History Main / DenserAndWackier

* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake: Berry in the Big City'' zig-zags this. It's much more comedy-centric than the iterations of the franchise predating it, which were largely feel-good shows, but it also drops the supernatural elements like the talking animals and [[PlantPerson berry people]] and places the characters in a modern setting.

* ''WebVideo/LifeSMP'': Owing to the ridiculous tasks that also frequently ask for involvement with the other players, things get comically wacky as Season 5, ''Secret Life SMP'', goes on, with so many people acting in so many bizarre ways that [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight nearly everyone just goes along with it]]. Of course, this being a DeadlyGame, this all makes [[WhamEpisode the sessions where the bodies start dropping like flies]] hit far, ''far'' harder.

* ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' is a dark comedy about frightening, mischievous creatures with plenty of violent and disturbing scenes that, along with ''Film/{{Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom}}'', was the reason the PG-13 rating was made. ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', despite being rated PG-13, is much sillier than its predecessor (the title creatures are a dangerous yet comedic menace in both films, but the sequel has a much less grounded and more overtly cartoonish setting than the original, which neuters the horror elements almost entirely). It features fourth-wall jokes and pop culture references, and pokes fun at the first movie. The film even starts with the opening shot of a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon where WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck steals the spotlight from WesternAnimation/BugsBunny.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' starts out as a typical SliceOfLife series with a good balance of humor and drama. Once the show switches from cels to digital paint, it puts a bit more emphasis on comedy (though it certainly ''does'' still have its serious moments, such as when the topics of Arnold's missing parents and Helga's home life come up).

* Several of the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' comics from the 1950s and '60s are very bizarre and surreal; some stories involve [[GreatGazoo a magical being]] named [[Characters/BatmanSupportingCast Bat-Mite]] who's Batman's biggest fan and a RealityWarper, others include stories where Batman becomes a toddler and fights crime, Batman and Robin being turned into paper-thin beings by a multicolored monster, Batman becoming a genie, etc. {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact the anti-comic book crusade that led to UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode forced DC to tone down the violence and the seriousness of the earlier years.

* ''Film/VenomLetThereBeCarnage'' drops the self-seriousness of ''Film/Venom2018''; thus, instead of being an [[{{Narm}} unintentionally funny]] straight-up adaptation of the UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, it's a downright comedic sendup of those 90s comics with Venom, centered around the OddCouple dynamic between Eddie and Venom, alongside the comedy-horror brought by the unhinged (in both [[LargeHam performance]] and [[AxCrazy personality]]) villain Carnage.

* The last 2 seasons of ''Series/FullHouse'' have several subplots that fall into this trope, i.e. the guys hawking Jesse's new invention that keeps hair out of someone's face, the family getting addicted to Michelle's new UsefulNotes/{{Super N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES game, Jesse trying to keep his blood pressure down even though there's an ostrich in Kimmy Gibbler's yard, etc.

* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' begins as a sort of office comedy interspliced with Clark's super heroics. Though the main duo stay more or less grounded in domestic reality, their surroundings become more akin to the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age comics,]] with goofball villains (including Shelley Long, Creator/DrewCarey, Sylvia from ''Series/TheNanny'', and culminating in the guy from ''Night Court'' sporting [[MyBrainIsBig a giant latex head]] and calling himself Dr. Klaus Mensa), time travel, magic, and [[OpeningACanOfClones clones galore.]]

* The early ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon'' games are a slightly whimsical take on JidaiGeki motifs, BreakingTheFourthWall occasionally. It developed into an anachronism-laden QuirkyWork on the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]].

* {{YouTube Poop}}s are an art form of Neo-UsefulNotes/{{Dada}} consisting of video remixes that are edited from a large array of video clips. The source material can be mashed all together into a nonsensical CrossOver story, or just repeat footage of the characters gesticulating oddly or [[ManipulativeEditing apparently saying something dirty]] [[OverlyLongGag over and over and over again]]. By their very nature, these mashups are often edited in a way to be much crazier than their source material.

* The first season or two of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' are very grounded in a quite realistic premise, often bordering on dramedy grounds. In "Bart Gets an F", Bart is struggling in school and makes a sincere effort to pass a test, only to fail miserably and start crying... quite unlike the "anything goes" antics that helped make the show the pop-culture fixture it is today. However, some would say [[SeasonalRot this went too far]] as the years dragged on, especially during the Mike Scully seasons, where this trope is allegedly used to death. After Al Jean took over, he toned down the wackiness ''just a bit''[[note]]How much? A significant plot point in a Season 22 episode involves characters' eyes popping uncontrollably out of their heads following their consumption of an experimental new drug Lisa has invented[[/note]] in attempt to return to its original roots.

* ''Webcomic/{{Roomies}}'' wasn't down-to-Earth and serious to begin with, but nevertheless, its early strips deal with fairly realistic personal issues. It starts to go down this route with the introduction of the Aliens.

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' was always a bit of a strange series, taking place in a magic world with mages and monsters duke it out in puzzle popping competitions that gets taken to SeriousBusiness levels of action, but it was still a bit grounded, and ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyon'' was an attempt to tone down the silliness with a more realistic art style and darker storyline. Then ownership transferred from Compile to Sega, and come ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever'', the wackiness got overclocked with more wild and varied art styles, outrageous character dynamics, and dialogue that almost reaches SelfParody-levels of humor, almost as if Sonic Team are aware of how ridiculous the series is and just wanted to have fun with it. And that is ignoring the fact that the ''Puyo Puyo'' franchise itself is this to the [[DisguisedHorrorStory deceptively dark]] ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' series.

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' was always a bit of a strange series, taking place in a magic world with mages and monsters duke it out in puzzle popping competitions that gets taken to SeriousBusiness levels of action, but it was still a bit grounded, and ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyon'' was an attempt to tone down the silliness with a more realistic art style and darker storyline. Then ownership transferred from Compile to Sega, and come ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever'', the wackiness got overclocked with more wild and varied art styles, outrageous character dynamics, and dialogue that almost reaches SelfParody-levels of humor, almost as if Sonic Team are aware of how ridiculous the series is and just wanted to have fun with it.

** Ever since Luffy [[spoiler:[[NextTierPowerUp gained access to his Gear 5 form (due to his Devil Fruit powers awakening)]], his fights have headed in this direction. He did have comical moments during many of his previous battles before gaining this form, but he typically had to dial down the goofiness and take strong opponents seriously. However, being dubbed as "the most ridiculous power in the world", Gear 5 essentially turns him into a {{Slapstick}} ZanyCartoon character[[labelnote:*]]For context, Luffy's Gear 5 abilities are ''everything'' he was able to do before, but taken UpToEleven and can be done on a whim. He can freely stretch his body without using momentum like before, [[{{Sizeshifter}} shrink and grow at the drop of a hat]], and his durability has skyrocketed to the point that he can withstand devastating attacks that would've otherwise [[NighInvulnerability knock him out or]] ''[[NighInvulnerability outright kill him]]'', but instead gains AmusingInjuries that he can brush off in mere seconds. Not only that, ''[[AreaOfEffect anything and anyone in his vicinity gain rubbery attributes as well]]''[[/labelnote]]. MoodWhiplash comes into play, since he first gained this form after a couple of failed attempts at defeating [[KnightOfCerebus Kaido]], who is absurdly powerful in his own right and Luffy's greatest opponent up until that point. It turns out that this was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by series creator Creator/EiichiroOda, who stated that Gear 5 was inspired by ''Franchise/TomAndJerry''. He felt that many other contemporary shonen manga would have constant serious high stakes and the comedic aspects of the medium had been lost over the years. Case in point, the [[SuperMode Super Modes]] of many other shonen protagonists would typically invoke a "cool" and "badass" aesthetic, not unlike Luffy's Gear 4 Snakeman form prior. Because of these expectations, Oda was aware several fans wouldn't be accepting of Gear 5, but he can now fully realize an aspect of Luffy he always wanted to showcase; having him be a comical lunatic as much as possible during battle!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' interestingly combines this with DarkerAndEdgier. Season 1, despite the trippy and wacky setting, had fairly realistic SliceOfLife plots. From Season 2 onwards, however, the humor becomes more BlackComedy laced, the tone overall more cynical, the plots feature {{deconstruct|edTrope}}ions of common sitcom tropes, and, eventually, a story arc involving [[spoiler:a huge void that erases things from existence as they become irrelevenat to the show]]. However, the show becomes even ''more'' wackier than before, with the surrealism being [[ExaggeratedTrope boosted significantly]], there is a noticeable increase in [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breaking]], and the plotlines becoming so [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext bizarre that they have to be seen to be believed]].

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has always been a wacky and whimsical story, but it gets even weirder once the Straw Hat Pirates enter the Grand Line. In that stretch of ocean, there are far more Devil Fruit ability users and far crazier phenomenon like zombie-infested islands and flora that spew ridable soapy bubbles. It gets taken to an even higher level of strangeness in the New World half of the Grand Line, where islands made of desserts, weather that rains lightning nonstop, and secret laboratories filled with futuristic sci-fi tech all become nigh common sights. In comparison, all the outlandish Grand Line wonders somehow make the story's starting setting of the East Blue look mundane. The adventures only get more unbelievable and exotic as the Straw Hats progress.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has always been a wacky and whimsical story, but it gets even weirder once the Straw Hat Pirates enter the setting of the Grand Line. In that stretch of ocean, there are far more Devil Fruit ability users and far crazier phenomenon like zombie islands and flora that spew ridable soapy bubbles. It gets taken to an even higher level of strangeness in the New World half of the Grand Line; where islands made of desserts, weather that rains lightning nonstop, and secret laboratories filled with futuristic sci-fi tech all become nigh common sights. In comparison, all the outlandish Grand Line wonders somehow make the story's starting setting of the East Blue look mundane. The adventures only get more unbelievable and exotic as the Straw Hats progress.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', with the Demon Slayer Academy universe being devoid of any serious events and drama found in the main series, the setting was left completely free to focus and expand on the comical bits present in the original source; that way the Academy short segments are pure slice of life and comedy, taken even further by the official spin-off turning it into a full comedy series aimed at little children.

* As a result of ''WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter'' being called out for getting too angry in some of his ''Animated Atrocity'' reviews, he goes in this direction for reviews of more outlandish cartoon episodes/movies. However, Enter does save whatever anger he has for more contemptuous subjects.