History Main / WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties

* Occurs near the end of ''Film/Joker2019'', complete with "Spanish Flea" playing, after [[spoiler: Arthur, now taking up the persona of Joker, [[BoomHeadshot guns down]] talkshow Murray Franklin on live television. Joker grabs the camera, mockingly imitates Murray's catchphrase "And always remember, that's li-" as he's cut off by the studio switching to the Indian head test and playing "Spanish Flea" (although on another screen, we see Joker was jumped by a security guard right after that)]].

Sometimes played for BlackComedy if the presentation of the message sharply contrasts with the horror of the scene. An even darker version is when [[BlatantLies the message is displayed]], but the horrible noise in the background indicates what is actually going on. It may also happen if the GenreBlind news reporter tries to [[DeadlineNews get an exclusive interview with]] the EldritchAbomination.

-->'''ANNOUNCER:''' We interrupt this program to annoy you and to be generally bothersome.

-->'''ANNOUNCER:''' We interrupt this program A. to annoy you; and B. to provide work for one of our announcers.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': During the rundown for "Roshi vs. Jiraiya", Boomstick claims that [[TemptingFate nothing surprises him when it comes to]] ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Then Wiz hits a button on his arm and poofs into a Sexy Jutsu. Boomstick gets a nosebleed like a pressure washer, and then we cut to a card with Boomstick handling the camera while drunk off his ass (possibly a ShoutOut to the "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Dial Z for Zombies]]" example below).

** During Discord's analysis in "Bill Cipher vs. Discord", Discord himself shows up in the studio with Wiz eager to learn all he can from the Draconequus who obliges by turning him and Boomstick into their respective actors (Ben Singer and Chad James), causing the hosts to panic as it cuts to the above mentioned card during their screaming.

* This was a RunningGag in the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' episode "Freaky". One instance had a screen with a chibi Franchise/SpiderMan holding a messed up video tape when ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} [[FreakyFridayFlip in Spider-Man's body]] slammed into the side of a building after a botched web-swing.

** Later during Harley Quinn's analysis in "Harley Quinn vs. Jinx", Ringmaster demonstrates the different types of ammunition Harley's popgun uses, while the boxing glove and streamers don't do anything, Ringmaster ends up breaking the camera by firing an explosive round that richochets into it, cutting to a card depicting Wiz with his robot arm malfunctioning.

* During times of extreme political turmoil, European radio stations have been known to switch to an all-classical all-the-time format.
** As happened most notably after the Chernobyl disaster, while officials were working out how to efficiently communicate what had just happened to the public.
** During the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Soviet_coup_d%27état_attempt failed 1991 coup in Moscow,]] all three Soviet TV channels were broadcasting ''Theatre/SwanLake'', and audiences realized that something monumental was happening. Mainly because a recording of this ballet was the go-to film when one of the Soviet Premiers died.
*** Independent Russian media broadcaster ''Dozhd'' [[https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t5ug4p/the_entire_staff_of_the_russian_tv_channel_the/ replicated the above moment]] when pressure from the Russian government forced them to temporarily shut down amid Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, signing off with the same ''Swan Lake'' recording.

* While not quite technical difficulties per se, anyone in the USA who thought to flip through the channels as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks 9/11 happened]] ([[HeroicBSOD and no one can blame folks who didn't]]), saw that many non-news stations had some sort of card up saying they would be off the air for the rest of the day due to the events going on. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYvbmCAz658 Examples of this from television stations in New York can be seen here.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W6tsQ6g3Xc Here's someone channel surfing on 9/11 using DirecTV]]. Several stations were in fact off-air, as they had been using a transmitter on the North Tower which was severed when the tower collapsed.
* Also happened in the UK after the death of [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Princess Diana]]. Virtually every non-news channel only showed a caption stating she had died, and to switch to Sky News. All well and good, but considering this carried on for several hours, with no new news being broadcast, it got a bit annoying if you wanted to watch something else.
** Radio stations (including popular music stations) also reverted to sombre and/or classical music (ie the Twin Peaks theme) for the entire morning, with a repeating message (from Independent Radio News for the commercial stations) as explanation. This continued for two or three days, and even when normal programming resumed it seemed that 'Britpop' had not survived the interlude, as many stations had used the downtime as an opportunity to replace the tracks they had in rotation, largely supplanting the genre's dominance.
** Ditto though to a lesser degree after the Queen Mother's death. [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated Both of them]].
** According to leaked information, in event of Queen Elizabeth II's death, each BBC channel on air at the time (as of 2018, BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four, plus each of the BBC's radio stations, although it is unclear if Creator/{{CBBC}} or Creator/CBeebies would be involved) would automatically switch broadcast to a sequence of photographs of the Queen for a period of several minutes, during which the staff of [=BBC=] News will prepare for a breaking news report on the unfortunate situation. When she did pass away in September 2022, however, the announcement of her death coincided with a news program, which made it more of a ThisJustIn situation.
*** In the actual event, Creator/{{CBBC}} - which up to that point had been continuing to air normally, while most of the BBC’s other channels had already switched their broadcasts to BBC News to cover the developing situation - continued to show the regular-scheduled broadcast of ''Series/BluePeter'', then [[https://youtu.be/ZoflHZ9N3b0 ran a brief announcement from a continuity host that there was important news]], ran a TV spot for ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep''[[note]] probably to buy a little more time for the anchor of the CBBC's news programme to change into somber clothes, which was part of the section on how to announce the death of the Queen in the official contingency plan, codenamed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_London_Bridge Operation London Bridge]][[/note]], then went to a special report on the Queen's death from the CBBC's news show, ''Newsround'', which in keeping with its typical reports, did ''not'' [[LiesToChildren sugar coat what had happened, instead simply presenting it in a way that was more understandable for its audience]]. After the conclusion of the report, the channel went back to regular programming, possibly as a safe haven for kids to go to if the news became too overwhelming (much like some children's channels in the US and Canada did during 9/11). However, Creator/CBeebies averted this, and just played the usual goodnight song. Probably because the channel was going to close down mere minutes after the announcement, and it probably didn't want to scare its target audience during the more soothing programming block played towards the end of the day.
*** Of the other major BBC channels, [=BBC1=] and BBC News were taking the story of the Queen's downturn in health live, and so the lowering of the Union Flag shown live on TV became the ''de facto'' announcement of the Queen's death. Immediately after that shot, [=BBC1=] and BBC News, as well as BBC Parliament and BBC Alba (which had been showing a ''Tintin'' movie) switched to BBC News' announcer delivering the initial announcement. They were joined a minute later by BBC Scotland (which inexplicably dumped out of the announcement soon after to go back to regular programming briefly). BBC2 was airing a sporting event, and did not pick up the news until the BBC as a whole interrupted programming for the official news. And even then, the Welsh-language BBC waited until the program being broadcasted at that time completed to break into Welsh-language coverage of the Queen's death, roughly 5 minutes after the rest of the BBC had already started coverage. Averted by BBC Three and Four, as when they started up for the evening, both channels were suspended, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8dRXmTVxWY replaced by a slide telling viewers to switch over to BBC One for an important news announcement.]]
** If you ever hear the phrase "This is the [=BBC=] from London" when one of their channels suddenly stops regular broadcasting, someone significant has died (this will occur either as a result of the sudden death of a reigning monarch or another member of the Royal Family (the phrase was used on the deaths of Princess Diana, the Queen Mother, Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II, as described above), or the death of the incumbent Prime Minister) or [[OhCrap something terrible has happened]], or worse still, [[EmergencyBroadcast is about to happen]].
* Two minutes after the death of Japanese emperor Hirohito in January 1989, NHK [[https://youtu.be/wTWOb99NXwE?t=776 automatically switched]] to a static screen reading "HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR HAS DIED" in white kanji atop a black background, keeping it up for eleven seconds.

** Even better when Clamp authorizes the "Final Broadcast" where a peaceful female voice over images of nature scenes and wildlife says, "Due to the end of civilization as we know it the Clamp Cable Network is now ceasing transmission." This is a parody of an {{Urban Legend|s}} that Creator/{{CNN}} has a tape narrated by Creator/TedTurner over nature scenery ready to roll to close out world history just in case of global annihilation. In 2001, the New York Daily News reported that CNN ''does'' have a tape prepared for an [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end-of-the-world]] scenario, but it consists of a recording of "Nearer, My God, to Thee" over footage of a waving American flag. No nature footage.

* U.S. network Qubo suffered a ''massive'' bout of technical difficulties on the night of January 12, 2021, with the E/I bug, Qubo screenbug, and TV ratings bugs glitching out at certain points during programs (even popping up during a ''commercial break'') and the channel repeatedly going to black.

* In ''VideoGame/TalkingTom&BenNews''... "WUH!" "AUGH!" (multiple punches) "oof" "WEEEE!"

* ''WebVideo/TheSpiffingBrit'': To produce CurseCutShort: For ''VideoGame/TheSims4'', when still working on a death room for one family of Sims, his Sim ([[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} Lord Farquaad]]) tried making a grilled cheese sandwich:

->''Nonononono! Oh. My god. Oh my god. It's the sum of all my fears. I don't know what happened. Cut the cameras! Cut to commercial!''

** Similarly, in 1989, pregame commentary for the World Series was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ExMR0c0aM knocked off the air because of a huge earthquake]] in San Francisco, where the game was being played. After re-establishing a phone connection with the announcers, ABC filled time with episodes of ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' and ''Series/TheWonderYears'' until Ted Koppel began coverage from ABC News' Washington bureau.

* ''VideoGame/Pizza Tower'': When the main character (Peppino Spaghetti) falls into the void, one of three screens will show, the three having PizzaFace as the cameraman, the first being Peppino breaking his leg, the second being him being dead and the third one being him being angry while 2 scoops of icecream are on the floor. These say: "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY" and "PLEASE STAND BY"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' has many pun-based technical difficulty signs used on ''Coming Attractions with Jay Sherman'', such as "We'll be right bark!" with [[http://www.pagepulp.com/wp-content/well-be-right-bark.jpg a picture of Jay as a dog.]]

** Also used during the episode "The Problem With Popplers". When the Omicronians return to Earth, and the news station starts falling apart from the shaking.

'''Beam falls in the background'''\\
'''Linda:''' and crap like I've never seen before!

** After Bridgette ruins her part of the talent show in "[[Recap/TotalDramaNotQuiteFamous Not Quite Famous]]" by projectile vomiting all over the audience, Chris calls for a break to clean up. For the next three seconds, a simple animation in black-and-white of a man in the 1960s ironing his shirt plays. The accompanying music is an instrumental rendition of "The Girl From Ipanema".
** The contestants that went to look for help in "[[Recap/TotalDramaCelebrityManhuntsTDAReunionShow Celebrity Manhunt's TDA Reunion Show]]" reach the ''Celebrity Manhunt'' studio, where they're informed that by leaving the bus they are disqualified from participation in the next season. Eva freaks out and rampages through the studio, throwing and breaking whatever she can grab. The hosts call for the end of the episode, but it comes too late to obviate a technical difficulties screen. It's a black-and-white, ArtDeco-inspired still of Blaineley getting choked by the Drama Machine while Josh looks on in melodramatic shock. It lasts for four seconds and the accompanying music is an instrumental rendition of "The Girl From Ipanema".
** During Chris's episode introduction speech in "[[Recap/TotalDramaScarlettFever Scarlett Fever]]", the island's malfunctioning gets worse and worse. Chris can't even finish his final sentence due to the technical difficulties and so a full-color still is put up of Chef frying a camera on his stove. The still is framed by a beige roster with a knob in each corner. It lasts for three seconds and the accompanying music is an instrumental rendition of "The Girl From Ipanema".

* ''WebVideo/BingingWithBabish'': The tiramisu episode was sponsored by Philips Espresso, giving Andrew a convenient excuse to pepper in his own homemade commercials throughout the video, which proved to be greatly beneficial when [[spoiler:the springform pan fell open when he was moving it to the fridge]]. After a brief moment of panic, he has the show cut back to the commercials while he figures out what went wrong.