History Main / WhatExactlyIsHisJob

** In one example of the many ([[JustifiedTrope funny]]) DisContinuities, when Shemesh was wondering what excuse he should give to Eti (background irrelevant), several hypothetical situations were shown as results of various excuses (all overheard by [[RalphWiggum Sasi]]; one of them was ‘I found out Ogen and Sasi are [[BlatantLies KGB spies]]’; Sasi then tells Ogen that Shemesh was ‘onto them’, Ogen then cries ‘''Davay kalachnikov!’ ([[DirtyCommies Russian]] for ‘[[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent Gimme a kalachnikov!]]’), and the duo proceed to pepper all people present. This too is [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment never brought up again]].

*** It probably also has something to do with the fact that QuackWerks' public security and anti-crime division (read: a bunch of robots in cowboy hats) eliminated his vigilante escapades and the means by which he turned them into a source of income by driving SHUSH out of business, as it were.

** The new comic series has revealed that he actually was receiving a stipend from the SHUSH agency for his freelance work with them. When that ran out (likely due to a combination of him doing less work with them and Gosalyn's private school tuition), he got an office job at the QuackWerks corporation.

** Barney once said that the bank will never fire him but people might find his corpse buried in New Jersey, missing fingerprints and teeths. It's probably something really shady and illegal or at least covering up for shady and illegal things.

** Barney once said that the bank will never fire him but people might find his corpse buried in New Jersey. It's probably something really shady and illegal or at least covering up for shady and illegal things.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]

[[AC:{{Manga}} And {{Anime}}]]
* Yotsuya from ''MaisonIkkoku'' has a job, but never reveals what it is.

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]
* In ''SluggyFreelance'' Riff was this [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/971110 during the early years of the strip]]. [[supersecretspoiler: He worked at Hereti-Corp. FridgeBrilliance too.]]
-->'''Torg:''' I'm a freelance web designer, and Riff here . . . well, . . . he sorta builds stuff, dimensional portals, . . . summons demons, . . . ''(turns to Riff)'' What ''do'' you do?
-->'''Riff:''' No comment.
-->'''Torg:''' "Freelance bum."

[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
* In an episode of The Burns and Allen Show, this was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when a character suggests to Gracie that her husband help her out with her current hobby and she says she cannot take George away from his job, after trying several times to name exactly what that job is. Throughout the show Gracie [[WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs had many jobs and hobbies]] (including running for President) but George never seemed to do much beyond vaguely being "in show business."

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]

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* ''Wag the Dog'' - Robet De Niro

** This may not be played for laughs; there are legitimate cases where a government employee cannot reveal what their function is or even what part of the government they work for - or that they work for the government at all. The vast, vast majority of these functions are not the sexy stuff one thinks of when one thinks "security clearance." The person may just be fixing projectors at a training center or handling routine accounting paperwork for an agency.

* This was asked of ''{{News Radio}}'s'' Matthew from time to time.

Often, especially in media with a large ensemble cast, there is one character whose function (in terms of his internal purpose within the cast) is a bit fuzzy. The details of this role are left purposefully ambiguous. Sometimes, the general nature of the character's job is quite evident; for example, the character might be big, intimidating, and is good in a fight... but this naturally raises the question of just why the group needs someone who is big, intimidating, and is good in a fight.

Contrast the OmnidisciplinaryScientist, who has a PhD in Everythingology and ''awesomeology.''

* For most of the first season of ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'', nobody knew why Harry was on the mission. They they revealed that he was the radio.

* ''LivingInOblivion'' is an independent film, with an ensemble cast, about making an independent film. When the director (Steve Buscemi) goes berserk after one disaster after another on a shoot, he calls each one out by name and reels off their failures in their jobs. When he gets to a production assistant, wide-eyed with panic, he hesitates and squints at her, "And ''you''! What is it you ''do'' around here, anyway?"

** Lampshaded when Wilma and Betty meet a former classmate who married into wealth. They also pretend to be rich, with Wilma claiming Fred is in "[[ExactWords the construction business]]" and Barney in "top secret work".

* A particularly extreme example in [[Ultima]] Underworld II. The Eloemosynator (I think I spelled that right!) in Talorus, and alternate dimension, has a function so glorious and complex that we're not expected to undertand it.