"That's not a running gag!" "...It is now."
"That's not funny. But don't worry, it's a running joke, so they'll repeat it several times until you have no choice but to find it funny."
A joke that is only mildly funny the first time, but becomes funnier each time it is repeated.
Must be repeated at least
three times. But repeat it
too many times and it becomes an
Overly-Long Gag. A variant is a joke or scene that occurs
Once an Episode; doing
that too often threatens to turn it into an
Overused Running Gag.
The ultimate fear for the use of any running gag is not that it becomes an
Overly-Long Gag; rather, it is that it was never funny in the first place. Nothing is worse than starting a one hour show with a joke that bombs that you're going to use twenty times over the next hour.
A
Running Gag can be limited to a particular episode or recur throughout an entire series. If it recurs throughout an entire series, then it will often develop variations and/or be accompanied by
Lampshade Hanging. If a character
breaks the fourth wall to mention it, it's
Didn't We Use This Joke Already?
A comedy
Catch Phrase is a type of
Running Gag. Can become potential for
Memetic Mutation if the gag itself is widely applicable. Compare
Arc Words, which are a recurring phrase that isn't a gag. See subtropes
Once per Episode and
Every Episode Ending.
Examples
X-treme!X-treme!
