Line #114 Main/BitingTheHandHumor


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4	->'''Randy:''' Network executives, they sure take the cake.\
5	'''Joy:''' Plus, they don't let people cuss anymore on TV until a certain time at night. ''[checks watch]'' Douchebags.
6	-->-- ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''
7
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9	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
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11
12	Congratulations! As a creator who has originated a successful project, you've made it to the top of the ShowBusiness heap, or maybe just the middle. And now that you're there, your bosses will treat you fair... right?
13
14	Well... not necessarily. While you might be treated with respect (or even [[ProtectionFromEditors deference]]), it's luck of the draw. Chances are you'll still be subject to censorship, [[invoked]] ExecutiveMeddling, and all sorts of ripoffs. And since [[ReadTheFinePrint you signed a contract]], you have no choice but to suffer in silence and put up with it...
15
16	...but there's a way out. You can use your creativity to let the world know how you ''really'' feel. Better yet, you can make your protests part of the very work that's enriching your employers! They may be mad, but what can they do about it? Talk about LaserGuidedKarma!
17
18	This trope is about the creator(s) of a work making jokes at the expense of the company funding that work. It can happen when an embittered creator, or one cynical of the morality of the entertainment industry, inserts into their work a thinly disguised slap to the face of the company that employs them, usually for unsatisfactory royalties or advance payments.
19
20	In American television, the favorite target out of the Big Four Networks seems to be Creator/{{FOX}}, although all networks are AcceptableTargets at some point or another. Creator/{{NBC}} has seemed to ''encourage'' it since about 2006, right around when it became the ButtMonkey of the four major networks - and also right around the time ''Series/ThirtyRock'' started getting a ''lot'' of mileage out of the non-stop mockery.
21
22	A sister trope to TakeThat and WriterRevolt. Related to TakeThatAudience. Often overlaps with SelfDeprecation (unless the author is even more correct than he believes about his employers being flawed). Remembering who wears the pants can combine this with EndOfSeriesAwareness.
23
24	----
25	!!Example subpages:
26
27	[[index]]
28	* BitingTheHandHumor/AnimeAndManga
29	* [[BitingTheHandHumor/LiveActionFilm Films -- Live-Action]]
30	* BitingTheHandHumor/LiveActionTV
31	* BitingTheHandHumor/{{Music}}
32	* BitingTheHandHumor/{{Radio}}
33	* BitingTheHandHumor/VideoGames
34	* BitingTheHandHumor/WebMedia
35	* BitingTheHandHumor/WesternAnimation
36	** ''BitingTheHandHumor/FamilyGuy''
37	** ''BitingTheHandHumor/TheSimpsons''
38	[[/index]]
39
40	!!Other examples:
41	[[foldercontrol]]
42
43	[[folder:Art]]
44	* Creator/FranciscoDeGoya's portrait of King Carlos IV and his family are an almost GrotesqueGallery where they appear as pudgy, unattractive people. The Queen is standing in the center of the painting, a subtle hint towards the general consensus at the time that she was the one holding the strings in the palace.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* In the first ''ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers'', Comicbook/SquirrelGirl and Grasshopper appear in an offstage prologue. Grasshopper says "The only people reading comics now are [[TakeThatAudience overweight thirty-year-olds]] [[BasementDweller living in their mother's basement]]." Comicbook/SquirrelGirl's sidekick replies in an inset: "Hey, fanboys, don't take that lying down! Write angry letters to Creator/{{Marvel\|Comics}} today!"
49	* ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'':
50	** Hazmat in issue #10: "Today's gonna suck as much as all the others... but just a little bit ''harder''. Because it's ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''... with ''no end in sight''."
51	** In another issue, a couple of the kids [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Lean On The Fourth Wall]] and complain about how the latest CrisisCrossover involving the [[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen Avengers and X-Men]] has been dragging on for too damn long.
52	* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' has been doing this almost since his inception - Issue 4# of his first ongoing had a character mention "that ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} thing", only for the ClueFromEd to simply state...
53	--> Onslaught? [[OldShame What's a Onslaught]]? -- Facetious Mark
54	* In ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures: Avengers,'' Doc Samson's [[ComicBook/OneMoreDay "Needs a wife" assessment of Spider-Man]] when the Avengers go in for therapy.
55	* The [[http://www.recalledcomics.com/UniverseXSpidey1RecalledHarras.php first printing]] of ''[[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2005/06/16/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-3/ Universe X: Spidey #1]]'' contains a TakeThat [[EasterEgg hidden message]] on a bookshelf: "Bob Harras. Ha, Ha. He's gone! Good riddance to bad rubbish. He was a nasty S.O.B."
56	* Creator/{{Marvel}} relaunched nearly all of their running books with ''ComicBook/MarvelNow'', changing the status quos drastically in sometimes controversial ways with the expressed purpose of strengthening their comic line. In the parody "Marvel: NOW What?!", the writer uses the High Evolutionary to explain all these changes in a satirical manner. The High Evolutionary is a ''villain'' with the goal of [[EvilutionaryBiologist forcibly evolving humanity]] against their will to make them stronger, and is opposed by heroes trying to save mankind from the inevitable chaos this would cause. [[DontExplainTheJoke The point, of course]], is that just like the High Evolutionary, the changes made by Marvel Now and its successors will place Marvel on unstable footing rather than make it stronger, as the fans will likewise be unable to deal with the sudden changes.
57	* When Ed Brubaker did a two-issue story on ''ComicBook/TomStrong'', he produced a DeconstructiveParody of ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'', by Tom Strong's creator Creator/AlanMoore, arguing that ''Miracleman'' was not so much "realistic", as [[TrueArtIsAngsty pointlessly nasty and depressing for the sake of it]].
58	* ''ComicBook/Hitman1993'', which takes place in the DC Universe, was written by Creator/GarthEnnis, and as such it contains many rather unflattering portrayals of DC's superheroes, and by extension at the superhero genre as a whole.
59	* In one issue of ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'', Arrowette and Wonder Girl are complaining at length about Creator/WarnerBros until one of them whispers something to the other. It's not explicit, but strongly implied that she had to be reminded not to make fun of the corporate parent of Creator/DCComics. In another issue, in a scene also involving the two girls, Arrowette complains about how much she hates Internet service providers ([=ISPs=]) when their connection dies. Wonder Girl then nervously replies, "No you don't! You LOVE! [=ISPs=]! Especially ''the biggest one!''" And to that end, Arrowette decides to shut up. At the time the comic was released, that "biggest one", America Online, had just completed a merger with Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros. and therefore DC, to form AOL Time Warner.
60	%% Please keep the name AOL Time Warner. That was the name it used from 2001-2003, the time the comic was released.
61	* Comicbook/{{New 52}} ''Comicbook/HarleyQuinn'' #8 features Dan [=DiDio=] suggesting a new DC relaunch, with all the heroes turned into antelopes and wildebeests by magic, which they'll call the [[{{Pun}} Gnu 52]]. [[ItMakesSenseInContext The DC offices promptly get hit with bags of pet poop catapulted from Harley's building.]]
62	* The first issue of the 2015 run of ''ComicBook/HowardTheDuck'' had Howard going to Florida. Tara Tam thought they were going to Disney World, but Howard replies "Who'd want to see [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse a bunch of pantless ducks]]?" Which not only is a swipe at Marvel's owner Disney, but an in joke to Howard wearing pants exactly because decades prior Marvel was threatened due to him being too similar to Westernanimation/{{Donald\|Duck}}...
63	* Lampshaded in issue #5 of the first ComicBook/SheHulk ongoing, where She-Hulk and several neighbors get TrappedInTVLand. One of the shows they visit is a parody of ''WesternAnimation/RobocopTheAnimatedSeries'', and the TagalongKid, who's seen [[Film/Robocop1987 the original movie]], starts complaining about how wimpy the cartoon is, only for She-Hulk to slap a hand over his mouth.
64	-->"Careful what you say, Paul. That's a ''Marvel'' show. Knocking it could be more than ''my'' book's worth!"
65	* In the [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Uncle Scrooge]] story ''The Universal Solvent'', Gyro demonstrates said solvent by showing it can eat through some of the most impervious substances in the world: lead, iron, steel - and a Disney contract. Creator/DonRosa was not a happy camper.
66	* In ''Comicbook/TheGreenLantern: Blackstars'', Earth in the universe where the Blackstars replaced the Lanterns is a rather barbed parody of some of the excesses of the then-recent DCU: Batman's villains have given up actual crime in favour of lining up to break him, as a result of which he gets replaced on a regular basis, but still insists he doesn't need help; Wonder Woman is a BloodKnight with zero interest in diplomacy; Superman ... is still Superman, but his discomfort with this world makes him come across as ineffectual and half-hearted; and the rest of the League has largely abandoned reality in favour of fighting {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s in conceptual realms (yeah, Creator/GrantMorrison is making fun of ''[[SelfParody that]]''). Even the Batman Who Laughs and the Dark Multiverse get a more-extreme pastiche as the Depressoverse, home to the murderous cult-leader Batmanson. Morrison calls it "a celebrity roast of modern superhero comics".
67	* The miniseries ''ComicBook/AmbushBug: Year None'' mocks a lot of concepts prevalent in DC Comics titles at the time and features a plethora of jokes at the expense of DC Comics' then editor-in-chief Dan [=DiDio=], chief among them being that [=DiDio=] is portrayed as a narcissistic supervillain who deludes himself into believing his decisions are good for DC and whose actions will eventually cause catastrophic ruin to the DC Universe if he isn't stopped.
68	* In the first appearance of the ComicBook/MickeyMouse villain the Phantom Blot, he removes his mask to reveal that he looks exactly like Creator/WaltDisney, only with a different style of mustache. This appearance, remarkably, has stuck ever since, so apparently uncle Walt could take the joke.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Fan Works]]
72	* In an in-universe example, in the essay-fic, ''[[Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed Equestria: A History Revealed]]'', the narrator directly belittles her professor who is currently marking her work, and curses at him a couple of times in-text.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
76	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Zazu starts to sing "It's A Small World" from the Disneyland ride of the same name. Scar [[BigNo freaks out]] and demands him to sing [[AnythingButThat anything else but that]]. [[Theatre/TheLionKing The stage musical]] uses "Be Our Guest". It doubles as a MythologyGag, since "Be Our Guest" was from [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast the first Disney animated film that became a musical and paved the way for Lion King to come on Broadway]]. When ''Beauty and the Beast'' closed, it got replaced with [[Film/MaryPoppins "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."]] In later runs, he sings [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 "Let It Go"]] instead.
77	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' criticizes the Lego Company's themed sets several times, and the villain has minions called "micro-managers" and a device called the "think tank" (presumably both jabs at ExecutiveMeddling).
78	** Well, his name ''is'' "Lord Business", after all.
79	** The "Think Tank" may also be a jab at Warner Bros. When Warner Bros. launched the Warner Animation Group in 2013, it was described as a "think tank for animated films."
80	* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAFashionFairytale'': Sort of, in the overture scene. This movie was one of the first Franchise/{{Barbie}} [[WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}} movies]] with modern setting and themes, and no inspiration from fairy tales anymore. Because, certainly, [[ExecutiveMeddling it was required from Mattel]]. Judging from Barbie's argument with the movie director, [[WriterRevolt the writers were not too happy about it.]] Thus the obnoxious director distort the story of a fairy tale because of "fashionable" elements and refuse dialogue to the point of firing Barbie, while the latter tries in vain to calmly explain that the really cool tale is going to be lost.
81	* A mild example in ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrolTheMovie'': In the scene where the new headquarters is introduced, Ryder says they were able to get the money from sales of ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' merchandise, which he says is popular. As he says this, he holds a t-shirt with one of the common stock poses seen on merchandise packaging.
82	* WesternAnimation/RaggedyAnnAndAndyAMusicalAdventure: The guy King Kookoo says "Fire him!" to a caricature of Richard Williams. It was added when several of the animators got fed up with his seemingly hard direction.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Literature]]
86	* Showing that this sort of thing is OlderThanTheyThink, many sinners depicted in Hell in ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' were still living folks with more authority than he'd have liked over him. The Eight Circle of Hell contained three Popes who were alive during Dante's time, including the current one, and numerous other government officials and nobles[[note]]Fortunately for Dante, Pope Boniface VIII was said to have something of a sense of humor, and when one such official complained that "Dante has put me in Hell", he supposedly chuckled a little and said, "sorry, I can't help you, I'm not in charge of Hell". However, this opposition to the Vatican only lasted as long as the White Guelphs - who shared his ideas - held power in Rome, which they only did until 1301. Even so, Boniface would have allowed Dante to remain in Rome, but he left on his own accord.[[/note]].
87	* In ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', Terry Pratchett manages a dig at the publishing industry and the morality of book publishers by having Nanny Ogg bilked over a publishing deal, in which her payment for a best-seller is the usual gratis author's copy of the book and nothing else. Granny Weatherwax plays catch-up on her friend's behalf and demonstrates that a publisher's worst nightmare is a cheated witch. They leave the offices with an advance payment of five thousand dollars.
88	* Sci-fi author Philip José Farmer, in his Literature/{{Riverworld}} series where all the Earth's population is resurrected into a wholly unexpected afterlife, has the character who is his MartyStu in the book (legitimate, as we are ''all'' characters on the Riverworld) meet a publisher who once cheated him. Near-lethal vengeance is administered. The publisher is given the name Sharko.
89	* In Simon Braund's ''Literature/TheGreatestMoviesYoullNeverSee'', it's suggested that this is the major obstacle against ''Frank Or Francis'' getting produced.
90	-->"After all, what industry would fund a project that sets out to expose it as shallow, venal and ethically bankrupt?"
91	* ''Literature/NakedCameTheStranger'' is a hoax novel secretly written by a team of ''New York Times'' reporters, which doesn't stop the main character from fuming about a critic in the paper who called her radio show "pablum for breakfast." She even tries to get Morgan Advertising to stop sponsoring the ''Times''.
92	* ''Series/DoctorWho: The Completely Useless Encyclopedia'' is a spoof UniverseCompendium published by Virgin. In the introduction, the writers make a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial that the book was written in the belief that Virgin will publish "any old crap with the programme's name on it".
93	* {{Inverted}} in Creator/PGWodehouse's ''Uncle Dynamite:'' "The last thing we desire being to cast aspersions on publishers, a most respectable class of men..."
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
97	* In the [[Literature/TheBible Gospel of John]], when Philip asks Nathaniel to meet Jesus for the first time, Nathaniel cynically asks if anything good can come from Nazareth, but comes with Philip anyway. When Nathaniel arrives, Jesus says, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"[[note]]Part of the joke here is that Jacob's name roughly means "one who is full of guile." Thus, Jesus is essentially sarcastically saying, "Finally, a descendant of Jacob who speaks the truth."[[/note]]
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Networks]]
101	* Creator/{{Freeform}}:
102	** Freeform has aired ContentWarnings prior to ''The 700 Club'' explaining that the network does not condone its views since its days as ABC Family. This is because [[TheArtifact the network only airs the show due to contractual obligations from when Pat Robertson ran it as a Christian network]], and its religious and political content is quite controversial. Following the YoungerAndHipper Freeform rebrand, the content warnings became even snarkier.
103	--> "If you're looking for us, we'll be over at Freeform On Demand or the Freeform App for a little while."
104	--> "The people at Freeform would like you to know we did not make the next program. We haven't even seen it."
105	--> "Freeform is not responsible for what you're about to see on your screen. Watch it or don't. We're okay either way."
106	--> "Freeform has to step away from the channel for an hour. Try not to [[KillItWithFire burn the place down]] while we're gone."
107	-->"What you are about to see is not Freeform. We can't tell you not to watch. But have you tried literally anything else?"
108	-->"Freeform's taking a short vacay. Join us at a beautiful little spot called Creator/{{Hulu}}[[note]]the also-Disney-owned streaming service with the rights to Freeform programming[[/note]]. Leave the sun-block."
109	::: The disclaimer following ''The 700 Club'' has morphed into an excited "And we're back!!! This is Freeform." suggesting that ''The 700 Club'' shouldn't be considered a Freeform show at all.
110	*** The day before the obligatory 24-hour ''700 Club'' telethon, Freeform aired disclaimers saying that the channel wouldn't be airing tomorrow, with [[https://excitethemind.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/img_3120.jpg?w=1024 one disclaimer]] noting, "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Unrelated advice]]: Have a lawyer look over any contract before you sign it."
111	** They've also created snarky warnings for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', which airs newer episodes following Disney's purchase of Fox:
112	--> "This show is about a family but super awkward to watch with your family."
113	--> "Kids might not get the jokes. But they will have questions."
114	--> "When it comes to watching ''Family Guy'', we ''know'' you have options."
115	--> "Not all cartoons are for kids."
116	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4cWzzqqTi8&t=187s The Worldwide Day of Play notice]] for The N (now known as [=TeenNick=]) was full of this. Compare the eager messages to play outside from the other channels to The N's more realistic approach:
117	-->"We'll give you three hours - so enjoy some fresh mall air."
118	-->"Three full hours of play time. [[PhoneaholicTeenager We suggest starting the largest game of phone tag]]."
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
122	* A variation occurred in ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'': Stephan Pastis has often credited ''{{ComicStrip/Dilbert}}'' creator Scott Adams with getting him into the syndicated cartooning world. That didn't stop him from making a storyline where Adams is portrayed as an Elvis caricature that ends up dying of a drug overdose in a toilet off-panel.
123	** Pastis has mocked his syndicate several times as well.
124	** To say nothing of the many InUniverse examples where Pastis' '''own''' characters (particularly Rat) have insulted him and the comic itself.
125	* Garry Trudeau, creator of ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', has slapped at his employer several times for making him submit strips six weeks in advance, with characters saying things along the lines of "even though the election happened last week, we don't know who won because this strip was submitted six weeks ago."
126	* Bill Waterson did this subtly a few times during his long fight to keep his syndicate from licensing ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', something that he did ''not'' want, unlike most cartoonists. For example, in one strip, the first panel has Calvin screaming, "I stand firm in my belief of what's right! I refuse to compromise my principles!" In the second panel, his angry mother is coming after him; in the last, he's in the bathtub, and says, "I don't ''need'' to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway."
127	* Berkley Breathed, creator of ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'', loved this Trope:
128	** One arc had Milo having nightmares about being a syndicated cartoonist, where he was forced to draw cartoons in a dungeon where a sadistic editor-slash-torturer whipped and racked him for grammar mistakes and drawing cartoons that weren't funny. (As a MythologyGag, [[ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} Garry Trudeau]] - whose strip was on hiatus - was in the dungeon as well.)
129	** Also numerous highly-unflattering depictions of newspaper operators. The editor of the ''Bloom Picayune'' was offended that Milo would even consider bumping his [[StrawmanNewsMedia Jack Kemp adultery rumor story]] [[WorstNewsJudgmentEver to page two]] in order to cover an oncoming AlienInvasion.
130	** Breathed went so far as to introduce a character into to serve this purpose, W. A. Thornhump III, the fictional CEO of ''Bloom County Industries''. Thornhump was a CorruptCorporateExecutive who represented not only the perceived hypocrisy of money-grubbing corporate America, but also the unreasonable demands of the cartoon syndicate bosses. One example of this hypocrisy occurs in a Sunday strip that showed the results of drug tests of employees of the cartoons and even Breathed himself, who Thornhump [[DisproportionateRetribution thinks should be executed]] because the drug test revealed that he ate "one marijuana brownie six years ago." Thornhump's own test reveals that he is a serious alcoholic (driven home when Opus appears with his six-martini lunch) but declares him to be "drug free." He also used whatever "gimmicks" he could put into the strip to make a quick buck or increase ratings, regardless of legal, moral, or ethical issues, even going so low as to schedule a field trip to the "Acme Stewardess Academy" during a "Nudeness Week" in the strip.
131	* As an opening gag to one of the ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip collections, the publisher ran a "headline" proclaiming "Jim Davis a Fraud!" The exposé "revealed" that Garfield himself had been drawing the strip from the beginning and allowing Davis to take all the credit. The accompanying illustration showed Garfield sitting at a desk and drawing a cartoon of Davis in the trademark ''Garfield'' style.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Pinball]]
135	* In Creator/SternPinball's ''Pinball/LordOfTheRings,'' an EasterEgg replaces the "Bash the Balrog" mode with "Bash Gary", a reference to company president Gary Stern.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Podcast]]
139	* A RunningGag of ''Podcast/BehindTheBastards'' is host Robert Evans making fun of the sponsors who pay for his podcast (their ads are inserted automatically by an algorithm and Evans has no control over the content or who advertises each week). These announcements will consist either of NonSequitur humor, Evans insisting that [[AllNaturalSnakeOil his sponsors sell dick pills]], or [[SarcasmMode 'shilling' for the products and services]] by [[DamnedByFaintPraise claiming they do not cause massive genocide, kills babies or institute military coups in the middle east]] like the subjects of the podcast do.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
143	* Shortly before the WWF and the USWA entered into a talent sharing agreement in the early 90s USWA promoter Jerry Jarrett ([[Wrestling/JeffJarrett Jeff's]] dad) warned his locker room that if they were on any steroids they better stop, because Vince wouldn't book anyone that couldn't pass a drug test. Dutch Mantel burst out laughing and replied "Hell Jerry, [[NoBudget with the way you're paying us]] we're barely on '''food'''!"
144	* When ODB declared herself the best wrestler in the Ohio Valley and [[StartMyOwn created her own]] OVW Women's title belt, she claimed to have won it during an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was a TakeThat to Wrestling/BuddyRogers "winning" the Wrestling/WorldWrestlingFederation heavyweight title in an imaginary tournament supposedly held in Brazil. What set this apart from every other company who mocked WWF/E for this was that WWF/E covered 30% of OVW's operating expenses and was using the company as a developmental program.
145	* WWE itself has spent the past two decades greenlighting stories in which Chairman Vince [=McMahon=] and various other authority figures are bitterly criticized, mocked, and made to look like fools - usually with those authority figures' full complicity.[[note]]Though the fact that [=McMahon=] and the other authority figures never get their comeuppance in the end is probably the biggest factor in [=WWE's=] ratings decline over the last two decades. Even WWE has finally recognized this after the [[Wrestling/TheAuthority last evil McMahon angle]] was such ratings poison that [[TrendKiller there hasn't been a heel authority figure in WWE since]], Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon retired entirely, and Wrestling/TripleH is now the booker and is always presented as a Main/{{Face}} on TV[[/note]] This arguably reached its peak with the "pipebomb" of the summer of 2011, when Wrestling/CMPunk was made to appear to have gone off-script with his live TV rant, even though he really hadn't.
146	* For a time, Wrestling/WWESmackDown aired on Creator/MyNetworkTV, a programming service run by Creator/{{Fox}} to provide a set of programming for stations that would otherwise have to deal with the syndication market. This led Wrestling/JohnCena to once quip "I’ll be honest with you, I didn't realize I even had a network!"
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
150	* In 1989, ''Series/SesameStreet'' had a pledge-drive special called ''Sesame Street, Special'' that aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). At one point, Kermit interviews Oscar the Grouch to ask him why he likes public television, but Oscar doesn't like any of the PBS shows Kermit mentions. Giving up, Kermit starts to introduce the pledge break, which attracts Oscar's interest.
151	-->'''Oscar:''' Is that where they have all those phones ringing all at once?\
152	'''Kermit:''' Uh... yeah.\
153	'''Oscar:''' Ah. Sufficient to drive one mad?\
154	'''Kermit:''' Well, you... you might say so.\
155	'''Oscar:''' And they interrupt the program at the most exciting part, just to show you those phones ringing?\
156	'''Kermit:''' Well... uh... usually, yeah. That is when they interrupt it.\
157	'''Oscar:''' Heaven! And then some poor guy has to sit out front and tell you to send money, and all the while, thousands of phones are ringing like crazy so you can hardly hear him anyway, and you just want to see how the program ends?\
158	'''Kermit:''' Uh... yeah.\
159	'''Oscar:''' I ''love'' that! When can I see it?\
160	'''Kermit:''' Well, right now.\
161	'''Oscar:''' On PBS?\
162	'''Kermit:''' Yeah.\
163	'''Oscar:''' Wow! Let me turn on my TV!
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
167	* [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=look+at+me%2C+i%27m+the+dci Look at Me, I'm the DCI]], from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', is a card from the Unglued joke set that lampoons the DCI (the official tournament organization) and its "rigorous decision-making process" when it decides which cards to ban.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Theatre]]
171	* A rare theatre example happened for [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/comments/eauosk/beetlejuice_script_change/ one performance]] of ''Theatre/{{Beetlejuice}}.'' Rather than a usual TakeThat calling ''Theatre/{{Brigadoon}}'' boring and then saying, "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck]] ''[[PrecisionFStrike Brigadoon]]''!," the titular character declares ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' boring and says, "Fuck ''Music Man!''" instead. This is a reference to Shubert Theatre Organization evicting ''Beetlejuice'' from the Winter Garden Theatre before its original closing date so a revival of ''The Music Man'' could move in, resulting in a massive backlash from ''Beetlejuice'' fans.
172	* In ''Theatre/OhHello On Broadway,'' which was hosted at the Shubert Organization's Lyceum Theatre, Gil remarks that he thought they'd booked the Winter Garden Theatre. George replies, "Have you fucking tried dealing with the Shubert Organization?"
173	* In ''Theatre/VillainsTonight'', one of Hades' predictions for his potential future is a Disney sequel that's not direct-to-DVD, as was a common practice for Disney at the time the show was written.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
177	* An overlap with ShamelessSelfPromotion and SelfDeprecation in ''Ride/TheSimpsonsRide'' at Creator/{{Universal}} [[Ride/UniversalStudios parks]]. At one point, the ride train crashes through a billboard reading "SEND MONEY TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS."
178	* The team of snarkers at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks' ''Ride/JungleCruise'', when not poking fun at themselves and their ride, will occasionally take shots at the rest of the park.
179	-->Off to the right of the boat, you can see what we call the ''Ride/IndianaJonesAdventure and the Temple of the [[RightOnQueue Four-Hour Line]]''.
180	-->I wonder where this cave comes out... well, we're in Disney World, so probably a gift shop.
181	** Similarly, when Disneyland "updated" [[note]] made Tomorrowland look deliberately old-fashioned in order to escape further {{Zeerust}} [[/note]] Tomorrowland in the late 1990s, they also created a short tour film narrated by their new robot mascot "Tom Morrow," who mocked the old Tomorrowland for its overly whimsical predictions of the future.
182	* [[Ride/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyMissionBreakout Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!]]:
183	** At the end of the ride, All the guardians thank the audience for their help, Leading to Drax pointing out how they didn't actually do anything but watch them fight. Mocking the illusion of an audience participation on interactive amusement park rides.
184	** When the ride gets to the top window looking out at the theme park Rocket exclaims, "Disneyland? That's thematically inconsistent!" Acknowledging the out of place theme and nature of the ride ([[Ride/TheTwilightZoneTowerOfTerror especially compared to its predecessor]]).
185	* The preshow for the [[Franchise/TheIncredibles Incredicoaster]] has Violet joke about how it was rethemed from California Screamin':
186	-->'''Violet:''' Sure, slap our names on an old ride!\
187	'''Edna:''' Quite normal, darling. Corporations call it "synergy".
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:TV Tropes Wiki]]
191	* We tend to do this a lot with Tropers/TheAdvertisementServer.
192	[[/folder]]
193
194	[[folder:Webcomics]]
195	* Most of the jokes in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', especially in the first 200 or so comics, are at the expense of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' or its publisher, Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast. Rich Burlew, the author, is a freelance game designer who mostly works for Wizards on D&D-related projects. An early strip based on Wizards' slightly bizarre copyright policy is actually titled [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0032.html Biting the Hand That Feeds Me]].
196	** The ''OOTS'' strip in the last three issues of ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine had the Order discover the dragon from the cover of issue 1, whose subsequent career mirrored that of the magazine itself. The second of these strips was titled Claw/Claw/Bite The Hand That Feeds Me (that being how a dragon's mundane attacks are listed in the first two or three editions of the game).
197	* A lot of joke fodder in ''Webcomic/LearningWithMangaFGO'' goes to complaining about the game's gacha mechanics, talking about useless or unwanted gameplay, and Riyo's personal pet peeve of the lack of skippable Noble Phantasms. It's even implied through Gudako that Riyo's rejected storyboards contain even more of this than usual.
198	** The English translation of ''More Learning with Manga! FGO'' Chapter 3 mocks Altria's name, a name insisted by Type-Moon to be the official spelling of her name, despite the team (and the fandom) preferring the name Artoria. Mash made a glanced comment, "We can't do anything about that."
199	[[/folder]]
200
201	----
202	-> [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Oh look, another "witty" self-demonstrating]] [[TheStinger stinger]] to show that Website/TVTropes is dumber--more informal!-- than [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]. [[FlatJoy Whoopty dingle]] [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] [[FlatJoy Doo]].

Context Main / BitingTheHandHumor