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11
12A trend of a commercial blurb in the form of a "pop-up" style graphic (audio optional) during a show. Commonly called "snipes" by broadcasters, these ads are typically not for products, but for the network's programming. They are not to be confused with logos used to identify a channel -- which are usually called "bugs". However, snipes are often designed to interact with bugs (often triggering animations or other effects to it when a snipe appears).
13
14Often, they advertise what show is on next or later that day on the same channel. Sometimes, it can be a commercial popup indicating what show you are watching and what network you are watching it on. Occasionally the broadcaster will even go so far as to put a logo or text near the bug or in a different corner of the screen, to remind people that it is in fact [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vrwdfggZJcE/UsiB_OnHLxI/AAAAAAAAMHY/EIauBqS4dYY/s1600/Capture.PNG a NEW EPISODE!!]] and not some ancient old one, or put up an EngineeredHashtag telling people that they can talk about the show on social media with it. The stations justify this because some people [=DVR=] and record shows--this is also how the networks can remind people who are watching a pirated program where the program originated from, and ensure pirates at least buy the DVD to pirate from.
15
16A similar trend is to start airing commercials during the credits of a show or movie by [[CreditsPushback smashing the credits to one side of the screen and showing promos on the other]]. The credits are usually sped up and muted in favor of the shocking revelation coming on later tonight. You can bet that if you see or hear "stay tuned for scenes from next week's show" at the end of the episode before the commercial it'll be this.
17
18Beyond just reclaiming some of the valuable advertising time they had previously wasted on actual show, these popups serve several other purposes linked to the rise of digital video recorders:
19* They can not be easily skipped like normal commercials (their first appearances were around 2001-2002, coinciding with the rise of the DVR)
20* They make [[BetterOnDVD DVD releases more desirable than off-air recordings]]. (However, there are many DVD releases that show a persistent studio logo in the bottom corner of the screen.)
21* They "brand" the video feed, making bootleg/Website/YouTube'd copies easier to identify.
22
23If the pop-up is a countdown to something the network considers high priority, then it's a NewContentCountdownClock. Compare to BreakingNewsInterruption, when a program gets interrupted for breaking news.
24
25----
26!!Examples:
27
28[[index]]
29* CommercialPopUp/{{Nickelodeon}}
30[[/index]]
31[[foldercontrol]]
32
33[[folder: Anime]]
34* Cartoon Network did this with the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' episode "Crossing Paths", where Jessie releases Dustox. What ruined the moment? A bumper for the new episode of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''.
35* Numerous times during Cartoon Network airings of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', a promo would appear on the lower part of the screen, sometimes obscuring the Life Points total.
36* Similar to the above example, the Cartoon Network screenbug would often obscure scores during ''Anime/BakuganBattleBrawlers''. In later airings, the bug moved to the top right corner of the screen.
37* When Creator/DisneyXD aired ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'', [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/doraemon/images/7/7e/Copying_Toast2005dub.png/revision/latest?cb=20140916135836&path-prefix=en the channel bug]] would obscure the names of Doraemon's inventions.
38* On airings of ''Anime/PrettyCure'' on Creator/TVAsahi, if the episode runs longer than usual, [[https://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/2a/14/60d232acdeb4f2409a15fa2f9ae0f5c6.jpg the sponsors will be displayed]] in the lower-right corner during the beginning of the episode itself, and again during the OnTheNext segment.
39[[/folder]]
40
41
42[[folder: Films -- Animated]]
43* The ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' Diamond Edition and ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' 60th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Discs advertise new bonus features during the end credits.
44* During the Creator/{{Freeform}} premiere of ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', an ad for a showing of ''Film/HomeAlone1'' that followed the former film [[https://youtu.be/r3AmULpvNwc appeared on screen]] just as [[spoiler: Bing Bong faded away]].
45** During the 2018 edition of their ''Franchise/ToyStory'' marathon, pop-up trivia facts appeared during random points in the movies. One of them, which was a TakeThat at ''Series/{{Shadowhunters}}'', [[https://deadline.com/2018/12/freeform-shadowhunters-toy-story-popnknowledge-pixar-disney-abc-twitter-saveshadowhunters-1202521157 outraged fans of the show]] since it appeared [[https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/uwLxsNx2EMijk_ldrEaMxw--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NjIxO2g9NDIw/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/tvline.com/f70c324e3e970aea3a160f057a1aae76 during a scene where the Magic 8 Ball tells Woody "DON'T COUNT ON IT".]]
46[[/folder]]
47
48[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]
49* During a showing of ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' on AMC, an ad filled the entire bottom of the screen for a western mini-series, accompanied by loud horse noises. Rather annoying, to say the least.
50* When Creator/{{TBS}} offered the 2009 remake of ''Film/TheTakingOfPelhamOneTwoThree'' to watch On Demand - they had their CommercialPopUp saying "[=TBS=] Very Funny" [[{{Irony}} all through a movie that includes blood spatters, seven on-screen deaths and terrified hostages]].
51* During the December 16, 2018 airing of the Creator/HallmarkChannel original movie ''Film/EntertainingChristmas'', a banner covered the lower quarter of the screen advertising a Countdown to Christmas Fantasy Game for 15 seconds.
52[[/folder]]
53
54[[folder: Literature]]
55* A rare Literature example is the German publisher Heyne, which included a soup advert in the middle of the text of Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' (see [[http://web.archive.org/web/20120127063335/http://gmkeros.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/terry-pratchett-and-the-maggi-soup-adverts/ here]] for details). As that article says, this was apparently routine for them at the time; in addition to the Creator/IainMBanks incident mentioned by Sir Terry, Creator/DianeDuane also experienced it, and [[https://www.dianeduane.com/outofambit/2015/02/14/whats-rihannsu-soup/ was one of the people who alerted Terry]].
56* InUniverse example happens in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidCabinFever'', one year during the holidays, Rowley's parents recorded a Christmas special, and at the time it was recorded, there was a snowstorm warning at the bottom of the screen. Whenever Rowley watches the special, he calls Greg to tell him that a storm's coming—Greg claims that he used to fall for it, but when Rowley happened to watch the special during ''summer vacation'', Greg stopped listening to him whenever he called to tell him that a blizzard's coming.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
60* Ads for the Creator/{{TBS}} original comedy ''The Bill Engvall Show'' have stumbled upon a way to intrude even more: Bill Engvall himself pops up and ''pauses the show you're watching'' to talk about his show. This is an especially {{JustForFun/egregious}} example because it defeats the entire purpose of using pop-ups as opposed to actual commercials, as it basically creates an incredibly short commercial break at a random moment of the show. Even more hilariously, the commercial begins with Engvall ''telling you how cool it is that he can pause the show you are watching''.
61* The Australian sketch comedy show ''Comedy Inc.'' parodied this with a sketch featuring a ''Series/CSIMiami'' parody where increasingly bigger fake pop-ups for the channel kept covering crucial items (first a seemingly critical piece of evidence, then a [[SceneryCensor stripping character's nudity]]), at one point covering ''half the screen''. At this point Horatio gets on his cell phone and tells someone to arrest someone at Channel 9 for the number of ads.
62* The BBC do these with small bars at the bottom or the top of the screen for the next show. Normally doesn't happen on BBC One, but [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8643684.stm once did]] during the climax of a ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode, for the following Lloyd-Webber/Graham Norton reality star search and included an animated version of Norton. This led to official complaints from over ''five and a half thousand'' viewers (including Creator/CharlieBrooker and Creator/SimonPegg), so much so that "Doctor Who" and "Graham Norton" actually became trending topics on Twitter because of it. As seen in the page quote, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnpZS_54uoA Norton did indulge in some]] SelfDeprecation over the incident on his show, culminating in another animated version of him popping up and being promptly exterminated by a Dalek.
63* The show ''Flavor of Love: Charm School'' had an ad for Celebrity Fit Club pop up. It takes up the entire screen, save for the TV rating bug.
64* When ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' moved to Creator/USANetwork, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fi3j1TMpmI gag ad]] was created where Goren wanted to know what the hell the USA bug in the corner of the screen was. He then tried unsuccessfully to interact with it before declaring it "weird".
65* When ''Series/LazyTown'' aired on Creator/CBeebies, an ad usually popped up that had a yellow blob "thinking" of whatever show was coming up next, covering half the screen during the OncePerEpisode song and staying there for about 15 seconds.
66* ''Series/{{LOST}}'': ABC ran a countdown clock for ''[[Series/{{V2009}} V]]'' during the US premiere of "[[Recap/LostS06E10ThePackage The Package]]". The bug was annoying enough and to make matters worse it was positioned in such a way that it blocked a notepad Sun was using to communicate, so viewers couldn't see what she'd written. ''Lost'' fans complained on social media, a sentiment echoed by showrunner Creator/DamonLindelof.
67* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
68** During the Sci-Fi Channel run, a pop-up of the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] logo would appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen, often obscuring Crow T. Robot during the theater scenes. This was so annoying that viewers successfully petitioned Sci-Fi to move their logo to the other side of the screen.
69** Earlier than that, ''[=MST3K=]'' fans had the same demand with Creator/ComedyCentral during its run on that channel. They also managed, while the show aired on that network to stop text crawls across the bottom of the screen, ''and'' got them to stop running voice-overs during the show's credits because gags would frequently be carried over and played on top of them.
70* During an episode hosted by Creator/WillFerrell, ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' did a skit where Kenan Thompson and Bill Hader played TNT's playcallers for the NBA, Charles Barkley and Marv Albert. While they're trying to talk about the game, a CommercialPopUp appears for a new TNT show, which they notice and start talking about. When it vanishes, they go back to talking about the game, but then it pops up again, with Barkley getting really excited by the hijinks that take place in the pop up. This repeats throughout the skit, much of Marv Albert's chagrin.
71* A VH-1 advertisement for ''Series/{{Scream Queens 2008}}'' manifests itself as a high-pitched scream during an otherwise quiet moment in a show.
72* An episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' had a parody on one of these, after JD thinks of a silly sitcom about the Janitor and Ted adopting a kid, called "Legal Custodians." The next time JD brings it up, a Bug for it appears at the bottom of the screen.
73** The first episode of Season 8 has an example of this using the network logo. Scrubs had switched from NBC to ABC between seasons 7 and 8. In the opening of the episode, JD walks in, points very obviously at the ABC logo and says "That's new!" The camera then pans to the Janitor to show he has a new watch.
74* The premiere of the ''Series/SesameStreet'' special ''The Cookie Thief'' in early 2015 pulled a similar trick. Three times during the course of the premiere, a bug of Cookie Monster would pop up followed by a text box similar to the ones described in the ''Odd Squad'' examples below, reminding viewers that, yes, they were watching ''The Cookie Thief''. ViewersAreMorons indeed. Hilariously, it first popped up during a scene that Cookie Monster was in, which may have momentarily confused the show's young viewers.
75** During the Creator/CartoonNetwork premiere of the ''Elmo's Playdate'' special, [[https://twitter.com/milktcouch/status/1250977018969313282?s=20 Big Bird's face was partially obscured by the Cartoon Network bug]].
76* [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] had a bug for their "Trek 2.0" version of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', which included the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' door chime. They also play ''Next Generation'' reruns. Yes, they had a pop-up ad (for another show) which included a sound that was taken from the show that was actually playing.
77** Sci Fi loved running half-screen ''Ghost Hunter'' popups in the middle of ''Series/{{Eureka}}''.
78** Their ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' marathon that ran the day after Thanksgiving of 2008 (which included episodes from the fourth season, which was [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes unlikely to be released on DVD at the time due to music rights issues]]) was also plagued by ''Ghost Hunter'' pop-ups.
79** The UK arm of the station were running some kind of semi-market-research survey by telephone over about a week sometime in the 90s. This was advertised by wanging a massive picture of a head with a question mark in it over the right-hand third of the screen and a question with a phone number to dial on the other two thirds. Right in the middle. For ages.
80* Inverted on the ''Series/{{Today}}'' show. They will run their commercials in a popup for things coming up later on the show.
81* On G4's ''Series/XPlay'', bugs became so common (and occasionally covered up important words or numbers, such as game ratings, at the corner or bottom of the screen), that, in one game review, they inserted a number of bugs all over the screen at random intervals that obscured it completely.
82* Invoked on ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert'' when the stars of the series ''Series/SchittsCreek'' were guests. Supposedly, the censors only let them mention the name of the show on-air if an ad appeared ("Schitt's Creek -- Wednesdays on Pop") each time it was mentioned. Of course [[RefugeInAudacity they proceeded to do so]] '''[[RunningGag a lot.]]'''
83* On Clic Clac's airings of ''Series/InaiInaiBaa'', the channel bug is placed in the exact area the title of the song appears in, causing the names of some of the songs to be partially obscured.
84* ''Series/OkaasanToIssho'': As of November 2023, a QR code pops up in the left corner during "Karada Dandan" for the viewer to watch a dance-along of the same song.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder: Networks]]
88* A non-advertising example happens sometimes on Japanese networks whenever a major earthquake [[note]]It is rare for this to happen during minor ones.[[/note]] is about to occur. First, a large pop-up showing a map of where the earthquake will happen is shown on screen along with text mentioning the affected areas, accompanied by the sound of chimes and a narrator saying "This is an early earthquake warning. Prepare for powerful tremors", which repeats twice. Sometimes, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_l7x_Tes9s two of those graphics will pop up at once and cover the entire screen.]] It can be a major distraction for anyone watching whatever program is currently on. [[note]]This is because since the country uses the ISDB digital TV system, which allows sudden calamity warnings to occur as a safety feature for those near calamity-prone areas.[[/note]]
89** Related to the practice above, sometimes Japanese networks announce breaking news through banners called telops. First, text saying "(Channel name) News" will pop up (which is accompanied by a chime on all channels save for TV Tokyo), which is followed by a blurb relating to some breaking news, usually relating to an earthquake[[note]] These warnings list the intensity, where it struck, and if there will be a tsunami, which used to only be required during major earthquakes, but changed after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Also, most stations usually just do this for an earthquake with an intensity of 3 or higher, though some local channels [[https://twitter.com/mashiro_33/status/1132428883943280640?s=21 like Me-Tele]] do this for lower intensity ones[[/note]], tsunami, volcanic eruption or typhoon. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4xwqvaQgks Here's an example of a kids' show airing with a telop]].
90*** TV Tokyo uses the telop method all the time to report breaking news rather than stopping regular programming like most networks. This is known as [[https://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%3C!--E3--%3E83%86%3C!--E3--%3E83%3C!--E3--%3EE6%9D%3C!--E3--%3EE4%3C!--E3--%3E9D%3C!--E3--%3EAA%AC The Legend of TV Tokyo]].
91** A rare non-news example of this trope on Japanese TV: On one episode of ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan'', [[http://kanaminami.asablo.jp/blog/2018/09/ a text message thanking the late Sakura Momoko for her work]] was shown over the closing credits.
92** Japanese cable channels also have these warnings. Some of them, like Disney Channel Japan, will also show these banners [[https://twitter.com/syuzzy/status/1015560123350056960 in English]] right after the Japanese version is shown.
93** Most of the time, the news telops that appear during programming don't appear on streaming versions of the episodes. However, this wasn't the case for episode 2 of ''Anime/LoveLiveSuperstar'' on the NHK Plus service, which oddly enough kept the earthquake warning that occurred during its' original broadcast. It's likely that this was an error.
94** It wasn't just Japan that did this. NTV, a channel based in the Canadian province of Newfoundland, used to (until about 2008 or so) run news tickers during some of their early-morning programming (and possibly their primetime lineup as well). One time, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efzxVpFRIe0 they ran]] a RapeAsDrama-related ticker during the kids' show ''Ricky's Room''.
95** This also happens in the United States, too. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrqvLUaF-vI Here's an example]] from a Creator/{{qubo}} airing of ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' that involves a weekly required [[EmergencyBroadcast Emergency Alert System]] test. Occasionally, if the warning happens to be weather-related, maps tracking the path of a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, tornado or snowstorm will be superimposed over the program, like [[http://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/images/dtn/episodes/104a_daniel_gets_mad/snapshot20120905191321.jpg this image]] from the premiere airing of the ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' episode "Daniel Gets Mad" on a Creator/{{PBS}} affiliate in Illinois.
96*** This was spoofed in one of the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' books. Rowley's family recorded a Christmas special long ago, and the year they recorded it there was a storm warning at the bottom of the screen. Now whenever Rowley watches the video, he calls Greg to tell him there's a winter storm coming. Greg used to fall for it until one day when Rowley called him about a winter storm ''during summer vacation''.
97*** The 2011 National EAS test [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=bMhEET6r30A on Nickelodeon]]. Not only did the banner announcing the test block part of the programming, but it also blocked both the station bug and the "Up Next" pop-up!
98** [[https://vimeo.com/4685463 Uncle Ray's House]] spoofs the "news ticker" variation of this trope, by having the news report relate to the show in question.
99* Back to TV Tokyo, they've done non-news related popups on their kid's shows as well. For example, during Anime/PriPara's [[MilestoneCelebration 100th episode celebration]] in 2016, they placed references to the number 100 throughout it. If viewers were able to list all the times it appeared in the episodes, they'd be entered to win [=PriPara=]-related prizes. There was another campaign around the same time where viewers had to spot TV Tokyo's banana mascot in each of their kids' shows and tell them what scene it appeared during. The prizes varied based on the show, but [=PriPara=]'s was noteworthy for giving away several pieces of merchandise that were not officially released yet at the time of the campaign.
100** At the beginning MerchandiseDriven shows aired on Japanese channels, a text ad for the interactive feature ''Kids Data'' pops up on screen. This feature allows children watching the show to answer trivia questions about it or play a game with one of the characters, as was the case with the most recent ''Anime/PrettyCure'' series, to be entered for a chance to win merchandise from the show in question. Sometimes, this will also be used to announce news related to the show itself, like promoting theatrical releases, events and contests related to the show.
101** On the first broadcast of ''Anime/StarTwinklePrettyCure'', an ad covered the top corner of the screen during the ending theme telling viewers that they can watch this episode again on demand on [=TVer=].
102* Some children's preschool programming blocks like Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney kept a solid logo in the corner of the screen, obscuring what was under them. For instance, when Playhouse Disney was about to premiere ''[[WesternAnimation/JojosCircus [=JoJo=]'s Circus]]'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_iOWqsRwBM they showed a bumper that not only took up part of the screen]], but also had an animation of a floating balloon accompany it.
103* 4Kids did this, and their logo was not particularly semi-transparent. This often made it difficult to see things like life points, or the attack strength of a monster (in ''Anime/YuGiOh'').
104* Though technically not a pop-up, the "TV ratings" logos used on American TV appear to be getting bigger and bigger, with it now not uncommon for the icon to over as much as 1/5 or more of the screen, obscuring the scene noticeably. Fortunately, rumors at the time of their introduction that they'd be required on DVD releases as well turned out to be untrue[[note]]strangely enough, though, one TV rating bug appeared on a VHS release of the ''Series/ReadingRainbow'' episode "Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin"[[/note]].
105* The cable news channels count down to presidential speeches or a state's election close, while CNBC and Fox Business will put timers on to countdown to [[FunForSome the releases of economic reports]].
106* One Creator/AnimalPlanet bug for a then-upcoming show about training dogs to perform various cool tricks used the "pause the actual show" trick. A frisbee would fly in, the current show freezing while a dog caught it, then the host would walk up, praise it, and lead it away before letting the show continue.
107* On Creator/CartoonNetwork, sometimes a gigantic ad advertising the next show will literally cover the bottom 40% of the screen.
108* Early in TheNineties, [[{{Creator/DiscoveryChannel}} The Discovery Channel]] used to have an ''annoying'' pop-up promoting their website: a "bing!" sound, a pop-up and a "mouse double click" sound promoting the web links to which ever program you were watching. After a few months (and viewer complaints) this went away as the novelty of the web wore off.
109* Disney Channel Scandinavia used to have in years 2006-2007 a popup with an elevator landing from top to the bottom right corner of the screen, then it opened revealing a picture of the character from whichever show was coming up next (i.e. Tarzan, Kim Possible, Jake Long, Fillmore). It would show up two minutes before the show's episode ended.
110* E! has bugs running pretty much constantly. This makes sense during their normal shows, where a celebrity gossip newsreel would fit right in. It does not make sense, however, when this pops up during a movie screening.
111* Fox teased the premiere of ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' by randomly broadcasting a pair of red eyes on its feed during certain shows like ''Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares''. [[http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=911421 Example.]]
112* Creator/FoxKids used to have a popup with a little screen, a flashing yellow arrow, and picture of the SeriesMascot for whichever show was coming up next (i.e. [[Anime/DigimonAdventure Tai]], [[Franchise/PowerRangers red ranger]]). It would show up during the third act and the tag. They used similar icons for their commercials.
113* [[Creator/{{GSN}} Game Show Network]] used to have a huge bug for [=PlayMania=] that went two-thirds of the way across the screen and about a quarter of the way up. Just barely wide enough to obscure the password in ''Series/{{Password}}'' and its revivals, the correct answer shown briefly to home viewers in ''Series/{{Double Dare|1976}}'', etc.
114* Creator/GlobalTelevisionNetwork in Canada used to have large pop-ups advertising ''Videogame/{{Uncharted}} 2: Among Thieves''.
115* MTV in the UK feel the need to keep the name of the programme you're watching on-screen at all times. While this is often helpful during music video slots, certainly themed ones (MTV UK is actually still reasonable for this, broadly speaking) it's less relevant during regular programming.
116* On NBC Kids, the NBC logo falls off and a child's hands glue the logo back on. This happens several times each kids show, leading to some FridgeLogic that maybe the kid should try a stronger adhesive, like tape.
117* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and the Creator/DisneyChannel LOVE to advertise when they have a new movie premiering soon. They'll put up a [[NewContentCountdownClock timer]] counting down to ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' or ''Film/TheCheetahGirls'' or whatever they're going to show up to 24 hours beforehand.
118* Creator/PBSKids, like most other networks, has the little box telling viewers what show is airing and when it premieres. They include a little skit with the characters from their shows in their popups, such as the ones for/during ''Series/OddSquad Saves the World''. A little after the episode "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" began, the "You're Watching [show name] on PBS Kids!" box appeared. Then Oscar pops up, holding a gadget, and activating it, the box ripples in a pretty pink color. The box has its normal red color, but then proceeds to ''completely disappear from the screen.'' This whole shebang practically would distract this viewer for its duration.
119** The first airing of the episode "O Is Not For Old" had the box show up except the "You're Watching..." text was flipped upside down. Ms. O then appears, elbow-bumping the box and causing the text to readjust. She then [[BreakingTheFourthWall broke the fourth wall and proceeded to give the viewers two thumbs-up]] for about 5 seconds before everything disappeared by moving down. Not the same disappearing act as the example above. Again, huge distraction.
120** There was also another one where Olive and Otto did a little fixing-up of the box with the same text. They actually ''dropped down from the top of the screen to the bottom.'' It then did the same disappearing act as Ms. O's box.
121** The same situation as the first example happened when ''Odd Squad'' first premiered.
122** In the early 90's, some PBS stations covered the lower quarter of the screen during pledge drives with a telephone number during kids' programming. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ9rFoPB0fc Here's an example]] from an airing of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends''.
123** During actual pledge drives local PBS stations have the phone number on the screen during the duration of the pledge drive. For stations that have an annual auction, they also sometimes put the number on screen during the auction.
124** On the Amazon prints of various PBS Kids shows, the logo will be placed in the bottom-left corner. This also happens on the iTunes versions of the Season 25 episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.
125* SBS 6 in the Netherlands once stopped a movie in a manner that resembled a network/signal problem for a quick ad for a dance show hosted by a resident presenter.
126* TNT's NBA coverage will use a free throw to sneak one of these in (usually for one of TNT or even Creator/{{TBS}}'s original productions) sometimes, along with an EnforcedPlug by the announcers.
127* TNT had small pop ups that weren't very intrusive, but when it changed formats, it got bad. Spike TV had a bad habit of doing animated pop ups for their cartoons like ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'', often just before or after commercial breaks. They'd take up perhaps a third of the screen.
128* In the last few years of its run, Creator/ToonDisney did similar things, not only popping up advertisements, but also taking up a full third of the screen to show you a loud purple pattern giving the name of the show you are watching, for the benefit of parents who might find this more helpful in their decision-making process than just looking at [[WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo the giant robots fighting on-screen]].
129* Creator/USANetwork had a commercial for ''Series/{{Psych}}'' that has fun with this: one bug for the series has the two leads walk into the corner for a while. During a seemingly normal commercial for the same series, the bar pops up--and Shawn and Gus [[MediumAwareness spot it]].
130* Creator/USANetwork used to have non-transparent bugs featuring ''Series/{{Monk}}'' poking at the bug itself, but they've since switched to mostly transparent USA logos and sometimes messages that a new episode of whatever show will be starting at x time.
131* In March of 2001, Creator/{{YTV}}'s "The Zone" block had a subplot involving "Yokomites", literal bugs that would show up at random points in the show. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gDa3qlOGBw Here is the only surviving footage of that subplot.]]
132* Similar to the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' example detailed on the CommercialPopUp/{{Nickelodeon}} page, Creator/FamilyChannel in Canada had one around 2004 for a back-to-school-themed contest where a "BTS" bug would appear at a random point in the show. You could be entered for a contest if you correctly named the show and episode that it appeared in.
133** YTV did the same about a year earlier but with a different colored Froot Loop rolling by (the contest was sponsored by Kellogg's).
134* In the summer of 2015, Creator/{{Teletoon}}'s "Camp Teletoon" block had a feature where something such as a frog would appear on top of the Teletoon network bug during the shows, and you could push a button on Teletoon's website to make stuff happen with the frog or whatever. The button was only available while the block aired on the Eastern feed, as the Western feed repeated what already happened.
135* During the airing of the 1968 television film ''Heidi'' on NBC, the network put up a "sports bulletin" with the final score of an Oakland Raiders/New York Jets football game ... [[MoodWhiplash during the scene in which Clara takes her first steps]]. This only escalated viewer outrage over NBC having [[MissingTheGoodStuff pre-empted the rest of said game]] and its MiracleRally on the east coast so they could air said film on-schedule (network staff had intended to start the film ''after'' the game after noticing how intense it had gotten, but the phone lines at network control were overwhelmed by viewers asking about if they planned to air the movie or the game).
136* Creator/{{ABC}} uses the hashtag variation, but unlike other networks that do this, it's usually placed underneath the station bug and is small and not intrusive.
137* When Primestar was about to be discontinued, a warning banner that covered half of the screen would appear during random points in the program. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV57lt-8iVo Here's an example]] from an airing of the ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' episode "May The Best Chipmunk Win" on Creator/CartoonNetwork.
138* One year, Creator/{{CTV}} literally put up snipes during the Golden Globe Awards to advertise when winners were available for streaming on its parent company's subscription service.
139* When AT&T and [=DirecTV=] planned to drop 23 Creator/{{Viacom}}-owned channels in 2019, said channels put a banner at the bottom of some of the screen during shows alerting viewers to fight to keep the channels on the network. Annoyingly, not only did these banner ads stay onscreen for several minutes and repeat the message, they appeared even if the viewer didn't have AT&T/[=DirecTV=] and wasn't at risk of losing the channels.
140* In Canada, especially after the regulators mandated the implementation of "skinny basic" service bundles and a la carte purchasing of specialty channels, they will now make a big deal about when they're in a free preview period, often with obvious "Now in free preview!"[=/=]"Free preview on now" text next to their bug (either occasionally or all the time) in a similar means to a NewContentCountdownClock.
141* As of late-2018, Creator/{{ESPN}}'s [=BottomLine=] ticker now has a permanent slot for cycling advertisements in the bottom-right of the screen, typically showing promos for other ESPN programs (and, on ABC broadcasts, ABC programs. Their Canadian counterpart TSN also uses this ticker, which frequently advertises programs on other Creator/BellMedia networks such as Creator/{{CTV}} and Creator/{{Crave}}; with a 2023 graphics redesign, sister network CTV News Channel now uses a very similar ticker as well]). Most other sports networks began to imitate this in the years that followed. MLB Network used to have a tall tab ''above'' the ticker in the bottom-right to promote their next game broadcast, but later streamlined it into the ticker itself, and then switched to the banner ad format.
142* In January 2021, all Discovery-owned channels began displaying a persistent, opaque ad in the top-right of the screen for the Discovery+ streaming service.
143* Creator/{{TBN}} would begin to always show the phone number for its toll-free "prayer line" on screen at all times during programming starting sometime in the mid 80's. In the late 90's and early 2000's with the advent of the Web, it would alternate with the www.tbn.org website also being shown on screen and alternating with the number.
144* In a non-advertising example, the weekend educational shows on the five major networks are mandated to keep a bug on the screen corner that says "E/I" which indicates the show as having content that is "Educational and Informative", even though what the FCC defies as such is very loose. PBS Kids and Creator/{{qubo}} also use such a bug for ''all'' of their programming.
145* When Prince Phillip passed away on April 9, 2021, Creator/{{CBBC}} and Creator/CBeebies [[https://twitter.com/JoshxReid/status/1380557910812545026?s=20 displayed a message during their programmes]] to tell the viewers to change the channel to BBC One for a major news report. This practice was averted for Queen Elizabeth II's death, however.
146* After the launch of Creator/DisneyPlus, ABC's "[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents Wonderful World of Disney]]" movie nights (which play movies owned by Disney, usually from the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, Creator/{{Pixar}}, or Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse) would feature a pop-up advertising how if you like the movie, you could also watch it on Creator/DisneyPlus. A similar pop-up also appears on Creator/{{Freeform}} airings of movies that are on Disney+.
147[[/folder]]
148
149[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
150* This can get pretty extreme during ProfessionalWrestling shows, as not only do the pop-ups take up space on the screen and distract from the match, but the commentators all of a sudden start ignoring the match and begin shilling for the show or product being advertised.
151[[/folder]]
152
153[[folder: Web Animation]]
154* Parodied in a [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad E-Mail]] where Strong Bad mentioned "Discovery Channel" specials about CGI dinosaurs. While he said this, a bug for the fictional CGI ''Walking With Trogdor'' appeared. Sadly, despite being a parody, it fit here, as it appeared exactly within the confines of the back of Strong Bad's head.
155* Bugs for the latest game in the The Escapist's promo cycle appear in many of their video features, including ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'''s.
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder: Web Original]]
159* The website Blip.tv was notorious for this, sometimes showing advertising bugs seemingly every 2 minutes, and about every other bug is unhideable.
160* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' spoofs internet popups with their game Advert Attack--the game's entire challenge is navigating around or getting rid of fake ads that dominate the screen so you could actually get at the game's controls.
161* It's not just television that has done this, either. Japanese video site Website/NicoNicoDouga actually started adding interstitial ads smack-dab in the middle of the video you happen to be watching, with no way to skip ahead or pause at all. When you try to watch a music video, you get hit with a ''two-minute'' ad for ''Manga/PenguinMusume Heart'' out of nowhere.
162* Pandora radio features not only ads between songs, but full-video ads between stations.
163* [[https://web.archive.org/web/20110720031708/http://www.rugratonline.com/rrawar2b.htm This]] archived article from a possibly now defunct ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' fansite has a minor complaint about network bugs covering up presenter captions on the Kids' Choice Awards.
164* Website/TelevisionWithoutPity forums used to have one post about a forum-er who saw TheReveal of a tattoo in a ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' rerun get covered up with a pop-up.
165* A variation happens on video sharing websites such as Website/YouTube where the pop-ups are usually for larger companies. Case in point: During a stream of an ''VideoGame/{{Amagami}}'' video, an ad for UsefulNotes/McDonalds coffee showed up, resulting in [[http://i.imgur.com/VDLFv.jpg a hilarious juxtaposition]]. [[{{Squick}} It basically looked like the character was peeing out of her bathing suit]].
166* In April of 2019, if one were to view Website/ThisVeryWiki on a mobile device, an ad covering the entire screen would appear promoting tourism to Texas. In most cases, said ad would cause the browser to crash and display the text "A problem has occurred, so the webpage was reloaded", creating headaches for those who were viewing the site on mobile.
167* In April 2020, websites like [=TitanTV=] and [=SoraNews24=] began to use video pop-up ads that cover a good portion of the page. The most frequent ads to use this method are ones for cable provider Optimum and Creator/DisneyPlus.
168* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' mocked this in their "The Plan to Eradicate Christmas" movie, where the villain ([[BadSanta Santa gone evil]]) accuses Goku of recklessly endangering the world countless times thanks to his [[BloodKnight lust for battle]]. Goku responded by asking how he could ''possibly'' endanger the whole universe -- at which point a pop-up ad for Creator/{{Funimation}}'s stream of [[Anime/DragonBallSuper the Tournament of Power]] appears.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder: Western Animation]]
172* Someone on late-night Creator/{{Teletoon}} must be an epic {{troll}}, because they've done these commercial pop-ups during ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' over things that require the bottom of the screen, such as Toshi's subtitles or the "Bill Publishermann" gag.
173* During the 'world premiere' of the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' [[TheMovie film]] on Adult Swim, the movie was displayed without sound in a tiny box in the corner of the screen, and episodes of ''Family Guy'' and ''Futurama'' aired while the movie ran (in its entirety) in the corner. During this, humongous pop-up ads for the movie with loud sound effects also appeared from time to time. But...this 'world premiere' was on AprilFoolsDay several days before the theatrical release, so it wasn't meant to be the 'serious' television debut by any means.
174* A gag one happens with the network logo version on ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}''. Chowder scribbles on the screen and gets yelled at. After it's cleaned up he points over at the Cartoon Network logo and asks "What about that one?" to which Gaspatcho responds, "That one doesn't come off. I've tried." The channel icon is part of the episode, making it obvious that the logo has changed since the episode's initial airing.
175* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'': Ling-Ling (who speaks in pseudo-Japanese and can only be understood through subtitles) is trying to convince the other housemates to help him, when suddenly a bug for ''Series/TheDailyShow'' appears, obscuring everything he's saying. Another character exclaims "Ling-Ling's right! I love the ''Daily Show''!"
176* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
177** The episode "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)" makes a joke using this where, during a feminist speech by Lois, Marge appears in a pop-up ad for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' at the bottom of the screen and Quagmire tries to have sex with her. It then shifts into an overly long TakeThat against ''The Simpsons''.
178** In the episode "Peter's Progress", during the wedding ceremony scene, there was a running gag where Stewie would repeatedly break the fourth wall to complain about and kibitz the pop-ups. Plus, most of the promos were for fake shows ''named after the type of image in the pop-up'', such as "Shovin' Buddies", "Slowly Rotating Black Man", and "Crossarmed Opposites".
179--->'''Stewie:''' You and I are like t- ''(A pop-up for [[Series/TwentyFour 24]] appears)'' Oh, I'm sorry, is my wedding interrupting your promotion? We're right in the middle of ''our'' show! Okay, right now, you have a time slot, ''go there''! Maybe finish ''this'' candy bar before opening another one! ''(The ad disappears)'' Well, at least it wasn't one of those promos where they got the whole cast shoving each other playfully like they're all good pals. ''(A pop-up for Shovin' Buddies appears)'' Oh, oh, look! There we go! Oh, look at 'em jostling each other around! Oh, they give each other a hard time, but they're friends!
180---> '''Lois:''' Is that a real show?
181---> '''Stewie:''' No, it's just... no, it's, somebody's making a joke, forget it.
182** When the aforementioned episode first aired in Spain on [[http://www.lasexta.com laSexta]], they went on with the gag by putting a banner of its flagship humour show ''Se lo que hicisteis''. After this incident, the program did a sketch about what had happened. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASMCRMJKi5k#t=34s Here's]] the full video.
183** ''Family Guy'' being what it is, it's used pop-up ads for BitingTheHandHumor multiple times.
184--->'''Brian:''' Oh my God! Somebody call 911!
185--->''[an ad for ''Series/NineOneOne'' appears]''
186--->'''Brian:''' Dammit, Fox, that's not an invitation to ruin our moment to expand your media empire!
187--->''[an ad for ''Series/{{Empire}}'' appears]''
188--->'''Brian:''' ''[sighs]'' ''Series/SonOfZorn''.
189--->''[{{beat}}]''
190--->''[[[ScrewedByTheNetwork a "File Not Found" error appears]]]''
191--->'''Brian:''' Hah.
192* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/FriskyDingo'' had a message on the screen for 15 seconds at the start that said "This is where [[Creator/AdultSwim the network]] puts that mammoth bug." Then, "Enjoy the show." BitingTheHandHumor doesn't even begin to cover it.
193* Comedy Central's ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' ends with the credits being shown in a small 'tear' in the bottom of the screen while the beginning of the next episode starts. Great idea, saves time and everything, right? Well, except that it now completely blocks out the [[CouchGag unique-per-episode punch line]] they have written on the bottom of the screen...unless it's one of the few early episodes that starts with a cold opening, of course. Reruns of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' do this, too, though both shows go back to the regular format if it precedes something like ''Series/TheDailyShow''.
194* The premiere airing of one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' had a bug that featured a giant robot, including metallic stomping and explosion sounds that actually obscured several lines of dialogue. Needless to say, the fans were not pleased.
195* Creator/DisneyXD has ads for ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan'' that have Spider-Man hanging upside-down from the top-right corner of the screen and swinging down. This once showed up in a rerun of the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E11LittleDipper Little Dipper]]" during the scene where Li'l Gideon has the Pines twins shrunk, making it look like Gideon shrunk Spider-Man.
196* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
197** One gag had Homer eating a ''Series/JoeMillionaire'' pop-up.
198** Similarly, another CouchGag had the Creator/{{Fox}} logo pop up on the screen, [[BitingTheHandHumor with the entire family rushing over to stomp on it]] (back when logo bugs were the only commercial pop ups around).
199** The creators of ''The Simpsons'' currently have a deal with Fox, wherein they will not put up real advertisements like this on during their show.
200** Also parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'', where, during a scene where Homer and Bart are daring each other, a pop-up ad for ''Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity'' appears, stating "Yes, we even have these in movies now." (Actually, it's a newsbar, but still...)
201** Marge went further at the start of the 2007 WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror: with so many ads, she gets angry ("Can't people just watch the show they're watching?") and gets rid of the promos in various ways, such as vacuuming football players with a minivac, sticking House in a microwave and putting the rest in a meatloaf. Wherein they wriggle.
202* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' FakeCrossover episode with ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'', "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E4SayUncle Say Uncle]]", Uncle Grandpa says he remembers Steven trying to activate his shield in the first episode, "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E1GemGlow Gem Glow]]" because he was watching from a bumper advertisement for his own show. Steven [[AudienceWhatAudience doesn't remember this at all]].
203* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "More Crap" to celebrate their Emmy win for "Make Love, Not Warcraft". Whenever a particularly crass moment took place, an "Emmy Award Winning Series" message and trophy pops up on screen. At the end of the episode, the advertisement became a trophy given to Randy for having the biggest piece of crap in the world.
204* There is the incident with the season 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. The credits [[TheStinger included]] a humorous dialogue between [[spoiler:Megatron and Starscream's head, floating about stranded in an unidentified region of space]]. But ''both'' of the original English-language airings (first YTV, then Creator/CartoonNetwork shortly afterward) dubbed over that dialogue with interstitials, promoting mass rage within the ''Transformers'' fandom (or at least those who appreciate ''Animated'').
205* Ads for ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' had Yang pull a banner down (complete with sound effects) which obscured 80-95% of the screen. He then pulled it up after about two seconds.
206* The ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' special "Summer Belongs to You" parodies this. A fake pop-up appears declaring "You're watching television!", a sound effect is heard indicating Phineas has an idea, [[MediumAwareness Phineas complains that the "ad" is obscuring a visual gag]], and the pop-up disappears to show Ferb holding a triangle.
207* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'':
208** On Easter weekend of 2017, there was an event called the ''Teen Titans Go Easter Egg Hunt'' on Cartoon Network, where they hid colored eggs throughout the episodes and viewers had to find them. If they named the correct episode and scene the egg appeared in, they would be eligible for a chance to win exclusive Cartoon Network merchandise.
209** Labor Day weekend of 2017 had promo cards pop up in the corner advertising the special Labor Day episode, which also include the Titans interrupting the show with a sound byte yelling ''"Labor Day!"''.
210** There was also [[https://youtu.be/IdvKjX4CF44 this incident]] where a "Stop Bullying" bug appeared on the screen ''[[{{Irony}} over a scene where most of the Titans were acting like bullies]]''.
211* Prior to the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ElinorWondersWhy'', Elinor would pop in from different sides of the screen, from time to time during Creator/PBSKids shows that lead up to the premiere, with Elinor waving at the audience and giving a silent laugh. During the last show before the premiere, ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'', Elinor would pop in and wave as the show's logo appears next to her, reminding viewers to tune in for the premiere.
212* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' occasionally has a big screen bug (taking up almost half of the screen) on some shows with Huey, Duey, Louie, and Webby climbing up on the Disney XD logo, and they jump on Launchpad's ship coming from the left side of the screen. There was also an in-universe example during the SitcomHomageEpisode "Quack Pack!" that only Huey was able to notice.
213* Back when they had ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', Creator/CartoonNetwork had a bug where the Warners would march across the screen while their theme song played for about three seconds. It can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSHWGs-sJCc here.]]
214* Creator/UniversalKids used a particularly annoying one to promote ''WesternAnimation/WheresWaldo2019'' which covered ''the entire screen'' in Waldo's trademark red and white stripes.
215* During the premiere of the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' "Have You Seen This Snail?" special on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network used this trope for a in-joke with a bug featuring [[CaptainErsatz a snail resembling Gary]] with an "I LOVE [=CN=]" sign [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_8388.png appearing at the bottom of the screen]] during random programs. The intended joke was that Gary had "run away" from Nickelodeon to Cartoon Network, but many viewers didn't get the joke and found the bug to be rather annoying.
216* On Creator/KidsWB's final airing of ''WesternAnimation/SkunkFu'', part of Pig's subtitled dialogue when he attempts to speak in monkey language [[http://platypuscomix.com/kidswbyourself/skunkfu7.jpg was obscured by the Kids' WB logo]].
217* In the week leading up to the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' season 24 premiere (a one-hour special themed around the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic), pop-ups showed up on not just Creator/ComedyCentral, but other Viacom-owned networks such as Creator/TVLand and Creator/{{MTV}}. The bug noted how many days until the special aired and showed images of the main four boys with masks on.
218* On early Creator/{{Cartoonito}} airings of ''Cocomelon'' in the United States, the screenbug would occasionally obscure part of the lyrics to the songs. Similar to the ''Bakugan'' example above, this would later be fixed with the logo being moved to the top right for that particular show only.
219** On an airing that occured after the logo was moved to the top corner, a bug for ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsUnlockTheMagic'' obscured part of the lyrics during a song about karate.
220* Also on Cartoonito, with ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocoyo}}'' taking place primarily in a WhiteVoidRoom, the Cartoonito screenbug would be mostly hidden, since the logo was white. To make up for this, later airings used a black logo.
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