History Main / CardboardPal

* Malia Hosoka's then new partner for her Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} run, Lexie Fyfe...on a stick.

* In ''Series/TheGoodies'' epsiode "Bunfight at the O.K. Tea Rooms", Graeme creates a dummy of himself out of a frying pan, a mop and some other odds and ends to fool the others while he sneaks away to register the cream claim. Tim and Bill converse with it for some time before they notice anything is amiss.
* In an episode of ''Series/MenBehavingBadly'', [[HeterosexualLifePartners Tony and Gary]] have fallen out, so Gary constructs a fake Tony out of an inflatable sex doll and Tony's clothes so they can continue to have their [[SeinfeldianConversation Seinfeldian Conversations]] on the sofa while drinking lager. It gets awkward when the real Tony returns halfway through and Gary has to hastily cram the doll under his cushion to hide and try to deflate it.

* Back during his LateNight days, DavidLetterman once had an episode where he and his guest replaced themselves with mannequins and prerecorded audio so that they could sneak off and do other things.

** Another episode has Homer leaving a dummy of himself (made out of buckets, rubber gloves and other odds and ends) and tape recording of him singing "She Works Hard For the Money" to cover for him at work. The dummy gets promoted before bursting into flames.

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* Malia Hosoka's then new partner for her Wrestling/{{Shimmer}} run, Lexie Fyfe...on a stick.

* In the Music/FleetwoodMac video for the song "Tusk", bassist John [=McVie=] was in Tahiti and was unable to come to the filming at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. To make up for the absence, Mick Fleetwood had a cardboard cutout of [=McVie=] made and carried it around the stadium, eventually placing it with the rest of the band.

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* In ''{{Grenadier}}'', Mikan Kurenai often evades captivity by creating a balloon sculpture of herself, which always fools the captor for exactly the length of time it takes her to escape.

* Taking a leaf from SherlockHolmes' book (see below), one early ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story had him using a dummy of Bruce Wayne positioned in a window to fool an assassin.
* {{Tintin}} uses this trick in ''Tintin in America''.

* In ''HomeAlone'', Kevin uses several tricks, one of them a cardboard cutout of Michael Jordan, to fool the bandits into thinking the house is occupied and having a party.

* SherlockHolmes uses a waxwork bust of himself to lure a would-be assassin in "The Adventure of the Empty House".

* In the ''MST3K'' episode ''{{Hobgoblins}}'', Mike and the 'bots get so fed up with the titular movie, they actually make cardboard cutouts of themselves and place them in the theater and the bridge along with some poorly acted messages playing on a tape recorder. They manage to fool everyone but Observer.
** During the ending credits, they perform a mock interview of the film's director Rick Sloane using another cutout and Crow doing the voice. The real Sloane was reportedly not amused: understandable since they claim that Sloane was "high on crack" and "had his brain replaced by rat droppings".

* In an episode of ''MenBehavingBadly'', [[HeterosexualLifePartners Tony and Gary]] have fallen out, so Gary constructs a fake Tony out of an inflatable sex doll and Tony's clothes so they can continue to have their [[SeinfeldianConversation Seinfeldian Conversations]] on the sofa while drinking lager. It gets awkward when the real Tony returns halfway through and Gary has to hastily cram the doll under his cushion to hide and try to deflate it.

** Ross thinks that Rachel and Monica enjoy immensely watching him doing "bits" like surfing or pretending to watch TV. When it gets old, they don't want to hurt his feelings. Chandler and Joey lend them their cardboard ladies from ''Bay Watch'', and they put their faces on them. Both parties are satisfied: Ross has the audience and Rachel and Monica are finally free.
* On ''TheDish'', Danielle Fishell has cut-outs of most of the NewMoon cast.
* In one episode of ''MyNameIsEarl'', Randy makes a full-sized Darnell doll because he misses the real Darnell. Then he makes an Earl doll after the real Earl goes missing as well.
* Creator/StephenColbert has a cardboard cutout that he posses with people to show that he has best friends.

* In ''GiantsCitizenKabuto'', a trap uses cardboard versions of missing [=NPCs=] as a bait.

* King Kutt-Out in ''DonkeyKong64''.

* ''TheSuburbanJungle'''s Tiffany Tiger employs a cardboard cutout to take her place in the office while she pursues her modelling career at a shoot.
* A RunningGag in ''BratHalla'' involves Balder being replaced by a wooden dummy of himself as a distraction. Most notably during the beauty pageant competition in the Pantheon Games, to protect [[NatureAdoresAVirgin Balder's virginity]] against some rather ravenous goddesses of beauty, who later gush about [[SexGod Balder's prowess]], though one complains about getting ''splinters''. Try not to think about that.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer creates a new Marge by sticking a paper face on a potted plant.
** Another episode involves Sideshow Bob trying to figure out who is attempting to kill Homer, so they place a fake Homer (made of a sack and a pillow) outside on the lawn, whereupon 'he' is attacked by Moe, Patty and Selma, Reverend Lovejoy and real Homer, none of which are the true attempted murderers.
** Another episode has Homer leaving a dummy of himself (made out of buckets, rubber gloves and other odds and ends) and tape recording of him singing "She Works Hard For the Money" to cover for him at work. The dummy gets promoted before bursting ito flames.
** [[LongRunner Yet another episode]] had Homer use a dummy of himself to fake his death, in order to skip a day at work.

* An episode of the cartoon of the UK ''[[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]]'' featured a villain who was a rather odd inventer (inventing things like the toothless comb for bald men), one of his inventions was the Foldable Friend, which was essentially a cardboard cut-out of a person that could be folded down.
* When Eduardo goes missing in ''FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', Bloo builds a crude dummy of him to fool Mr. Herriman until they can find the real one. It actually works, as Herriman is seen playing chess with it.
* The second chapter from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' shows how Dexter has a thinly-veiled robotic clone on standby, just in case his mom enters his room. Of course, it works just fine.
** A thinly-veiled robotic clone that is apparently only capable of saying the words "Hello, Mother" over and over. Again, it works just fine.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddnEddy'', the Eds try to help Johnny replace Plank (a piece of wood with a face drawn on it) with other inanimate objects with similar faces. Johnny is ''very disturbed'' by a few of these, particularly when they forget to draw a second eye on Bob the Traffic Cone.

* In the ''MyGymPartnersAMonkey'' episode "Sick Day", the other animals create a fake Adam for Jake to pal around with to prevent him from freaking out when Adam takes a sick day. Jake is completely fooled until he knocks the head off.
* In an episode of ''TheProudFamily'', Penny's cousin wants to take her driving, so they make a cardboard copy of Oscar. It works... until his head gets knocked off by a passing car.
* ''CampLazlo'': In "The Weakest Link", Scoutmaster Lumpus creates fake scouts after all the scouts go missing on the day when Commander Hoo-Haw is due to make his inspection.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', the Warner Brothers (and Dot) create nodding dummies of themselves to allow them to sneak of a boring chat show they hosting.

* In the FleetwoodMac video for the song "Tusk", bassist John McVie was in Tahiti and was unable to come to the filming at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. To make up for the absence, Mick Fleetwood had a cardboard cutout of McVie made and carried it around the stadium, eventually placing it with the rest of the band.

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* ''{{Octodad}}'''s main objective is building one for himself.

* An episode of the cartoon of the UK ''[[DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]]'' featured a villain who was a rather odd inventer (inventing things like the toothless comb for bald men), one of his inventions was the Foldable Friend, which was essentially a cardboard cut-out of a person that could be folded down.

* In an episode of ''{{Friends}}'', Ross gets out of Monica's "fun activity" of packing Rachel's stuff by saying he's looking after his son. Since his apartment is directly opposite Monica's, he then has to fashion a fake Ben out of spare clothes and a pumpkin. This works right up to the point where the pumpkin falls off.

* Taking a leaf from SherlockHolmes' book (see below), one early ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' story had him using a dummy of Bruce Wayne positioned in a window to fool an assassin.

* In an episode of ''EdEddnEddy'', the Eds try to help Johnny replace Plank (a piece of wood with a face drawn on it) with other inanimate objects with similar faces. Johnny is ''very disturbed'' by a few of these, particularly when they forget to draw a second eye on Bob the Traffic Cone.

* StephenColbert has a cardboard cutout that he posses with people to show that he has best friends.

* In a mission in ''{{Hitman}} 2'', you are paid to assassinate a general in an Eastern European country. If you go to the suggested snipers-perch, you can see him clearly through a window - but if you shoot at him, he doesn't fall, and alarms goes off. If you sneak into the building, however, you'll be able to see him from behind and realize that he's a propped-up cardboard cutout. The whole thing is a trap, and a counter-sniper is waiting to kill you.

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

* ''ToyStory'': Woody uses Buzz's arm to prove the other toys Buzz is with him.

* In one episode of ''{{Scrubs}}'' the AlmightyJanitor is [[LiteralGenie "ordered"]] by JD to leave him alone. He gets around this by making a cardboard cut out and using it to set him up for various sexual harassment complaints.

* The second chapter from ''DextersLaboratory'' shows how Dexter has a thinly-veiled robotic clone on standby, just in case his mom enters his room. Of course, it works just fine.

[[quoteright:178:[[HomestarRunner http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cardboard_Pal_cropped_5158.jpg]]]]

* Cardboard Marzipan and Cardboard Homestar in ''HomestarRunner''. Cardboard Marzipan was a cardboard cutout with a crude rendition of Marzipan on it that Homestar produced whenever Marzipan went on vacation, presumably because he misses Marzipan. However, the dialogue that Homestar provides for her is an exaggeratedly abrasive version of her own, [[GranolaGirl decrying everything as offensive]] and hitting on Bubs and The Cheat, indicating Homestar's paranoia. Contrastingly, Cardboard Homestar gets pulled out when Marzipan wants some peace and quiet and doesn't want people inquiring after the whereabouts of the real Homestar. Cardboard Homestar is an indication that Marzipan feels greatly unappreciated, because she provides all of his dialog and his only lines are variations on "Marzipan, you're so smart".

* In ''Manga/{{Happy Lesson}}'', Kanna Togakushi kidnaps the protagonist and replaces him with a crudely made robot programmed to speak a handful of abusive stock phrases. The ruse fools every other cast member for the duration of a hot springs trip.

* Carried out on a grand scale in ''BlazingSaddles'', where the citizens of Rock Ridge built a mock-up of the whole town, complete with cardboard versions of themselves, so that the bad guys would attack the wrong town.

* Occurred in the last event of ''{{AkumaTH}}'''s "Last Chance" Arc. The Event was a four-on-four cage match between some of the strongest fighters in the series, with each fighter entering one at a time. WHen the BigBad enters the ring, he immediately walks over to the ref, causing everyone to worry about foul play... until he nudges the ref, revealing him to be a cardboard prop ("Are you seriously telling me that no one noticed this?"). As it turns out, the referee is watching the match through a live feed from outside the arena, as he was nearly killed while refereeing the first event.

* In an episode of ''[[EdEddnEddy Ed Edd 'n Eddy]]'', the Eds try to help Johnny replace Plank (a piece of wood with a face drawn on it) with other inanimate objects with similar faces. Johnny is ''very disturbed'' by a few of these, particularly when they forget to draw a second eye on Bob the Traffic Cone.

* In ''[[VorkosiganSaga The Vor Game]]'' Emperor Gregor complains "I think I could be replaced at half my functions by a life-sized plastic model, and no one would notice."

* In ''{{Grenadier}}'', Mikan Kurenai often evades captivity by creating a balloon sculpture of herself, which always fools the captor for exactly the length of time it takes her to escape.

** During the ending credits, they perform a mock interview of the film's director Rick Sloane using another cutout and Crow doing the voice. The real Sloane was reportedly not amused: understandable since they claim that Sloane was "high on crack" and "had his brain replaced by rat droppings".

* In an episode of ''MenBehavingBadly'', [[HeterosexualLifePartners Tony and Gary]] have fallen out, so Gary constructs a fake Tony out of an inflatable sex doll and Tony's clothes so they can continue to have their [[SeinfeldianConversation Seinfeldian Conversations]] on the sofa while drinking lager. It gets awkward when the real Tony returns halfway through and Gary has to hastily cram the doll under his cushion to hide and try to deflate it.

* One Russ Abbot sketch is set in a World War 2 prison camp. The commandant, making an inspection, warns his sidekick that British officers have been known to escape and leave dummies behind -- so they should be vigilant. When they enter the hut, we see Russ surrounded by four obvious cardboard cutouts. HilarityEnsues as he tries to convince the Germans that they are real people.

* In one strip of ''{{Loserz}}'', Jodie's part is played by a broomstick, for no apparent reason.

** [[LongRunner Yet another episode]] had Homer use a dummy of himself to fake his death, in order to skip a day at work.

* As a prank the folks at All Too Flat once created a large cardboard cutout version of the guy on the crosswalk sign, then put it in the middle of the street and see what happened.

* In the FleetwoodMac video for the song "Tusk", bassist John McVie was in Tahiti and was unable to come to the filming at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. To make up for the absence, Mick Fleetwood had a cardboard cutout of McVie made and carried it around the stadium, eventually placing it with the rest of the band.

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** During the ending credits, they perform a mock interview of the film's director Rick Sloane using another cutout and Crow doing the voice. Sloane was reportedly not amused (understandable since they claim that Sloane was "high on crack" and "had his brain replaced by rat droppings".