In the short-lived game show series Shafted, each round featured a number of questions. The twist was that only the first part of a question would be read out initially, then the players must bid on how much they could risk on it. The highest bidder got to answer the full question, which typically would have a totally different theme from what you would expect. For instance:
Question: In which country is Prince William Sound a narrow stretch of water reaching inland from the sea?AnswerThe United States (it's off the Gulf of Alaska).
In audience quiz games on her show, Ellen DeGeneres often uses questions that seem to be related to one topic but then change to something only marginally-related to the original topic, such as talking about Barack Obama's trip to Cuba, but then asking for movies Cuba Gooding was in.
"Scott's Story" makes it appear that Scott is on trial for killing his son when he suspected the boy was a sociopath. It turns out he's really being accused of unwittingly financing his son and his friend for a mass shooting spree at their school where Scott's son killed himself. The judge dismisses the charges but that doesn't help his own feelings.
"Danny's Story" makes it appear that Danny's accusations nurse Allison killed his ailing mother, romanced his father and is now trying to poison him is due to his own mental breakdown. It's added on by how his uncle suffered from schizophrenia and killed himself. Danny seems to snap to stab Allison and is sent to a mental facility. In the final scene, Allison visits to tell Danny that his father died on their honeymoon. She then all but openly gloats that Danny was right all along, she did kill both his parents and is ready to poison his younger brother for the fortune with Danny locked up and no one believing his claims of her guilt.
In "Jack's Story" when Britney is asked about why she broke off her engagement with Jack, the initial setup makes it look like Britany broke it off cause she thought Jack was cheating on her with Clara. It's later revealed that she broke off the engagement because of Jack lying to her about taking Clara for an abortion, being pro-life and hating that Jack would facilitate an abortion in any way, especially since she was nearly aborted before her birth had a stranger not talked her mother out of it.
In the beginning of the episode "Making Friends and Influencing People", we're led to believe that Simmons has defected to HYDRA, complete with her coming home to find Coulson waiting for her demanding "you thought I wouldn't find out?". Turns out, he's just concerned about the fact that she's not been eating well while working undercover.
"Absolution", Simmons plans a vacation for herself and Fitz to the Seychelles, prompting Fitz to quip that she's not usually the romantic one in their relationship.
Simmons: Do you think I'm not romantic? I am going to do something on that island that will take your breath away. Fitz: Yes...ah, ah...wha...? Simmons: Snorkeling! Did you know that there are over a thousand species of fish in the Seychelles? I cannot wait.
Alex Rider (2020): When the Parker duplicate has Tom prisoner, his right-hand man proposes a more direct way of getting information out of him. Tom panics, screaming "You don't have to do this!" as the man grabs his thumb and... uses it to unlock his phone.
Alma's Not Normal: At the end of the pilot, it initially looks like Alma will be going for a Sandwich Artist job. It is then revealed that she is actually going to try for an escort job.
Andor: During the season finale, a riot starts to get out of hand when Captain Tigo orders his troops to open fire on the unarmed civilians, turning the riot into a slaughter. Many people are shown dying, and the man on the belltower is given a lot of focus. A stormtrooper is send to kill the man on the tower, with sad music playing as supporting characters are shown getting killed, you’d be forgiven to think that the man on the belltower would be next. Once the stormtrooper reaches the man, the man simply kicks the stormtrooper off the tower and continues to play. He ends up being one of the few survivors of the riot.
Angel: "Double or Nothing" has Angel give Cordelia a stake saying "you know what to do." It's implied that he is telling her to stake him if he loses the game and loses his soul, as well as Gunn's. (It Makes Sense In Context .) When he does lose, Cordelia stakes the demon he was playing with through the hand. This gives Angel the opportunity to cut off the demon's head.
The Apprentice: In the UK series, Sir Alan's way of revealing the task to the teams often involved this. He would instruct them to meet him at a certain place, which would only be extremely tangentially related to the task. In the very first episode, the teams met him at a newspaper printing press, and Sir Alan mentioned in passing that newspapers were only useful for one day, before revealing that their first task would be selling fresh flowers, also only useful for one day.
In The A-Team episode "Double Heat", after the A-Team realizes that one of the crime bosses bugged Jenny's phone and now knows where her father is hidden, the scene switches to Mr. Olsen waiting for room service at the hotel. The viewer might think it's one of their men when the doorbell rings... and then Hannibal's voice comes from the other side of the door.
The Barrier: The series has a thing for making it look like something quite compromising for at least one person involved is about to happen, only for the situation to turn to be different:
The Distant Prologue has Julia and Sara get implanted with subcutaneous chips in the back of the neck by their father as the army is knocking at their appartment's door. The chip implanter bears an uncanny resemblance to an actual gun with a silencer on it, which initially makes it look like the father is responding to the army's presence in a muchmore radical way.
While secretly detained in the CIM, Marta breaks a rule against taking any personal items with her by keeping a necklace that belonged to her deceased mother. On her first morning, the necklace turns out have fallen out of its hiding place under her mattress. A nurse starts seemingly scolding Marta due to having noticed it, only turn out to be disappointed that she's not able to put her kerchief on herself yet.
Hugo, secretly a recent widower, desperately needs a work contract to show an adminstrative office, but can only find an opening that is meant for a married couple. His wife's twin sister accepts to help him, but can only do it for one day because she's about to go on the run from the authorities. On the end of the first day, their employer reveals that she usually signs work contracts after a trial period... but will make an exception because Hugo's sister-in-law has bonded with a child who lives in the house and needs a caretaker.
Hugo succeds in the task of repairing a long-broken car on the same day that his sister-in-law Julia (who ended up staying beyond their first day of employment) figures out that his daughter is being detained in a building quite close to where they work. Hugo pretends to be taking the car for a test drive with Julia hidden in the back seat to be allowed to leave their workplace, only to have the Apron Matron ask Hugo to drive her and Julia's fellow maid to the store while he's at it. The Apron Matron changes her mind when she realizes that she and the other maid are too busy to risk the car breaking down before anyone does anything that would have led to Julia's discovery.
There are two separate instances of the audience being tricked into thinking a specific character is inside a vehicle when it gets intercepted by the authorities, only to reveal that the person wasn't onboard after all.
There is scene in which the police is searching Emilia's shop while the two main members of La Résistance are hiding in an alcove behind one of the shelves. One of the policemen notices something strange about the very shelf they are hiding behind, but it turns out to be sacks of coffee for which Emilia doesn't have the proper papers. Being corrupt policemen, they happily confiscate the coffee alongside other goods, and promptly forget that they were called to look for an armed person Emilia's local The Stool Pigeon caught a glimpse of.
A vehicle that briefly looks like it's about to run into Alicia turns out to be her husband, who was following her out of worry.
While trying to force Alejo to do something for him, Hugo spends a lot of time holding him at gunpoint while being in a mindset that makes a lot of what Alejo says or does anger-inducing. Quite a few close calls happen, and the one time Hugo actually does pull the trigger to release some of the accumulated stress, he purposefully points the gun away from Alejo.
After getting Barry's taped admission for killing his partner, Det. Loach holds Barry at gunpoint and starts ranting, near tears, about what it's like to have some motherfucker take someone he loves. Barry tries to apologize for killing Moss but Loach isn't talking about Moss, he's talking about his wife, and he wanted Barry's taped confession as leverage to get Barry to kill her new boyfriend.
In "berkman > block," once again Barry has become traumatized before a big scene, which always causes him to deliver a fantastic performance. This time, it's Sally's big opportunity to impress Hollywood bigwigs in the audience, so you'd expect that he's going to upstage her. Instead, Sally throws out the script and steps all over his part, forcing him to leave the stage with barely a line uttered.
As Amy and Leonard bring Sheldon back from his cross-country trip:
Amy: Sheldon, I'm your girlfriend, but when you needed help you called Leonard and not me. You hurt my feelings. Sheldon: Amy, could you give us some privacy? Amy: We're in a car. Sheldon: Cover your ears. [she grudgingly does so] Leonard, as soon as we get home, I want to have intercourse with Amy. [Leonard stares at him in shock, Sheldon glances at Amy] Okay, she can't hear us, we can talk.
In another episode, Amy finds out that Sheldon once applied for a trip to Mars and they watch his audition tape. In it, he claims that he can be a source of entertainment with his practical jokes. He demonstrates by offering Leonard a can of peanut brittle. Even though he can see what's about to happen, Leonard takes the can and opens it. He's surprised when snakes don't pop out. He turns to Sheldon to ask about it and gets a Pie in the Face.
In another episode, Sheldon tracks down James Earl Jones to ask him to help set up a rival event to Comic Con. When Sheldon meets him, it seems like James Earl Jones is, like every celebrity before, annoyed by Sheldon.
James Earl Jones: Let me guess, you like Star Wars? I've been in other movies, but you don't care about those, do you? (Makes a "come here" gesture with his finger) I have just one thing to say to people like you; I LIKE STAR WARS, TOO!
In the first series, at the beginning of "The Foretelling", the voiceover tells of how Henry Tudor rewrote history to state that Richard III killed his nephews. Richard appears to stab his nephew, before the dagger crumples, showing it to be a trick dagger, and the voiceover stating that actually, Richard was a kindly man.
Sir Walter: To my mind, there is only one seafarer with few enough marbles to attempt that journey. Edmund: Ah yes, and who is that? Sir Walter: Why, Rum, of course. Captain Redbeard Rum. Edmund: Well done. Just testing. And where would I find him on a Tuesday? Sir Walter: Well, if I remember his habits, he's usually up the Old Sea Dog. Edmund: Ah yes, and where is the Old Sea Dog? Sir Walter: Well, on Tuesdays he's normally in bed with the Captain.
The last episode of series II, "Chains", has a Running Gag of Evil Prince Ludwig introducing himself to a character, and telling them that back in the past, when they were interacting with an old friend, he... was another person associated with the acquaintance with whom they slept (or, in the case of Melchett, a sheep). Then, this is turned on its head with Queenie, when he does this, reminding her of a horse she used to ride when she was a little girl, which she kissed, and he... was the German stable boy.
The episode opens with Edmund yelling at the Queen and Lord Melchett. After he is finished the Queen replies "And what did you say to him?"
The show intercuts between two Internal Revenue agents getting a tax evasion warrant and what seem to be a group of tax collectors going to Salvatore Maranzano's office acting on that warrant. Only when they're in his office are they revealed to be assassins sent to kill him and the two agents getting the warrant are actually talking about Al Capone.
At the beginning of "The Ivory Tower", Jimmy buys a necklace. Later on, he gives his wife Angela an also expensive bracelet instead of that necklace, so it's already fishy. Then, he can't have sex with her because his son is napping in the same room. He looks frustrated, so he goes to a Broadway rehearsal. Backstage, a great-looking woman is jumping with joy when he sees her, so the audience assumes it's an old flame and Jimmy's there for a booty call. He gives her the necklace from the beginning of the episode. And then it turns out it's his mother.
In "21", Rose Van Alden is visibly aroused after watching Nelson perform a raid of a restaurant selling illegal liquor. We cut to a shot of a headboard rhythmically pounding...from Nelson testing out the springs by pressing with his hand. However, the scene ends how you think it would.
In "Age of Reason", Lucy's water has broken, and we see Van Alden in the hospital, looking like he's shitting a brick with nerves. He's allowed into the hospital room....of Agent Clarkson, the Prohibition agent who was burned in the explosion Owen just caused at Jimmy's warehouse.
Nucky, Eli, and Manny Horvitz pull it on Jimmy in "To the Lost": Manny isn't a prisoner and Eli's really on Nucky's side. Unfortunately, Jimmy doesn't care.
Manny Horvitz is set up for an apparent long arc in the Season 3 premiere, having become an enforcer for Nucky between seasons 2 and 3, and convincing him to let Manny part ways with Mickey and run his own distillery in exchange for killing a man who stole from Nucky. He's gunned down in his foyer by Richard Harrow just as he opens the door to go looking for that rival (Harrow having come to avenge Manny's murder of Angela).
In one episode, Van Alden knocks on the door of a bathtub moonshiner, ostensibly to raid his house and arrest him...only to attempt to sell him a clothes iron using a fake name.
Arnold Rothstein is mad at Nucky for failing to keep his part of an arrangement and makes another agreement with his rival, Gyp Rosetti. He's actually giving Rosetti a false sense of security before he orders a hit on him.
"Sunday Best" opens with Eli secretly stashing unseen objects around his yard, looking suspiciously over his shoulder each time. It turns out that they're just Easter Eggs.
Throughout season 2 of Breaking Bad, we get small glimpses of a future incident. The full sequence shows that something happened in the White residence. A group of people in hazmat suits clean up the house's pool, Walt's car for some reason has a broken windshield, and there are two bodies which the audience is led to believe are Walter's and Jesse's. What actually happened was that two planes crashed mid-air and the bodies were two passengers unrelated to the main plot, even though the accident was an indirect result of the characters' actions.
In "Earshot", a temporarily-telepathic Buffy hears someone planning to kill everyone at school, but can't identify who it is. Later, Jonathan takes out a large gun in the school bell tower and it's implied that he intends to shoot up the school from there. He's actually planning to kill himself. The real would-be murderer is the lunch lady, whom Xander catches pouring rat poison into the Jello while he's searching for Jonathan.
In "Lovers Walk", Cordelia falls through a stairway and is impaled on a piece of rebar. There's a sad scene of her getting weaker and passing out, played out exactly as if she were dying. Cut to a funeral service being held at an open grave... and then the camera pans away to show Buffy and Willow walking past the Cemetary chatting about how Cordelia survived.
In the final episodes of Season 6, it's initially implied that Spike went to Africa and underwent the Demon Trials so he could have his chip removed and go back to being evil again. As it turns out, in "Grave", he actually went there to get his soul back so he could give Buffy "what she deserved."
Buzz (2000): The basic premise of the Virgin Porn sketches is that we would see what looks like a woman engaging in intercourse, with her moaning loudly and rhythmically. Of course, at the end of the sketch, we find out she was actually doing something else.
In Season 6 of Caïn, Borrel's gun is stolen by bikers. Since they're more interested in bullying an Arab cop than doing anything illegal with the gun, they tell him he can get it back if he wins a fight, leaving Borrel to choose the weapons. The next day, Borrel comes to meet his opponent, they stare at each other, another biker announces the rules... "No spinning, no jarring, no reaching." They're playing table football (and Borrel turns out to be awesome at it).
On Car Warriors, one team paints a mural on the trunk of their car that takes a dig at the other team. Host Jimmy Shine notices it during the judging portion.
Jimmy: What's this? It looks like a mural of me as the Grim Reaper standing over the graves of the other team. Is this a joke? Do you think that's funny? The team looks scared. Jimmy: Yeah, I think it's funny too.
El Chavo del ocho: The episode "Sin piñata no hay posada" has an instance where el Chavo starts swinging a little piñata around in expanding circles, approaching an unsuspecting Mr. Barriga who's busy sweeping the patio's floor. The piñata approaches inch by inch to Mr. Barriga's head... and then suddenly strikes Quico, who was behind of El Chavo, off-screen.
Cheers had an example that also happened In-Universe. Woody has a cast on his arm and Frasier asks him what happened. Woody explains that he was playing pool with a patron and he made a bet that he could make a trick shot. Frasier assumes that while he was trying to make the trick shot, he fell and injured his arm. Actually, he made the shot perfectly and won the bet. Then Frasier assumes that the patron was so mad, he attacked Woody and injured his arm. No, the patron accepted the loss gracefully and paid the bet. It turns out that Woody left the bar afterwards and slipped on the ice.
In one episode of Chopped, during the judging of the Dessert round, Scott Conant makes a remark to one of the chefs that the sauce he made with his dessert tasted like baby aspirin. The chef took that as a bad thing and hung his head in shame until Scott added, "...which is something I loved when I was a kid."
In Cinderella (1997) (the version with Brandy, Whitney Houston, et al), Cinderella's stepmother locks her in the kitchen to prevent her from trying on the glass slipper. After she and the stepsisters fail to wear the slipper, they deny that anyone else is in the house, while obviously trying to block the prince's view of the kitchen doors. But he notices, and after some drawn-out comical back-and-forth, he finally insists that they let him look inside. The music swells, preparing us for the prince's reunion with Cinderella... but when the doors are opened, the kitchen is empty. Cinderella has already escaped and is running away from home. Fortunately, the prince finds her outside a few moments later.
The Cleaner (UK): Wicky is introduced walking into a room and taking in the blood stains like a Hardboiled Detective. Then he sets down his cleaning supplies and moans about how long it'll take for him to get the space clean.
In "Cobra Kai Never Dies", Johnny looks at the camera as he begs someone for a second chance. Much of what he says is meant to suggest he's talking to Robby's mother Shannon (especially "I know there's no do-overs", which is a call-back to a previous conversation between them). However, as soon as Johnny states "That kid is the only person in the world who's never given up on me" (which definitively rules out Robby), the viewpoint switches to reveal he's actually talking to Miguel's mother.
For most of "Quiver," Sam is dealing with cyberbullying and harassment after she broke things off with Kyler due to his attempting to grope her. Towards the end, it seems like Sam gets another harassing message about the rumors about her, which turns out to be Miguel sending a joke about the dissection they did for their science lab.
In "The Moment of Truth," Kreese’s suspicious behavior (particularly his threatening phone call to the "hotel") lead Johnny and the audience to suspect he’s up to something criminal. He's actually homeless, but too proud to admit it to his former pupil.
In the season 3 premiere "Aftermath," Daniel and Johnny are hunting down Robby so he can turn himself in for injuring Miguel in the school brawl. Daniel tracks down the stolen minivan only to find the transponder ripped out and tossed. He realizes that the Miyagi-Do dojo is nearby and goes to check it out. He finds an In N' Out bag in the house, realizing someone else is here, opens the sliding doors to the backyard, and finds... Samantha, seeking the solace of the dojo after she walked out of school due to having a full-on panic attack in the same stairwell where she and Miguel were injured.
"Nature vs. Nuture" opens with a flashback to 1965. It gives you every indication that Kreese was a high school jock who actually once owned the car Miyagi gave Daniel, especially as the jock is played by Martin Kove's son Jesse, holds the same "no mercy" mentality as him, bullies a busboy, and is offered a chance to serve in Vietnam. Then the busboy is seen looking at the recruiter's pamphlet, and the manager yells at him, "KREESE! Those tables are not going to bus themselves. Get back to work!"
Two in "Now You're Gonna Pay":
At the car wash, one group of guys spot the wet, scantily-clad cheerleaders and instantly request a car wash. A moment later, they're unpleasantly surprised when the portly (and shirtless) Chris steps up to wash their car, and Nathaniel makes off with their payment before they can object.
While Johnny is delivering his donation for Miguel's surgery, the audience is told that Miguel's surgeon just arrived from the airport. When Carmen talks to her, we see that the surgeon (shown from the back) is a woman with long blonde hair. All this leads the audience to believe that this could be Ali Mills (especially as season 1 established that Ali is a pediatric surgeon), but when she turns around, the surgeon is revealed to be a complete stranger.
Three in "Miyagi-Do":
After a flashback montage of Daniel and Chozen fighting in The Karate Kid Part II, Daniel expects another fight only for Chozen to give him a respectful, though begrudging, bow. They do end up fighting, but it is friendly sparring/training that is a world removed from their previous fight to the death. Chozen seems to enjoy psyching Daniel out every so often, all before recanting back into a friendly chat.
The trailers for season 3 featured the dialog exchange of "Mr. Miyagi treated me like a son! He would never keep any secrets from me!" and "Are you sure about that?" to suggest Mr. Miyagi had some dark secret he never told Daniel about. But it turns out that Chozen was simply referring to "pressure point" moves that Miyagi had never taught to Daniel.
When Johnny takes Miguel to a Dee Snider concert, Miguel thinks it's part of his physical therapy. But then Johnny reveals that he just took him there to have fun, and they crack beers together and rock out. Then it becomes a double bait-and-switch when Miguel's foot moves for the first time anyway, heralding the beginning of his recovery.
Three in "King Cobra":
Towards the end of the episode, Johnny writes up a decent, touching reply to Ali...note "...AND THEN IRON EAGLE 3 CAME OUT. YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T CARE WHAT THE CRITICS SAY. I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. NOT AS GOOD AS IRON EAGLE 1 OR IRON EAGLE 2, BUT HEY, WHAT MOVIE IS? THINK WAYNE’S WORLD WAS THAT YEAR TOO. THAT ONE WAS OKAY. THOSE NERDS HAD GREAT TASTE IN MUSIC AND THE CHICK WAS HOT. WHAT WAS SHE DOING WITH HIM? HOW COME THE HOT CHICKS GO FOR THE LOSERS IN THESE MOVIES ANYWAYS? OTHER THAN THAT 1992 WAS A PRETTY QUIET YEAR. GOT FIRED AGAIN, BUT WHAT THE HELL DO THEY KNOW. I DIDN’T LIKE CONSTRUCTION ANYWAYS. THEY ALL SPEAK SPANISH AND I’M PRETTY SURE THEY WERE MAKING FUN OF ME SOMETIMES. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A “GRINGO” IS? I STARTED LEARNING A LITTLE BIT OF SPANISH FROM MIGUEL AND HIS FAMILY. I KNOW “HOLA”, “PLANTAIN”, “TACO”, AND “DINERO”. PRETTY GOOD, HUH? WHERE WAS I? OH RIGHT. 1993 THERE WAS THAT DINOSAUR MOVIE. PRETTY GOOD FOR THE NINETIES. I MEAN NOT ANYWHERE NEAR WHAT WE HAD BACK IN THE DAY. REMEMBER PREDATOR? THAT MOVIE WAS BADASS. THIS DINOSAUR THINGS WAS PRETTY COOL, BUT TOO MUCH SCIENCY STUFF FOR ME. I GUESS YOU PROBABLY LIKED THAT THOUGH, RIGHT? I MEAN, YOU’RE A DOCTOR NOW. I COULD NEVER BE A DOCTOR, NOT AFTER THAT INCIDENT AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I TALKED ABOUT THAT A COUPLE PARAGRAPHS AGO. DOES FACEBOOK LET YOU GO BACK AND REREAD? STILL THINK THEY OVERREACTED. ALL THE GREAT SCIENTISTS SET THINGS ON FIRE, RIGHT? LIKE EINSTIEN OR WHOEVER. ANYWAYS, 1993 DUTCH GOT ARRESTED. THAT ONE WAS PRETTY STUPID. I WAS DRUNK FOR MOST IT, BUT I’M PRETTY SURE HE HOTWIRED A GOLD CART FROM THE COUNTRY CLUB. I LOOKEDU P FROM THE BAR AND DUTCH IS DRIVING THE THING AT HIGH SPEED, OR I GUESS AS HIGH AS SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN GO, AND CRASHES IT INTO THE POOL! THEY HAD TO BRING A CRANE IN TO GET IT OUT. HE DID SOME TIME BUT IT WAS WORTH IT. ANYWAYS, I DON’T THINK I’VE BEEN BACK TO THE COUNTRY CLUB SINCE THEN. SID WON’T LET THEM BAN ME, BUT THOSE GUYS ARE ALL UPTIGHT AND ONLY SERVE FOREIGN BEER, IT’S OFFENSIVE. WE WON TWO WORLD WARS DRINKING AMERICAN BEER. WHAT THE HELL HAS BELGIUM EVER DONE BUT GET INVADED? WHO WANTS TO DRINK THAT SHIT? I THINK I GOT OFF TOPIC AGAIN. LETS GET BACK TO THE MID 90S. 1994 WAS A SLOW YEAR. THE 90S SUCKED, MAN. YOU TURNED ON THE RADIO AND IT WAS JUST CRAP. WHO WRITES A SONG ABOUT BEING A LOSER? AND ALL THOSE GRNUGY TYPES WITH THE FANNEL. LET ME TELL YOU, MUSIC IS SUPPSOED TO BE ABOUT BEING BADASS AND AWESOME, NOT ABOUT WANTING TO KILL YOURSELF. THAT SHIT CAN’T BE GOOD FOR KIDS TO HEAR, RIGHT? LOOK AT ME, WORRY ABOUT WHAT THE KIDS ARE HEARING. I GUESS BEING A PARTENT CHANGES YOU. NOT THAT I’M ALL THAT GREAT OF A PARENT. WELL, MIGUEL SEEMS TO LIKE ME OKAY. ROBBY DOESN’T. I MESSED UP PRETTY GOOD. CAN’T EVEN GET THE KID TO TALK TO ME ANYMORE. HE’S STUCK IN THERE FOR A FEW MORE MONTHS AND HE’S GOT NOBODY. HE WON’T TAKE MY CALLS. I HOPE HIS MOM IS TALKING TO HIM AT LEAST. I THINK IT MIGHT BE TOO LATE FOR ME AND HIM. I MESSED UP TOO MANY TIMES. NOT THAT I’M A TOTAL SCREW UP. I’VE DONE SOME GOOD STUFF TOO WHICH BRINGS ME TO 1995 AND HOW I MADE TWO GRAND BETTING ON THE O.J TRIAL." only to decide that it's too long, deletes it, and instead sends a to-the-point "Not much, u?", which he finds more satisfying.
One of Kreese's squadmates is nicknamed "Ponytail", implying that he's actually Terry Silver. Instead, Ponytail is killed when Kreese's unit is captured, and Terry Silver is actually the one nicknamed "Twig", and he adapted Ponytail's hairstyle in tribute.
The trailers imply that Kyler would be on the receiving end of Hawk's beatdown. Turns out, it was Brucks actually and Kyler actually ends up fighting Mitch.
In "Obstaculos", it seems Johnny finally found a place to run his dojo after talking to another "gym owner". It turns out the place he found is a public park and the "gym owner" is just a random guy who was in the middle of having a picnic with his family.
Two students look at a problem on a chalkboard and say that it's unsolvable. After they leave, Troy looks at the problem and picks up a piece of chalk... then puts the chalk in his pocket and walks away.
When Annie leaves the room, and Troy glances in her purse.
Troy: Uh, guys, what does a pregnancy test look like? Jeff:[distracted] Eh, it looks like a thin piece of plastic with a thing on the end of it? Troy: Okay, so this is definitely A GUN!
The CSI episode "Art Imitates Life" opens with a bunch of people at a park, initially focusing on a group of cyclists who pass a mother with a stroller, a woman with a cell phone, and a man jogging in a loop around the park. The jogger spots a pair of feet sticking out from under a bush, and goes to investigate, believing (like the viewer) that he's found a dead body... only for the "dead" homeless man to jump and run away, snatching the mother's purse in the process. The jogger goes to the woman with the phone to borrow said device and call the police... only to find that she's a dead body that's somehow still standing (they figure out how later).
In the same episode, Doc Robbins notices that the new girl, Riley, has a couple of prosthetic teeth. When he asks how she lost the originals, she tells him about being dared to do a rope swing by hanging onto the rope with her teeth - but that's not how she lost her teeth. Then she says she got into a car accident on the way home from the aforementioned stunt, and Robbins assumes she smacked her mouth on the steering wheel. Nope, she was on her bike at the time. She flipped over it and crashed into a fence, but the injured her shoulder that way. Riley then lets Robbins off the hook and tells him how each tooth was lost, all completely unrelated to the initial tale.
In the CSI: Miami episode, "Smacked", the show changes (typically right before a commercial break) from the main plot to clips of an unidentified man doing things that would be needed to make something out of wood and metal. As the story continues, the Monster of the Week turns out to be the cousin of the serial killer who committed murders similar to the current ones. When the episode comes to an end, the unidentified man in the aforementioned changes turns out to be the serial killer's coffin maker. Or rather, the maker of his coffin. The killer wanted Caine's team to focus in on his cousin - who he knew was killing people to make up for his "short-comings" in a previous tag-team killing. Then the serial killer commits suicide via a peanut butter sandwich.
In the season 2 premiere "Bang", the Kitchen Irish guys are set up to be the series' antagonists, as their leader gives a speech inciting his troops to a campaign of violence to retake Hell's Kitchen. Then Frank Castle machine-guns them all in about a minute.
In "Dogs to a Gunfight", the NYPD Emergency Service Unit has set up a trap for Frank Castle, using a lowly Irish mob grunt named Grotto as bait. A semi truck cab comes barreling into the yard where the cops are waiting. The ESU officers light the truck up, riddling it with bullets. They open the cab door, and find not Frank Castle, but the body of the Dogs of Hell biker we'd seen a few scenes earlier cleaning the truck while listening to "The Price of Punishment" on his headset. It's a diversion, making the police look the other way while Frank attempts to shoot Grotto from a nearby water tower.
The season 3 episode "Karen" starts with a 30 minute long extended flashback of Karen's time in Fagan Corners up until the death of her brother. Given that she had earlier just taunted Fisk into coming for her by revealing she killed James Wesley, not to mention the absence of mentions of Karen in the episode descriptions for the last three episodes of the season, it seems like she's going to die at the end of the episode. At the end of the episode, Dex comes to the church where Karen is hiding, intent on killing her. Just as his path to her is clear, he throws one of his batons at her, and it seems like she's going to bite the dust a la "Guardian Devil", we hear the sound of the baton striking flesh, Karen's eyes widen in fear, and then the camera pulls back to reveal that it hit Father Lantom instead.
Most of the deaths in Dead Like Me. Doomed fry cook picks up a very large knife and brings it down — on a potato. The stove won't light so he pulls out a match — and lights it without a hitch. He then proceeds to choke on a sandwich.
"Partners in Crime": After Stacey Campbell is converted into Adipose, Miss Foster realizes someone stole one of the necklaces containing transmitters to cause parthenogenesis from her company, so she reviews the surveillance footage and identifies a woman as the thief. Since Donna earlier snuck into the Adipose Industries office and stole a necklace, it seems she's been rumbled... but no, the thief Foster spotted on the recording was actually Intrepid Reporter Penny Carter, as revealed during the Searching the Stalls scene.
Considering the previous episode'scliffhanger, the viewer assumes that young Amelia is going to open the Pandorica to free the Doctor at the beginning... only for Amy to be inside.
"Okay, kid, this is where it gets complicated."
At the very end, the Doctor gets an urgent phone call about an Egyptian goddess, on the Orient Express, IN SPACE!
The Doctor: Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye. Amy: Yeah, I think it's goodbye. Do you think it's goodbye? Rory: Definitely goodbye. [Amy goes to the doors, leans out and waves goodbye to Leadworth] Amy:Goodbye! Goodbye. The Doctor:[smiling] Don't worry about a thing, Your Majesty. We're on our way.
"A Good Man Goes to War": Amy, held hostage by Madame Kovarian, consoles her newborn daughter Melody by promising her, "There's a man who's never going to let us down. And not even an army can get in the way." Her speech sounds like she's talking about the Doctor, until she tells Melody, "That man is your father. He has a name, but the people of our world know him better... as the Last Centurion." At which point the audience realizes that she was talking about Rory.
This is intercut with shots of a figure running around a Cybership in a cape and using a sonic screwdriver to wreak havoc. And many fans speculated that Amy and the Doctor hooked up, so it's not until the last 2 words that the switch happens.
"Hell Bent" is framed by the Doctor recounting the events of the episode to a waitress at a diner in Nevada. As the waitress is Clara Oswald, the situation seems to be that the Doctor is telling her the story because either she has amnesia, or the waitress is one of her many temporal echoes. By the end, it turns out to be just the opposite: the Doctor is the one with Laser-Guided Amnesia, which he had to get for his own sanity, and Clara, who is the real deal, is checking to see what he remembers.
"The Woman Who Fell to Earth" opens with a YouTube video posted by Ryan Sinclair wherein he says he's going to talk about "the greatest woman [he] ever knew". It appears he's talking about the recently gender-bent Doctor... until, at the climax of the episode, Ryan's grandmother Grace dies while helping fight the villain. Afterwards, more of the video is shown, where Ryan makes it clear he's talking about his nan.
"Rosa": The episode's intro makes it seem like the conflict will be about Rosa Parks getting attacked by a bus driver... because the intro takes place twelve years before the rest of the episode and the real conflict.
"Arachnids in the UK": Corrupt Corporate Executive Jack Robertson initially appears to be an ally of the Giant Spiders attacking people in Sheffield, as indicated by an off-limits area in the basement of his hotel and his firing Yaz's mum Najia after she walks in on a sensitive conversation, and later trapping her and Yaz in a room with a mutated spider. In actuality, he's arachnophobic, and unintentionally caused the mutation due to his illegal activities.
The episode starts with a mysterious masked man watching the events from afar, and it's implied he's in some way connected to what's happening in Bilehurst Cragg. He's actually King James, who's arrived in the area to help in response to the massive witch hunt.
Between Willa's grandmother's unusual last words to her about being there for her in four elements, and the mud first manifesting when Willa repeats it at her grave, it's implied her death is somehow linked to the bizarre events. The words are just a prayer, and the attack was random.
"Spyfall": Yaz and Ryan sneak into the headquarters of MegaCorp VOR after hours to search the office of company head Daniel Barton and steal evidence, but are forced to hide when Barton unexpectedly turns up. While the two companions are hiding behind a sofa, Barton loudly announces that he knows they're there and they should come out, prompting an Oh, Crap! … and then it turns out that Barton is addressing the mysterious, intangible glowing creatures that have been attacking spies across the planet. Barton leaves after his meeting none the wiser to Yaz and Ryan's presence.
"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror": Nikola Tesla and his assistant Dorothy Skerrit come under attack from a mysterious assailant at his Niagara Falls generator plant only for the Doctor to show up, promising a quick way out of the situation. Cut to the next scene where, instead of the TARDIS, everyone is onboard a night train bound for New York City, where the Doctor introduces Tesla and Dorothy to her companions and mentions that the "fam" has been doing some sightseeing. The TARDIS is indicated to have been left in New York City.
"Fugitive of the Judoon": Lee Clayton's scared response to the Judoon's presence, and his knowledge of the alien box in his and his wife Ruth's flat, make him look like the fugitive the Judoon are hunting. The real fugitive is Ruth, whose memories of her true identity have been suppressed, and Lee is just more aware of the situation than she is, as he's effectively her minder.
"Praxeus": Adam is left on the TARDIS with Jake while the Doctor's cure runs its course. The TARDIS' instruments start beeping and glowing red while Adam looks to be getting worse... and a bit later, Jake shows up with Adam, who's now fine as the cure worked.
Drake & Josh: "Driver's License" has Drake and Josh both take their driving test and they're paired with instructors who are near total opposites: Drake gets a pretty, fun-loving young woman who he has a great time hanging out with during the test, even getting burgers from a drive-through, while Josh is saddled with a bitter old lady who hates teenagers and snaps at him at every opportunity, setting up Drake to get his license despite not being the most responsible person while Josh, who follows every rule in the test, to not get his out of spite. Drake fails the test because of his irresponsibility while Josh passes despite his instructor's bitter personality because he actually knows what he's doing. This being a sitcom, shenanigans ensue.
On ER, Carter and Maggie Doyle's relationship appears to be classic Belligerent Sexual Tension … until she takes him to a shooting range and suddenly freaks out because she's just spotted her insanely jealous ex-girlfriend. Meaning that they were just basically two people who just couldn't get along.
There's a great example in the Father Ted Christmas Special: A Christmassy Ted. Father Ted states he wants a nice normal Christmas with no excitement or unexpected interruptions whatsoever. There's an awkward lengthy pause, and then the doorbell rings. An abandoned baby has been left on the doorstep, causing Ted to start. Then a woman appears out of the darkness, picks up the baby and asks, "Is this Mrs. O'Reilly's house?" and Ted directs her next door. On returning indoors he says to Dougal, "Can you imagine how funny it would have been if it had been an abandoned baby? We'd have had real laughs getting into all sorts of scrapes." Dougal replies: "Well, no Ted, it wouldn't have been that funny."
Fawlty Towers: In "The Psychiatrist", Basil declares to Sybil that he is going to get the girl that Mr Johnson smuggled into his room; and immediately afterwards, a knock is heard at Mr Johnson's door. However, it is Mrs Abbott who then enters the room, to return Mr Johnson's guide to Torquay. Basil then accidentally ambushes Mrs Abbott with a broom.
In the Firefly episode "Objects in Space" a fight in the corridor wakes Jayne up and he whips a bed sheet off his wall revealing an arsenal of weapons (complete with heroic leitmotif). Then he wraps himself up in the bed sheet and goes back to sleep.
Frasier: In the episode after Roz first announces her pregnancy, Daphne and Martin repeatedly question her on whether or not she's told the father, and on each occasion either Frasier or Niles suddenly walks in on their conversation, strongly implying that one of them is the father (more likely Frasier, since she still didn't get along too well with Niles at this point). As it actually turns out, the father is a previously-unmentioned barista at the local coffee shop.
In a Reunion Show of Friday Night Live for Comic Relief 1993, Harry Enfield brings back his Loadsamoney character but he's uncharacteristically subdued and appears to have been hit by the recession, talking about how his plastering business failed when the bottom dropped out of the housing market. And then...
Loadsamoney: THANK GOD! I've got a much better job now — I'm a BAILIFF! And I've STILL got LOADSAMONEY!!
A staple of Chandler's jokes on Friends, especially when he talks about his parents and seems to be talking about his mother, but is actually talking about his (transvestite) father.
Another one related to Chandler in the final episodes of the series. Chandler is spotted by Joey with another woman in a house for sale, leading Joey to naturally assume he's cheating on Monica. When things clear down and the news reaches Monica's ears, it's revealed Chandler and Monica are buying a house in the suburbs for their growing family and are thus leaving the apartment, and the said woman is Chandler's realtor.
Earlier in the series, when Monica is preparing to leave Chandler for Richard due to being actually interested in marrying her and Chandler returns to their apartment bemoaning ruining such a perfect relationship for nothing, Monica is revealed to have decorated the apartment in preparation for the engagement as Chandler always liked surprises.
One of the many Catch Phrases on Get Smart was the "Would you believe [improbable statement]?" routine, which almost invariably ended with Max being beaten down to something far more plausible than his opening line.
At one point, he claims that "One of our agents was lost in the Pentagon for five days, would you believe it? Five days!" After the obligatory I-find-that-very-hard-to-believe... he begins attempting to remember on which day he entered the Pentagon. Of course, Max is a Genius Ditz of the first order, so...
And then the movie Get Smart Again pulled one on that very gag: At the end, Max tells 99 "I love you more than the whole world. Would you believe it?" To which wife 99 replies "I believe it!"
And then the remake movie uses it twice. The latter occurrence pulls this on the gag as above, when Max is asked about the whereabouts of a nuclear bomb and in turn asks, "Would you believe... in the piano?" It is. The first time plays it completely straight and delivers a funny moment in the process:
Max: I think it's only fair to warn you, this facility is surrounded by a highly trained team of 130 Black Op Snipers. Siegfried: I don't believe you. Max: Would you believe two dozen Delta Force Commandos? Siegfried: No. Max: How about Chuck Norris with a BB gun?
The Goldbergs opened one season with a Whole-Plot Reference to National Lampoon's Vacation. When the family finally reaches their destination, a security guard tells them that the park's closed just like in the movie. After all the hardship they endured during the trip, Murray goes on a rant about the situation and it seems like he's about to go out and buy a BB gun and take the guard hostage. The guard then clarifies that he meant the park wasn't open for the day yet and they just have to wait another fifteen minutes.
In the Happy Days episode "Fearless Fonzarelli", Fonzie hits Arnold's jukebox... and it doesn't turn on like usual. This, in addition to getting rejected by a woman, threatened by an old man, and called "kid" by a teenage boy, makes him think he's no longer cool.
Harrow: an episode starts with an older gentleman backing his car out of his garage while a young lad skateboards along the street. There is a thump. The old man gets out of his car to see... the kid with a skateboard, fine but staring at the dead crocodile under the car's wheels.
Hightown: Ray and Alan arrest a junkie who ends up running Alan over with his car. Ray bursts inside the interview room to scare the guy into giving up info on his dealer, ranting on how Alan is now paralyzed and "every cop in town" is going to be gunning for the guy. Overwhelmed, he faints and a disgusted Ray leaves...to pass a perfectly okay Alan who only suffered a sprained wrist in the accident.
In "Slap Bet" the gang find a tape of Robin which initially plays out as though it were porn. It's far worse — she was a teen pop star named Robin Sparkles. Though the line gets blurred a bit when they locate her later work, which has the visuals of a kids' educational show but a script that doesn't quite match.
In "Sandcastles in the Sand", Robin is upset over a breakup and Barney, in a moment of sincerity, comforts her. She then suggests he come over to her apartment, and whispers something in his ear. We cut to the two of them sitting on the couch, with their dialogue suggesting they're about to have sex...and then they turn the TV on to watch Robin's other song from her days as Robin Sparkles.
Barney: You sure you want to do this? Robin: Yeah, I am. Let's just not tell anyone about this, okay? Barney: Of course...So, should I just put it in? Robin: Yeah, why not? Barney:(cracks open video tape case)
Double subverted when they end up having sex that very night.
In "Intervention" the gang talks about some of the damage to the apartment, including a hole in the wall covered by a picture. They flash back to the incident in which Robin had gotten drunk and started acting more stereotypically Canadian. As she plays around with a hockey stick and tries to shoot a puck down the hallway, we're led to believe she missed and hit the wall. Then Lily jumps in and intercepts the puck and gets into a physical altercation with Robin. So, the hole was caused during the fight? No, that doesn't happen either since Ted breaks up the fight. Then Barney yells at him that you never break up a girl fight and punches the wall himself.
At one point, The Karate Kid (1984) comes up. Barney then details the plot, talking about the main character learning karate and making all the way to the finals...then losing to "that nerd kid". It turns out that Barney thought that Johnny Lawrence was the main character, not Daniel LaRusso.
It's a common occurrence on Impractical Jokers for the losing joker to be told the nature of his punishment — and then find out that's it's not actually what he was told it was.
In the second episode, Colleen Wing appears to get ambushed by a group of thugs, and dispatches them with ease... who turn out to be her students, who she's teaching to apply their skills in the real world.
In another episode, Colleen finds some of her students watching a video of her cage match on their cell phone. Naturally, she's not pleased...because cell phone use is forbidden in her dojo (she's also not pleased about her cage matches either, since she participates in them to pay the bills, which goes against the Bushido code).
In "Felling With Tree Routes", Madame Gao arrives at the executive suite in the Rand Enterprises building, walks into Danny's office, and tells Danny that he needs to take better care of himself...because his office has terrible feng shui. Madame Gao, a woman who leaves men like Wilson Fisk, James Wesley, and Harold Meachum scared out of their wits, is complaining about interior decorating. She leaves Danny a bonsai tree and reminds him to water it.
Island of the Sea Wolves: The end of episode 1 makes it seem as if Cedar is heading into Dagger's den to prey on her pups, and ends with Dagger seemingly attacking Cedar. The next episode reveals that it wasn't a real attack, and that they have actually been living together for some time, looking after each other's pups.
Narrator: Cedar wasn't coming to kill. She was coming home.
Judge John Deed: An in-universe example. In the trial of Jan Dobbs, who is accused of murdering her husband, the foreman of the jury dislikes her. When asked in court for the verdict, he announces "guilty", to angry uproar from the rest of the jury, who say they had agreed that she is not guilty. He casually dismisses this with "I made a mistake".
Keeping Up Appearances: A minor example in the episode "Please mind your head". As Hyacinth and Richard climb the stairs to their attic apartment, a second Hyacinth suddenly appears, revealing that she was in front of a mirror, and the viewer was looking at her reflection.
One of the more brilliant examples is from the sketch comedy The Kids in the Hall, in which two characters start the "Who's on First?" skit, but before long one of them realises what's going on and explains at length what the names of the players are and what bases they're playing.
Laverne & Shirley: In one scene, it seems like Laverne is about to flush something down the toilet, but then it turns out that she was just using the toilet and doesn't know what to do with the thing.
One of those two-chatting-bystanders-stumble-across-a-body segments had two cops discussing the elaborate party which the male officer and his wife just threw for their little guy's birthday. He's telling his partner about how the birthday boy made a mess of the cake, but managed to open his own presents, when she breaks in to suggest that, maybe, it's time the couple should start thinking about having kids, not just a dog.
A similar example occurs in the episode "responsible" from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. A couple returns from vacation and is calling for "Joey", who doesn't respond. Once they enter the bedroom they see a dead girl and gasp in shock. But they look confused rather than devastated. Turns out Joey is their chihuahua, and the girl is a stranger who they have no idea how she got into their house.
An episode of SVU opens with a guy being woken up by loud moaning as his freeloader roommate watches pay-per-view porn in his living room while he's trying to sleep. They quickly get into an argument and the guy who was just woken up gets a cleaver from his kitchen to force his roommate to leave, seemingly setting him up as this episode's antagonist. Out of nowhere, the roommate gets fatally shot as collateral damage from a gun fired in the next apartment over, where the actual crime that the episode focuses on took place.
In Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Nichols displays his talent for the piano to a suspect in "Rock Star", implying that he too tried to pursue a career in music and didn't make it in spite of his skill. While the suspect insults him for not having the guts to do what it takes to become famous, Nichols then tells Wheeler when she asks why he's a cop instead of a musician, he says because he enjoys it and is good at it and his pianist skills are just a hobby.
Lost Love in Times: Yuan Che and Cai Qian realise Yuan Zhan arranged for them to meet. For a minute it looks like they think Yuan Zhan is trying to set them up, before they decide Zhan wants them to go to the palace.
M*A*S*H: Hawkeye flirts with a nurse, as B.J. and Margaret look on.
B.J.: Look at that brazen hussy over there. And the woman he's with!
Midnight Mass (2021): The first supernatural element in the series is the apparition that Riley sees every night of the girl that he killed by driving drunk. By the end of the series, it's clear that she's more of a manifestation of Riley's guilt than an actual entity and vampirism is the real focus.
In the opening of episode 48, it looks like Melani's love confession doesn't work as Bambang believes Melani was just joking and they return to the dorm as if nothing happened. After Bambang and Melani go to their room, it is revealed that after the opening, Melani actually convinced Bambang that she was serious and they decided to make their relationship a secret from the others.
In episode 50, it looks like Melani is really mad about Bambang's betting her with Juna. After Bambang explains the full context of the bet, Melani laughs as she has figured it out herself and was just messing with him.
In episode 57, Juna (in a pocong ghost costume) decides to sleep in Ada Azab Dalam Cerita's set. A crew member sees Juna, spooky music plays... and he realizes that's just a guy in costume.
Twice in episode 57, Pipin seems to get that the flowers means Alan want to confess his love, but then reveals that she doesn't get a thing and berates Alan for throwing away flowers.
In the Monk episode "Mr. Monk Is Someone Else", the teaser shows Monk getting hit by the bus. After the opening credits, Monk's friend Natalie is crying... because she's reading Marley & Me. The person who got hit by the bus was an Identical Stranger, not Monk himself.
Monty Python's Flying Circus: The World Forum sketch starts as a serious-looking political talk show with the guests Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. But once Eric Idle gets to the questions, we find out that it's really a game show. The guests look as confused as the audience.
Eric: And the first question is for you, Karl Marx. The Hammers; the Hammers is the nickname of what English football team, the Hammers?
In the first season finale of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, John ends up at his neighbor Harris' house and finds pictures of his and Jane's house plastered all over a wall. Thinking that Harris is an enemy secret agent, he confronts him and Harris reveals that he is an agent...that is, a real estate agent for Sotheby's, as the mere construction of John and Jane's house is considered to be a Beyond the Impossible task in the real estate community, as it was built without any city approval and their $2.5 million Manhattan brownstone is far too expensive for two supposed software engineers to ever afford.
The Muppet Show: In the Milton Berle episode, about halfway through, they perform "The Entertainer" with Berle's parts being delivered as a soft and reflective Lonely Piano Piece, as a kind of tribute to the days of vaudeville. For the final number, "Top Banana", it looks like they're going to do the same thing, with Berle quietly reminiscing with Fozzie about the old days...right up until the wacky, up-tempo music starts up, Berle's clothes transform from a suit into baggy pants and clown makeup between cuts, and the slapstick starts.
At the beginning of an episode of NCIS, we see DiNozzo approaching the worried father of a missing Marine, and then it cuts to Gibbs accompanying a casket with an American flag draped over it, accompanying it home. However, by the end of the episode, we learn that it's actually a different Marine in the casket, and the missing (now rescued) Marine is actually sitting across from Gibbs, just off-screen from the first shot.
In an episode of New Girl, Cece is extremely horny and wants to have sex with Schmidt, who for once insists that he has too much work to do. Eventually, she says that she's willing to have sex "anywhere". He asks her if that includes "Fantasy Location Number Three". She hesitates, rolls her eyes and says "All right." It turns out that he meant the trunk of his car.
"The Merciful", a brief vignette from Night Gallery, shows an elderly man huddled unhappily in a chair, while his wife lays rows of bricks between them and speaks of how, given what the doctors said, it's better this way. It looks like she's walling her husband into the room to die, until the doorbell rings, and he gets up and goes to answer it, leaving her sealed into her self-made suicide cavity behind the finished brick wall.
A notable one at the start of the second season of Noah's Arc. Noah is talking about this guy who he may be in love with, and based on the first season its implied to be Wade (the One True Pairing). When we actually see the guy its Malik, who Noah cheated on Wade with earlier as part of a random hookup.
In NUMB3RS, the following dialogue occurs between Charlie and a rival mathematician:
Charlie: You're wrong. Its structure lacks originality or integrity. Archrival: It's a classic organization based on tested and proven elements. Charlie: It's a chain! It's a chain with irregularities that come with maintaining complex matrices. Archrival: Oh, so you propose that a single point mechanism provides superior output? [Fleinhardt walks in] Fleinhardt: Enough! Surely, two eminent mathematicians can find ways to calmly discuss theory. Charlie: ... We're not discussing theory. Archrival: No. We're talking hamburgers. Charlie: Pie n' Burger's the best, man. There's no question about it. Archrival: In and Out is far superior.
In the Only Fools and Horses episode "Fatal Extraction", which as the title suggests, pastiches Fatal Attraction, Del arrives back at the flat, convinced the dental assistant is stalking him, and notices the cage that's supposed to contain Damian's hamster is empty. He then turns to the kitchen and sees a large pot simmering on the stove. Increasingly unnerved, he slowly walks towards the stove, lifts the lid, and recoils in horror from what he sees. Uncle Albert has been using it to clean his underwear again.
Pie in the Sky: In "Doggett's Coat and Badge", a conversation about the antique, valuable and fragile MacGuffin is intercut with an innocent bystander in the next room discovering its hiding place and picking it up for a closer look. The conversation is then interrupted by a loud crash. After a moment of shock and horror, it turns out it was something else that got broken and the MacGuffin is still safe.
Pretty Little Liars: In the final scene of "Game Over, Charles", the action jumps to five years later - all the Liars except Alison have left Rosewood, and Alison's now a teacher. Suddenly, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily rush into her classroom and warn her "he's" coming. That episode premiered in August 2015. That scene finally appears in "Farewell, My Lovely" - a June 2017 episode, and the last episode before the Grand Finale. Although still a Wham Episode, its not because of that... the classroom scene is a nightmare Emily has when she and Alison fall asleep.
Replacing Chef Chico: Chico tells the team that a renowned food critic is anonymously coming to the restaurant and that they will probably be a middle-aged white man. He then blows up when a man fitting this demographic berates them for a steak. All the while, Ella has been patiently serving and conversing with a Filipina woman who has been coming in along with a famous influencer couple. The woman is revealed to be the food critic and writes a glowing review praising Ella in particular.
In The Rookie a waitress slips Nolan a note with her number after his first day on the job. He gives her a considering look and the scene cuts to a trail of feminine clothing leading up to Nolan's house, heavily implying he took her up on the offer. It is then revealed the clothes belonged to fellow rookie Chen and that the two have been involved for two months.
Saturday Night Live: The episode hosted by David Hyde Pierce had a sketch where the characters are crew members on a spaceship at war with a race of robots. They discover that one of them is a robot. Pierce's character displays quite a lot of robotic behavior (speaking in monotone, pointing out something only a computer would notice) leading the others to suspect him. Just when they're about to kick him out of the airlock, it turns out that Chris Farley's character is the robot despite acting perfectly human. (They kick Pierce out of the airlock anyway.)
A Christmas Episode of Scorpion had the team filling helium balloons as part of a mission. After filling the last one, Tobey sticks the helium tank hose in his mouth, inhales a bit, and sings the first line of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" with a squeeky voice. Meanwhile, Cabe marches over to him and glares stone-faced. Tobey turns around, sees him, and nervously hands over the hose. Cabe stares him down, then takes a breath through the hose and sings the next line.
On an episode of Selfie, Henry is standing at his desk talking to someone off-camera, praising them. The camera cuts to his assistant (and a small, elephant shaped lozenge) Charlie who says "Thanks, I feel like I'm still on a journey of discovery and-" Henry cuts him off and says he was talking to the lozenge. It fits with Henry's Workaholic nature and his tendency to get excited about his work,
In one "Ernie and Bert" skit, Bert asks Ernie how he got a cut on his finger. Ernie explains that the zoo animals were loose, making us think that one of them scratched or bit him... but Ernie actually cut his finger because he fell over on a pointy rock.
In another "Ernie and Bert" skit, a boy named "Tough Eddie" knocks over Bert's sandcastle, then tells Ernie that he "has something for" Bert. As it turns out, he knocked it over by accident and the "something" is an ice cream cone; he wanted to apologise.
In a "Jack and the Beanstalk" parody, Jack plants the bean, the beanstalk grows... and he decides not to climb it for fear of damaging it.
In a "Hansel and Gretel" parody, Hansel and Gretel see the gingerbread house... but decide to leave it alone since they think it's way too much sugar for two people.
In a "The Three Little Pigs" parody, the Big Bad Wolf ends up blowing down everything but the straw house.
In a "Snow White" parody, the Queen asks who the fairest person is who has beautiful eyes, is green, is wearing a hat, is in the same room as the mirror, and is holding the microphone. All of these things apply to her, but the mirror answers with Kermit's name instead.
In one sketch, Kermit is at the T-shirt shop and gets angry with the salesman for the apparent typos on his two shirts ("Kermit the Gorf" and "Kermit the Forg"). As it turns out, those shirts were meant for two different creatures named Kermit, who were a "Gorf" and a "Forg".
Another "Ernie and Bert" skit has Bert accusing Ernie of stealing his cookies, because someone with black hair and a striped shirt stole them and then chuckled like Ernie. It turns out to have been Cookie Monster in a shirt and wig.
In one skit, Clementine tells some other cowgirls and some cowboys at a bar that a cowboy named "Bad Bart" is coming and will "give somebody what he deserves". When Bart arrives, he gives the bartender some money, since he forgot to pay him earlier.
In a similar sketch, Bart comes into the bar looking for the person who bought the last box of crayons from the general store, growling "I want to know why!" But once he finds the cowboy who bought them, it turns out he's not angry about it, and he wasn't even saying "why," but "I want to know Y": he needs a crayon because he wants to learn how to write the letter "Y."
She's Gotta Have It: Dean tells Mars his grandfather died in a concentration camp. Mars expresses shocked sympathy, but then Dean explains he'd fallen out of a guard tower after getting drunk.
Six Feet Under does the same thing as Dead Like Me, setting up a death to make you think someone will die in one way, only for someone else to die in a completely unexpected fashion. Example: a father and his daughter release a pigeon into the air. Pigeon craps on an actor's hat. The actor goes into a convenience store and uses the out-of-order bathroom to clean his hat, even using the broken toilet. The storeowner goes into the bathroom to start cleaning up while talking on the phone with his wife. The wife goes outside to get better reception, and gets hit by frozen airplane waste. It serves to illustrate how close people skate with death on a daily basis.
The Smallville episode "Nocturne" has a really good one. For the first half, it's about Clark and Lana trying to rescue a boy named Byron from his abusive parents, who keep him locked in the basement and claim he drowned years ago. However, when they do get him out of the house (they'd only met him at night before this), it turns out his parents weren't abusive. Ever since he was part of a LexCorp experiment to handle antisocial behavior, entering sunlight causes him to get some freaky big abs with a side order of Unstoppable Rage and super-strength that rivals Clark's.
Sons of Guns: Steph uses a shotgun to win an accuracy contest while the guys use Handguns.
Kris: I've been bamboozled!
The Steven Banks Show: In the preshow segment, Steven and Pepper are talking about if they were forced to kiss one of the Monkees, Steven picked Peter, which Pepper thought was a bad choice. Later on in the episode, Steven meets Peter Tork in the flesh, and the first thing he says to him is, “Hi. Want a kiss?” It seemed awkward at first, but he was actually referring to a bag of Hershey’s Kisses he happened to have with him.
Thunderbirds: The episode "Cry Wolf" begins with a young boy Bob apparently trapped on a cliff ledge, who calls International Rescue on a small radio. Scott duly arrives in Thunderbird 1, a rope is lowered to the boy from the top of a cliff, and Bob is hauled up. However, it is not Scott from International Rescue pulling him up, but Bob's brother Tony, playing at being International Rescue.
One episode had the guys buy lorries and use them in a series of challenges. While Jeremy's getting used to his truck, he talks about how stressful it is saying "Change gears, change gears, murder a prostitute, change gears...", referencing a recent incident where a truck driver had murdered a prostitute. Many took offense at his statement and he started one segment in the following episode by saying he had to apologize for something: not putting up the time for the Power Lap of the Porsche 911 that had been tested.
The Patagonia Special ended in disaster when the people of Argentina took offense at the license plate on Jeremy's car, thinking it was a reference to the Falkland Island War, and an angry mob chased the crew and presenters out of the country. In the next regular episode, Jeremy says that he feels he needs to apologize for the Special...because at one point, he said the condor was the bird with the biggest wingspan when it's actually the albatross.
True Blood: Bill Compton is forced to turn Jessica Hamby into a vampire as punishment for staking another vampire. In trying to explain to Jessica what this means, he tells her that unfortunately she can't go home to her family anymore. Jessica sounds crestfallen...and then overly excited at the fact that she's been freed from her abusive dad, making her insufferable to Bill and Eric.
One recurring sketch on TV To Go features ex-con Bulla ranting about how much the world changed while he was in prison. One sketch had Bulla complain about the huge increase in surveillance and CCTV in the UK, which he follows by him relating how he and an accomplice had recently scouted a jewelry store, made sure it was clear then broke in by throwing a brick wrapped in newspaper at the window. The next day, the accomplice was arrested... because the newspaper was delivered to his house and still had his address written on the front page.
The Twilight Zone (1959): In "Spur of the Moment", Anne Henderson chooses to remain with her fiancé Robert Blake instead of running away with her ex-fiancé and childhood sweetheart on June 13, 1939. After a Time Skip to 1964, Anne is a miserable alcoholic who blames her husband for running her family estate into the ground and ruining her life. David then walks in, revealing that she married him rather than Robert. A Flashback reveals that they eloped during her engagement party, only hours after she rejected him.
War and Peace (1972): The final episode is set in 1820 with Nikolai coming home. He sees Sonya looking after the children. It seems the two finally got together. However, a flashback reveals who Nikolai truly married. Return to the present, a pregnant Marya appears to her husband.
What We Do in the Shadows (2019): In the episode "Gail", Laszlo tells the audience his car was taken away from him after he was caught transporting "minors" across state lines. The accompanying picture reveals he was transporting miners.
Why Women Kill: Bertram's Serial Killer reveal. Initially, it looked like he would be pursuing an affair but as soon as Maisie felt faint and sedated he began to make the same euthanasia speech he gave on the dogs...
Towards the beginning of "Saints" from Yellowjackets, Shauna is seen approaching a shady motel when she get discovered by Randy from high school. We're clearly supposed to think she's heading to the motel for more hanky-panky with her lover Adam. Instead, she's there to meet Natalie and Taissa to discuss the blackmail.
After Sheldon managed to finally show Dr. Hodge his calculations for VTVL technology, he's informed that, while impressive, they don't have the technology available yet to put it into motion. When Sheldon summarizes this as being told he's ahead of his time, which Dr. Hodge admits, you'd think he'd be upset... but instead he calmly tells Dr. Hodge to "call [him] when [they] catch up", and leaves the room satisfied.
In "A Musty Crypt and a Stick to Pee On, Dale and Mee-Maw get into an argument while playing D&D with Sheldon and Missy. Dale declares that he is done playing "Mr. Nice Guy" and storms out of the house to get a beer. The next time we see them, not only is Dale still playing with the others, but he also got a beer for Mee-Maw.
Zero Zero Zero: A young drug courier flees from Manuel's commandos and hides beneath a car. We cut to later, and the courier demands to be let into a hideout quickly because some men were following him. Once the door is opened, however, it's revealed that the commandos actually caught him, and they storm the hideout.
between two Internal Revenue agents getting a tax evasion warrant and what seem to be a group of tax collectors going to Salvatore Maranzano's office acting on that warrant. Only when they're in his office are they revealed to be assassins sent to kill him and the two agents getting the warrant are actually talking about Al Capone.