he's clean-shaven in an Anasigma office.
- Far earlier, in the "I can Fly" arc, Dr. Lee realized Tip was bullshitting her:
|
Dr. Lee: You think you can distract me, doctor? Go ahead and try. Hit me with your best shot. (cut to them both in bed) |
|
Web Original[]
- Happens twice in a row in the Kate Modern episode "Spiders":
|
Gavin: I've got a plan B. |
|
- The classic (written) Mystery Science Theater 3000 of The Eye of Argon kind of has this:
|
The paunchy noble's sagging round face flushed suddenly pale, |
|
- A veritable Running Gag of The Nostalgia Critic. He's constantly thinking that movies could only be made sillier, stupider, or worse if they do the one thing... that they're about to do.
- Also happens in Kickassia, when The Cinema Snob agrees to talk to Critic about the twenty tons of dynamite he ordered.
|
Paw: What if he suspects us going behind his back? |
|
- This is how Linkara summarizes the plot of JLA: The Obsidian Age Book One in his Comics in Five Panels:
|
"We're the Justice League, and we have to go back in time to rescue Aquaman! This certainly won't result in our deaths or anything!" |
|
- It's basically a staple trope of That Guy With The Glasses crew.
- Skippys List has two consecutive entries which form one:
|
33. Not allowed to chew gum at formation, unless I brought enough for everybody. |
|
- A typical joke on Cracked articles of the "top x" variety. If they say "That's an oxymoron, like pyromaniac firemen", the next point will be about pyromaniac firemen.
- One happens during the Two Best Friends Play video of Portal 2 when Chell is going through G La DOS's old chamber:
|
Matt: So nothing bad is going to happen? |
|
- In We Are Our Avatars, The Grinning General has this as one of his powers. If he tries to invoke this power, his body severely pays the price.
- Occasionally happens in a dark way in The SCP files, as below in an excerpt from File II on SCP-087:
|
' Dr. ______': Thank you. Please continue down. |
|
Western Animation[]
- Hey Arnold absolutely loves this trope.
- "Arnold as Cupid", S1:
|
Oscar: Don't worry, Arnold, I can't lose. (cut) ...I can't believe I lost. |
|
- "Das Subway", S1:
|
Helga: No subway for me. Not no way, not no how. I am NOT taking the subway. (cut) ...I can't believe I'm taking the subway. |
|
- "Big Caesar", S2:
|
Gerald: No way, Arnold. There's no way we're fishing in a swan boat. (cut) ...I can't believe we're fishing in a swan boat. |
|
- "Grand Prix", S3:
|
Arnold: Stinky, we are not calling our go-cart the Mauve Avenger. (cut) ...I cannot believe we called our go-cart the Mauve Avenger. |
|
- "Dinner for Four", S3:
|
Helga: Look, I am not gonna go back in there, tell them the truth, and wind up washing dishes. (cut) ...I can't believe I told them the truth, and I wound up washing dishes. |
|
|
Rhonda: You may have lost your dignity, but I certainly haven't lost mine! There is no way I am recycling old bottles and cans to pay for my LUNCH! |
|
- Family Guy
- Double Subversion in the episode "Death is a Bitch". Death asks Peter to take over for him by crashing a plane full of people, and Peter absolutely refuses.
|
Peter: Forget it, Death, I'm not gonna do your dirty work! There's no way I'm getting on that plane! Absolutely no way, and that's final. |
|
- In another episode:
|
Lois: Peter, I'm getting a little worried about Chris. All he does lately is sit alone in his room talking to that zit. |
|
- Subverted in the episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire". Peter remarks that he and Brian shouldn't tell Cleveland that his wife is having an affair. That's the last thing they want to do. Gilligan Cut to Peter and Brian having done everything else in the world, so since there's nothing left to do, they might as well tell Cleveland that his wife had an affair.
- And in the same episode, after Peter and Brian have found out that Quagmire was the one who slept with Loretta, Quagmire begs them not to tell Cleveland, which Peter says he won't do. Cut to Cleveland at the Griffins' house, where Peter is telling him just that.
- Subverted in the episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire". Peter remarks that he and Brian shouldn't tell Cleveland that his wife is having an affair. That's the last thing they want to do. Gilligan Cut to Peter and Brian having done everything else in the world, so since there's nothing left to do, they might as well tell Cleveland that his wife had an affair.
- Freakazoid provides a subversion. Freakazoid declares emphatically he is not going into the sewers after Cobra Queen. We cut to the sewers; the camera pans around, but Freakazoid isn't there. Cut to him sitting at home, watching Animaniacs.
|
Freakazoid: (to audience) See? I said I'd never go. |
|
- Outright lampshaded in "Candlejack", where Freakazoid encounters a villain who can only capture those who say his name aloud.
|
Steph: Don't say his name! |
|
- Futurama
- In the episode "Time Keeps on Slippin'", time-skips are setting up natural Gilligan Cuts. Though oddly this is a bit of a subversion as a subplot is Fry (and the audience) trying to figure out what worked.
|
Leela: (on Fry loving her) I appreciate it, but nothing you can do will ever, ever make me... |
|
- There is also this one, after Fry asks to enter the basketball game against the Harlem Globetrotters:
|
Fry: We're 35 points ahead with two minutes left. What could possibly-- |
|
- The children in a localized skip:
|
(Child 1 watches old man walk out of the SSI office) |
|
- South Park
- "Woodland Critter Christmas":
|
Narrator: So he [Stan] picked up the cubs and down the mountain he stormed, and took them to where abortions are performed. |
|
- Used twice in the episode "Butt Out": first, a team of cheesy motivational performers visit the school assembly to discourage smoking:
|
Actors: Remember kids, if you smoke, you could grow up to be a failure. Worse yet, you could grow up to be dead! So don't believe what those evil tobacco companies tell you! Yeah, because if you don't smoke, you could grow up to be just like us! |
|
- Also in "Butt Out":
|
Kyle: If we go to the tobacco company, I know exactly what will happen: they'll take us in, and then Rob Reiner will show up with all of the townspeople holding torches or something, and there'll be a big showdown until we talk about what we learned, and changed everyone's minds, this is all following a formula! |
|
- From "Tsst":
|
Cartman: (Who is residing beside a trash bin in the rain) This is BULLCRAP! Mom'll break soon. I can outlast her. |
|
- Drawn Together had one episode where Foxxy Love was vehemently protesting she would not run a suicide hotline, only to have her agree to it after the cut. She lampshades it by muttering "Goddamnit!".
- Played with in Courage the Cowardly Dog. Muriel decides to take Eustace and Courage on vacation, but Eustace insists that he's not getting out of his chair. Cut to a view of the boat sailing off. Then cut to Eustace sitting in the same chair on the deck of the boat. "Nope. Not getting out of this chair."
- This is almost certainly borrowed from The Beverly Hillbillies, as mentioned above.
- The Batman provides a bit of an odd example in "Artifacts":
|
Mr. Freeze: The cryo-chamber. Cold enough to put me on ice until someone wakes me up and puts me back together. |
|
- George Shrinks. Becky asks George if anyone will mind the fact he's taken a number of parts from household objects to build his ghost catching machine. George says that they won't even miss them. Cut to Junior finding the wheels off his toy car gone, Mom noticing the vacuum cleaner has had parts ripped from it and Dad finding his tape deck has vanished.
- In the Invader Zim episode "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", Professor Membrane explains that any attempt to travel back in time and change history is likely to create a future that is worse for the traveler (or cause, say, a giant fish in a bear suit to attack Tokyo). The Professor finishes, "Anyone who would want to build a space-time object replacement device is a complete moron!" Of course, the next thing we see is Zim saying "Gir, the space-time object replacement device is ready!"
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Subverted temporarily in the episode "Born Again Krabs". Mr. Krabs prepares to take a bite out of an old, filthy, tainted patty. Just as he is about to bite down on it, the shot cuts to an ambulance, implying that Krabs was now being rushed to the hospital. As it turns out, the ambulance was only passing by the Krusty Krab. Krabs comments on it, then takes a bite out of the patty, and the cut is played straight afterwards.
- Played straight in "Can You Spare a Dime?". After quitting his job, Squidward claims that the town will soon be eating out of the palm of his hand. Cut to him sitting in a box asking for change from people walking by.
- Done on Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy in the episode "Sir Ed-A-Lot", where Sarah forces the Eds to play "princess" with her:
|
Eddy: Next thing you know she's gonna want a throne. |
|
- Sonic Sat AM has this (part of a plan to steal Robotnik's materials):
|
Sonic: A hedgehog never gives up. |
|
- The Simpsons
- Variation on the trope in the episode "Burns Baby Burns". Mr. Burns's son, an uncultured slacker voiced by Rodney Dangerfield, finds his father. Appalled by Larry Burns' antics, Burns disowns him. A saddened Larry walks late at night with Homer, trying to find some way of regaining his father's love.
|
Homer: Larry, there's only one sure way to make him realize how much he loves you, and that is a phony kidnapping! |
|
- Double Subverted in another episode, when Homer accidentally leaves Maggie at a convent and they won't give her back. When coming up with a plan, Homer says he absolutely won't dress up like a nun. Cut forward to him...reaffirming he isn't dressed as a nun. Then Lisa says they don't need him to, and then he says "You sure?" and goes off screen for a second and comes back dressed as a nun saying that he has the costume already.
- During a Documentary Episode titled "Springfield Up":
|
Declan Desmond: Are you two considering children? |
|
- In Super Mario World: "What are they going to do? Banish us to the lava pit?" One cut later....
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron "Out, Darn Spotlight":
|
Jimmy: Ah, no big deal. I didn't really want to be in this play. (Cut) YOU GOTTA PUT ME IN THIS PLAY! I'LL DO ANYTHING! Even... (clears throat) Stage crew. |
|
- Kim Possible's brothers are suffering a bad cold and she's trying to keep them from sneezing everywhere:
|
Kim: I do not want to catch this. |
|
- In the same episode, Ron and Doctor Drakken also catch colds after making similar statements.
- In one episode of Phineas and Ferb:
|
Candace: Yes, they're building something. But I've realized that the problem is I always jump the gun. So I'm gonna wait until just the right moment... (stops and looks panicked) |
|
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- In "The Cave of Two Lovers", after the Gaang decides not to go through the tunnel:
|
(an extremely large number of catapults shoot at them) |
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- In "Runaway", Aang solemnly gives his Avatar promise not to go scamming people again. Cut, and we see a montage of them doing exactly that.
- In "The Puppetmaster", the gang is staying at a creepy inn. After hearing some creaky noises arround the inn, Sokka is, of course, completely scared shitless. Talking to Momo, he says, "I know, Momo, I'm scared too, I'll never be able to sleep like this." Cut, and we see Sokka deep asleep, snoring loudly, and drooling all over the pillow.
- The Fairly Odd Parents
- A scene from episode "Nectar of the Odds", when Timmy wants to raise money to buy some shockingly expensive tickets from Francis to see Crash Nebula on ice:
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Wanda: How do most ten-year-olds make money? |
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- Also, earlier in the same episode, it inverts this:
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A.J.: What are you gonna do? Make three tickets appear like magic? |
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- And in "Foul Balled":
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Timmy: Stop laughing at my friend. You're still down 29 runs with 1 inning left. There's no way you can catch us! |
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- The list goes on...
- Also done in an episode of Danny Phantom, when Danny comes up with an idea involving overshadowing Tucker:
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Tucker: No way. Forget it. Absolutely not! NO! |
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- From American Dad Christmas episode "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls":
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Stan: I promise I will not buy Steve a gun for Christmas. |
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- From the first season episode "Stan of Arabia (Part II)"
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Roger: Look, I don't know what you've heard about American girls, but we don't just jump into bed with someone we just met. |
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- My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic
- Done in the episode "Call of the Cutie", without a cut thanks to the Rule of Perception. Apple Bloom insists that she isn't going to a party. During this, the camera zooms in on her face, and then zooms back out to show that the party somehow already started right around her.
- Done again, though with an actual cut, in the episode "Cutie Mark Chronicles".
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Scootaloo: These mamby-pamby stories aren't getting us any closer to getting our cutie marks... We need action, we need Rainbow Dash! |
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- In "Sisterhooves Social":
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(in the park) |
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- The Ren and Stimpy Show, "Stimpy's Cartoon". When Stimpy finishes the eponymous cartoon, he rushes to arrange a meeting with (fictional) Golden Age cartoonist Wilbur Cobb. Ren quips "You're living in a dream world if you think the great Cobb'll see you!", which prompts a Match Cut to Ren in a suit, waiting with Stimpy in Wilbur Cobb's office.
- The Problem Solverz
- Done in "Videogamez".
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Konishi: I warn you, though, the game is dangerous. Don't let it suck you in. |
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- And again in "Fauxboro".
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Alfe: Just don't tell Horace I've gone crazy. |
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- The Penguins of Madagascar
- In the episode "Sting Operation", the title characters try to remove a hornets' nest, and fail.
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"They took us by surprise that time. Took away our greatest weapons; stealth, and superior tactics. But that ain't gonna happen twice." |
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- The episode "Herring Impaired" features Private and Kowalski contracting a disease which causes them to babble uncontrollably and crave fish. Skipper, while attempting to control them by repeatedly slapping them, insists that his "iron constitution" has made him immune to the disease. Rico turns away, only to realise seconds later that Skipper has stopped slapping the other two, and turns around just in time to see Skipper get crazy eyes and scream "FIIIIIISH!"
- Batman the Animated Series
- Episode "Pretty Poison" has a bunch of these one after the other. In a conversation with Dent and Ivy at dinner talking about Bruce, Dent claims he is late because he is probably busy, cue the shot of Batman trying to catch a bad guy. He then comments he runs with a high class of crowd because of his wealth, cue the shot of Batman running after the bad guy. Lastly he mentions Bruce still gets his kicks, cue Batman kicking the bad guy.
- In "Eternal Youth", Alfred insists he cannot go to the spa with Maggie. Wipe to the next scene where he is being driven by Maggie to the spa.
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Alfred: I'm being shanghaied. |
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- From Tuff Puppy:
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Dudley: What's he gonna do? Put us in jail? |
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- In Megas XLR, "Rear view mirror, mirror" Coop is surrounded by other Mechs ordering his surrender. His comment is a confident "No prob, I got this!" Immediately cut to Coop chained up and being dragged off.
- In Potsworth and Company episode "When Bubba Rules", the Nightmare Prince's Mother sent Count Bubba Bonebreaker to replace him. When asked about what he'd be, the Nightmare Prince was told he'd be a janitor. He then said he wouldn't be one even in a billion years. Cut to the next scene, where he's already doing janitor duties.
- In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, as Monkey trains Po to restrain his punches to help Kwan the Unkillable win in his last match using plates...
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Po: What if we run out of plates? |
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Real Life[]
- "I'll just close my eyes for a minute, but I definitely won't go to sleep. This paper's due in the morning!" — Cut to waking up three hours late the next morning, paper still unfinished.
- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. On February 10, he announced that he would not be stepping down, contrary to rumors that had been flying around. The next day, his Vice President, Omar Suleiman, announced his resignation.
- The infamous "Baghdad Bob" became a Running Gag in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when his pronouncements that the US was being thrown back by the Iraqi army would be shortly contradicted by reports of a smashing American victory in the same city.