Show Within a Show

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"They fight! And bite!
They fight and bite and fight!
Fight, fight, fight!
Bite, bite, bite!
The Itchy and Scratchy Show!"

— Opening Narration for The Itchy and Scratchy Show, The Simpsons ^note

A fictional show that takes place within an actual show; or, occasionally, a fictional installment or incarnation of an actual show.

Shows-within-a-show are usually of low quality. This is intentional: the low quality of the show is part of the joke or the misery of the characters involved. As a general rule, the more central the Show Within A Show is to the actual show, the better — or at least higher-gloss — it will be.

Many comedies have short one-off gags where they parody existing shows. Most of the following examples are recurring and they come in up to four varieties (which can be overlapping):

The characters are involved in the production of the show.
The characters are fans of the show, or only see it occasionally.
The show-within-a-show is a plot point.
The internal show, in either variety, is eerily similar to the real show.

Sometimes these shows can be shown as Separate Scene Storytelling.

For the pre-television history of this trope, once again we must go back to William Shakespeare, who featured plays within plays both in comedy — The Most Lamentable Comedy, and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe within A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Taming of the Shrew actually is one by means of a Framing Device — and in tragedy (The Murder of Gonzago within Hamlet).

Compare with School Play, Soap Within a Show, Who Would Want to Watch Us?, Fictional Document, Framing Device, Recursive Fiction, Recursive Reality (of the "nested stories" variety), Mutually Fictional, Pushed in Front of the Audience, Post Modernism, Plot Parallel.

Examples:

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Model Trains

The smallest-scale model train is in the window of a toy store—which is in a model village that's part of a model train.

Music

The song "Movie in a Movie" by Tony Goldmark is about a ridiculously big set of nested movies.

Pinball

Family Guy has a miniature working pinball machine on the playfield, which is played by Stewie at key points during the game.
- Shrek, a reskinned version of Family Guy, has "Donkey's Pinball" instead.
The Video Mode for Theater Of Magic is a video pinball game.
Lights... Camera... Action! casts the player as a film Director who must finish a blockbuster action film.

Puppet Shows

Dog City (the cartoon) in Dog City.
The Muppet Show on The Muppet Show.
In an episode of Dinosaurs (the early '90's animatronic puppet show), Earl watches a sock-puppet show where a woman refers to some skanky-looking characters as "cheap hose/ho's." (See Parental Bonus.) He says something close to, "I love this show. It's got one meaning that's funny for grown-ups, and one that's funny for kids!"

Stand-Up Comedy

"If you ever find out what you're watching is a show within a show, sit back and hang on for the ride of your life." — Jack Handey

Alternative Title(s):

Show Within The Show, Story Within A Story, Play Within A Play, Film Within A Film, Shows Within A Show

Index

Real Trailer, Fake Movie Fictional Media

Frontline Prime Time News

Self-Parody Metafiction Demanded This Index The Show Must Go Wrong

Storybook Opening Beginning Tropes Start to Corpse

Shoo Out the Clowns Older Than Steam Skeletal Musician

Shower of Angst Narrative Devices Shut Up, Hannibal!

Unstoppable Rage Overdosed Tropes Love Interests

TJ Hooker Buddy Cop Show Theodore Rex

The Show Must Go On We Are Not Alone Index Sidekick

Robot Religion ImageSource/Western Animation Slept Through the Apocalypse

Troperville

Toys

Tools

Genre

Media

Narrative

Other Categories

Topical Tropes

Show Within a Show

Examples:

Alternative Title(s):

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