History Main / LastMinuteProject

* Peter has a habit of doing this in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', including writing an essay on ''Literature/MobyDick'' in two and a half hours.

'''Bart:''' The internet wrote it. I just handed it in.

-->--''The Simpsons'', "Dial 'N' for Nerder"

-->'''Bart:''' Hey, I didn't know this park was here.\\

-->'''Bart:''' Hey, I didn't know this park was here.\\
'''Lisa:''' You wrote a report on it last week.\\
'''Bart:''' The internet wrote it. I just handed it in.\\
''The Simpsons'', "Dial 'N' for Nerder"

[[AC:Comics]]

--> '''Hobbes:''' What mood is that?
--> '''Calvin: ''' Last-minute panic.

--> '''Miss Grinchley:''' And now, Jason Fox will present his model on...
--> '''Jason: ''' Chicago, circa 1871.

[[AC:Fan Works]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]

* The ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' webpage "[[http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/homework.htm Your Homework Done For Free]]" is an intentional trap for people who try to rip their book report off the Internet. It comprises a completely inaccurate summary of the novels, and a list of suggested report topics that focuses on the bits they've made up. Amusingly, [[http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/blanchett.htm the Sunday Times fell for it.]]

-->'''Bart:''' Hey, I didn't know this park was here.
-->'''Lisa:''' You wrote a report on it last week.
-->'''Bart:''' The internet wrote it. I just handed it in.
-->''TheSimpsons'', "Dial 'N' for Nerder"

-->'''Bart:''' From 'A' apple to 'Z' zebra, Baby's First Popup Book is 26 pages of alphabetical adventure!
-->'''Ms. Krabappel:''' Bart, you mean to tell me you read a book intended for preschoolers?
-->'''Bart:''' Well, most of it.

* In ''VideoGames/KingdomHeartsII'', Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas put off a summer independent study until they only have three days of summer vacation left. At Pence's suggestion, they decide to investigate seven rumors surrounding Twilight Town. With the exception of "The Spooky Steps" (which was the result of [[TheDitz Rai]] miscounting them), [[Foreshadowing all of them had something to do with organization XIII.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'', during a {{Flashback}} to a science fair, a struggling student was given a project about using oysters to filter water. The teacher remarks that the student most likely just started the project the morning of the science fair, but that she was going to give him an A anyway to give him a leg up. [[spoiler: Mr. [=DiTorre=] ate one of the oysters, and Ozzy made him puke. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Which got Ozzy "suspended for use of unnecessary force."]]]]

* How can we forget almost EVERY report in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid''?
** Including one biology project on ''whether or not plants sneeze''.

** Jason had to improvise for one project after his original idea fell through. He realizes too late it wasn't a good idea to have a working torch on a Statue of Liberty made of toothpicks.

** And, of course, there was the time he had to write a short story. After goofing off most of the afternoon, Calvin finally gets an idea: he'll use TimeTravel to get the completed project from himself two hours in the future! HilarityEnsues, but eventually Calvin returns empty-handed. Luckily, Hobbes had written a story in the meantime, which Calvin happily accepts. However, Calvin doesn't actually read Hobbes' story until he has to read it out loud to the entire class the next day... at which point he discovers it's Hobbes mocking the whole situation (though to his credit, [[ThrowTheDogABone he gets an A+ on it]].

** And, of course, there was the time he had to write a short story. After goofing off most of the afternoon, Calvin finally gets an idea: he'll use TimeTravel to get the completed project from himself two hours in the future! HilarityEnsues, but eventually Calvin returns empty-handed. Luckily, Hobbes had written a story in the meantime, which Calvin happily accepts. However, Calvin doesn't actually read Hobbes' story until he has to read it out loud to the entire class the next day... at which point he discovers it's Hobbes mocking the whole situation.

*** Calvin once tries to justify his tendency to do this. When Hobbes points ou that he should be working on the project instead of goofing off, Calvin says he's not in the right mood.

Related to BookDumb, CriticalResearchFailure, RidiculousProcrastinator, and TheyJustDidntCare.

* The ''LordOfTheRings'' webpage "[[http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/homework.htm Your Homework Done For Free]]" is an intentional trap for people who try to rip their book report off the Internet. It comprises a completely inaccurate summary of the novels, and a list of suggested report topics that focuses on the bits they've made up. Amusingly, [[http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/blanchett.htm the Sunday Times fell for it.]]

** Calvin once tries to Justify his tendency to do this. When Hobbes points ou that he should be working on the project instead of goofing off, Calvin says he's not in the right mood.
--> '''Hobbes:''' 'What mood is that?'
--> '''Calvin: ''' 'Last-minute panic.'

--> '''Hobbes:''' ''What mood is that?''
--> '''Calvin: ''' ''Last-minute panic.''

* Peter has a habit of doing this in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', including writing an essay on ''Literature/MobyDick'' in two and a half hours.

* Any report Bart has done on ''TheSimpsons''.
-->'''Bart:''' Hey, I didn't know this park was here.
-->'''Lisa:''' You wrote a report on it last week.
-->'''Bart:''' The internet wrote it. I just handed it in.
-->''TheSimpsons'', "Dial 'N' for Nerder"
** Another time on TheSimpsons in "Lisa the Simpson" Lisa forgot about a school agriculture project, so she makes a pig by sticking some pushpins into an eraser.
*** Which was done earlier in ''Simpsons Comics''. Ralph Wiggum entered the same thing in a school art show. He didn't place.
** From a Halloween episode:
-->'''Bart:''' From 'A' apple to 'Z' zebra, Baby's First Popup Book is 26 pages of alphabetical adventure!
-->'''Ms. Krabappel:''' Bart, you mean to tell me you read a book intended for preschoolers?
-->'''Bart:''' Well, most of it.
* Holden from ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', wrote a hilarious and definitely unresearched exam essay on the Egyptians.
* Sam on ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' once turned in an orange for a project about environmental efficiency. She got an A. Inverted in the same episode when Freddie and Carly each do elaborate projects (Carly created an electric scooter, Freddie a large composter) and they both fail, having to go on a [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar root and berry trip with their teacher]].
* Happens in the ''Series/EvenStevens'' episode [[MusicalEpisode ''Influenza''.]] To her horror Ren realizes that she isn't prepared to give her project on the US moon landing and only knows what year it occurred. She tries to save face... in song: "[[{{Earworm}} We went to the moon in 1969]]/[[ShapedLikeItself Not 1968 but the year after...]]" and proceeds to sing about what celestial bodies NASA didn't visit that year. She failed the project. [[spoiler: Lucky for her it was AllJustADream.]]

* Creator/BrianRegan has a famous bit in his stand-up about his "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4XSgLMEFoc Cup of Dirt]]" in the science fair.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': Arthur, Buster, and Binky are teamed up for a report on an exhibit at the art museum. Binky is convinced that one of the abstract art pieces was hung sideways and wants to do the report on that. Arthur and Buster think that will make them look like a bunch of idiots. They finally agree to let Binky work on his project while Arthur and Buster do a different exhibit. Only they waste so much time worrying about Binky's project that they forget to write the report and copy it from the museum's brochure. The other kids in the class literally follow along as they read it. [[GeniusDitz They are only saved when Binky's half turns out to involve masses of research, a letter to the artist, and a video of the museum re-hanging the painting in response to his project. ]]
* DaveBarry wrote [[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19951211&slug=2157084 a column about these]], including his own example of one on the Monroe Doctrine.
** DaveBarry has a few columns about this. In one, he describes one of his projects as being entitled "The Phases of the Moon", consisting of a styrofoam ball, half of it scribbled black with a pen, on a string. He goes on to say that his fellow students found it amusing to use the ball in their own projects, so he ended up with a big Official Science Fair Project Cardboard and nothing else. His wife's project (Movement of the Waves) was described as a pan of water in which a pen was swished around, causing waves.
* [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail64.html One of the more famous Strong Bad e-mails]] on ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' involved Strong Bad writing one of these for a student. Naturally, he [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade]] by including a sentence about sitting and playing video games for several hours.
** There was also his diorama, "The whimsical world of school supplies."
* The ''LordOfTheRings'' webpage "[[http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/homework.htm Your Homework Done For Free]]" is an intentional trap for people who try to rip their book report off the Internet. It comprises a completely inaccurate summary of the novels, and a list of suggested report topics that focuses on the bits they've made up. Amusingly, [[http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/blanchett.htm the Sunday Times fell for it.]]
* A ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' skit begins with an elaborate battle between costumed heroes and villains, one of whom is called Mockingbird. The skit then cuts to a classroom, revealing the whole thing was a kid's attempt at a book report on "Literature/{{To Kill a Mockingbird}}". The teacher sighs, "Couldn't even spring for the Cliff's Notes, huh?"

* WebOriginal: The infamous and awesome ''WebAnimation/HowToKillAMockingbird'' in its entirety.
* There's a ''SavedByTheBell'' episode in which Zack needs to do a family heritage project. All he knows is that he is part Native American, so he just uses a whole bunch of stereotypes (and Screech) to present his project. You bet your life he's forced to redo his project.
* How can we forget almost EVERY report in ''DiaryOfAWimpyKid''?
** Including one biology project on ''whether or not plants sneeze''.
* Played with and subverted in ''TheTroop'': Jake forgot to do his potato clock for school, but Felix didn't. It would obviously be identified as a Felix project if it was perfect, so he "Jaked it up" a little to get Jake a passing grade but not an A.

* In ''OsmosisJones'', during a {{Flashback}} to a science fair, a struggling student was given a project about using oysters to filter water. The teacher remarks that the student most likely just started the project the morning of the science fair, but that she was going to give him an A anyway to give him a leg up. [[spoiler: Mr. [=DiTorre=] ate one of the oysters, and Ozzy made him puke. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Which got Ozzy "suspended for use of unnecessary force."]]]]

* On an early ''[[BoyMeetsWorld Boy Meets World]]'' episode, Feeny assigns the class a project on what their future might be like. Cory just shows up in a baseball uniform and claims he'll be a pro ballplayer. Feeny's line of questioning shows that Cory hasn't put much thought into it, and he is given a chance to try again.

* Peter has a habit of doing this in ''FoxTrot'', including writing an essay on ''Literature/MobyDick'' in two and a half hours.

* A ''RobotChicken'' skit begins with an elaborate battle between costumed heroes and villains, one of whom is called Mockingbird. The skit then cuts to a classroom, revealing the whole thing was a kid's attempt at a book report on "Literature/{{To Kill a Mockingbird}}". The teacher sighs, "Couldn't even spring for the Cliff's Notes, huh?"
* A young Shawn from ''{{Psych}}'' did a book report on Literature/CharlottesWeb without reading to the end. Failure ensued.