History Main / Padding

** The creators admitted that the vaudeville singers Vern and Johnny were added just to fill out time before commercials, and viewers found them so annoying that they were killed off by Stewie in the episode [[Recap/FamilyGuyS5E4SavingPrivateBrian Saving Private Brian]], with him saying that there'll be no further performances by the duo.

** The creators admitted that the vaudeville singers Vern and Johnny were added just to fill out time before commercials.

* Creator/JeffDunham has a tendency to do this. In a recent show, Achmed spent like half an hour making gay jokes to the Guitar Guy before singing a song, and it took about ''as long'' to get Peanut to read a letter. If you were to take a drink every time Peanut repeated the "Taste of-a-China" joke, you'd be dead drunk before the end of the routine. It's one thing if you're trying to build up the joke so it'll be funny, but when you've repeated the ''same joke'' multiple times, it stops being funny and is more annoying.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'', to match the style of Patrick's in-universe VarietyShow, sometimes cuts away to random, extended sequences that rarely have anything to do with the main plot. For instance, "Lost in Couch" opens with a minute of Patrick watching TV, and then a ParodyCommercial takes up time later on. In "[=FitzPatrick=", we randomly get a fantasy sequence inside a comic that Patrick reads. "Terror at 20,000 Leagues" notably spends more time on {{Cutaway Gag}}s to Halloween-themed fare like a zombie brain buffet or a werewolf hair salon than on the actual plot.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' parodies this in the episode "Help Me".

* ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'': A major and frequent criticism of the film is just how superfluous most of the dinosaur scenes are to the overall story, sometimes described as thought it were an unrelated movie script that had several dinosaur scenes awkwardly pasted in at random intervals in order to make it into a ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' movie. Most of the dinosaur scenes could be cut without affecting the plot, but then the movie would only be about half as long [[JustHereForGodzilla and far less people would care to watch it]].

---> '''[=SpongeBob=]:''' C'mon Squidward, it'll be fun! While the elements rage outside, we'll snuggle in here and pass the time by playing board games, and playing tic-tac-toe, and drinkin' hot cocoa, and playing tic-tac-toe, and doing jigsaw puzzles, and watchin' TV, and drinkin' hot cocoa, and doing jigsaw puzzles, and playin' board gaaaaames, and drinkin' hot teeeeeeeaaaa...

** The "[=SpongeBob=]'s Runaway Roadtrip" episodes (aka the vacation miniseries) each began with a FramingDevice of whoever is having the vacation presenting a slideshow of how it went, leading into a WholeEpisodeFlashback; said scene was never seen again at the end.

* ''WesternAnimation/AbraCatastrophe'' has the whole sequence with Bippy's wish. The real conflict of the special is between Crocker and Timmy, and so the whole ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'' parody does nothing but stretch it out to movie-length, and is undone without any lasting effect. All it really does is get Crocker closer to the muffin, which would have happened anyway because he was already in the cafeteria. That said, the sequence does establish that the muffin can do ''anything'', and foreshadows Crocker's own world conquest.

** During its early runs, ''Millionaire'' got real bad when stalling contestants dragged out the show. When they got to the harder questions, they would take 5, 10 minutes or more before making their final answer or using a lifeline. Usually, most contestants would stall some more after their lifeline was used in order to think over the results. It was almost as if the contestants were told to stall increasingly as the question value increases, to improve the chances that a channel surfer will randomly wander into a high-paying question. The newer version of Millionaire (2008-2010) adds a time limit to each question, forcing contestants to answer quickly. Harder questions have a longer time limit. Answering questions quickly as you could would add to the clock for the million dollar question so contestants could take longer on the final round. The addition of the timer was most likely added to speed up the game so it would allow more new people to enter the hot seat (more people actually ''can'' nowadays).

* ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' during its early runs got real bad when stalling contestants dragged out the show. When they got to the harder questions, they would take 5, 10 minutes or more before making their final answer or using a lifeline. Usually, most contestants would stall some more after their life line was used in order to think over the results. The newer version of Millionaire (2008-2010) adds a time limit to each question, forcing contestants to answer quickly. Harder questions have a longer time limit. Answering questions quickly as you could would add to the clock for the million dollar question so contestants could take longer on the final round. The addition of the timer was most likely added to speed up the game so it would allow more new people to enter the hot seat (more people actually ''can'' nowadays).
** However, that does not excuse pauses for dramatic lighting changes and music stings, nor does it excuse suspenseful reveals of the correct answer. The ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'' webgame moves painfully slowly because it types out the question and each individual answer, then has a music sting between each question, presumably as a breather. But there's nowhere near the tension of the game show, because the producers are not in control.
** Trite cynical version of Millionaire's padding: To pay out less money and have to write less questions, as well as improve the chances that a channel surfer will randomly wander into a high-paying question, the contestants are told to stall increasingly as the question value increases. Much later, ratings were finally at a low enough point to justify throwing in a timer to boost them.
*** Trite cynical version of the timer's introduction: as people very rarely get to the million anyway, the banked time is worthless. Similarly, only giving 45 seconds instead of unlimited time to answer the questions is just a ploy to give away less money, as the contestants have less time to think over the answers. On the Australian Hot Seat version, you can't walk away, you have no lifelines, only 45 seconds to answer the question, and you only get $1,000 if you get the final question wrong. That is definitely Creator/NineNetwork being stingy with money.

* ''Series/1Vs100'' was a big offender. Early in the first season's run in the US, the show was slowly paced with stalling contestants, chit-chatting between the host and the mob, and stalling after locking in an answer which a CommercialBreakCliffhanger may occur sometimes before the reveal. The show sped up later by less talking and simultaneously lighting up all the eliminated mob members' panels. Then they completely threw out the improvements in season 2 when the money ladder retooled.
* Numerous other game shows which rely on suspense in between the question being answered and the real answer being revealed, or similar. Pretty sure ''Series/Pointless'', ''Series/Eggheads'', ''Series/TheChase'' etc. have all done this...

* ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' during its early runs got real bad when stalling contestants dragged out the show. When they got to the harder questions, they would take 5, 10 minutes or more before making their final answer or using a life line. Usually, most contestants would stall some more after their life line was used in order to think over the results. The newer version of Millionaire adds a time limit to each question, forcing contestants to answer quickly. Harder questions have a longer time limit. Answering questions quickly as you could would add to the clock for the 1 million dollar question so contestants could take longer on the final round. The addition of the timer was most likely added to speed up the game so it would allow more new people to enter the hot seat (more people actually ''can'' nowadays).
** However, that does not excuse pauses for dramatic lighting changes and music stings, nor does it excuse suspenseful reveals of the correct answer. The ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' webgame moves painfully slowly because it types out the question and each individual answer, then has a music sting between each question, presumably as a breather. But there's nowhere near the tension of the game show, because the producers are not in control.

*** Trite cynical version of the timer's introduction: as people very rarely get to the million anyway, the banked time is worthless. Similarly, only giving 45 seconds instead of unlimited time to answer the questions is just a ploy to give away less money, as the contestants have less time to think over the answers. On the Australian Hot Seat version, you can't walk away, you have no lifelines, only 45 seconds to answer the question, and you only get $1,000 if you get the final question wrong. That is definitely Channel 9 being stingy with money.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' makes fun of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'''s padding habit by having Moe appear on an episode and "stalling for about 15 minutes". He later states he did this because the people running the show instructed him to do so.
** One commercial for ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'' had Mojo Jojo do this on a show that was an obvious reference to ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', though that's really his normal way of talking.
* ''1 vs. 100'' was a big offender. Early in the first season's run in the US, the show was slowly paced with stalling contestants, chit-chatting between the host and the mob, and stalling after locking in an answer which a CommercialBreakCliffhanger may occur sometimes before the reveal. The show sped up later by less talking and simultaneously lighting up all the eliminated mob members' panels. Then they completely threw out the improvements in season 2 when the money ladder retooled.
* Numerous other game shows which rely on suspense in between the question being answered and the real answer being revealed, or similar. Pretty sure ''Pointless'', ''Eggheads'', ''The Chase'' etc. have all done this...

*** ''{{Series/Concentration}}'':
*** The 1970s version saw both contestants invited to play one Double Play puzzle each for a $50 cash prize for solving the puzzle within 10 seconds. Varied as to when it was played, but usually as a time-filler. Sometimes an audience member was invited onstage to play – when, in that case, just the ones where contestants solved the puzzle were kept.
*** The ''Classic'' version sometimes invited an audience member to play the car-matching bonus round. Dollar amounts were substituted for the names of cars, and -- with the cash accumulating as the player made matches -- he/she kept any amounts matched; the maximum amount possible was $500.

* A short game show series called ''Series/TheMillionPoundDrop'' that aired live every night for its five episode run was bad with this, dragging out some of the answer reveals out, or just having one door open up to reveal the wrong answer. The worst offence was in the final episode though. As it was a live show, they could not prematurely end the game of the last contestants playing, and on their final question, after they had confirmed their answer, they decided to cut to a commercial break. After the break, the answer was revealed to be wrong, and the credits rolled. Seriously, what was the bloody point of that commercial break if they had given the wrong answer? It kind of makes you wonder if Channel 4 wanted to push back their schedule for the night. Made worse because the host (Davina {{McCall}}) will hurry the contestants if they take more than thirty seconds deciding which category to choose - only to take five minutes giving the answer. This format was later adopted as ''Series/MillionDollarMoneyDrop'' for the United States on FOX, and it's just as bad, if not worse. They got through 13 questions on the ''2-hour'' premiere. Thankfully, from season two onward of the original series, the padding has mostly disappeared, with them getting through many more teams in a single show and being far better about not dragging out the reveals. Now, they usually have more than one door (often all three of them) drop at once, or have all three wrong answers drop in quick succession.

* A short game show series called ''Series/TheMillionPoundDrop'' that aired live every night for its five episode run was bad with this, dragging out some of the answer reveals out, or just having one door open up to reveal the wrong answer. The worst offence was in the final episode though. As it was a live show, they could not prematurely end the game of the last contestants playing, and on their final question, after they had confirmed their answer, they decided to cut to a commercial break. After the break, the answer was revealed to be wrong, and the credits rolled. Seriously, what was the bloody point of that commercial break if they had given the wrong answer? It kind of makes you wonder if Channel 4 wanted to push back their schedule for the night. Made worse because the host (Davina Mc Call) will hurry the contestants if they take more than thirty seconds deciding which category to choose - only to take five minutes giving the answer. This format was later adopted as ''Series/MillionDollarMoneyDrop'' for the United States on FOX, and it's just as bad, if not worse. They got through 13 questions on the ''2-hour'' premiere. Thankfully, from season two onward of the original series, the padding has mostly disappeared, with them getting through many more teams in a single show and being far better about not dragging out the reveals. Now, they usually have more than one door (often all three of them) drop at once, or have all three wrong answers drop in quick succession.

* ''Series/Don'tForgetTheLyrics'' is extremely bad with this. Most of the contestants don't take their time in making decisions, but once they lock in their lyrics, the show would stall for more than 10 seconds to reveal the correct lyrics. It gets worse when they do this for just revealing a few words at a time. The worst offender is when they build up the suspense to see if the lyrics are right, only to cut away to a commercial break.

* ''Don't Forget The Lyrics'' is extremely bad with this. Most of the contestants don't take their time in making decisions, but once they lock in their lyrics, the show would stall for more than 10 seconds to reveal the correct lyrics. It gets worse when they do this for just revealing a few words at a time. The worst offender is when they build up the suspense to see if the lyrics are right, only to cut away to a commercial break.

* Another [=NBC=] game, ''Series/TheWall'', is padded to the brim with excessive melodrama (especially during the endgame). In one episode, the contestant's father inadvertently padded the game further by constantly monologuing in the SoundProofBooth about personal stories related to the question subjects, to the point that when a question about cars came up, the ''contestant'' warned host Chris Hardwick that he was [[ThisIsGonnaSuck likely going to tell a long-winded story about their old Dodge Caravan]] (Which he did).
* A short game show series called Series/TheMillionPoundDrop that aired live every night for its five episode run was bad with this, dragging out some of the answer reveals out, or just having one door open up to reveal the wrong answer. The worst offence was in the final episode though. As it was a live show, they could not prematurely end the game of the last contestants playing, and on their final question, after they had confirmed their answer, they decided to cut to a commercial break. After the break, the answer was revealed to be wrong, and the credits rolled. Seriously, what was the bloody point of that commercial break if they had given the wrong answer? It kind of makes you wonder if Channel 4 wanted to push back their schedule for the night. Made worse because the host (Davina Mc Call) will hurry the contestants if they take more than thirty seconds deciding which category to choose - only to take five minutes giving the answer. This format was later adopted as ''Series/MillionDollarMoneyDrop'' for the United States on FOX, and it's just as bad, if not worse. They got through 13 questions on the ''2-hour'' premiere. Thankfully, from season two onward of the original series, the padding has mostly disappeared, with them getting through many more teams in a single show and being far better about not dragging out the reveals. Now, they usually have more than one door (often all three of them) drop at once, or have all three wrong answers drop in quick succession.

* A short game show series called The Million Pound Drop that aired live every night for its five episode run was bad with this, dragging out some of the answer reveals out, or just having one door open up to reveal the wrong answer. The worst offence was in the final episode though. As it was a live show, they could not prematurely end the game of the last contestants playing, and on their final question, after they had confirmed their answer, they decided to cut to a commercial break. After the break, the answer was revealed to be wrong, and the credits rolled. Seriously, what was the bloody point of that commercial break if they had given the wrong answer? It kind of makes you wonder if Channel 4 wanted to push back their schedule for the night. Made worse because the host (Davina Mc Call) will hurry the contestants if they take more than thirty seconds deciding which category to choose - only to take five minutes giving the answer. This format was later adopted as ''Million Dollar Money Drop'' for the United States on FOX, and it's just as bad, if not worse. They got through 13 questions on the ''2-hour'' premiere. Thankfully, from season two onward of the original series, the padding has mostly disappeared, with them getting through many more teams in a single show and being far better about not dragging out the reveals. Now, they usually have more than one door (often all three of them) drop at once, or have all three wrong answers drop in quick succession.

** One game show, a short-lived quizzer named ''Whew!'', averted the padding whenever a contestant defeated his opponent in two straight games (of a best-of-three match). Since the show was "self-contained" -- that is, each episode contained one full game that did not carry over to the next episode -- the producers had the champion play one standard front-game game "against the house" before progressing to the BonusRound.

This is more easily identifiable in television shows than films, as those techniques are influenced by having to hit a specific runtime threshold that can be aired in a defined timeslot. This sometimes involves the use of StockFootage, which allows the producers to pad multiple episodes with a scene they only have to pay to shoot once. In anime this can be easily identified in works adapted from a manga: if a scene wasn't in the original work, it's almost certainly padding. [[ShonenDemographic Shonen]] works especially like to extend existing fight sequences, or add entirely new ones with moves only used in that scene (which don't affect the outcome of the fight, of course, they have a manga to follow!). Digital-only shows, such as ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'', ''Series/TheBoys2019'' and ''Series/TheMandalorian'' don't have to adhere to this threshold as much, so they can be as long as they want to be; Creator/{{Netflix}}, [[Creator/PrimeVideo Amazon]] and Creator/DisneyPlus, and largely escape the issue.

Most works have to employ some level of this to get to the desired length/running time, but are usually either subtle about it or manage to make the padding itself enjoyable. In other cases, these scenes distract from the plot advancement.

This is more easily identifiable in television shows, when a scene is obvious padding to get the episode up to sufficient length, sometimes involving the use of StockFootage, which allows the producers to pad multiple episodes with a scene they only have to pay to shoot once. In anime this can be easily identified in works adapted from a manga: if a scene wasn't in the original work, it's almost certainly padding. [[ShonenDemographic Shonen]] works especially like to extend existing fight sequences, or add entirely new ones with moves only used in that scene (which don't affect the outcome of the fight, of course, they have a manga to follow!). Both types of work are influenced by having to hit a runtime that can be aired in a defined timeslot, but digital-only works such as ''Series/TheMandalorian'' don't have to adhere to this and thus are only as long as they want to be.

In film, it's often entirely a matter of opinion; for instance, many people wonder why the movie ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' wasted time showing the detective's husband fixing her breakfast when there was a compelling ReverseWhodunnit in the works, whereas the movie's most ardent fans feel that such scenes were the whole point. Padding is also easier to get away with in comedic works, where one can get away with adding extra, unncessary scenes as long as they're [[RuleOfFunny funny enough]]. The OverlyLongGag trope is frequently used as this, with the most famous example being the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WZLJpMOxS4 rake scene]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

Games often send you on long fetch quests, sidequests, or just running back and forth and not progressing the story. This is commonly seen in RoleplayingGames and the more expansive of ActionAdventure games; although a lot of the content that is considered "padding" is optional. ForcedLevelGrinding, however, isn't. For a FirstPersonShooter game, you'll be required to go back and forth or repeat the same levels over and over again, without ChaosArchitecture making it seem different or at least getting to go to new areas. In an adventure game, which naturally is much shorter than the average RoleplayingGame or most FirstPersonShooter games (especially if you [[GuideDangIt know what to do]]), they will pad it by making you go back and forth or making an overly-long puzzle or dialogue branch. Other examples would include PixelHunting or sending you on a long series of errands/puzzles that merely give you one item to progress the story. And if they can't think of a way to do even that, they just might [[JokerImmunity cause enemies to regenerate]] (in a first-person shooter) or [[OnlySixFaces keep endlessly entering the frame as clones of themselves]] (in a side-scroller) so that you have to eat up time just killing people!