| 1 | %% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions59 |
| 2 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:349:[[Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wtcmbeu.png]]]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Acting's version of HollywoodToneDeaf. In Hollywood, bad acting can only come in two flavors: [[HamAndCheese completely over-the-top and exaggerated]], or a stilted, wooden, monotone delivery of every single line. These actors have never heard of suspension of disbelief. They couldn't act wet in a rainstorm. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ->"[[DullSurprise Oh, no. The asteroid...is coming towards us.]] We are doomed. Aaaaahhhh. [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud Exit stage left.]]" |
| 9 | |
| 10 | This often happens when characters are forced to reenact a specific event in hopes that it will have the same consequences. Often afflicts school rooms around the world where teachers have students read lines aloud, with the students not caring for the actual tone of the piece at all. What can almost be considered a trope in its own right is to attempt to pay homage to Creator/WilliamShatner with strangely... placed... staccato pauses and... random jumps ''in'' pitch. Another popularly used example is if the characters are attempting to fool a third party by acting as if they are having a conversation or argument. Usually, the third party doesn't pick up on how awkwardly the others are talking. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Bonus points if the character's eyes scan slowly back and forth as they read the out-of-shot cue cards. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Also like HollywoodToneDeaf, in that professional actors can, well, ''act''. If they ''aren't'' very good at their job, you wouldn't be able to tell if they were sucking on purpose for the ShowWithinAShow. Those who are good at acting typically couldn't mimic a bad actor. Even then, just like above, it'd be hard to tell if the actor was trying to fail — though it's something like common wisdom that only someone who's ''very'' good at something can be ''deliberately'' bad at something. Also, as per RuleOfFunny, genuinely bad acting isn't amusing — or at least not as amusing as Bad "Bad Acting". Impersonations done in Bad "Bad Acting" tend to involve HughMann, ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud, and MostDefinitelyNotAVillain. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Just to reiterate, this is where characters InUniverse try to act and do a horrible job at it (sometimes intentionally, other times not so much). This is ''not'' when you think someone does a legitimately horrible acting job or even a SoBadItsGood performance - there's a whole other set of tropes for that. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | See StylisticSuck, the SuperTrope of this, and its subtropes BadImpressionists and HollywoodToneDeaf. This trope can also be an element of TheShowMustGoWrong. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Contrast ThePowerOfActing. Compare TerribleArtist. See also ActingUnnatural, where a character makes a flimsy attempt to "act natural". |
| 21 | ---- |
| 22 | !!Examples: |
| 23 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 26 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7PGyCNp3rU This Discovery Channel ad]] from several years back. "Aaaahhh! The atmosphere. Aaaahhh!" |
| 27 | ** While the other ads from that same campaign included similarly bad acting, that one is probably the best remembered. |
| 28 | * Some recent [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW7yZuFaKcY contact lens commercials]] use this to great effect. |
| 29 | -->"Look! With your SPECIAL EYES!" "MHUY BRAWND!" |
| 30 | * [[Creator/HumbleBundle The Double Fine Humble Bundle]] features Tim Schafer making "juice" out of the games on offer with hilariously bad acting. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DqHM50bZRGY See it here.]] |
| 31 | * An advertisement for a porn channel featured an audition for porn actresses. Instead of CastingCouch sex, it had HopelessAuditionees because, as the tagline pointed out, you don't watch for the acting. |
| 32 | -->'''DumbBlonde:''' [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud Girl 1]], it's [[GettingHotInHere getting hot in here!]]\ |
| 33 | '''Director:''' That was really...[[BlatantLies good.]]\ |
| 34 | '''Buxom Blonde:''' ''[DullSurprise]'' Room for one more in that [[TwoPersonPoolParty hot tub?]]\ |
| 35 | '''Director:''' Okay, warm it up a bit.\ |
| 36 | '''Buxom Blonde:''' ''[exactly the same]'' Room for one more in that hot tub?\ |
| 37 | '''Director:''' [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey Awesome.]] |
| 38 | * [[https://youtu.be/QRREDL59u_o This Liberty Mutual commercial]] featuring a self-proclaimed “struggling actor”. |
| 39 | -->'''Struggling Actor:''' Liberty Biberty—\ |
| 40 | '''Director:''' Cut! We’ll dub it! |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 44 | * ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': The SOS Brigade's film is shown in the anime adaptation to be [[StylisticSuck as amateurish as you'd expect from a movie made by high school students]], and that extends to the acting. Most of the participants genuinely can't act, though in [[EmotionlessGirl Yuki's]] case, she simply can't break out of her typical SpockSpeak. In Koizumi's case, it isn't the way he ''speaks'' that makes him a bad actor, it's the way he exaggeratedly gesticulates his way through every line he gets. Surprisingly, during the school festival when he's cast as one of the leads in ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'', his style of acting is oddly appropriate. |
| 45 | * In ''Anime/HighSchoolStarMusical'', when [=StarMyu=] is trying to show Hoshitani's bad acting, as in s1e2, or when he's practicing with Uozumi in s2e3, they tend to go for the "large ham" version of this trope. However, if you look closely, it's averted in quite a few places. Notice, for example, in s2e7, the difference between his rehearsing [[spoiler: Alexis' Shadow]]'s song and [[spoiler: Lambert]]'s song. In the former, he gives off completely the wrong emotion for the scene, whereas in the latter, he plays it right - motivated by his feelings for [[spoiler: Otori]]. |
| 46 | * Late in the ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' anime, Haruhi is kidnapped by the Zuka Club and forced to participate in a tragic play ([[spoiler:as part of an excruciatingly complex revenge gambit by Benio]]). [[LampshadeHanging The characters comment on]] Haruhi's "robotic" acting, which consists of repeating the same line with virtually no intonation. (As an aside, Haruhi's [[Creator/CaitlinGlass English voice actress]] does an ''excellent'' job of crappy acting in this instance; the rest of the time, Haruhi is acted with great aplomb.) |
| 47 | * ''Manga/GlassMask'' has the idol Emi Tabuchi do her first movie. And her acting is ''horrible''. It's so bad that, when the students from Tsukikage theater watch the movie, Rei comments that she thought this was the type of bad acting one only ''reads'' about. |
| 48 | * ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': |
| 49 | ** Syaoran in volume 5. So bad it ''actually comes across in a manga''. That is not easy to do. |
| 50 | ** The anime only play of ''Cinderella'' done by Toya's school features him doing this ''[[CrossCastRole as Cinderella]]''. One can assume he really, '''really'' is not happy to be in this role, since everyone else does at least reasonably well. |
| 51 | * There is a kind of "flashback" scene in ''Anime/TheBigO'', where Roger and his butler Norman are on a theater stage and re-enacting the events of their first meeting, in very stilted melodramatic dialogue. [[MindScrew It's some kind of Fourth Wall thing, probably.]] |
| 52 | * ''Manga/SgtFrog'': |
| 53 | ** In Episode 29, Natsumi degenerates into woodenly reciting her lines for the SchoolPlay whenever she's overcome with stage fright. Keroro goes to the [[LargeHam other extreme]]. |
| 54 | ** During Episode 33, the platoon [[AmateurFilmMakingPlot attempts to make their own anime.]] Predictably, it isn't very good. Several characters recite their lines without any emotion, and Keroro's dialogue flubs are ''[[ExaggeratedTrope put in the finished result.]]'' |
| 55 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 56 | ** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS-HiOzcjJg "Cell Games Historical Reenactment"]] in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Promptly {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by the heroes, who are incredulously watching it. In the ''Kai'' version, they are notably played by ''Creator/TeamFourStar'', and their dialogue references numerous memes. |
| 57 | ** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Goku pretends to take a punch from Mr. Satan to escape from a crowd without revealing to the populace that he can fly. His hilarious fake scream of pain as he flies off is made gut-bustingly funny when in the middle of it all he takes the time to ''pick up his tractor'' (which he wanted Satan to fix) while still screaming. |
| 58 | --->'''Goku''': (as he's faking being punched away by Mr. Satan) ''[=Owwwwww! =]''[[ThrowItIn ''[=WhoooahhhhhIforgotmytractorrrr...=]'']] (picks up his tractor and flies away) ''[=Ohhhhhhhthathurrrrrrt!=]'' |
| 59 | * In a Lucky Channel segment of the first ''Manga/LuckyStar'' episode to feature Minoru Shiraishi's voice in the main segment, Akira criticizes his reading and offers to help him practice by going over the scene again, with her as Miss Kuroi. ''Her'' reading of Kuroi's line is really dull, except for a bit when she has trouble reading the word "quiet" and Shiraishi whispers the correct pronunciation to her, provoking a bit of mild annoyance that shows as she says it correctly. |
| 60 | * In episode 4 of ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero Final'', some people (who are presumably part of the staff at the tavern) put up an act that "re-enacts" the fight between Saito and [[spoiler:King Joseph of Gallia.]] The acting is...deplorable to say the least. |
| 61 | -->'''Guy acting as [[spoiler:Joseph]]:''' Oh no. I have been slain. Ahhhhhhhh... (collapses) |
| 62 | * In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', the girls of the "Beauty Village" claim to be under attack and ask for help from Team Gurren, pretending to be terrified. It is obvious to the viewer that they are faking it, and most of the brigade realizes that it's at least "suspicious". But Kittan is so excited to be able to save an all-female village that he agrees to help. |
| 63 | * The student-made murder mystery film in ''Anime/{{Hyouka}}'' is full of this; most of the actors seem like they aren't even trying to behave naturally. Oreki actually incorporates this into his theory of the story's intended ending, claiming the acting was bad because [[spoiler:the characters knew [[NarratorAllAlong the cameraman was the culprit]] the whole time and were awkwardly playing along with the script.]] This turns out to be wrong, though, so either the students are just amazingly bad actors, or they couldn't get into the story since the ending didn't even exist yet. |
| 64 | * In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', the film Renji makes for the [[BreatherEpisode Seireitei Film Festival]] is full of this, especially from Rukia (less so from her in the dub). Also notable is [[CloudCuckooLander Orihime]]'s improvised lines (which you would never hear any character [[ItMakesSenseInContext under mind control]] say). |
| 65 | * Done deliberately by villain Rubber Soul in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. He ''knows'' how the person he's impersonating should act, but he enjoys making the people he imitates look like total idiots and perverts. |
| 66 | * ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'' features a sequence in which Tomoko records over the dialogue in an [[RomanceGame Otome Game]] in her own voice. She is... not very good. |
| 67 | * Erza from ''Manga/FairyTail'' is a rare mix between LargeHam and this. She apparently loves acting, and she has the spirit, but she can barely remember her lines, and her enthusiasm about delivering them in the hammiest way possible just makes her spout some random nonsense...when she's not stuttering. |
| 68 | * Petralka suffers from this in episode 10 of ''Literature/OutbreakCompany''. While the film she was in was a deliberate case of StylisticSuck, Shinichi, the protagonist who also directed said film, leaves scenes in the film where she accidentally flubs her lines. She becomes incredibly embarrassed by it and tries to ban the film, despite the fact that the audience seems to be enjoying it. |
| 69 | * In an episode of ''Manga/PumpkinScissors'', the titular military unit pretends to stumble upon a drug deal purely by accident after they've received orders not to make any [[LoopholeAbuse intentional drug busts]]. One of the officers, [[TheCharmer Oreldo,]] [[LargeHam hams up his performance with obvious glee,]] while [[GentleGiant Oland,]] the protagonist, takes the DullSurprise route and essentially just reads his lines off of a piece of paper. |
| 70 | * The titular character of ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'' (who provides the trope image) stands in for a few scenes in the drama club play to see if he's fit to replace the original actor, Hori. However, Nozaki's lines are delivered in a monotone voice and his falling looks completely fake. Hori quickly moves on to a new stand-in. |
| 71 | * In ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'', Ai likes to [[ChewingTheScenery dramatically panic]] about Playmaker being backed into a corner to lull their adversary into a false sense of security only for said opponent or even Playmaker himself to tell him he isn't fooling anyone with his act and they can see right through him. One duel had his acting backfire since it clued in Playmaker's opponent that he had a counterattack ready for her. |
| 72 | * In ''Manga/KotouraSan'', Yuriko tries to be a BitchInSheepsClothing, but Dai'chi [[LampshadeHanging points out plainly]] that she's just fooling herself in thinking she's that cold-hearted. While she does have a partially hidden agenda regarding Haruka (presumably to make Haruka well-known as a psychic in order to vindicate Yuriko's mother), she still seems to care about her greatly. |
| 73 | * In ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'', Inspector Zenigata learns about an illegal counterfeiting operation in the basement of a building. The problem is that his superiors refuse to act on this since many nations are buying these counterfeit bills. His solution? He brings a TV news camera crew down to the basement of the building while pretending to chase Lupin and badly feigns surprise at finding counterfeiting equipment, "discovering" it in a way that makes it impossible to ignore. This makes one of his superiors comment, "He's such a bad actor". |
| 74 | * Subverted for effect in the first ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'', ''Anime/NarutoTheMovieNinjaClashInTheLandOfSnow'': the actress the team escorts plays out a scene they see her shooting quite convincingly; this shocks the team because it sharply contrasts with how distant and snide the actress really behaves. She's not, however, able to fake crying. |
| 75 | * The GUND-ARM commercial in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'' has Suletta visibly exhausted from hours of filming and failed takes, to the point that she's basically screaming her lines, along with an accompanying chorus where no one is on-key. |
| 76 | * Anya from ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'' is horrendously bad when having to act things out, though it's understandable because she ''is'' a young child. When she tries to get Yor to ask Loid to [[BoyfriendBluff be her boyfriend for a coworker's party]], but she hesitated because seeing Anya made her think he was married, her subtleness is loudly start bemoaning the fact that she has no mama and how lonely this makes her. And the only reason this works is because Yor is SuperGullible. |
| 77 | * {{Discussed}} in ''Manga/OshiNoKo''. Aqua gets a walk-on role in a live-action adaptation of a {{Shojo}} romance manga starring FormerChildStar Kana Arima, which is being completely phoned-in by the studio and mostly only exists to advertise the male models that make up the ReverseHarem, who are horribly under-acting everything because the director doesn't care enough to make them do it properly. Aqua upends the paradigm in his role as a StalkerWithACrush in the last episode by [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously playing his role completely straight]] and [[ThrowItIn ad-libbing several lines]], which tricks the LoveInterest into actually emoting and allows Arima to show off her real acting chops for once. This causes the last episode to go from MerchandiseDriven schlock to critical praise. |
| 78 | * One episode of ''Manga/YoureUnderArrest'' has the Bokutou officers staging a play for school children about traffic security, with Natsumi, Yoriko and Aoi acting as {{Sentai}}-themed heroines, Ken as the monster and Miyuki as the schoolgirl the heroines have to save. In their first attempt they completely botch it and the kids hate it, while in the second, a group of costumed "villains" decide to get on the case to improve it a little, which the kids end up loving. |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[/folder]] |
| 81 | |
| 82 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 83 | * [[InsufferableGenius Zodon]] from ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'' [[http://ps238.nodwick.com/?p=171 takes this route]] when a playground bully punches his (holographically disguised) metal hoverchair and hurts his hand. |
| 84 | * [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]] has an odd take on this in ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'' when he's told to pretend he's been taken down by an attack. Turns out he's actually a classically-trained actor ([[BeenThereShapedHistory literally]], he worked with Sophocles), but that means shouting "O cruel Fates, why have you cursed me so?" and then stumbling around for about five minutes delivering a monologue. |
| 85 | * In the adaptation of the ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' episode "Go Away Ghost Ship" (as "The Ghost of Redbeard", Gold Key issue #6), the gang is aboard Redbeard's ship. As Fred, Daphne, and Velma investigate one part of the ship, a loud bang rings out causing Velma to clutch her chest and (over)act as if she'd been shot ("by a pirate's old rusty musket!"). Turns out, it was a door slamming shut. But when the door won't open: |
| 86 | -->'''Velma:''' Now I ''do'' feel like dying! |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 90 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH-Ov3Ag85A This]] fanmade "Secret ending" to ''VideoGame/Bioshock1''. |
| 91 | * In the ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', Paulina shows she's no award-winning actress when she tries to get WesternAnimation/{{Danny Phantom}}'s attention during a ghost attack. |
| 92 | * In Chapter 18 of ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'', Yang almost outs Pyrrha when she's in disguise before backtracking, leading to Pyrrha playing along and showing that despite being TheAce, acting isn't one of her skills. |
| 93 | -->'''Pyrrha:''' Oh Yang, you have bested me. Woe unto me for my failure.\ |
| 94 | '''Yang''' ''(thoughts)'': Huh, so Pyrrha is not a good actor, good to know. |
| 95 | * ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/ruks-unimaginatively-titled-worm-snippet-collection-now-with-more-killer-clowns.491638/page-80#post-65055255 Interviews with]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/ruks-unimaginatively-titled-worm-snippet-collection-now-with-more-killer-clowns.491638/page-82#post-65303985 a Screenbug]]'': The first time Taylor acted in a movie, the director was awed by how perfect she was as a horrifying undead mummy... right up until she started speaking, which amounted to yelling in a dramatic, rushed monotone. In an interview as Silverbug, her cape identity, she admits to needing two years of acting lessons and taking bit parts in movies to help learn. Becomes a BrickJoke later when Taylor learns Eidolon is just as bad when not using a power specifically for public speaking. |
| 96 | * In ''Fanfic/CardsOfRemnant'', Astral possesses the body of and attempts to pretend to be Jaune a few times and isn't particularly great at it. When he duels Ruby and Weiss and they figure out the truth, his attempts at denying it are far from convincing. It's only the fact that they'd barely interacted with Astral that kept them from figuring it out sooner. |
| 97 | -->'''Astral:''' What do you mean, Weiss? [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain I, Jaune Arc, am of course, Jaune Arc. Who else would I, Jaune Arc, be, but Jaune Arc]]?\ |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 101 | * ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': |
| 102 | ** Elsa is terrible at charades. Her movements cause Anna to just yell out the facial expressions she's making. When Anna discovers that the word was something that should've been easy to act out ("ice") and sees Elsa by the window with their mother's cape, she knows something's weighing on Elsa's mind. |
| 103 | ** Olaf recaps the events of the previous film to the Northuldra in a needlessly exaggerated manner. Everyone watches with confusion save for Mattias, who is emotionally invested in the story. |
| 104 | * In ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', Riley's dreams are portrayed as movies, and one of them has very wooden acting (the actress literally reads from a cue card). Fear, who is on "Dream Duty", notes this. |
| 105 | %%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* See the mutant-brain movie Hogarth watches on TV in ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''. |
| 106 | * ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'': At the end, Sully's performance in ''[[FilmWithinAFilm Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me]]'' at the end of is unquestionably this. |
| 107 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheMansionsOfTheGods'', the Gauls are not very good at faking being hit by an allegedly magic-potion-enhanced Asterix. However, while the Roman Centurion is obviously not fooled, [[SurroundedByIdiots his legionaries are]], and they flee. |
| 108 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', Moana is sent into Tamatoa's cave to attract his attention by dressing up as a shiny trinket and gives a lackluster, deadpan performance. Maui even makes mention of the fact that she's not selling it. And even though Tamatoa sees through her charade, he still can't resist falling for the trap due to his narcissism, but still, she definitely ''wasn't'' selling it. |
| 109 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': The Mario Bros. are introduced with a KitschyLocalCommercial for their plumbing business. At one point, the commercial shows a "satisfied customer" clearly reading her lines from an off-camera cue card or teleprompter in a stilted manner ([[WhoWritesThisCrap and finding said line to be cheesy]]). Also, her line suggests she's checking her bank account on her phone, but the screen clearly shows that's not what she's doing. |
| 110 | * The first few ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' live-action "commercials" we see the title character drive by for the ''Axiom'' are filled with the acting level you would expect from any commercial. Overexcited family, painfully fake smiles, an [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket obviously fit "grandma" sitting in a hover chair for little reason,]] and the CEO of the company making a forced pun ("[[Franchise/StarTrek Space is the Final Funtier!]]"). |
| 111 | * In the school play at the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', Judy plays her death ''too'' dramatically, with [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank large amounts]] of fake blood (which consists of red ribbon and ketchup). Her mother facepalms. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 115 | * All of the films by Larry Blamire, including ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'', ''The Lost Skeleton Returns Again'', ''Film/DarkAndStormyNight'', ''Film/TrailOfTheScreamingForehead'', and his ''Tales from the Pub'' shorts, are this way -- the actors are [[StylisticSuck playing the part of B-movie actors in a film, not like the characters]]. Plus [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment repetitive dialogue]], horrible special effects, repeating the dialogue, and [[SelfDemonstratingArticle dialogue that is repetitive]]. |
| 116 | * In ''Film/Annie1982'', when Daddy Warbucks is performing a radio play, he reads off everything word for word, including the stage directions. |
| 117 | * ''Film/{{Bowfinger}}'' is all about a producer with no money and no filming permits trying to film a movie with a totally unaware star (by filming around him with hidden cameras). At one point, in order to have a real cop car in the film, they bribe the cop driving it with a walk-on role in the movie. He has one line, and he delivers it like he's never spoken English before...or seen human movements. "Tough guyyyyyzzlikeyou don' get farindiswhorle, Miss-Terr!" All while waving his arms as if to shoo a fly. |
| 118 | * The mockumentary ''Film/WaitingForGuffman'' has a cast of talented actors... playing small-town hicks trying to make it big on Broadway. |
| 119 | * ''Film/BeKindRewind'' is built on this trope. The protagonists need to replace a bunch of VHS tapes that were accidentally erased, so they record their own versions using a hand-held home video camera. They claim the differences from what people remember is because these are the Swedish versions. They're way too short, the special effects are homemade, the plot is based on what they remember of the movie, and (where this trope comes in) instead of big-name stars they have random people from the neighborhood. Turns out people ''love'' the "Sweded" movies, because they're SoBadItsGood. |
| 120 | * All the characters in ''Film/BoogieNights'' in their movie-within-a-movie pornos. Amber Waves' affectless "This is a giant cock" is a good example. |
| 121 | * Ben Affleck and Matt Damon give us a taste of this on the scene of "Good Will Hunting 2" in ''Film/JayAndSilentBobStrikeBack''. |
| 122 | * In Creator/CharlieChaplin's ''Film/TheCircus'', the Tramp amuses the crowd by accident but fails utterly when the circus master tells him to be funny. |
| 123 | * In ''Film/ReeferMadness'', two characters "act" out ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' for a few seconds. Very funny to see bad actors ''trying'' to act badly. |
| 124 | * ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'' has Toula's aunt acting this way when they're trying to trick Toula's father. |
| 125 | * ''Film/DaddyDayCare'' features a scene where Marvin has to fill in for a professional actor. His attempt can be put in this category. |
| 126 | * A truly spectacular example occurs in ''Film/Super8'' during the short film the main characters are producing throughout the movie. During the [[CreativeClosingCredits credits]], you see the finished film, and the acting is ''bad''. In fact, it shows off the acting talent of the young actors in being able to act that badly. The film even shows that their actress Alice is actually ''really good'', but the kid director chose a cut where she had to yell above the sound of a train, causing her to sound just as bad as the rest of them. |
| 127 | * In ''Film/KissKissBangBang'', Creator/RobertDowneyJr's character, a petty thief, is running from the cops and bursts into some acting auditions. In order to escape the police, he goes ahead and does an audition, reading out the lines in a monotone ("Um... beat up on me all night. You want me to give up my client, you can go spit".) until some of the dialogue hits too close to home. Then he appears to be doing a great acting job, but it's really genuine emotion. (Ah, Method Acting...) |
| 128 | * ''Film/ZackAndMiriMakeAPorno'' includes this when the main characters and the people they hired attempt to "act" in the film they are making. (Just as well that it's, um, a porno... Pity a mainstream film can't show "the good parts".) |
| 129 | * In ''Film/TheNakedGun 33 1/3'', Frank Drebin has to replace a host at the Oscars Gala. At first, he doesn't know what to say, so his co-hostess tells him to read off the teleprompter. Which he does, word for word, including [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud the stage directions]] and the co-hostess' own lines. Things don't exactly improve when he starts to ad-lib. |
| 130 | * Borderline example in ''Film/SonOfRambow'', where the older brother is used in the film within a film. He reads his lines exactly as someone with no acting experience and no preparation would realistically have read them. The makers of the movie then comment about how bad of an actor he was. |
| 131 | * ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'': |
| 132 | ** ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'': The three founding Ghostbusters do a KitschyLocalCommercial in which they read very stilted lines, and Egon even looking down when he steps forward and back to make sure he steps on his floor mark. This was ''actually'' Creator/HaroldRamis making sure he hit his mark -- director Creator/IvanReitman [[ThrowItIn thought it was so perfect he kept that take]]. This scene was later referenced in ''Film/{{Evolution|2001}}'' (also directed by Reitman), with the main characters doing a really badly acted commercial for Head & Shoulders (with one of them even holding the bottle upside down). |
| 133 | ** ''Film/GhostbustersII'' does something similar as Janine and Louis are roped into acting for a commercial for the company. They fall squarely into this, as Janine appears to stare straight into the camera while reading her lines. |
| 134 | * Likewise Alexander Dane, Creator/AlanRickman's character in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', when the out-of-work and typecast actors are advertising the opening of an electronics store. Alexander Dane is a perfectly good [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra classically trained actor]] otherwise, but there he was feeling very unenthusiastic. The others are all pretty stilted too, he's just the most obvious about it. |
| 135 | --> '''Dane''': By Grabthar's Hammer... *{{beat}}* ...what a savings. |
| 136 | * ''Film/ColdSouls'': When the newly [[TheSoulless soulless]] Paul Giamatti is acting in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", his performance is not stilted or hammed up, but it is still very noticeably and realistically ''bad''. |
| 137 | * ''Film/OutrageousFortune''. Shelley Long's Russian acting instructor asks her to simulate being shot, which she grossly over-acts. Later on in the movie, he takes a shot at her for real and appears to have killed her, but it turns out her performance has improved. |
| 138 | * In ''Film/DunstonChecksIn'', a maid's boss's boss wants her fired, but her boss likes her and knows his boss will never remember the incident when he shows up again next year, so for the meantime, the maid is on two weeks paid vacation. The joke is supposed to be that she's trying to seem sad in front of her boss's boss but is actually happy to be on vacation and is bad at acting. Interestingly enough, the actress seems to have been ''trying'' for Bad "Bad Acting" as a way of making the joke clear to the audience. What came out was more like bad "bad 'bad acting'". |
| 139 | * ''Film/BlackDynamite'' is a spoof of blaxploitation films, complete with bad acting as part of its StylisticSuck. In one scene, Black Dynamite's girlfriend is playfully frolicking with him in a park, but whenever the shot cuts back to Black Dynamite, he's scowling and clearly confused about what he's supposed to be doing. |
| 140 | * ''Film/{{Reds|1981}}'' has an example of this with Louise Bryant's terrible acting in one of Eugene O'Neill's plays. In general, Diane Keaton, who plays Louise, is the master of this trope. |
| 141 | * The "homage" to ''Romeo and Juliet'' in ''Film/HotFuzz'' is Martin Blower and Eve Draper. It's so bad the stoic Angel finds their 'kiss' at the end to be the only convincing thing. It's no wonder [[spoiler:the NWA decides that]] they [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident get decapitated in a "car accident"]] that same night. |
| 142 | -->''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EfFEdDU5ko "BANG!"]]'' |
| 143 | * Adam in the first ''Film/SawI'' movie does this when pretending to have been poisoned. In the DVD commentary, Leigh Whannell wants to make it clear that it's ''supposed'' to be a horribly unconvincing performance. |
| 144 | * The girl playing the role of the Saxon Princess on the film set in ''Film/TheRocketeer''. Justified in that she got the part by reason of being the director's niece; the rest of the cast is pretty good. |
| 145 | * ''Film/{{Signs}}'': I'M INSANE WITH ANGER! I'M LOSING MY MIND! |
| 146 | * ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': "Good morning starshine... the earth says... 'Hello'...[[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud I shake you warmly by the hands.]]" |
| 147 | * In ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' when Sarah is asked to read her lines from the script, she reads them out with a pretty hammy performance, somewhere between Marilyn Monroe's president voice and a bad scared sounding voice. |
| 148 | * In ''Film/{{Help}}'', the ineffectual Scotland Yard inspector impersonates Ringo to fool pursuers on the phone: |
| 149 | -->'''Inspector''': Allow me; I'm a bit of a famous mimic in my own small way, you know...James Cagney...[on the phone] Hul-LO there, this is the famous RING-o here, gear fab! What is it that I can do for YOU as it were, gear fab? |
| 150 | -->'''George''': Not a bit like Cagney. |
| 151 | * In "Girls Will be Girls", which features a cast of {{Drag Queen}}s, bad yet self-deluded actress Evie gives the most stilted performance possible in her OneHitWonder film. At one point, the script is simply placed open on a table on set, with Evie "subtly" cribbing looks at it, sounding out her lines. |
| 152 | * Gustav von Wangenheim (Creator/EddieIzzard) in ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire''. The guy couldn't even fake a yawn without it looking hilariously bad. |
| 153 | * Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyLAosJUixo this part of the DVD commentary]] for ''Film/Zombi3D''. |
| 154 | -->'''Deran Sarafian dubbing the voice of the late Robert Marius''': Zombies are bad! |
| 155 | * In the first ''Film/MajorLeague'', as the team is starting to turn things around they're pulled in for an American Express commercial. ''Everyone'' is horrible, either completely monotone, reading their lines slowly, awkwardly trying to snap their fingers, or just talking about "you know, your favorite... movies or... [[BuffySpeak restaurant type places]]". The only one who seemed a natural in front of the camera was Willy "Mayes" Hayes who, in the sequel, had done an ACTUAL action movie in the off-season. [[StylisticSuck It was every bad action cliche possible rolled into one]] and tanked at the box office. This may have been a [[ShoutOut reference]] to the fact that Willy's original actor, Wesley Snipes, didn't come back because he was doing other projects. |
| 156 | * ''[[Series/TheFamousJettJackson Jett Jackson: The Movie]]'' has the title character (a teenage actor) playing a super-spy named Silverstone in a ShowWithinAShow, same as he does on the original Disney series. However, due to a fluke with a prop, he swaps places with his character. Jett is forced to be an actual spy with the world hanging in the balance, while Silverstone finds himself a school-going teenager in a small town. The scene where the actors of ''Silverstone'' are rehearsing their lines has Silverstone do such a terrible job that everybody collapses in hysterical laughter (which confuses Silverstone, as nobody behaves this way in his world). This is strange, as the Disney series frequently showed Silverstone engaging in undercover operations (i.e., acting). |
| 157 | * In ''Film/MuchAdoAboutNothing1993'', Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio fall into this when they're discussing Beatrice's supposed love for Benedick loudly enough for Benedick to hear as part of the initial matchmaking plot. They're pretty terrible actors (in-universe) but Benedick falls for it, hook, line, and sinker. |
| 158 | * In ''Film/HaroldAndMaude'', following Harold's faked suicide, his would-be date Sunshine launches into a terrible and hamtastic attempt at a soliloquy from ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. |
| 159 | * ''Film/{{Orgazmo}}'': Most of the pornstars are terrible at delivering lines, which is why the hero is so successful. In one scene, he's paired with two Asian girls who barely speak English. One repeatedly delivers the line, "Prepare to meet your doom", in a sing-song voice as if she's memorized the line phonetically and is amused by how it sounds. "Pree-PAH to-MEEET jo-DOOOOM!" |
| 160 | * ''Film/InherentVice'': The CowboyCop known as "Bigfoot" is also an aspiring actor who apparently takes whatever roles his meager skill can land. He's introduced playing an unconvincing hippie in a commercial for cheap apartments. His stiff and dreary reading of his "far out" lines is played for comedy. |
| 161 | * In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1'', Katniss is, as Haymitch notes, ''horrible'' when given lines to deliver in front of a greenscreen. |
| 162 | --> '''Katniss''': People of Panem...we fight, we dare...to end this hunger for...justice. |
| 163 | * In a DeletedScene from ''Film/KillBill'', Creator/MichaelJaiWhite plays a kung fu warrior seeking revenge for Bill killing his master. As befits the Kung Fu movies the movie is homaging, White deliberately overacts the role, as if he was cast for his fighting skills instead of his acting ability. |
| 164 | * ''Film/LivingInOblivion'' |
| 165 | ** The first act has actresses Nicole and Ellen repeatedly giving rather bland performances, which provide a contrast to the one take where they really nail it...while the camera is off. |
| 166 | ** Chad's attempt at improvising in the second act is humorously awful, putting exactly the wrong spin and timing on every line. |
| 167 | * ''Film/StrokerAce'': Part of the ImpersonationGambit involves fooling Torkle into believing the Miller Brewing Company is trying to buy his fried chicken franchise. Doc, one of Stroker's friends, is taking acting courses and uses this to his advantage. The problem is Doc's dad, who hasn't had these same courses and is likely to fall to this trope while helping Doc. Doc instead tells his dad to [[BrokenRecord repeat the same phrase]] to Torkle and then coaches him to pronounce it without his usual drawl. His dad's performance is still awful, but since he nails the accent despite only using the one line, Torkle doesn't catch on. |
| 168 | * In ''[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,]]'' [[BigBad Palpatine]] does this when Obi-Wan and Anakin rescue him from his [[WoundedGazelleGambit "kidnapping"]] (really a SecretTestOfCharacter for Anakin) by Count Dooku. Naturally, Anakin doesn't pick up on it. |
| 169 | * ''Film/Shazam2019'': |
| 170 | ** When we first meet him, Billy puts on a gee-whiz show of alarm and excitement to lure a couple of cops into a shop that is supposedly being robbed, so that he can trap them and gain access to police license records through the cruiser's terminal. |
| 171 | ** Billy acts very bombastic when using his alter ego to pose as an adult to do things like buy beer and get himself and Freddie out of school. |
| 172 | * In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler:Bruce Banner (who has merged his body to become Smart Hulk) and the Avengers travel back in time to the events of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', where he is told to act like the Savage Hulk. He ends up doing so...very badly, giving off a lazy roar and smashing cars with little enthusiasm.]] |
| 173 | -->[[spoiler:'''Smart Hulk:''' It's a bit gratuitous, but I'll do it. (''proceeds to imitate the Savage Hulk badly'')]] |
| 174 | * ''Film/TheTrumanShow'': Just about all [[TrumanShowPlot the actors playing the people in Truman's life]] fit this. The extras frequently flub their lines and only go unnoticed because Truman wasn't paying attention to them, regulars playing his family and friends tend to be overbearing and awkward with their emotional displays, and the [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals children and animals sometimes act up on-camera]], like a random little girl loudly asking her mom a question about Truman when he walks on a bus or the neighbor's dog acting aggressive towards him. The one thing they all have in common is being ''totally'' unprepared to improvise whenever Truman does or says something unexpected, and all too often they have to have lines fed to them via earpiece. |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 178 | !!!'''Creators:''' |
| 179 | * A few shows on Creator/AdultSwim have this such as ''Decker: Unclassified'', which stars a C.I.A. agent who constantly underacts and flubs his lines. |
| 180 | %%* The Roadie is a borderline nightmarish clown who doesn't entirely hide his distaste for his work and ''Creator/TheUmbilicalBrothers''. |
| 181 | !!!'''Series:''' |
| 182 | * ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Acting Director", the school faculty tries to impress a visiting talent scout from Creator/WarnerBrothers. Features over-the-top bad acting from Mr. Conklin, Mr. Munsee, Mr. Talbot. The episode ends when Miss Brooks herself tries to impress with an overemotional (and dressed) portrayal of Lady Godiva! |
| 183 | * An episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' has Simmons and Coulson on a train during an undercover operation. To make up for her poor skills at deception, Simmons invents an entire back-story for her 'character' and lets the entire train know it in an incredibly detailed and over-the-top monologue. |
| 184 | -->'''Simmons:''' All mom ever wanted was your love. To be with you! In our two-story Victorian home in the Cotswolds! But could you even give her a moment, what with your banking job requiring you to travel to the States from Tuesday to Saturday every other week? No! You may not have had any time for her, but you had time for your work...and your prostitutes! |
| 185 | * All of the Blockblister videos seen in ''Series/TheAmandaShow''. |
| 186 | * ''Series/AmericaUnearthed'' host Scott Wolter exhibits this trope during obviously scripted scenes inserted into the otherwise 'reality' show. This happens most often around the beginning of the episode. |
| 187 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'': |
| 188 | ** Doyle's video ad for Angel Investigations in "[[Recap/AngelS01E09Hero Hero]]". [[spoiler:After his death, it's played later on in the first and then the fifth season, turning it into a tearjerker.]] |
| 189 | ** Cordelia also displays this -- especially in a risible performance in Creator/HenrikIbsen's ''Theatre/ADollsHouse'' in "[[Recap/AngelS01E17Eternity Eternity]]" -- but improves markedly. Strangely, although she was shown as being a poor actress at first, she was always an excellent liar; capable of fooling even Angelus. |
| 190 | ** In Season 5, Angel when he does a WeCare add for Wolfram & Hart. |
| 191 | ** Then in "[[Recap/AngelS03E05Fredless Fredless]]", when Angel absconds to see Buffy, Cordelia and Wesley use overly melodramatic acting to poke fun at their romance. |
| 192 | * On ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', Tobias Funke's entire acting career falls squarely into this. Highlights include his performance as George Sr. on ''Scandalmakers'' and his audition for the fire sale ad. |
| 193 | -->'''Tobias:''' OH MY GOD WE'RE HAVING A FIRE (sale), women and children first! Amaaaaaaaazing graaaaace... aaaaaand end scene. |
| 194 | * Face from ''Series/TheATeam'' had a very similar example. When the A-Team had to help Hannibal make a monster movie [[CaliforniaDoubling on location]] in Season 4, the plot started to happen, and Face wound up playing the male lead. Normally, he was the slickest con man around, convincingly pretending to be all sorts of different occupations, but when they put him in front of a camera, he was wooden. Face, being Face, immediately made excuses for it, saying that he was getting the feel for the character, etc. |
| 195 | * One defendant in ''Series/BadJudge'' makes a show of himself playing both defendant and defense attorney. |
| 196 | * ''Series/{{Barry}}'': All of the students in the acting class are terrible, ranging from stilted to hack, which is why they're taking acting classes from a third-rate hack like Cousineau. Sally is the only one who ever shows any talent, and even she runs hot and cold. The truly awful Shakespeare class in "Do Your Job" is a standout. |
| 197 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': |
| 198 | ** Subverted in one episode. The show works up the expectation that Penny, who is an aspiring actress, (and also shown to be a horrible singer), was also not that good an actress either. Whilst the fans of the show would expect her to be a typical sitcom style bad actor (and this is lampshaded to an extent in the lines previous), the first time her acting is revealed, it's in a tense moment with the DoggedNiceGuy, Penny exclaiming that if they moved in together (to save on rent) that "She couldn't keep her hands off him". He believes her, at which point she reveals her acting classes "weren't a waste of money". |
| 199 | ** Also subverted in [[https://bigbangtheory.fandom.com/wiki/The_Weekend_Vortex The Weekend Vortex]]; Leonard asks her if it's OK to spend the whole weekend playing video games with his friends and is a little disappointed when she gives permission without the expected pushback. She asks Leonard for the chance to run the "scene" again this time playing for dismay on her part followed by resigned acceptance. It comes off as very natural and almost fools Leonard even though he knows it's completely fake. |
| 200 | ** In [[https://bigbangtheory.fandom.com/wiki/The_Thespian_Catalyst The Thespian Catalyst]], Penny reads a script by Sheldon as part of an acting lesson she is giving him. He wants to play the Spock character, but she insists on playing Spock with Sheldon playing the character of his mother. This ultimately results in Sheldon having a minor emotional breakdown and she has to call his real mother to reboot him. |
| 201 | ** A later episode had Leonard, Sheldon, and Amy attend a class performance of ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' with Penny as Blanche. The few snippets we see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XZE7e5YBxO4#t=83s are rather convincingly that of an amateur production]]. |
| 202 | ** The shows-within-a-show "Serial Apeist" and "Serial Apeist II: Monkey See, Monkey Kill" that Penny features in are said or seen to be pretty bad. A later scene has a character asking Penny if she was trying to act that badly. |
| 203 | %%* The eponymous ''Series/{{Bones}}'', when trying to trick [[SerialKiller Gormogon]]. |
| 204 | * ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': The episode "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor" – where the Bradys are offered a chance to star in a TV commercial – has Mike and Carol hire an actress acquaintance (Myrna Carter) to help them brush up their acting skills, hoping to become believable when the fateful day finally comes. However, Myrna is – at best – a method actress to the extreme and more than likely just a very bad actress who is completely unqualified to give lessons or advice. Nonetheless, Mike and Carol (and the rest of the family) take her well-intentioned advice to heart ... and the resulting stiff, bombastic acting winds up costing them their shot at TV commercial stardom. The director, Skip Farnum, had wanted the family to "be themselves", and at the end of the last scene, Skip angrily asks his cohort the name of that bad actress they used to work with because the Bradys' style was just like hers. |
| 205 | * In the third season of ''Series/BreakingBad'', Jesse and his buddies decide to take advantage of a Drug Addict Recovery Program with them all posing as concerned former users not so stealthily advertising their meth to the addicts. It predictably doesn't go very well ("there's like positivity goin' on and shit" as Pete puts it). |
| 206 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 207 | ** The painful rendition of ''Theatre/OedipusRex'' by the main characters for a mandatory talent show in the first-season episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E9ThePuppetShow The Puppet Show]]". They go for three different bad-acting styles: Buffy is wooden and expressionless, Xander is over-the-top and hammy, and Willow is terrified into muteness until she runs offstage. |
| 208 | ** Nice-girl Willow trying to pass as her evil vampire counterpart in the third-season episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]". ("I'm a bloodsucking ''fiend!'' Look at my outfit!") |
| 209 | ** Also in "Doppelgangland", not only does Willow try to pass herself off as the evil vampire Willow, but the vampire Willow tries to pass herself off as good Willow, so Cordelia will let her out of the book cage. "Look at me. I'm all... helpless." |
| 210 | ** A variant: in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E18Intervention Intervention]]", a robot (in seasons five and six) designed to look like Buffy moving among her friends using such cunningly in-character lines as "Willow, you are my best friend. You're recently gay!" What annoys Buffy is that it manages to fool them for a while. |
| 211 | ** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E16WhoAreYou Who are You]]", Faith [[FreakyFridayFlip trying to impersonate Buffy.]] This involves Creator/SarahMichelleGellar, who plays Buffy normally, in the role of playing Faith pretending to be Buffy. Includes rehearsing some lines Faith thinks Buffy would say before a mirror over and over, hilariously. |
| 212 | --->'''Faith-in-Buffy's-body:''' Because it's wrong. Because it's ''wrong''. ''[fiercely]'' ''Because it's wrong''.... |
| 213 | ** [[FakeBrit Spike]] [[FakeAmerican pretending to be American]] so Initiative soldiers won't realize who he is. When he tries it again in a later episode, he gives up before he's even finished speaking. It becomes doubly hilarious when you realize Creator/JamesMarsters is actually American, so he's an American playing a Brit (badly) pretending to be an American. |
| 214 | --->'''Soldier:''' Do I know you?\ |
| 215 | '''Spike:''' Uh, no. Uh, no sirrr, I'm just an old friend of Xanderrr… herrre. |
| 216 | ** Vi's Slayer recruitment commercial in Season 8, where she plays a typical suburban housewife-type who tells her husband (played by Andrew) about her sudden super strength and mystical Slayer dreams. |
| 217 | * On ''Series/{{Californication}}'' when Hank is asked to read out loud from a screenplay he wrote, the result is stilted and incredibly awkward. It's especially interesting since the scene he's reading is based on events that occurred in the series' pilot episode, and the dialogue matches the earlier scene almost word for word. |
| 218 | * ''Series/{{Cheers}}:'' |
| 219 | ** One episode has the gang doing this for a home movie Diane's trying to record. Not helping is Diane also gives them extremely pretentious and stilted dialogue to read, and they're rebelling against it. |
| 220 | ** Woody is an amateur actor, emphasis on the 'amateur'. He only eventually gets a part because of an outbreak of sickness. That said, how terrible he is tends to vary wildly - he can do well, such as when he does Mark Twain, or in ''Twelve Angry Men'', but in other occasions his ability to convincingly do romance is awful... until he realises ''fear'' is the key. |
| 221 | ** Rebecca's sister Susan did some B-Movies. She shows off one of her death scenes when she visits the bar. It's exactly as over-acted as you'd expect from a cheesy B-movie. But it's enough to fool Sam. |
| 222 | * ''Series/ChewinTheFat'' featured Ronald Villiers, "the second-worst actor in the world". He cannot remember the simplest of lines, respond to any cue, or take any form of direction. He can ruin any scene no matter how small the part (when playing a Puritan villager in an angry mob during the Salem Witch Trials, he constantly mumbled over the main actors) and even when he has no lines (when playing a prison warden who is only there to open the door of a cell, every take failed because of him noisily clanging the door or fumbling with the keys.) |
| 223 | * ''Series/TheDailyShow'': For a while, the end segment (a.k.a. "the toss") that segues into ''Series/TheColbertReport'' was pre-taped, instead of done with a live audience as usual. Fans noticed and were displeased. On the show that returned to live tosses, Creator/JonStewart acknowledged that the fans enjoyed the expression of "warmth and genuine camaraderie" between him and Creator/StephenColbert -- and both immediately became very wooden, read robotically off the teleprompters, and expressed relief when it was over. |
| 224 | * An episode of the original ''Series/DegrassiHigh'' features ''It Creeps'', a "feminist slasher film" made by one character in the series and starring half a dozen other characters. As so-so actors playing teenagers playing terrible actors playing teenagers, they do an impressively dreadful job. |
| 225 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 226 | ** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E3TheIceWarriors "The Ice Warriors"]], the Doctor indicates to Victoria that she needs to start pretending to cry as a distraction. Her fake crying is absolutely horrible, although it works (perhaps the Ice Warriors don't know what human crying is supposed to sound like). |
| 227 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld "The Enemy of the World"]], which has an ImpersonatingTheEvilTwin gimmick (where both the Doctor and Salamander are played by Creator/PatrickTroughton), uses multiple and subtle layers of this: |
| 228 | *** When the Doctor first impersonates Salamander, as he knows little about the man, his accent and appearance is good but his acting is just the generically commanding personality he usually uses in his {{Bavarian Fire Drill}}s. He also noticeably pauses while thinking of new ways to bluff. This does turn out to be good enough to fool the agent he was doing this to, but not good enough that he doesn't think that Salamander was "not himself" and "acting really strangely". |
| 229 | *** When Salamander is lying his face off in front of the scientists, he becomes noticeably unctuous compared to his usual personality, which isn't the way the Second Doctor tends to indicate a bluff. Cracks in the façade definitely begin to show as he realizes some of them have him figured out. |
| 230 | *** Subverted when the Doctor impersonates Salamander for the second time, where the fact that he's nailed the character so completely (compared to his weak performance before) is used to fool the audience into thinking it actually ''is'' Salamander. Significantly, when the Doctor drops the façade, it's in response to physical violence and the intended audience reaction isn't "hooray, it's the Doctor!" but "oh no, Salamander can act like the Doctor too!" The Doctor has to use ShaveAndAHaircut as a {{Shibboleth}} to prove who he is to them. |
| 231 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos "Meglos"]]: The Doctor and Romana are caught in a chronic hysteresis (a time loop), which results in them going through the same scene involving repairing K-9 by waggling his tail several times. In order to break themselves out of said loop, they have to ''deliberately'' recreate the scene, which results in Romana acting very woodenly, and the Doctor actually forgetting what he has to say next, even though he's already delivered the line at least three times already. |
| 232 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice "Amy's Choice"]]: This is Amy's opinion of Upper Leadworth's amateur dramatic society. |
| 233 | * In the ''Series/EnemyAtTheDoor'' episode "The Polish Affaire", most of the regular cast get roped into a friend's amateur theatricals. Peter, in particular, is very wooden. |
| 234 | * ''Series/LosEspookys'': When forced to play the role of the creepy butler in [[OnOneCondition an inheritance scare]], Renaldo's performance is too over-the-top to be scary and he breaks character at the end by standing upright when he's supposed to be a hunchback. In response to criticism, Renaldo reminds the others that he's not an actor, and if he were an actor, the role would've been out of his range. |
| 235 | * ''Series/EverythingNow'': Mia joins the drama club at her school as the girl she likes is there. When she does improv, she's really awkward, showing [[DullSurprise little emotion]] in a very dramatic scene. She's also quite hesitant while reciting a bit from ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. |
| 236 | * In the wrap-up movie to ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson'', Jett swaps places with his superspy ShowWithinAShow character Silverstone. While Jett is struggling to survive in a world of spies and supervillains with zero training, Silverstone has to deal with being a (more or less) normal teenager in a small town, as well as an actor. Despite being a spy, Silverstone is utterly terrible at acting, causing his co-stars to burst into laughter, assuming he's just pretending. |
| 237 | * ''Series/FatherBrown'': Bunty's performance as the Fairy Godmother in "The Tree of Truth". She is very stiff and wooden and keeps forgetting her lines. Ultimately, she realizes how awful she is and feigns illness to allow Mrs. [=McCarthy=], who originally read for the role, to take over the part. |
| 238 | * ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': |
| 239 | ** Simon in "[[Recap/FireflyE07Jaynestown Jaynestown]]", when he's pretending to be a merchant looking to buy "mud". [[spoiler:Revealed in TheMovie to be more of a prep and motivation problem rather than skill - he manages to get into a top-secret government experiment slicker than snot on a doorknob in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', because he was playing a role he was reasonably close to and had time to prep and his sister's life on the line, while in "Jaynestown" he was roped into it at the last second and had no idea what he was doing.]] |
| 240 | ** When Simon and River come back onto the ship at the end of "[[Recap/FireflyE05Safe Safe]]", Jayne's attempt at welcoming them back (and covering up that he's been looting Simon's luggage) is all about this. |
| 241 | ** Also in "[[Recap/FireflyE11Trash Trash]]", where at the end it's revealed that [[spoiler:everything was played by the entire crew from the moment Mal released Yo-Saff-Bridge from the crate]], Inara insists that the crew's acting skills were sub-par. In fact, if you watch closely, [[spoiler:the crew's performances really weren't that great, with Kaylee lapsing into giggling fits a few times, and Wash being a bit of a LargeHam]]. |
| 242 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'': |
| 243 | ** Joey is quite the bad "bad actor" at times, varying from stilted delivery, to SoapOpera melodrama, to ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud. Also, his attempts to imitate foreign accents are terrible. |
| 244 | --->'''Leonard Hayes:''' You're thinking too much.\ |
| 245 | '''Joey:''' I really doubt that. |
| 246 | ** The above exchange is from "The One with the Mugging"; Hayes (a classically-trained actor whom the gang knows best from silly wireless service commercials) is played by Creator/JeffGoldblum as a downplayed example of the trope. Hayes is overly earnest verging on LargeHam when he's performing ([[AdamWesting a playful exaggeration of Goldblum's own style for those in the know]]). |
| 247 | ** Phoebe and Ross also go overboard when they "act". |
| 248 | * ''Series/FullFrontal'': Creator/ShaunMicallef has the character of David [=McGahan=], a media personality whose ego far outstrips his talent. One recurring [=McGahan=] sketch, ''Roger Explosion: Secret Agent'' has him manage to hit every single point of this trope. [=McGahan=] continually forgets his lines, misses his cues, flubs the blocking (to the point where there's a giant cross on the floor), and even messes the cues of other characters. |
| 249 | * ''Series/FunkySquad'', an Australian AffectionateParody of '70s cop shows like ''The Mod Squad'', most notably with the "spontaneous laughter" in the EverybodyLaughsEnding. |
| 250 | * ''Series/FXTheSeries'', season 1 episode 5. Carrie Ann Moss absolutely mangles [[http://www.opensourceshakespeare.com/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=henry6p3&Act=1&Scene=4&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=505#505 Margaret's speech to York]] in Shakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryVIPart3''. |
| 251 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 252 | ** In "Valar Morghulis", the Lannisters, their Small Council members, and the Tyrells enact a ceremony in which King Joffrey dismisses Sansa and takes Margaery as his betrothed for the benefit of the court. Joffrey turns to his mother in anticipation for her line before Queen Cersei starts speaking. Margaery Tyrell enthusiastically participates in the rehearsed charade, but Ser Loras is literally a bad actor. He can't be bothered to do his small part properly, as his body language practically oozes with contempt for Joffrey, and Loras even messes up one of his lines because he inadvertently lets out a FreudianSlip regarding his feelings for Renly. |
| 253 | ** Also, Grenn when he fakes being beaten by Sam in the training yard. |
| 254 | * One episode of ''Series/{{Garo}}: Makai Senki'' involved a popular idol making his acting debut as the hero of a classical play. He delivers all his lines in ridiculously stilted fashion, ignoring all direction in favor of his own ad-libs. The rest of the cast and crew despairs of him but are forced to put up with him because he draws in audiences. |
| 255 | * ''Everyone'' in ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'' does this in their own particular way. Garth (as Rick Dagless) hopelessly overangsts his every line, the actress playing Liz lives in a world of DullSurprise and breathless delivery, Dr. Sanchez is played as the [[LargeHam Ham]] to end all Hams, and Thornton Reed (notably played by 'not an actor' Dean Learner) blurts out all of his lines in an awkward rush. Even the extras have their own bad acting, from bored tones in what's supposed to be a sex scene to being a MotorMouth to get through their lines as soon as possible. The only person that can be said to avert this was The Temp, played by an actor with genuine talent, but stuck giving horrible lines. |
| 256 | * Blaine's brother in ''Series/{{Glee}}'' is an awful actor who thinks he's a brilliant actor. His highlights include shuffling around after his 'death' to show the camera his better side, pointing dramatically, ignoring everyone in the scene with him, and of course, SCREAMING ALL HIS LINES because he's AN INTENSE ACTOR and the things that he's feeling are REALLY INTENSE! But mostly pointing. |
| 257 | * ''Series/GLOW2017'': |
| 258 | ** Most of the GLOW wrestlers are completely untrained actresses who simply ham up their exaggerated characters. Debbie and Ruth are the only actresses in the cast who have any sort of training. |
| 259 | ** In the first part of season 2, Cherry's disastrous attempt to star in a cop show reveals her total lack of dramatic acting skill. She delivers her lines in a blank, stilted fashion as if she's using all her concentration to just pronounce the words. In a moment of desperation, she turns to Sam for help, and he honestly tells her what she knows is true: at present, she is not competent enough to do the job. In a few years, she might acquire the necessary skills but right now her only choice is to find a way to walk away from the show before she gets fired and gets a bad reputation in the industry. Sam ultimately finds a way for everyone involved to save face and release Cherry from her contract so she can come back to ''GLOW''. |
| 260 | * ''Series/TheGoesWrongShow'' (by the same outfit that did ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' below) features the Cornely Amateur Dramatic Society, and boy is it ever. A few of the performers are halfway decent and struggle gamely through set malfunctions, prop mishaps, and their fellow performers. A few, however, are notably bad. Dennis can be counted on for high-volume, stilted delivery, ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud, and tendency to forget his own lines and start saying his partner's instead. (As a result he is usually "cast" as deer heads and teletype machines; even then he screws it up.) Max can't keep a straight face, mugs for the audience, and never stays still when he's meant to be dead. Robert is all right, but the fact that he wrote a book titled "[[LargeHam Anything You Can Act, I Can Act Louder]]" illustrates what his usual issue is. |
| 261 | * Margo's performance in ''The Sound of Music'' on ''Series/TheGoodLife''. At one point she started singing the song "Maria" from ''West Side Story'' simply because she herself was playing Maria and was panicked by everything else going wrong. |
| 262 | * An episode of ''Series/GreenAcres'', where the town puts on a play. Arnold, a pig, is considered to be a great actor and is sent to Hollywood. Considering the quality of the human acting, we don't blame them. |
| 263 | * Despite Miley Stewart's successful ClarkKenting in ''Series/HannahMontana'', Hannah herself couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. In one episode while co-hosting an award show, she speaks in a robotic voice and [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud reads the instructions from the teleprompter]]. In another episode, she is fired from a voice acting job for an animated movie. Ironically, director [[Film/StandByMe Rob Reiner]] gives her a role only after she goes out of her way to try ''not'' get the part.\ |
| 264 | The latter scenario was more of a SpringtimeForHitler situation; Miley was deliberately botching the audition as Oliver was jealous of Hannah's successes in life while Oliver was [[ButtMonkey doomed to failure]]. Oliver would eventually forgive Miley for sacrificing her opportunity to save their friendship. |
| 265 | * In a very rare case where this trope is actually useful is during ''Series/HellsKitchen''. The final 3-4 chefs each have a turn running the pass, with the sous chefs (and sometimes the maitre'd) deliberately sabotaging the dishes to see if the contestants have picked up Ramsay's attention to detail. Whenever a contestant catches them out, Scott (normally) will show this trope, which is a clue that they've done something right. |
| 266 | * There was an episode of ''Series/HeyDude'' that featured Ted performing a script for someone outside eavesdropping. His performance was also typically stilted and wooden. |
| 267 | * ''Series/HometownChaChaCha'': When Du-sik requests that the neighbors go along with his fake dating ruse with Hye-jin, he offers a discount to her clinic to whoever is the best at keeping up with it. The result is a very cringeworthy dialogue with the villagers who all sequentially introduce themselves and woodenly praise Du-sik and Hye-jin. Du-sik even complains that they're all very bad at acting. |
| 268 | * Ed Norton (no, not that one) on ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' when Ralph Kramden's ZanyScheme of the Week is to sell a multi-purpose tool on TV. "Can it core a apple?[[note]] No, that's not a typo, that's how Ed and Ralph actually said it. [[/note]]" However, when the time comes to actually do the commercial (live in those days), Ralph is even worse: "Homminahomminahommina..." |
| 269 | * The ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' episode "Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth" featured an [[StylisticSuck absurd showing of a fan film]] made by the main characters: ''Film/LethalWeapon 5''. Aside from all its other problems (like the horrible racism), it featured some of the worst acting imaginable. Like Charlie's dreadful line readings ("Turns out someone tainted - tapped the tainted water supply! The person who just died was '''''your''''' wife!") and Frank's turn as the screeching LargeHam villain. |
| 270 | ** The Gang's venture into musicals in "The Nightman Cometh" featured loads of bad acting. |
| 271 | * In the British cop series ''Jericho'' (not ''Series/Jericho2006'') the title character is asked to introduce a television series about his 'real life' cases (actually fictional cases delivering moral {{Aesop}}s). He's eventually replaced by an actor because his performance is too stilted. |
| 272 | * ''Series/{{Jessie}}'': |
| 273 | ** Jessie and Petey's improv acting in "Green-Eyed Monsters". It's even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Emma. |
| 274 | ** Zuri's "Oh no! The lizard ate my homework!" in "Make New Friends but Hide the Old". |
| 275 | ** Luke's "They (Chris Bosh's socks) have been washed!" In "Say Yes to the Messy Dress". |
| 276 | * ''Series/{{KYTV}}'': |
| 277 | ** There's a spoof behind-the-scenes production of a Dickensian costume drama with a useless lead actor, who can barely read and can't even say his [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe lines]] in the correct order: "I think it now not far... is?", "I too, wife weary... am?". |
| 278 | ** Bad "Bad Acting" is a staple of KYTV's "Brazilian soap opera, ''Ole!'', translated and dubbed by KYTV", where the "Brazillian" actors play with exaggerated melodrama, while the voice-over actors read their lines in a dull, monotone way, regularly missing their cues, reading the wrong lines and mispronouncing words. |
| 279 | ** KYTV was based on the radio series ''Radio Active'' which also used this trope regularly. The radio version of the Dickens parody featured the narrator saying "Children die on the street happily... Die on the streets. Happily, our story concerns on who lives." And the Oliver Twist expy saying "Gruel, please can I have some moron... Please, can I have some more on my plate." |
| 280 | * ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' has Pam Doove, who became TheUnintelligible whenever it was time for her to speak a single, easy line. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in that in-universe her unintelligible phrase becomes a popular meme, her advert is actually filmed and broadcast and, in the minds of the writers according to the DVDCommentary, she becomes a famous actress and wins an Oscar. |
| 281 | * On ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', the episode [[Recap/{{Legends Of Tomorrow S 4 E 16 Hey World}} "Hey World"]] has a rather disastrous attempt at filming a commercial: Gary puts ''way'' too much emphasis on the pun they're saying, Nate pitches their voice so low and growly its almost unintelligible, and Sara can't get through their lines without laughing. Once it's done, they all agree: "''Great'' take." |
| 282 | * ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': |
| 283 | ** Sophie's acting is ''terrible''. Really terrible. Once, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Parker]] compared Sophie's acting in ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman''[[labelnote:*]]In which she played the ''title role''.[[/labelnote]] to a horror movie saying "Attention ''must be'' '''PAID!'''" and [[GeniusBruiser Eliot]] declared that that was the worst night of his life. (This was juxtaposed with a flashback of him being forced to play RussianRoulette while held captive.) As is made clear throughout the series, she's only terrible when she's trying to act outside of a con. If it's during a con, she can pull off almost any role effortlessly. As Nate puts it, "She can act... when it's an act." |
| 284 | --->"Never before has a production of ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' made me root for the Nazis." |
| 285 | ** There are times when Parker, called upon to act, does so ''very'' unconvincingly. |
| 286 | --->'''Parker, hanging off chairlift:''' "Oh yeah. [[DullSurprise Help. Help.]]" |
| 287 | * Miranda's acting in ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'', complete with her [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud accidentally reading out stage directions]]. |
| 288 | * ''Series/MadTV1995'': |
| 289 | ** Parodied in several skits entitled "Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses A.D" that poked fun of [[BMovie B-rated]] television series. |
| 290 | --->"You are not a scientist... from the future... '''AS''' I am." |
| 291 | ** The ''modus operandi'' of ''Mad TV'''s [[BlaxploitationParody "Dolemite" and "Son of Dolemite" skits]], where everything from acting to camera work is [[RuleOfFunny extremely shoddy and cut-rate]]. |
| 292 | * One of the Francis subplots from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' had Otto hiring an acting troupe to stage a live murder-mystery, only the performance was a ClicheStorm whose annoyance and direct interference with the guests caused them to leave en masse. Too soft to fire them, Otto hired an audience to watch and praise them to help boost their confidence. The audience was ''also'' an example of Bad Bad Acting, although they were deadpan in contrast to the LargeHam performance of the troupe, to which the troupe's leader was totally oblivious. |
| 293 | * In ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': |
| 294 | ** Episode "Kiss of the Coffee Woman", Al and Marcy try to act in a coffee commercial, but deliver their lines in a completely stilted and unnatural way. After everybody has given up and left, they try it for one more time and do it perfectly. |
| 295 | ** In "Birthday Boy Toy", Al's boss, Gary, hires Bud and Kelly to make a commercial for her shoe store. Al tried out for the commerical, but his performance was anything but good. After he's fired, no one hesistates to tell him why. |
| 296 | --->'''Al:''' Why the sudden change of heart?\ |
| 297 | '''Bud:''' No, no, it's not sudden. Your acting sucks. It sucked when we started, it sucks now, i-it will always suck!\ |
| 298 | '''Al:''' Well, that's just one person's opinion, isn't it?\ |
| 299 | '''Kelly and Griff:''' It sucks.\ |
| 300 | '''Three Men:''' (''outside of the store'') It sucks.\ |
| 301 | '''Woman:''' (''over loudspeaker'') Attention, shoppers, Al Bundy sucks. |
| 302 | * ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': In "Vote For Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy", when Sophie Lennon is called upon to interview people with rheumatoid arthritis during the MDA telethon, she switches rapidly between sympathetic and humorous modes, and makes little to no effort to conceal the transitions. After taking a moment to operatically moan in sorrow for the poor victims ("ARRRRR-THRITISSS!"), she drops her facade and sorts through her note cards again. Sophie Lennon, it should be noted, is a classically-trained actress with a passion for legit theater who got pushed into this character of a "fat ApronMatron", so safe to say she's just going through the motions here. |
| 303 | * In the ''Series/{{Matlock}}'' episode "The Play", Matlock and his associate Cliff are this while trying out for a community play. |
| 304 | * ''Series/TheMiddle'': |
| 305 | ** Sue Heck when she does public speaking or things on camera. |
| 306 | ** This is the result when Brad and Sue write, direct and star in the senior play in "The Lonliest Locker". |
| 307 | * Played with in ''Series/{{Monk}}''. In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater", Monk becomes the understudy for an actor who was murdered. When he's re-enacting the scene in the play to try to solve the crime, he's really good; Sharona does her part much less convincingly. Monk starts to lose it in rehearsals; during the actual performance, he makes a lot of mistakes and veers into LargeHam territory. [[spoiler:During the actual performance, he was also rather flustered due to having just figured out that the murderer was the person he was acting with on the stage.]] |
| 308 | * Lampshaded in the ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Spanish Inquisition" sketch: |
| 309 | -->'''Cardinal Ximinez:''' How do you plead?\ |
| 310 | '''Lady Mountback:''' We're innocent.\ |
| 311 | '''Ximinez''': HA! HA HA! (''superimposed caption: "Diabolical laughter"'') We'll soon change your mind about that! (''superimposed caption: "Diabolical acting"'') |
| 312 | ** Another sketch features a tremendously pathetic version of ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'', put on by a boys' school. Both the boys and the girls act incredibly woodenly. |
| 313 | * ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' |
| 314 | ** An episode featured a direction [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs making a "moving picture" based on Detective Murdoch's investigations and the police department he works at.]] The in-universe actor playing Murdoch is injured and Murdoch himself has to stand in, resulting in the surreal situation of Murdoch's real-life actor playing Murdoch playing himself, badly. |
| 315 | ** Another episode features a play that Inspector Brakenreid's son is appearing in. He is the only actor who isn't either stilted, hammy, or alternating between the two. It doesn't help that the script is terrible as well. |
| 316 | * A ''Series/MurphyBrown'' episode had the title character hired for a cameo on a comedy show. Unfortunately, Murphy keeps delivering her single line in a horribly stilted manner: |
| 317 | -->'''Murphy''': I GOT your APOLOGY, Kelly! NOW I'm SORRY that I filled your CAR with HERRING! |
| 318 | * ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' |
| 319 | ** While trying to escape ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}'', the Satellite of Love crew set up [[CardboardPal some decoy lookalikes]] and a prerecorded riff track, which combines this trope with some... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEeY9rspTrE odd phrasings]]. |
| 320 | ** Also somewhat earlier in the series, when Dr. Forrester forces the crew to put on an act for his visiting mother. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNVqg34fiQ4 Starts at about 4:45]], and runs the gamut. |
| 321 | * The ''Series/MythBusters'' sometimes do StylisticSuck videos that illustrate a myth that they're doing. When they do this, the acting is either over-the-top or oddly stilted. While this is somewhat justified by the fact that none of them (with the possible exception of Adam) are professional actors, it still manages to be SoBadItsGood in the ''exact'' way Bad "Bad Acting" generally is. |
| 322 | ** An interesting episode was about testing to see if hypnotic recall could actually work to make you remember things that you couldn't before. To test this Adam and Jamie set up an altercation with some delivery guys (who were planted actors) with Tory, Kari, and Grant nearby. As a viewer in on the deception, you could tell it was an act but it would be convincing enough for the casual observers. |
| 323 | * ''Series/{{Neighbours}}'' runs into this at times, especially with staged arguments. The fight between Rachel and Stingray, intended to convince Susan they weren't really interested in each other, was particularly cringe-worthy. |
| 324 | * There's an episode of ''Series/NewsRadio'' where a camera crew decides to shoot Jimmy James for a documentary. Whenever they start filming, though, he starts going all monotone and speaks like a robot. |
| 325 | * ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' |
| 326 | ** "Threat Level Midnight" showcases Michael's personal pet project movie of the same name, which has the Dunder-Mifflin staff as the actors. But since they aren't professional actors, much of their dialogue delivery either comes off as way [[LargeHam over the top]] (especially Jim as the BigBad), sounding like they're [[DullSurprise phoning in their performances]], or [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously trying to sound dramatic]] in spite of the cliched writing, resulting in all kinds of {{narm}}. Karen's line delivery is especially bad, to the point the documentary crew actually tracked her down to ask her about this, much to her irritation. |
| 327 | ** In one episode, Karen participates in a prank with Jim and says her lines in an obviously artificial manner, which Dwight is too dim to notice. |
| 328 | * ''Series/PartyDown'': While partying with Creator/SteveGuttenberg, the catering staff (of struggling actors) perform a scene from Roman's bad science fiction screenplay, delivering stilted writing in a stiff and confused manner. After an emergency rewrite, the actors start to get a feel for their roles and perform the much-improved scene with genuine skill. |
| 329 | * In ''Series/{{Pixelface}}'', Athelwynne plays up his LargeHam tendencies in his cut scenes, even adding extra syllables to words to stretch out his screen time. Clairparker, on the other hand, says everything in a bored monotone and [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud reads the stage directions out loud]]. |
| 330 | * ''Series/Reno911'' occasionally shows its police-officer characters doing incredibly stilted Public Service Announcements. |
| 331 | * Max Evans of ''Series/{{Roswell}}'', formerly ''Roswell High'', auditioned for a part as an alien prince. He stumbled over his lines a lot, but other than that [[DullSurprise it wasn't much different from usual.]] |
| 332 | * ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': |
| 333 | ** Vanessa Bayer's reoccurring sketch "The Miley Cyrus Show". |
| 334 | ** Another one of Bayer's characters, Laura Parsons, is a parody of adolescent drama students who think showing off acting technique is the same thing as giving a performance. She performs scenes from [[AgeInappropriateArt Age Inappropriate]] movies like ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' and ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' with a singsong vocal rhythm and gratuitous hand gestures. |
| 335 | ** An older ''SNL'' sketch, "Goth Talk" was more or less Bad "Bad Acting" of the [[LargeHam hammy]] variety. The two black-shrouded hosts, Stephanie and Todd (aka [[DarknessVonGothickname Circe Nightshade and Azrael Abyss]]), as well as all of their guests, tried to be ludicrously morbid, gothic, and emotional, even when referencing very modern, pedestrian things. The fact that they essentially broke character every few sentences did not help. |
| 336 | * ''Series/SchittsCreek'': Notably averted when we see clips of Moira's acting in ''The Crows Have Eyes III: The Crowening'' and ''Sunrise Bay'' where Creator/CatherineOHara pulls off the trained actress Moira's effort to be good while only being mediocre. Played straight, however, whenever she and her son David try to "act" together. |
| 337 | * ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has J.D. and Turk perform a concept scene for J.D.'s screenplay "Dr. Acula" and requisitely has them doing a horrible job at line delivery and staying in character when their line is over. |
| 338 | * ''Series/{{Skins}}'' series five. The third generation gang is involved with putting on a college show towards the end of the series and chief organizer, head girl and all-around queen bee Mini [=McGuinness=] turns out to give a horribly stilted and melodramatic performance that she naturally thinks is really good. Meanwhile the most extreme outsiders of the group, Franky and Richard, give extremely good performances that are well-received by the audience. |
| 339 | * ''Series/SlingsAndArrows'' has Claire portraying Ophelia in ''Theater/Hamlet''. In the scene where Ophelia, mad with grief, is singing "go to thy death-bed", Claire sings her lines while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0uVGCYRP4I staggering with her mouth gaping open as if she were stoned]]. As the director informs her after her performance, she has completely failed at portraying the heartbroken Ophelia. |
| 340 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': |
| 341 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E19TheNthDegree The Nth Degree]]", Barclay performs a play with Dr. Crusher. He is terrible at acting, stammering, and forgetting lines. The audience, however, is too nice to criticize him and politely applaud the performance while saying things like "bravo" -- except for Data. |
| 342 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E26S6E1TimesArrow Time's Arrow Part II]]" the ''Next Generation'' crew have traveled back in time to 1893 San Francisco. When the landlady Mrs. Carmichael demands their overdue rent they pretend to be actors rehearsing ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and encourage her to read the part of Titania. Captain Picard then praises her stilted performance, and Mrs. Carmichael is so flustered she forgets about the rent for another day. |
| 343 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E24MenageATroi Ménage à Troi]]", Lwaxana's plan for getting away from a Ferengi Daimon who'd kidnapped her is having Picard act like an insanely jealous lover with the guns of a ''Galaxy''-class starship at his disposal. Picard starts out with "It's not over between us. You're mine, and I will not let you go", delivered like he's reading off a card with a gun to his head, before resorting to large gestures and lines from Shakespeare sonnets. And ordering Worf to warm up the weapons. |
| 344 | * In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E10OurManBashir Our Man Bashir]]" they go to a Holodeck program which is a Bond AffectionateParody, most of the characters are [[LargeHam large hams]] and/or HollywoodToneDeaf, especially Avery Brooks as Dr. Noah, who is even more Hammy than usual, and Nana Visitor as Anastasia Komananov, where she admitted in interviews it was a "necessity to do a bad Russian accent". |
| 345 | * ''Series/TheState'' does this sometimes. A classic example is the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujIZdgrhuWA Spaghetti and Fried Bumblebees]]" sketch. |
| 346 | * ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'': J'onn, despite being a shapeshifter, is... mediocre at acting. Everyone who has ever interacted with one of his disguises for more than five seconds notices something is weird, though usually, nothing comes of it. Special mention goes to when J'onn has to pretend to be Kara when she is indisposed and Lena wants to visit her. J'onn puts absolutely ''zero'' effort into his acting, stiffly referring to James as "Mister Olsen" and not even bothering to smile. Lena completely fails to notice anything is wrong since she thought Kara was sick and assumed anything strange was the result of that. |
| 347 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 348 | ** In "The French Mistake", Sam and Dean are thrust into an alternate reality in which they are Creator/JaredPadalecki and Creator/JensenAckles. At one point, Sam and Dean are forced to play themselves, and they do a spectacularly bad job of it. |
| 349 | --->'''Dean:''' Don't look at the camera.\ |
| 350 | '''Sam:''' What?\ |
| 351 | '''Dean:''' Look anywhere but the camera. |
| 352 | ** One can only imagine the "real" script directions for Jared and Jensen who were told to act as Sam and Dean (normal), who are acting like Jared and Jensen (would already be difficult) who are acting as Sam and Dean (WTF?). |
| 353 | ** We also see this played with by the cast of ''Hell Hazers II: The Reckoning'' in the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E18HollywoodBabylon "Hollywood Babylon"]]. |
| 354 | * ''Series/{{Taken}}'': In "Maintenance", Charlie Keys fumbles over his lines while playing Neil Armstrong in his class' play about the space program. |
| 355 | * ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Cold Reading", Jack Holland, who plays the title character in ''Dick Noble, African Explorer'', constantly struggles with his lines and the other actors have to cover for him as the series is broadcast live. He mispronounces words such as "azure" and "tut" on air. When his co-star Marilyn Cavendish, who plays Dick's GirlFriday Millicent, helps him with the pronunciation of the former, he breaks character and thanks her. Unlike both Marilyn and the novice actor Milo Trent, he is completely unable to improvise when the things mentioned in the script begin appearing in the studio. |
| 356 | * Usually in ''Series/That70sShow'', the actors will indulge in this trope, especially prevalent in a parody of the cult film ''Film/ReeferMadness'' and a short about the future. |
| 357 | * ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook:'' |
| 358 | ** The recurring "''Coverage of People [doing something patently obvious]''" sketches, where everyone involved is bored out of their mind and making no attempt whatsoever to hide it. |
| 359 | ** The Dreamy Pastures Insurance "advert" has a part where two of the actors recite their lines in a bland monotone, despite before and after emoting normally. |
| 360 | * J-Roc's numerous porno films in ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'', where the "actors" are absolutely terrible. |
| 361 | * ''Series/VictoriaWoodAsSeenOnTV'': Everyone on ''[[SoapWithinAShow Acorn Antiques]]''. But especially Miss Babs. |
| 362 | * ''Series/{{Whiplash}}'': "The Actress" features a rather poor troupe of travelling players whose wooden and melodramatic performances are met with derision from their audiences. The leading man acknowledges that they aren't very good, or they wouldn't be playing remote towns in the goldfields. The climax involves the leading lady demonstrating that she has some serious acting chops in order to save a man from a lynching. |
| 363 | * ''Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow'': The "Abraham Lincoln" segment begins with William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' reimagined with vampires. The two actors in the play put on a mediocre performance. |
| 364 | -->"Save yourself, Hamlet! ''Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!''" |
| 365 | * ''Series/WillAndGrace'': it seems that Jack's a pretty terrible actor: he often breaks character to laugh at his own mistakes and doesn't read the script ahead of time: |
| 366 | -->'''Jack:''' ''(auditioning, fake-shivering violently)'' "Please, Mr. O'Shaughnessy, I'm begging you. I can't stand out here any longer in this unbearable--" ''(turns page)'' "heat." Oh. Oh... it's hot. ''(fans himself)'' "We need food or else I fear my family will perish, and my harp will break." Oh, "heart." ''(laughs)'' "My heart will break." I said, "harp will break." Did you hear that? |
| 367 | * ''Series/YoungHercules'': |
| 368 | ** Hercules and friends have found an Ares lookalike, and need to convince Strife and Discord he's the real thing. |
| 369 | --->'''Jason:''' Don't hit Hercules or I will hurt you...no don't throw me backwards Ares!]]\ |
| 370 | '''Ares:''' (to Discord) You are insolent, and disobedient...and naughty! |
| 371 | ** And later |
| 372 | --->'''Jason:''' Oh no it's Ares! ''[cringing - badly]'' |
| 373 | * On the Israeli sitcom ''Series/{{Zanzuri}}'', the eponymous character botches the funeral scene he’s participating in as an extra by trying to hog the focus repeatedly with hilariously over-the-top crying and screaming. |
| 374 | [[/folder]] |
| 375 | |
| 376 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 377 | * Music/TheLonelyIsland's series of songs including "Just 2 Guyz", "We Like Sportz" and "We'll Kill U". In each respective song, ThoseTwoGuys rap about how happy, enthusiastic, or badass they are - in a deadpan monotone. |
| 378 | [[/folder]] |
| 379 | |
| 380 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 381 | * Wrestling/MrFuji and [[Wrestling/DonMuraco The Magnificent Muraco]], in a series of parody acts where they impersonated an Creator/AbbottAndCostello-type duo that didn't know how to act, in a series of memorable skits on the WWF's ''Tuesday Night Titans'' program. Throughout the run, the pair butchered such programs as ''Series/MiamiVice'' and ''Series/GeneralHospital''. |
| 382 | * Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/HulkHogan's infamous main event match on ''Wrestling/SummerSlam 2005'' was fraught with backstage politicking, with Hogan screwing Michaels over by reneging on the original plan at the last second (Michaels reluctantly agreed to turn heel and lose to Hogan during the [=SummerSlam=] match, which would lead to a rematch later where Michaels would be victorious -- Hogan backed out of said rematch due to "back problems," widely seen as Hogan [[WagTheDirector wagging the books to put himself over]]). Michaels retaliated by turning the whole situation into a total farce: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ-Sayfnhvg his promo the night before the match]] featured him impersonating Hogan as [[LargeHam a stilted, over-the-top caricature]], and most infamously, the actual match featured Michaels [[TheatricsOfPain overselling every move dealt by Hogan]], flipping and bouncing around the ring from every slight hit like he was made out of rubber and cartoon physics, making the show (and more importantly, Hogan's victory) impossible to take seriously. |
| 383 | [[/folder]] |
| 384 | |
| 385 | [[folder:Puppet Shows]] |
| 386 | * ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': |
| 387 | ** In the Creator/DomDeLuise episode, Miss Piggy is trying to get noticed by Kermit. Among her efforts is a [[StagingTheEavesdrop badly-acted conversation between Miss Piggy and Scooter involving her having gotten an offer from another show]]. |
| 388 | --->'''Kermit:''' Uh, Scooter, that performance by you and Miss Piggy was terrible.\ |
| 389 | '''Scooter:''' Gee, I didn't think it was that bad. I missed one line, but... [[OhCrap Oh, no.]] |
| 390 | ** In the Creator/RitaMoreno episode, Rita makes a remark about cue-cards and Kermit replies they don't use cue-cards--as if he's badly reading it off a cue-card. |
| 391 | [[/folder]] |
| 392 | |
| 393 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 394 | * Used frequently by radio satirists Radio/BobAndRay, in the course of poking fun at various conventions of the medium. One of their mock talk shows was called "Us, the Folks, Mumble!" and featured the following running gag: |
| 395 | -->'''Bob:''' ''(as host)'' OK now sir, tell us what happened in your own words...\ |
| 396 | '''Ray:''' ''(as guest)'' Um... mph schmpfl reffle flp...\ |
| 397 | '''Bob:''' ''(hastily)'' Er, maybe you'd better use our words, sir. Right here on the card.\ |
| 398 | '''Ray:''' OK, sure. ''(reads off card in the stiffest and most unconvincing manner possible)'' |
| 399 | * Early episodes of the BBC radio comedy ''Radio/TheBurkissWay'' opened with "unsolicited testimonials from satisfied customers" in which people would explain how the titular correspondence course had changed their lives. These were often delivered with reading-off-the-cue-cards stiltedness; The female customers (all played by Denise Coffey) would always end by asking "Was that all right?", but the worst example is an illiterate man explaining how the course taught him to read: |
| 400 | -->'''Customer:''' Then, a fiend in-tro-dunced me to... The Burgess Wag! Now, I can read and... re-redistribute all the choice lapels I want.\ |
| 401 | '''Prompter:''' ''Cheese labels!'' |
| 402 | * Done every other year or so in ''Radio/TheArchers'' with Ambridge's Christmas {{Pantomime}} |
| 403 | * In one episode of the Bert Coules ''[[Radio/SherlockHolmesBBCRadio Sherlock Holmes]]'' radio plays, Holmes and Watson act out a scene from the [[Theatre/SherlockHolmes 1899 play]] by William Gillette. Watson reads his own part rather woodenly, and Holmes reads the part of himself and the female lead. |
| 404 | * ''Radio/LumAndAbner'' did this frequently, both in their wartime "plays" on fighting inflation, and the plotline where they buy a radio transmitter at an auction and decide to start their own radio station, reading their lines deadpan like it was the first time they'd even seen the scripts (which was probably the case). |
| 405 | --> '''Abner''': I can tell you've been to Moze Moots' Barber Shop. By the way, you smell! |
| 406 | [[/folder]] |
| 407 | |
| 408 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 409 | * Coarse-acting plays are based entirely on this trope, plus the various set disasters that occur in any production. However, like all comedy, they require good acting to pull off. |
| 410 | * Creator/WilliamShakespeare's play ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' features a play about Pyramus and Thisbe, performed by a group of Athenian workers fifth act's first scene. The performance is so awful ([[HamAndCheese and the "lead man" Nick Bottom's performance so unbelievably hammy]]), the in-universe audience assumes it's a comedy and [[SpringtimeForHitler it's a hit]]. |
| 411 | * In ''Theatre/{{Curtains}}'', Jessica Crenshaw is a triple threat: she can't sing, dance, or act. |
| 412 | -->'''Jessica:''' Kiss me while you can, boys! I'm bidding you!\ |
| 413 | '''Actor:''' ...Farewell.\ |
| 414 | '''Jessica:''' Farewell! I'm bidding you Farewell! |
| 415 | * The ''[[Theatre/FarndaleAvenue Farndale Avenue Townswomen's Guild]]'' plays are depictions of extremely amateurish productions of standard plays, put on by a local townswomen's guild. They feature tons of bad acting, as well as lots of drama between the actors and the production staff. For instance in ''The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Operatic Society's Production of The Mikado'', the actor playing Ko-Ko recites all her lines in a monotone and is prone to ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud. |
| 416 | -->'''Ko-Ko:''' I can't kill you. I can't kill anybody. Weeps. |
| 417 | * In the Sondheim classic ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'', there are examples of this with the Baker and the Baker's Wife, the most notable being The Baker's Wife trying to get Jack to trade her magic beans for his "cow as white as milk". |
| 418 | -->'''Baker's Wife''': Oh -\ |
| 419 | '''Baker''': Ahem?\ |
| 420 | '''Baker's Wife''': Ooooohhhhh! Oh, no! We ''mustn't'' give up our beans! |
| 421 | * In the "Madonna's Brain" sketch from ''Theatre/ForbiddenBroadway'', the actress plays Madonna trying to rehearse a line for David Mamet and delivering horrible line readings. |
| 422 | -->'''Madonna''': (in a monotone, with no inflections or pauses) I know what it's like to be bad, I've been bad. (then, a second try) I know what it's like to be bad, I (pause) 've been bad. |
| 423 | * In ''Theatre/ThePlayThatGoesWrong'', the cast of ''The Murder at Haversham Manor'' is equally split between LargeHam and this trope. Most of the Creator/MischiefTheatre's "Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society" productions play with this trope, in that the performers may not necessarily be ''terrible'', but they are over-confident amateurs who have certain bad habits which tend to lead to this trope. In addition to Chris (the company's director/lead/StraightMan) and Robert (the resident LargeHam), we have the following: |
| 424 | ** Dennis is closest to this trope being played fully straight; he can barely remember lines, mangles words, seems to be unable to distinguish the character being played from the actor playing them, repeats every line ([[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud and direction]]) which is fed to him in a panicked monotone, and all-up generally comes across like the sum total of what he knows about acting comes from having half-read the dictionary definition mere seconds before being shoved on stage. Interestingly, though, he seems to have an encyclopedic recollection of ''everyone else's'' dialogue, and on occasions where he and another actor somehow get confused and start reciting each other's lines he starts performing quite well. |
| 425 | ** Sandra is very good at playing TheVamp -- but, thanks to her own vanity, tends to play ''every'' character as a sultry femme-fatale type, even when it's inappropriate (such as the Virgin Mary). |
| 426 | ** Max would probably be very good if he were able to stop getting distracted by the audience, since he reacts with childlike glee whenever they applaud him and starts goofing around to try and get more of it. |
| 427 | ** Lucy is shy, suffers from stage fright, and doesn't really want to be there but keeps getting bullied into it by Robert, her uncle. Ironically, when she actually starts loosening up and getting into it, he'll usually find some fault to pick at and start bellowing at her again, shattering her confidence (or, on occasion, getting her seriously injured). |
| 428 | ** Vanessa is probably the best in the company in terms of sticking to the script, but she suffers from a crippling "fear of spontaneity" and a consequent inability to improvise when things go off-script... which is not ideal for the CPDS, seeing how things ''always'' go off-script. |
| 429 | * ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': The song "The Groom When It Happened" centers around an event that caught most characters present by surprise. Margaery, who has a hand in the event in question, is very obviously trying to look shocked at it a little too hard. |
| 430 | [[/folder]] |
| 431 | |
| 432 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 433 | * Double subverted in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus''. B.J. Blaskowicz has to infiltrate the Nazi base on Venus disguised as an actor to star in a propaganda movie about himself. His disguise persona as an actor is good enough to fool a director, and even [[AdolfHitlarious a senile and frail Adolf Hitler]]. But when it comes time to read the actual lines for the part, his acting is stiff, wooden, and monotone. Hitler even berates Blaskowicz for it. |
| 434 | ** But then he changes his tune when the actors have to perform a fight scene. B.J goes in, kills his Nazi training partner brutally in a fit of rage, and Hitler practically ''squeals in delight'' at the performance, calling him "better than perfect". Of course, that was just B.J normally. |
| 435 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 436 | ** One of the races, the elcor, have monotone voices and primarily communicate emotion and nuance through scent and facial cues, which other races cannot parse, so they have to resort to [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry saying how they feel out loud]] to communicate with other races. This doesn't typically make for good acting, but there is still a famous, award-winning all-elcor run of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCO_UsyhL9o&feature=related See the trailer:]] |
| 437 | --->'''Gertrude:''' Uneasy: What wilt thou do. Thou wilt not murder me. Help. Help. Ho.\ |
| 438 | '''Polonius:''' Shocked: What ho. Help. Help. Help.\ |
| 439 | '''Hamlet:''' Startled: How now. A rat. Dead for a ducat. Dead.\ |
| 440 | '''Polonius:''' Agonized: O. I am slain.\ |
| 441 | '''Gertrude:''' Horrified: O me. What has thou done.\ |
| 442 | '''Hamlet:''' Shaken: Nay. I know not. Is it the king.\ |
| 443 | '''Gertrude:''' Horror gives way to anger: O. What rash and bloody deed is this.\ |
| 444 | '''Hamlet:''' Venomous Sarcasm: What a piece of work is a man! |
| 445 | ** The director of the elcor Hamlet is later revealed to be working on a krogan Macbeth, which should be interesting given that a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy typical krogan]] is likely to open negotiations with questions regarding Shakespeare's ability to beat up Christopher Marlowe. Despite this, the hard part is apparently [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals the pyjak]]. |
| 446 | ** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has an in-universe action movie ''Blasto 6: Partners in Crime''. Blasto is a hanar, a race of excruciatingly polite jellyfish-like aliens who have little ability to express emotions vocally - and his partner is an elcor (see above), and over and above that, an elcor who either can't or won't use any tone other than "badassfully". |
| 447 | ---> '''Blasto:''' ''[monotone]'' Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. |
| 448 | ** The ''Citadel'' DLC gives you the chance of acting in ''Blasto 7: Blasto Goes To War'', alongside Javik. Between Blasto acting like a [[ThePrimaDonna prima donna]], Shepard having his/her heroics stolen by Blasto himself, a Citadel Council where only one of the species present is actually ''on'' the Council and the vorcha councillor keeps forgetting his lines, Javik's backstory being [[{{Flanderization}} completely butchered]], and the atrocious model of a Reaper, [[QuirkyWork one has to wonder what the writers were tanked on when they wrote this.]] Especially amusingly, six months previously, in the second game, they had only recently released the ''first'' Blasto movie; six sequels in six months, with a seventh being lined up immediately after the sixth for Blasto curing the genophage. It is likely people thought InUniverse the movies were SoBadItsGood they came to watch it in droves. |
| 449 | ** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' On both sides in the Movie Night quest. Ryder goes and purchases the turian movie "Legion of the Lost" on Liam's recommendation - namely that the movie doesn't ''have'' to be good. Seems Ryder took that to heart, since the little we see is cheesily overacted. Then Ryder and Kallo decide to copy the movie themselves, and get to do some overacting of their own. (That said, Peebee doesn't seem to mind, even offering to reenact it with her in Kallo's place). |
| 450 | * In ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', one of the Prism Rangers delivers half his lines like this, and the other half of his lines as if he's trying to do this and failing to entirely remove the inflection... and then Etna shoots them. |
| 451 | * In ''Videogame/PhantomBrave'', Ash and Marona employ this to get rid of an OptionalBoss who keeps coming back. [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Disgaea}} Laharl]] is dumb enough to fall for it, too.]] |
| 452 | * ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' featured a scene in which the party is locked in a prison and acts out a scene to attract the guards' attention. In the English dubbed version, their delivery during this scene is wooden, but [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy the guards are stupid enough to buy it.]] |
| 453 | * In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' there is Jack's Body Double, which, in a monotone voice, says [[SarcasmMode incredibly convincing]] dialogue such as "I am Handsome Jack and I am very good at intercourse." and, upon death, "Noooooo. I am Handsome Jack and I am dead." |
| 454 | * ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'': |
| 455 | ** The theater stage, where all of the actors play out past events from Gloria Von Guten's life in this manner. Their mouths gape open at all times when they're not speaking, and what words come out have wrong inflections, with overdone gestures to match. |
| 456 | ** "The MilkmanConspiracy" level, with all of the FBI agents [[PaperThinDisguise holding marginally related objects]] while trying to act like normal citizens of {{Suburbia}}, like road crew workers, gardeners, housewives, and... assassins. |
| 457 | --->'''Agent:''' I am a road worker. This is my stop sign.\ |
| 458 | '''Agent:''' I am a sad widow. Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo-hoo. |
| 459 | * The PSP game ''VideoGame/DragoneersAria'' contains a segment wherein the two female characters need to agitate a spirit guarding a tree that wouldn't listen to anything they say (thus necessitating the threat). Their delivery is wooden, but, somehow, the centuries-old spirit falls for it. |
| 460 | * ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' contains a set piece in which an NPC "puts on a little act" as a prelude to faking his own death with the assistance of the player character. The result is positively hilarious. |
| 461 | * The various [[ShowWithinAShow parody TV shows]] within the ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' games feature some clearly terrible "acting". |
| 462 | * Some ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' games feature a theater minigame. Generally speaking, you can cast a good chunk of the cast as any individual role in such works as ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', or ''Myth/WilliamTell''. The game will usually warn you which characters are bad actors... but then that's half the fun. Sometimes the acting is so bad that ''[[FaceFault the set itself falls down.]]'' |
| 463 | ** Also plays as part of the plot in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', during Sialeeds's plan to discredit the foppish Euram Barows. |
| 464 | * In the second ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' season, during the [[AVerySpecialEpisode special episode]] of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Midtown Cowboys]]''. |
| 465 | -->"CAN'T WE JUST IGNORE THE PROBLEM AND HOPE IT WILL GO AWAY?" |
| 466 | * [[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Max]] and [[VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople Strong Bad's]] website plugs in ''VideoGame/PokerNightAtTheInventory'': |
| 467 | -->'''Max:''' Oh! When I'm on the intern-net, I always go straight to DOUBLE U DOUBLE U DOUBLE U DOT TELL TALE GAMES DOT COM SLASH STORE! ''Beat''. ''Grin.'' |
| 468 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 469 | ** Locke's improvised performance in the Opera scene of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has the Impresario comment on how terrible his acting is. Due to technical limitations, it's left as an InformedAbility, since a player can't actually hear him talk. However, Locke refers to the main character of the opera by the name of her actress instead of the name of her character, which is a very amateurish mistake. |
| 470 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Cloud and one of the girls end up starring in an incredibly bad play. Depending on player choices, Cloud's acting will either be [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously sincere]] or a HamAndCheese exercise in [[ChaoticStupid doing the stupidest possible thing in every situation]] to push the show OffTheRails. The girl will ask 'did I do that right?' after her first line but will try to play the role seriously unless Cloud's antics make it impossible. |
| 471 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', when Reno delivers an ultimatum to Avalance operatives defending the pillar while pretending they are the bad guys, his delivery is very wooden and unenthusiastic, and he even messes up his lines. |
| 472 | ** The [[NeverLiveItDown infamous]] laughing scene in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' qualifies since the characters themselves are fake-laughing. Tidus has just learned that [[spoiler:Sin is actually his father Jecht, though he doesn't know how or why yet]], and is forcing a laugh to cheer himself up at Yuna's suggestion, so it's as awkward in-universe as it is for the audience. Wakka even says "we were just worried you guys might have gone crazy" after Tidus and Yuna are done fake-laughing. |
| 473 | ** In the prologue of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', listen carefully to Basch during the assassination scene. In it, he sounds a bit... strange. [[spoiler: That's not him, it's Gabranth doing a really bad job of imitating his brother.]] |
| 474 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has a {{Meta}} example, with the side-quest dedicated to [[UsefulNotes/RamenAsDehydratedNoodles Cup Noodles]], with cheesy dialog talking about how [[ThePowerOfFriendship no matter what ingredients you use, ramen tastes best when you eat it with your friends]]. The voice actors later said that they recorded two takes for this quest, one played straight and the other with tongues firmly planted in cheeks. The latter ended up being used in the game, which makes it sound like Noctis, Gladio ''et al'' are engaging in this trope themselves. |
| 475 | * The PassionPlay from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' surely has to count. |
| 476 | * The ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai'' series shamelessly uses most of the tropes you'd find in an old samurai film (MookChivalry is explicitly noted in the tutorials), so the English version of the sequel decides to up the ante and invoke the poor dubs such films would receive. |
| 477 | * At one point in ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', the party attempts to put on a play based on Snow White. Most of them have no acting experience, and it shows. Cheria as the princess is so excited by her role that she ends up overacting every word out of her mouth, Asbel as the prince and Sophie as the narrator are completely wooden, and Hubert [[DraggedIntoDrag as the evil queen]] hams it up as much as possible in hopes that it will keep people from recognizing him. |
| 478 | * In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Remiel's]] wooden delivery during the early stages of the game turns out to be this. His voice acting gets much more natural when he's revealed as a villain. |
| 479 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'' has this happen - to fool a knight into thinking Rose and Sorey are married. ''[[AmbiguouslyGay Sorey]]'' of all people. Sorey is the worst by far, though Rose isn't much better. But at least she doesn't need to be ''puppeted'' by the [[InvisibleToNormals Seraphim]]. And yet, the knight buys ''that'' [[spoiler: despite already realizing they were lying before that]]. Mikleo looks halfway to banging his head against the nearest hard surface, it's that bad. |
| 480 | ** The {{Prequel}} ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' has a similar thing happen, in this case [[AntiHero Velvet]] has to pretend to be [[TheGadfly Magilou]]'s apprentice and then [[ItMakesSenseInContext act like a dove]]. Her [[LuminescentBlush reaction]] makes it clear she '''knows''' how bad her acting is. Later on, a sidequest chain has Magilou attempting to form a comedy duo with every member of the party, with uniformly disastrous results. |
| 481 | * One of the endings of ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' has you chase the villain to Mars, with a mixture of extremely contrived plot devices and wooden acting meant as clues that he actually got away in that ending and you're making a film about going after him. The Protagonist even forgets the lines to his ending speech, despite the fact that it's just a copy of the opening lines to Red Faction: Guerrilla. The same goes for the Gangsta's ''JustForFun/InSPACE'' DLC, where the entire mission pack is around similarly cheesy film scenes. |
| 482 | * In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Morgana can only be understood by those who've visited the MentalWorld before. Most party members react with genuine shock when they hear him (a cat) talk for the first time, but one's reaction is noticeably wooden. [[spoiler: The Thieves even caught on to this in-universe, mentioning that Akechi's bad acting was their first red flag towards him being the traitor. Sure enough, he'd already heard Morgana talking much earlier in the game.]] |
| 483 | ** Where do we start with Ann? Despite her persona Carmen coming from theatre, her acting throughout the game is HORRIBLE. Despite that, somehow practically everyone on the receiving end somehow believes her, potentially because they're too distracted by her beauty. |
| 484 | --> '''Ann:''' (hammily wailing) M-My cat François got run over by a car... and also has an incurable illness! I need money fast! I-If François were to die, I think I'd die too! Probably... |
| 485 | --> '''Ann:''' (in falsetto) So... what's in this room? |
| 486 | --> '''Ann:''' (in fake British accent (Engrish in the original Japanese)) I'm quite charmed to meet you, sir! |
| 487 | * In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', Jane Valderama invokes this when she's brought in to help [[BigBad Zinyak]] read a selection from Romeo and Juliet on the classical station. She reads it in the same smarmy newsreader monotone she used for her news reports in the last few ''Saints' Row'' games. |
| 488 | * In the "Deja Vu" storyline in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'', Kaz occasionally does wooden, silly, and virtually unrecognizable impressions of various ''Metal Gear Solid'' characters when you call him. Apparently, when they asked Creator/RobinAtkinDownes to imitate the lines, he did them too well and got most of them bang-on, so they had to make him redo them all [[BadImpressionists intentionally badly]] as Kaz himself is not much of an actor. This serves also to contrast to the TrueEnding where the game [[UnexpectedGameplayChange suddenly changes into a quiz]] hosted by Liquid Snake and Ocelot, all [[TheOtherDarrin Other Darrined]] by Downes [[ActingForTwo rapidly flicking between voices]] and all immediately recognizable. |
| 489 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse'', Beerus accuses Whis of this if you end up beating the latter before the former, with Beerus telling him that if he intends on faking it, do it convincingly. |
| 490 | * In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', you can have a run-in with a theater troupe whose leading man has been kidnapped. You are forced to sit through a performance of their headliner, with "Biff The Understudy" delivering a performance exactly as wooden as you think. |
| 491 | * ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': The first Imperial-side planetary quest on Belsavis culminates in the PlayerCharacter crippling a guard captain at the Republic prison. As the PC closes in for the CoupDeGrace, the captain's supervisor makes a hologram call asking to speak to them. One silly option is for the PC to do a ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MahI0KtgACc hilariously]]'' bad impression of the captain: |
| 492 | -->'''Warden Graal:''' Ruger! Come in, Ellis Ruger. This is Warden Graal. We're taking fire and can't reach your position. What's your status!\ |
| 493 | '''PlayerCharacter:''' Roger that. This is Ellis Ruger. Wish I could help, but I'm busy dying for a worthless cause. Over. |
| 494 | * ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'': Mamá Imelda pretending to ask Ernesto de la Cruz for help in the the quest "Master Class?" from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'' event. De la Cruz still fails to see through it. |
| 495 | -->'''Mamá Imelda:''' Ernesto. Not only am I here to apologize. But also to ask you. For advice. You see. Nobody knows about our performance. Because surely we are worse than you. At music. We are so VERY sad. |
| 496 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': Harley sounds rather strange in the first and second Interview Tapes you find until it's revealed that she's trying to sound more professional as opposed to her more bubbly normal persona. |
| 497 | * ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2'': Ringo and Maguro engage in obviously fake acting in Chapter 6 before battling, not only acting very melodramatically but with both coming up with scenarios such as Ringo overwatering Maguro's cactus and almost killing it and Maguro beating Ringo's grandma so badly at checkers that she becomes too traumatized to eat much ''for weeks''. [[spoiler:Despite the awful acting, this works well enough to help Marle, who is legitimately astonished at this performance, to further remember what the battle is supposed to help her remember.]] |
| 498 | -->'''Arle:''' What kinda third-rate acting is this!? |
| 499 | * ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': Olberic Eisenberg is the team's Warrior, a skilled fighter and tactician, and a horrible actor. In the side quest "Star of the Stage," if Olberic impresses the Impersario with his fighting ability, he is taken onto the stage. There he gives a stilted reading in a monotone voice before ending his scene with, "Was that all right?" The scene ends and the Impersario is giving him an honest critique of his lack of talent. |
| 500 | * ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm'': When Cloe gets recruited to perform as Ariel in ''Theatre/TheTempest'' moments before curtain time, she performs about as well as you might expect from a teen rebel who doesn't like theater and has never rehearsed. Struggling to remember her lines, she swings wildly between awkwardly uncertain and overly bombastic. |
| 501 | * The Koskela Brothers' TV commercials in ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' are done this way, being prime examples of the KitschyLocalCommercial. The more entrepreneurial of the two, Ilmo, overacts his hopelessly cheesy lines, while his brother Jaakko has all the acting chops of a plank of wood, and outright admits to [[TheHero Saga Anderson]] that he's only in them because it means free beer. |
| 502 | [[/folder]] |
| 503 | |
| 504 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 505 | * ''VisualNovel/TheHeistMonaco'' has Peter Graves introduced in Chapter 6 when [[PlayerCharacter Lee]] and the gang have need of a Grifter, especially after [[TheBigGuy the Muscle]] asks them to never have to act on the spot ever again. Lee, Rye, and Eris go to a one-man performance in Amsterdam and see him bombing horribly on stage to the point a heckler gets the audience booing and ProducePelting him on stage until security has to throw him out when he ends up getting the stage curtain caught on fire during his "exit" from a lit candle prop, causing the audience to flee. Turns out it was all part of the plan as the heckler and security guard were part of his operation. |
| 506 | --> '''Peter Graves:''' "Good acting's hard to come by, but ''pretending'' to act badly is even harder. The audience looked on the verge of tears!" |
| 507 | [[/folder]] |
| 508 | |
| 509 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 510 | * ''WebAnimation/AngelHare'': Angel Zag is, essentially, a noir detective forced to go undercover into a [[SugarBowl cutesy kid's show]] and he clearly hates every second of it. He barely sticks to the script, rarely changes his expression, and delivers his lines in a bored monotone. |
| 511 | * ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' |
| 512 | ** Frequently done by the characters when they're given a script to read. |
| 513 | ** The tutorial of ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople'' is full of Bad "Bad Acting", with Strong Sad and Bubs reading their lines with all the pathos of a plank of wood, occasionally broken up with complaints about the awful, awful script. |
| 514 | ** The [[MovieMakingMess Dangeresque]] installments are full of terrible acting, ranging from "passable but untrained" (Marzipan, the King of Town), "trying but incompetent" (Strong Bad, Homestar), "not trying at all" (Strong Sad, Bubs), "utterly abysmal" (Coach Z), and "[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} hasn't realized he's in a movie]]" (Senor Cardgage). Homestar finally breaks this trend in "Dangeresque: Puppet Squad - the Hot Jones Hi-Jack!" as [[FrenchJerk Stingy Relenque]], going [[HamAndCheese over the top]] as a [[YouMeanXmas Decemberween]]-themed bad guy, though he still [[OohMeAccentsSlipping breaks character twice]]. |
| 515 | ** A DVD bonus toon opens with the King of Town on stage, reading from a cue card in an extremely forced manner, and giving a reaction after the line is read indicating that he didn't even know what he was reading until after he read it. This bit of bad acting is justified when the viewer gets to see the cue card... and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Homsar]] is holding it ''upside-down''. |
| 516 | ** The WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'' "big white face" involves Strong Sad thinking that Strong Bad will do something nice for him. He decides to "wait someplace inconspicuous and act none the wiser" when, in fact, he is in plain sight and clearly showing that he knows Strong Bad is up to something. |
| 517 | * ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue''. Donut tried to orchestrate a play to illustrate how the time jump happened. The reds actually do good, but Caboose, being TheDitz, reads his stage directions [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud aloud]]. However, that was his only flaw; he wasn't monotone or wooden. |
| 518 | * ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony'' has the cast putting on a play in "The Best Episode Ever". Twilight Sparkle (playing the role of Clover) is rather realistically bad, as she breaks character to correct other actors, and she just doesn't have the chops to convincingly pull off her dramatic death scene. Rarity (as Princess Plutonium) on the other hand, is ridiculously wooden, reading all of her lines (and her stage directions, and her dialogue tags) as a monotone, run-on sentence. |
| 519 | -->'''Princess Plutonium:''' Enter stage door fall dramatically cry out for help. Princess Plutonium, Clover red rover, we call you over.\ |
| 520 | '''Clover:''' You know, you don't have to read out your stage directions.\ |
| 521 | '''Princess Plutonium:''' And ''you'' don't have to break character! But hey, look at that. |
| 522 | * ''Creator/SamAndMickey'': "Horseback Mountain" comprises heavily of Barbie and Ken messing up [[JustForFun/HorsebackMountain a new direct-to-video movie]]. |
| 523 | * ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': In 'Untamed and Uncut', Balloon when he can't squeeze through the bars to get into the [[BearsAreBadNews Windear]] exhibit with Snake, Bear, and Duck. Duck doesn't buy it and just pulls him through. |
| 524 | --> '''Balloon''': Oh no, I can't fit! I guess you guys will have to leave me behind! |
| 525 | [[/folder]] |
| 526 | |
| 527 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 528 | %%* Sid from ''Webcomic/FeyWinds'' [[http://feywinds.com/comic/page.php?id=50 can't be bothered with question marks]]. |
| 529 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': |
| 530 | ** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030312 "Oh, help. I-hef-been-ceptured-by-a-clenk. Help. Help."]] |
| 531 | ** Later used by Gil in his AllPartOfTheShow [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081105 ploy to get into Castle Heterodyne]]: |
| 532 | --->'''Gil''': Hi, I'm Gilgamesh Wulfenbach! Can I please go in the castle?\ |
| 533 | '''Wulfenbach Guard''': No.\ |
| 534 | '''Gil''': There, everybody! You heard me! I asked nice!\ |
| 535 | '''Wulfenbach Guard:''' [[DoubleTake Wait, you're who?]] |
| 536 | * In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Elan (a ''bard'') can't act for the sake of his life. He is not the only one, either. |
| 537 | ** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0106.html Xykon is too lazy to act properly.]] But the heroes still fall for it. |
| 538 | --->'''Redcloak:''' Sir, [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud you actually said the words "wink, wink."]] |
| 539 | * ''Webcomic/FreeSpirit2014'' has Winnie criticize the acting in kid-com ''Boss of the World''. She soon declares that even Gene could perform more professionally than that show's cast members, so the two of them decide to visit Hollywood and have Gene audition for the studio's next show. |
| 540 | * In ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'', Mary cannot act when she's playing in character, unless [[TheRealMan there is action involved]]. |
| 541 | * ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'': [[TheDitz Jim]] / Padmé's attempts at acting casual. |
| 542 | -->'''Padmé:''' Yes. I will help you bring Anakin to justice. After all, you are the only thing standing between Anakin and complete domination of the galaxy. On his own, obviously, without me faithfully by his side. Seeing as I'm Good. |
| 543 | * The "Pizza" sidestory in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' uses AnimatedActors, and some of the characters are better actors than others. |
| 544 | ** [[http://egscomics.com/egsnp/pizza-02 Kitty]] is an extra LargeHam. She doesn't so much speak her lines as shout them, and while her character shows an [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam initial reluctance to eat pizza]], her [[ChewingTheScenery appetite for scenery]] more than makes up for it. |
| 545 | ** [[http://egscomics.com/egsnp/pizza-03 Ashley]] gives the script [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously far more respect than it deserves.]] She also blatantly tries too hard. In particular, any gestures she makes are exaggerated. |
| 546 | ** [[http://egscomics.com/egsnp/pizza-05 George]] completely phones it in. He makes absolutely no effort to sell his performance and merely reads off the script. |
| 547 | [[/folder]] |
| 548 | |
| 549 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 550 | * A RunningGag with ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' is that he responds to instances of bad acting in the movies he reviews by staring at the camera and saying "I'm ''acting!''" in a dopey voice and style reminiscent of the actor. |
| 551 | ** Also variations, e.g. in his ''Film/RedSonja'' review he imitates the actress' uncertain-sounding tone with "I'm... ''acting?''" |
| 552 | ** Other ''Website/ChannelAwesome'' contributors have also dabbled in this: [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] and [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] ''Warrior'' crossover video showcased an alternate universe (one of several) where Spoony and Linkara are terrible actors, reading their lines flatly from the script, fumbling with the props and [[DullSurprise making no attempts to emote]]. Linkara's commentary hung a lampshade on this by mentioning that some people think they were already terrible actors to begin with... |
| 553 | ** There's also WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's review of ''Film/{{Showgirls}}''. Because she can't show the naughty scenes on blip, she has to get her friends to play the parts. They either look bored or uncomfortable and one is even reading a book while he gives a lapdance. |
| 554 | ** In the review of ''Film/TheLastAirbender'', the Critic gets "Shyamalized" -- stripped of acting ability by the movie's director Creator/MNightShyamalan. |
| 555 | --->'''NC''': ''(in monotone)'' Hi, guys. I just wanna stand directly in the middle of the shot and stare blankly into the camera. |
| 556 | * In ''WebAnimation/UnforgottenRealms'', when Rob is forced to do a scripted event, he seems to go out of his way to act as bad as possible. After a certain point, he gets sick of it and acts normally. Normally being kill everything. |
| 557 | * ''Series/JamesGunnsPGPorn's'' construction worker/adult movie actor [[TooDumbToLive Chris]] can't remember his partner's name, delivers his lines in the most stilted way imaginable and looks on his mark before stepping on it. Leave it to Creator/NathanFillion to make bad nekkid-film acting even more hilarious than it already is. |
| 558 | * Shows up in WebVideo/EchoChamber episode ''Tyrant Takes the Helm,'' where Tom and Dana are pushed into performing an episode of Echo Chamber with "class" (read: obnoxious Britishness) by the new Executive Producer. Cue the world's most exaggerated cockney accent from Tom and a deadpan hate from Dana. |
| 559 | * On the ''WebVideo/HalfInTheBag'' series, produced by WebVideo/RedLetterMedia, this is the acting style of both hosts (supporting characters generally [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously play it straight]] as a deliberate contrast). Mike, however, is ''much'' better at it than Jay, to the point that he could be called GiftedlyBad if he wasn't doing it on purpose. |
| 560 | * Arin of the ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'' often uses this type of bad acting. Jon prefers the LargeHam type, however. |
| 561 | * In ''WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeriesKpts4tv'', Light does this when [[spoiler: Higuchi]] dies. "Oh right, cover... Dad, you idiot! We needed him alive!" Made even more hilarious since [[ImplausibleDeniability he had been calling for his blood moments before.]] Later there's another instance of this with Near's obvious line reading: |
| 562 | -->'''Near:''' I want to tell you about a party... we're throwing... There's going to be booze... and pur-etty ladies with... Rester, do I really have to read this? |
| 563 | * Invoked in ''WebVideo/WorldsGreatestAdventures'' for Talltales, who is too much of a CloudCuckooLander for his bad acting to even resemble anything someone with an ounce of sense might put out. |
| 564 | * Played for laughs all the time in ''WebVideo/ThirdRateGamer''. His idea of "looking irate" equals puffing his cheeks full of air. |
| 565 | --> Well fine! I don't need you, I'll just do this review by my... *looks at script* self! |
| 566 | * In ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'', whenever a character steps in to play another character and their acting styles says a lot about the character themselves. |
| 567 | ** Lizzie tends to [[DeadpanSnarker exaggerate]] and caricatures. |
| 568 | ** Lydia [[LargeHam overacts flamboyantly]]. |
| 569 | ** Jane starts out as a DeerInTheHeadlights every time the camera turns on her but through CharacterDevelopment, she showcases her growing thespianian. |
| 570 | ** Charlotte gives realistic but emotionally cold/uninteresting performances. |
| 571 | ** Mary's attempt at costume theater is melodramatic and she breaks character twice. |
| 572 | ** Darcy finds it too hard to imitate his sister but he does an excellent job as his best friend Fitz. |
| 573 | * The persona of the Platform/{{Twitter}} account [[https://twitter.com/tips4actors @tips4actors]] is a deranged pretentious LargeHam with no understanding of reality who treats everything as SeriousBusiness. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aHj6ZaBtU8 This]] video shows him coaching a student through a scene from ''Series/{{Friends}}'', which he thinks was "misinterpreted" as a sitcom and insists on playing like a scene about domestic violence. |
| 574 | * In ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'', the red hairy character (Harry) has wooden acting as his speech quirk. |
| 575 | * ''WebVideo/TheBenHeckShow'': All the characters pull this off for laughs in the prologue to warm the viewers up. And then it's promptly lampshaded in the opening sequence. |
| 576 | * Diao Chan in ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms.'' Neither Dong Zhuo nor Lu Bu notice. |
| 577 | [[/folder]] |
| 578 | |
| 579 | [[folder:Web Video]] |
| 580 | * In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'''s second campaign, Caleb is asked to disguise his Zemnian (German) accent so as to not stand out too much while traveling through Xhorhas. What follows is a solid minute of American Creator/LiamOBrien doing a ''flawless'' impression of a German accented man trying his best to imitate other accents [[OohMeAccentsSlipping and failing miserably]]. |
| 581 | * WebVideo/{{Kitboga}} is a scambaiter popular on Platform/{{Twitch}} and Platform/YouTube. As he points out, this is practically written into the script of the standard "refund" scam. The scammer will claim to be giving the victim a refund, then pretend to have either "accidentally" added an extra digit (usually a 0) onto the end and having transferred way too much money, or claim that it was the victim who did this. Then they go into full-on panic, acting like they can't believe what just happened and claiming that the victim has to give them back the extra money (usually via gift cards) ASAP or they're going to lose their job. |
| 582 | * ''WebVideo/MysteryIncorporated2022'': Shaggy tries to call Scooby to scare off the jocks trying to blackmail him in the first episode. Despite being a huge dog with police training, Scooby completely fails at being intimidating and the jocks end up doubling down on Shaggy. |
| 583 | [[/folder]] |
| 584 | |
| 585 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 586 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Shows up a number of times, for example during Finn and Jake's fight with the Cuties in "Conquest of Cuteness". |
| 587 | -->'''Finn:''' Oh no, my ''blood''! (''[[ABloodyMess squirts ketchup all over himself]]'') |
| 588 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In the episode "The DVD", Gumball and Darwin try to produce their own version of "Alligators on a Train" to replace the one they destroyed. Obviously, the end result had hilariously Bad "Bad Acting" and did not fool anybody. |
| 589 | * ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': One episode revealed Stan is such a horrendous actor that he can't even pretend to be a waiter convincingly. When he offers the diners water, he does so in a stiff and clearly nervous manner that prompts them to respond, "What was that? It was like you were offering me water, but I just didn't believe it". Director Bullock refuses to let Stan go on any more sting operations because his acting [[EpicFail turns them into violent shoot-outs]], so he ends up taking acting lessons from Roger. |
| 590 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'': |
| 591 | ** "Dag for Night": |
| 592 | --->'''Daggett:''' Oh my! It's going to crash into!...us? Save yourselves!\ |
| 593 | '''Daggett:''' [[TheEndOrIsIt The End...question mark]]? |
| 594 | ** Practically every other episode features at least one example. In-universe BMovie actor Oxnard Montalvo is the embodiment of this trope. |
| 595 | ** The Beavers idolize Oxnard Montalvo and he is probably consciously or subconsciously emulating him. (And really, why wouldn't anyone want to be Just Like Oxnard Montalvo.) |
| 596 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Archer himself, probably because he revels in being an OvertOperative, is ''terrible'' at undercover work. He tends to use incredibly transparent cover identities (e.g. Col. [[Franchise/StarWars Lando Calrissiano]]) and suffers from frequent failure of his fake mustache and tendency towards OohMeAccentsSlipping whenever he tries to disguise his voice. |
| 597 | ** The episode "Lo Scandalo" has the ISIS staff's fake "''eeeeee''-legant dinner ''pah''-ty", which they put on in a feeble attempt to distract the police from the murder that took place in Mallory's apartment. It involves hilariously bad [[IAmVeryBritish upper-crust British accents]] from everyone but Lana (who ends up pretending to be the maid, much to her chagrin). |
| 598 | * ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': |
| 599 | ** "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderImprisoned Imprisoned]]": Katara and Sokka when they're trying to get Katara arrested for earthbending and speak in the most stilted tone possible: |
| 600 | --->'''Sokka:''' Get out of my way, pipsqueak!\ |
| 601 | '''Katara:''' How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant-eared cretin!\ |
| 602 | '''Sokka:''' What did you call me?\ |
| 603 | '''Katara:''' A giant-eared cretin! Look at those things. Do herds of animals use them for shade? |
| 604 | *** Though Sokka's acting does improve slightly, because he was genuinely irked by the crack about his big ears. |
| 605 | ** And then there's "[[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs The Ember Island Players]]". |
| 606 | * ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS5E2Hollywaste Hollywaste]]", Dr. Blight impersonates her sister, who's a Hollywood star, and has to play her part in an eco-friendly movie. Unfortunately, the evil sister has none of the good one's acting talent. Her performance is so bad that the producers decide to later have her lines looped over by [[Creator/KathSoucie another actress]]. |
| 607 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', Ulrich's performance in [[SchoolPlay the production in "Laughing Fit"]]. It's painfully bad acting despite his [[CrossDressingVoices voice actress]] being a former Broadway star. It takes talent for someone that good to sound that bad. |
| 608 | * ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'': |
| 609 | ** Played with in an episode where Cow plays the title character of a film called "Pretty Little Girl". Not only is the acting atrocious, but the actors (especially Cow, who's also nervous) also keep mixing up random words on the cue cards. The director (who's actually the Red Guy) eventually decides to employ a little EnforcedMethodActing, which makes the entire staff (himself included) burst into tears. Too bad the cameraman forgot to put the film in the camera. |
| 610 | ** Also, in the episode "Meet Lance Sackless", when they film a video to send to [[ShowWithinAShow Canada's Funniest Home Vidiots,]] Cow pretends to accidentally put glue on her head as she mistakes it for anti-itch cream to heal her horns from doing chores and then Chicken falls onto Cow from the ceiling having their heads stuck to each other's, while saying their lines in a seemingly sarcastic manner. Also, when Cow reaches for the anti-itch cream, Chicken tells her to reach for the glue. |
| 611 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' does that quite a bit. Jay Sherman ''is'' a movie critic who ends up seeing mostly bad films. Borderline case in ThePilot: Jay finally gets around to watching the movie his latest girlfriend is starring in. "I'll GIVE you a KISS ALRIGHT. A kiss...OF DEATH!!!!!" |
| 612 | -->"It STINKS!" |
| 613 | * ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Jazz and Danny have to perform a mock battle in front of Vlad, so convincing that even Danny himself didn't get it until the last minute. That was good acting, at least on Jazz's part. ''Then'' they commence the ''bad'' acting with Jazz having "killed" Danny. The two perform stilted acts that somehow gets the usual [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] Vlad convinced. Later, Danny and Jazz poke fun at their poor attempts at drama. |
| 614 | * The start of the ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "Bandits, Beans and Ballyhoo!" has DM and Penfold doing a bland but obvious introduction after the show's announcer, Isombard Sinclair, leaves the studio in protest. |
| 615 | -->'''DM:''' (''whispers to Penfold'') Isombard is having another temperament. We'd better do this ourselves. (''loudly and stiltedly'') Well, Penfold, my faithful assistant...here we are.\ |
| 616 | '''Penfold:''' (''same as DM'') Oh yes. "Cor it's nice to be back in the Mayfair abode of the world's greatest secret agent! (''DM smiles cheesily to the camera and points to his badge'')\ |
| 617 | '''DM:''' Yes...but that holiday in Mexico was most enjoyable. (''Penfold unsubtly shows the suitcase'') |
| 618 | ** Count Duckula was a master at bad acting. He turns overacting and bad acting up to eleven in "The Return Of Count Duckula" when he's cornered by our heroes. |
| 619 | --->'''Duckula:''' Look not so fierce. No villain I. 'Tis but a little, a little thing I crave. I need a TV show. Let not poor Nelly starve. Stay but the hour of execution and let a lonely cripple orphan duck smile one more time, before the shades of night overwhelm him.\ |
| 620 | '''Agent 57:''' (''disguised as an American talent agent'') Yep, I was right. That's the worst acting that I ever did see! |
| 621 | * ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' The title charater is a terrible actor, although his ego won't allow him to realize it. So he... starts and stops... all of his lines... HollywoodToneDeaf... and wrong inflection... to indicate intent? |
| 622 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'': "Doug's On Stage". The Bluffington Founder's Day pageant's traditional version is a prime case of this. Luckily, Judy arrives and reinstates her own, livelier version. |
| 623 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'' episode "Twinsanity", the kids' efforts at fooling Dagur the Deranged by staging a dragon attack are more wooden than the average coffin. Dagur still falls for them, probably because the dragons were much better at it. |
| 624 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 625 | ** Stewie programs two robot lookalikes of himself and Brian so that no one notices they've gone on a trip. They move around stiffly and talk in completely monotone voices: |
| 626 | --->'''Robot Stewie:''' Damn you vile woman. Blast. What the deuce.\ |
| 627 | '''Robot Brian:''' I am a tool. Stewie is much better than me at everything including arts and crafts and the guitar. I have no friends. |
| 628 | ** Also when Peter became a football player, he did a bad commercial for a Hyundai and Subaru dealership. |
| 629 | --->'''Peter:''' (''speaking in a dull monotone'') We will blitz the competition and in no time you will be driving your Hyundai or Subaru to a touchdown! ''(waits a minute then does the touchdown gesture)'' |
| 630 | ** Subverted when Peter stuntcasts news anchorwoman Diane Simmons as the lead in ''The King and I''. Lois has low expectations for her but when she performs exceptionally during a brief reading, her opinion is immediately turned. |
| 631 | * ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'': Siegfried & Roy are so hammy and silly that they are even bad at being bad actors in "The Siegfried and Roy Fantasy Experience Movie". |
| 632 | * ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'': In "The New Hero Next Door", James is cast as the villain in Mandy's movie. He gives a very wooden performance, and has to be prompted to leave by the DamselInDistress played by Sarah. |
| 633 | * ''Literature/{{Franklin}} and Friends'': In "Franklin Plays Hoppity Bop" from, Franklin and his friends miss shots on purpose in order to try to make the game fun for Bear, who is bad at it. Rabbit, however, is very bad at pretending that he's bad at the game. Somehow, Bear doesn't notice his obvious acting. |
| 634 | -->'''Rabbit:''' (''stilted'') Oh dear! How could I miss the ball?! Clumsy old me, Bear.\ |
| 635 | '''Franklin:''' Oh brother. That's enough, Rabbit. |
| 636 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'': In one episodeof, a man runs into the room the main character is, panicking and yelling that the Lobe has arrived. He's promptly scolded and forced to repeat the scene. At a second instance, the title character tells him to take acting lessons. Much later, during the final showdown between the hero and the Lobe, the same man breaks up the fight to show them that the acting lessons have paid off, by performing the death of Romeo, from Shakespeare's famous play. |
| 637 | ** That's [[NoFourthWall announcer Joe Leahy.]] |
| 638 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': |
| 639 | ** During "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E12WhenAliensAttack When Aliens Attack]]", when the crew has to act out an episode of [[ShowWithinAShow Single Female Lawyer]]. |
| 640 | ** The porn film featured in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E8ABigPieceOfGarbage A Big Piece of Garbage]]" -- with ''gusto''! |
| 641 | ** The two educational films shown within the show: ''I Dated a Robot!!'' and ''Global Warming -- None Like It Hot!!!'' (the second features the claim that the Earth is warming due to the piling-up of corpses after gang-member-like greenhouse gases beat sunbeams to death). |
| 642 | ** In "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E11WhereNoFanHasGoneBefore Where No Fan Has Gone Before]]" where Creator/WilliamShatner himself does it. It's the complete opposite of his usual [[LargeHam unholy acting talent]], and the entire ''Star Trek'' cast follows suit with their own embarrassingly monotone acting -- though the fact that they're being held captive and forced to perform a fanboy's MartyStu script goes a long way towards explaining their complete lack of effort. |
| 643 | --->'''Creator/NichelleNichols:''' ''[flatly]'' My, what a handsome energy creature you are. I love you. ''[Melllvar is blasted by energy beams and screams in pain]'' [[WhoWritesThisCrap Hey,]] ''[[WhoWritesThisCrap you]]'' [[WhoWritesThisCrap wrote it!]] |
| 644 | ** Despite being a dream of Zapp Brannigan, ''The Transcredible Exploits of Zapp Brannigan'' is loaded with this. |
| 645 | ** Frequent in the ShowWithinAShow ''[[SoapWithinAShow All My Circuits]]'', though Calculon is more of a LargeHam. Played straight when Zoidberg's uncle directs a movie, which also includes Bad "Bad Directing". Robot Devil gave Calculon [[PunctuatedForEmphasis UNHOLY! ACTING! TALENT!]] Which, of course, he'd soon live to regret. |
| 646 | ** In one episode Bender auditions for a role in ''All My Circuits''. He gives a performance so bad that Calculon (who is ''a robot'') claims it gave him cancer. When Bender gets the part anyway, it is rewritten to suit an actor of his talents... namely, his character is now in a permanent coma. Bender ends up screwing ''that'' up. |
| 647 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': In "Out on a Limb", Jon, Garfield, Nermal, and Odie are stuck in a tree. Jon calls the fire department to get them down. |
| 648 | -->'''Fireman:''' What are you doing in the top of that tree?\ |
| 649 | '''Jon:''' I was just... uh... trying to rescue, heh, these guys and... and that's when I sprained my ankle. Ouch! Oo-hoo!\ |
| 650 | '''Garfield:''' Well, it's no Oscar-winning performance, but maybe he'll buy it. |
| 651 | * ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'': [[BadLiar PJ's]] attempts at acting run into this most of the time. He falls into emotionless monotone both when trying to sway Pete emotionally into taking him fishing ([[TheDragAlong against his wishes]]) and when trying to trick Pete into thinking he's in life-threatening danger as a result of Pete's unrealistic and hypocritical expectations. The weird part is, it works both times. Averted when he was playing a baby, though that time he had [[PaperThinDisguise other problems.]] |
| 652 | * [[WesternAnimation/TheHuckleberryHoundShow Huckleberry Hound]] is being televised prior to his hunt for screwball lion Leroy (episode "Somebody's Lion"). He is obviously reading from a teleprompter and does it in rather stilted and blasé fashion. |
| 653 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Stumpy's idea of PlayingSick is to lie on a bed and yell "I'm suffering!" over and over again. |
| 654 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': |
| 655 | ** "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS3E2Rebirth Rebirth]]": When putting on a show, Mako dove into this trope head first. Meanwhile, Bolin played the LargeHam. |
| 656 | -->'''Mako:''' ''[completely monotone]'' I am the escaped convict and you will all reap my fire.\ |
| 657 | '''Bolin:''' Oh, no! Who will help us? |
| 658 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is cast to play WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn in a movie about the latter, and he.... doesn't do such a good job. |
| 659 | -->'''Daffy:''' Oooh, boohoo, man! I'm crying ''so'' hard! I say, I say, look how hard I CRYYY!\ |
| 660 | '''Foghorn:''' Don't say it, ''do it''!\ |
| 661 | '''Daffy:''' ''(starts laughing hysterically)'' |
| 662 | * ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'' has a habit of doing this any time there's a ShowWithinAShow. Take for example a [[http://pbskids.org/go/video/?category=Martha%20Speaks&pid=mIWPw7CCMYL9Wlob2ZHRf_sH7JB19b_7 Harry Potter-esque home movie directed by TD]]: |
| 663 | -->'''Martha:''' ''(monotone)'' Oh, bad luck? I've been turned into a talking dog.\ |
| 664 | '''Martha:''' ''(stilted)'' Dark Lord of... Really Dark Darkness, I will not let you stop me? |
| 665 | * ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'': Seen on two separate occasions when Mega and Roll try to fool Wily. (You can also tell which of Roll's voice actresses voices her by this--Robyn Ross doesn't do this, while Kathleen Barr does.) |
| 666 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': In the episode where Dethklok acts in a movie, they all do this. Nathan and Murderface have the classic "slurring lines in bored monotone", while Pickles is mostly making a lot of stiff screaming, and Skwisgaar's delivery is apparently so poor and incomprehensible (due in part to his accent) that they simply dub his lines over. |
| 667 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': The movie the class puts together in "Horrificator" has Myléne and then Marinette giving stilted performances with long pauses and glancing at the camera. Adrien seems much more natural, which probably has to do with him being a professional model (or needing to be able to lie to get around his strict father). By "Queen Banana", Myléne's acting ability has improved considerably. |
| 668 | * The Bakshi ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' episode "A Star Is Milked" has the hero going to Hollywood to appear in a movie about him (with arch villain the Cow tagging along to sabotage it). Mighty Mouse actually struggles to say his tag line "Here I come to save the day" and delivers it half-heartedly. |
| 669 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' likes this trope: |
| 670 | ** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E22HurricaneFluttershy Hurricane Fluttershy]]", Fluttershy's attempts at playing sick are rather bad. She pretends to sneeze and cough in the most unconvincing way possible. |
| 671 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService Spike at Your Service]]": |
| 672 | *** Applejack's attempt at pretending to be a DamselInDistress acting is extremely wooden, with very flat cries for help and very unconvincing acting. Weirdly, Spike says he's impressed by it. |
| 673 | ---->'''Applejack:''' Oh no. ''(running up to a pile of rocks and sticking her foreleg in it)'' I... seem to have got my hoof caught in between two rocks. I cannot run away. I am... a damsel in distress. Help me, Spike. ''(sticks head in fake monster's jaws)'' |
| 674 | *** Pinkie Pie and Rarity in the same episode. Pinkie runs around pretending to be scared and screaming with a huge grin on her face and Rarity, who taught Applejack how to scream for help, becomes [[DramaQueen overly dramatic]], [[LargeHam hamming up her screams]]. |
| 675 | ** Rainbow Dash has been consistently shown to be a bad actor, especially when it comes to faking injuries or illness, as demonstrated in both "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep Read It and Weep]]" and "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E10RainbowFalls Rainbow Falls]]". In general, she tends towards over-the-top, overacted moaning melodrama. |
| 676 | ** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E7HorsePlay Horse Play]]", Princess Celestia proves to be a ''terrible'' actress, alternating between over-acting and under-acting: she starts out whispering at a barely audible level, overcompensates by going into the ear-bustlingly loud Royal Canterlot Voice, can't work through a choreography to save her life and has seemingly no ability to suspend disbelief whatsoever. She can't even play ''charades''. |
| 677 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': |
| 678 | ** In "Film Flam", this occurs when the girls try to act in their own movie. |
| 679 | ** In "Twisted Sister", when they create a fourth sister to help them in crimefighting, they faithfully act out the part of "accidentally" adding Chemical X this way. |
| 680 | * ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'': Employed constantly; the characters would act like this every time they needed to trick a monster into falling for a trap. Lampshaded in one episode when Scooby's scolded for going off-script by showing genuine emotion. |
| 681 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack'' episode "Pride Goeth Before the Fall Guy", Donald sets a trap for world-class thief Nigel Nightshade by having his nephews stand outside his window and talk loudly about the treasure to which Nigel supposedly now has access. However, the boys are reading off cue cards which only have a few words on each card, so although they manage to avoid speaking in monotone, the resulting inflections still sound awkward and unnatural as they can't read ahead and modify their diction accordingly. Nigel falls for it anyway. |
| 682 | -->'''Huey:''' Oh no! I don't be-lieve it! You'd think a ''smart'' guy like ''Nigel'' would know what that key opens.\ |
| 683 | '''Louie:''' Oh! You mean thee[[note]]''sic''[[/note]] chest back on thee[[note]]and again[[/note]] ship?\ |
| 684 | '''Dewey:''' Yeah... the one that holds the trea-sure of... ''(squints)'' Tral-fa-ma-dor.\ |
| 685 | '''Huey:''' Oh well, I guess Nigel's not the greatest thief, in the world, after all. |
| 686 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': During the rehearsal of the pageant in "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace", Mindy performs her lines extremely woodenly. |
| 687 | * In a good few ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episodes, the gang sometimes have to act for a scam and deliver horrible performances. One episode has a kid forgetting what word he's supposed to say...halfway through saying it and he has to check his hand for the rest of it (said word was "automatically"). Though subverted in one episode where Gus convincingly disguises himself as a girl in order to steal a baseball bat from the Ashleys. |
| 688 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': Mordecai and Rigby win a spot on a TV series in the episode "Carter and Briggs". Mordecai's Bad "Bad Acting" goes so deep his voice even cracks during his line. Unlike other examples of the trope, this really ''was'' bad acting, as the rest of the cast spares their feelings when they ask for feedback by hastily evacuating the room. |
| 689 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'' episode "Swimming in Oblivion", which features the crew as AnimatedActors, Hal, playing Capt. Murphy, sandbags his lines because he thinks they're stupid. |
| 690 | * Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''. Flutterina distracts a group of Horde soldiers by loudly yelling out "Oh-no! You've caught me! How will I ever get away?!" in a stilted tone while posing melodramatically. [[spoiler:Justified since Flutterina is actually Double Trouble, who is a brilliant actor trying to convince the Rebellion they're just a harmless little girl. Also doubles as FridgeBrilliance since pretending to be a terrible actor is very difficult for a good one]]. |
| 691 | ** Played straight by a group of Horde soldiers who are roped into [[spoiler:helping break apart the Best Friend Squad by Double Trouble]]. They clearly have no idea what's going on and use the most over-used and cheesy villain lines of all time with long pauses, [[spoiler:much to Double Trouble's dismay]]. However, the heroes still buy it. |
| 692 | --->'''Horde Soldier''': Drop your weapons... or the girl... gets it? |
| 693 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 694 | ** The "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E9MrPlow Mr. Plow]]" episode, where the family produces their own (badly-acted) TV commercial. |
| 695 | ** And then there is the nuclear plant's commercial to convince graduates to work there in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E6DohInTheWind "D'oh-in in the Wind"]]. Homer, Lenny, and Carl's acting leaves a lot to be desired, and it's mentioned that there were script problems from day one (namely, that no-one ''had even read it''). |
| 696 | ** In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E18BurnsHeir "Burns' Heir",]] Mr. Burns hires actors to play the rest of Bart's family so he can convince Bart to stay with him. After the video, Mr. Burns has to flip through the script to tell the fake Homer what his line is supposed to be because it was incorrect. |
| 697 | --->'''Fake Homer:''' I do not miss Bart at all.\ |
| 698 | '''Fake Marge:''' I am glad he's gone.\ |
| 699 | '''Fake Lisa:''' As am I.\ |
| 700 | (''The Fake Homer drops his sandwich on purpose.'')\ |
| 701 | '''Fake Homer:''' B'oh! |
| 702 | ** A recurring feature of the [[ShowWithinAShow "McBain"]] films, whose lead actor is TheAhnold par excellence and specializes in DullSurprise. Most of his dialogue is {{Bond One Liner}}s and exposition slurred out with the confidence of an extremely well-paid person who isn't entirely fluent in English. |
| 703 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'', Smurfette's crocodile tears when she was working for Gargamel and trying to turn the Smurfs against each other. Funnily enough, whenever she cries for real it's exactly the same, except with actual tears. |
| 704 | * WesternAnimation/{{Snagglepuss}}, from the Creator/HannaBarbera stable, is equal parts LargeHam and bad actor. He claims to know Shakespeare backward, which he does literally: "Eraepsekahs!" |
| 705 | * ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': In the episode "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo is proven to be so bad at faking sick that it's surprising how his friends fell for his little white lie. What's more confusing is how he was able to fool his father with this trick offscreen without getting caught. |
| 706 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': |
| 707 | ** There's a scene in the Season 16 episode "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" that [[spoiler:is done entirely in live-action]] and features [[DawsonCasting young adults standing in for the main characters.]] |
| 708 | ** In the Season 19 episode "Tweek x Craig", the two titular characters stage a public breakup in response to {{Yaoi}} art involving them going around. Craig definitely fits this trope, with wooden delivery and his usual monotone. Tweek, on the other hand, does not, and [[GoneHorriblyRight takes it a little too far.]] |
| 709 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': |
| 710 | ** In "As Seen on TV", Mr. Krabs films a commercial for the Krusty Krab, where he, Squidward, and Pearl are obviously not good actors. Then again, it aired ''very'' early in the morning. |
| 711 | ** There's also the bit in "Nature Pants" where Sandy and Patrick are trying to convince [=SpongeBob=] to return home. It obviously doesn't work very well. Patrick is both too dense and (at the time) too teary-eyed to [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud act worth a damn.]] |
| 712 | ** In "Karate Island", there are the "opponents" [=SpongeBob=] has to face to take the throne as "King of Karate". They all play dead when [=SpongeBob=] throws a punch, and he didn't even touch them. |
| 713 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': None of the Gems are especially good actors, although this trait manifests differently in each of them: |
| 714 | ** Garnet tends to fall into this whenever she's trying to fake something. While she tends towards [[TheStoic natural stoicisim]], it turns flat as cardboard in some situations. When she throws a fight in "Tiger Millionaire", she literally just stands ramrod straight and tips over backward after being 'knocked out' by Steven. In "Fusion Cuisine", her attempt to pose as Steven's mother consists of answering the phone with, "Yes, this is Mom Universe. The children are playing swords. Sorry, playing with swords. They're bleeding. Oh no, they are dead. Don't call again," and then hanging up. |
| 715 | *** In contrast to these two scenes, she unexpectedly swings towards very convincing in "Secret Team" [[spoiler:staging a monster attack to get Pearl and Amethyst to apologize to each other]]. Though that could be simply because she was genuinely angry at the time. |
| 716 | *** [[spoiler:As it turns out, Garnet's bad acting is shared by both her components, who contribute different elements of the overall effect. [[BadLiar Ruby panics easily under pressure, and tends to say the first thing that comes to her mind, whilst looking obviously uncomfortable]], while Sapphire's flat delivery makes a lot of her acting seem very unnatural]] |
| 717 | ** Pearl isn't an excellent actor either, however, her bad acting tends to swing in the opposite direction to Garnet, and her [[LargeHam normal drama gets turned up to eleven]], well past the point of plausibility. |
| 718 | ** Amethyst, meanwhile, tends to use shapeshifting to her advantage when needing to impersonate someone, however she frequently forgets that she needs to mimic her subjects voice, mannerisms and attitude, as well as their appearance. |
| 719 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'', Titanium Chef "acts" horrified that Wasabi has discovered his plot in a ploy to get the [[AnimateInanimateObject blob of mustard]] to attack, giving him the final ingredient for his plan. One of his henchmen even [[FacePalm face-palms]] at how bad this acting is, but Wasabi takes the bait. |
| 720 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' segment "Bat's All Folks" Hamton as Decoy the Robin equivalent is told by Batduck to plant a bomb in the villain's hide, he knocks himself out by accident and two thugs find him, their acting is very wooden: |
| 721 | -->'''Thug 1''': (monotonous) Look it is Decoy the pig hostage, we must bring him inside.\ |
| 722 | '''Thug 2''': (unenthusiastically) What is this thing? (picking up the bomb)\ |
| 723 | '''Thug 1''': (just as unenthusiastic) Who cares, just toss it over into the all-concealing shadows. |
| 724 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': |
| 725 | ** The commercial made by Team Chris Is Really Really Really Really Hot in Season 3 (''Total Drama [[NewSeasonNewName World Tour]]''), especially: |
| 726 | --->'''Noah:''' ''(flat voice)'' Think of the childreeeeeen. |
| 727 | ** Team Victory's as well: |
| 728 | --->'''Bridgette:''' Oh honorable samurai, do you have any FOOD? |
| 729 | ** Duncan's "crying" in "African Lying Society". His mother actually falls for that!? |
| 730 | ** Sierra's attempt at a [[spoiler:dramatic farewell]] to Cody in "Planes, Trains, Hot Air Mobiles" is so {{Narm}}y it's actually hilarious that she thought it sounded heartwarming. |
| 731 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': The ninth episode, "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean", ends with the characters delivering a [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA]]. Their delivery is an awkward monotone and their eyes shift from left to right to indicate that they're reading from cue cards. |
| 732 | * ''WesternAnimation/WaitTillYourFatherGetsHome'': In an episode, a TV commercial for a used car dealership shows off one of its "satisfied customers". Said "customer" is obviously reading from cue cards to the point of stumbling over the word "courtesy". |
| 733 | * Lor in ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' episode "Radio Drama", to the point where her character is rewritten to be under a 'zombie curse'. |
| 734 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/WITCH2004'', the Guardians need to leave to fight the forces of evil just before their slot in a school talent show. They leave behind copies of themselves to take their places, but it turns out that the copies don't retain any memories and therefore are not familiar with the short play they are putting on. It all goes downhill when the Taranee copy begins her narration with "Taranee speaks dramatically..." |
| 735 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' episode 'The Runaways,' Blue Beetle's voice sounds weirdly stilted and flat compared to previous episodes. [[spoiler:Jaime has an accent. The Scarab doesn't. Guess who's in control?]] |
| 736 | [[/folder]] |
| 737 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / BadBadActing
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
