You Meddling Kids - Television Tropes & Idioms

"The only thing I hate worse than bad guys is meddling kids."

— The Chief, Teamo Supremo

When the evil character is finally brought to justice, he claims that he would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those "meddling kids" (or whoever it was who foiled his plot). He may be evil, but he gives credit where credit is due. The classic form is, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

Not to be confused with those meddling executives.

Examples:

Anime and Manga

In Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series:
Pegasus: And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling...
Bakura: Don't you even think of making a Scooby-Doo reference!
- Ironically, Professor Cobra actually says this line in its entirety in an episode of the Season 3 dub of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Ditto for Bakura in the original's Season 5.
Referenced directly in the Gag Dub of Ghost Stories, where Hajime exclaims, "And you would've gotten away with it too, if not for us meddling kids. I've been waiting five volumes to make that joke!"

Comic Books

There is an Archie issue where Archie and Jughead solve a crime and the crooks are being led away in restraints by the police. One crook complains about being stopped by a bunch of dumb kids and Jughead fires back "This 'dumb kid' is not the one wearing handcuffs!"
In The DCU, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake investigate the sabotage of Grayson's circus. Eventually, they crack the case and caught the crooks. When one of the crooks says this quote, Grayson dismisses it saying that they were sloppy and the police would have figured it out on their own. However, since that would have created some really embarrassing press for the circus, it was better that the once and future Robins took care of this.
The Pinky And The Brain story in the second-to-last issue of the Animaniacs comic book gave a Shout Out to this in the form of Pinky's response to that issue's Are You Pondering What Im Pondering?:
Pinky: I think so, Brain. But would the villains really have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those pesky kids and their dog?

Film

The first Wayne's World movie had Multiple Endings including a nonsensical Scooby Doo one which used this phrase.

Literature

One of the Troperrific chapter headings in Soon I Will Be Invincible is "And Now For Those Meddling Children".

Live Action TV

Occasionally happens in Monk.
In Stargate SG-1, Daniel says "And you would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for us meddling kids" after a bounty hunter fails to capture SG-1.
- That line is made even funnier when you realize that Michael Shanks ad libbed it because he hates when the characters explain to the villain what the audience already knows.
The Sarah Jane Adventures' teenaged protagonists, with help from Intrepid Reporter Sarah Jane, meddle muchly in the plans of would-be alien invaders.
Seen at the end of an episode of Numb3rs in which Don, his team and his brother Charlie investigate spooky activity at a supposedly abandoned airbase.

Tabletop Games

Magic The Gathering's Unhinged joke set has a card called Meddling Kids, which is also a reference to the real card Meddling Mage.

Video Games

In the Second Golden Sun game, one of the Pirates delivers the line if you visit them in jail after turning them over to the local government.
An optional line of dialogue in Sonic Chronicles. If you know how this goes, you'll know what to say.
Baron K. Roolenstein, the main antagonist of [[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble]], uses this line verbatim after his robot KAOS is defeated a second time.
In the main GBA generation Pokemon titles, the Team Aqua/Magma goons accuse you of being a meddling kid after you stop them from stealing the Devon Goods again in Slateport.
Used by the Prophet in Final Fantasy X 2 if he is fingered as the culprit in the Mi'ihen Highroad mystery sequence.

Web Comics

Defeated Eternion says a variant of this line in Adventurers! (He then follows it up with a double And Zoidberg)
Eternion: "And I would have got away with it too if it wasn't for you pesky adventurers!"
Used word for word in this strip of Emergency Exit by the villain's second in command
Also used in this Order Of The Stick.

Western Animation

The Trope Namer: While the exact wording sometimes varied, every episode of Scooby Doo ended in this vein, making you wonder what the local police were doing all that time.
- This Troper saw a Continuity Nod to this in one of the newer episodes:
"Hey, are you meddling... kids?"
- Also played with in recent installments, such as when a villain attributes his capture to an unrelated character who'd tripped him as he was fleeing, or when two 10-year-old perpetrators claim they'd have gotten away with it, "if it wasn't for you meddling grown-ups!"
- Similar sentiments were often expressed in other Hanna Barbera shows about crime-fighting teen with comic pet sidekicks: Josie And The Pussycats, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kids, The Funky Phantom, Speed Buggy, Clue Club and Jabberjaw.
An episode of Futurama had a Corrupt Corporate Executive remark "And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those blasted meddling adults!"
When Donald Duck foils one of his plans to shut down the House Of Mouse, Pete remarks that he "would've gotten away with it if it weren't that meddling duck!"
In an episode of Kim Possible, Kim cuts off a villain's post-foiling rant, citing the "meddling kids" line as cliché. The villain denies he was going to say it, but no one believes him.
The Joker does a Shout Out to this in an episode of Justice League. Referring to some superpowered children the government was trying to mold into tyke bombs, which he turns to his side, he states:
The Joker: "And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for me meddling with the kids!"
Averted in the relatively new (as of 2009) PBS Kids series "Martha Speaks," in which the villain, being taken to jail, says "[The plan] would have worked, too, if it wasn't for... it not working."
In Sideshow Bob's first speaking appearance on The Simpsons, he takes this to its logical conclusion, adding "Treat kids as equals! They're smarter than you think!" Considering that he had spent most of his time that episode running quality children's programming, it's an especially good point.
South Park uses this trope in the episode Child Abduction Is Not Funny: "I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling policemen."
Lloyd In Space, "The Ride Along", has this somewhat opposite version: "I almost got away with it too thanks to those meddling kids"... referring to Lloyd and his friend Eddie who turned out to have chased down an undercover cop (the real baddie was cornered by Eddie's dad).
The Teamo Supremo Halloween episode (which itself completely parodied Scooby Doo) used this trope.
Lampshaded in Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law:
Old Man Backoff: I would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for-
Harvey: "These meddling kids..."
Old Man Backoff: No, the damn cotton market!