Series / Tosh.0

"We are so much more than a clip show."

Tosh.0 is an American television show that starred comedian Daniel Tosh and ran on Comedy Central. The show is a clip show in the style of The Soup that focuses on the Internet. The show was originally scheduled to air for one 10-episode season, but it became unexpectedly popular (alongside being cheap to make), leading Comedy Central to greenlight more episodes. The show aired for a total of twelve seasons.

The first part of an average episode consists of Daniel showing a string of videos (and occasionally images) found online with humorous commentary about each one. Usually, he'll pick one picture or video from the bunch and "put 20 seconds on the clock" ^note Though, as Daniel himself has pointed out, the time is usually nowhere near 20 seconds. "It ends when I'm out of jokes." to see how many funny comments he can make in that time. Daniel ends the segment by looking at the last clip of the bunch more closely in the "Video Breakdown", where he pauses and slows down parts of the clip to dissect it and give himself time to make more quips.

The second part of the episode (and probably the show's most unique aspect) usually consists of a "Web Redemption", in which a person who has embarrassed themself in an online video is brought on the show and given a chance to "redeem" themselves. The segment usually starts with an interview in which Daniel asks his guest about the background of the video in question, usually followed by some sort of training, then finally the redemption itself. If the person was trying to do something and failed in their attempt, their redemption will usually be for them to try again and succeed. They have done some variations on this segment, such as a "Web Investigation" where they find if a video was faked.

The third part of the episode is more variable in what it features. Originally, Daniel would feature an original celebrity video during this part, though he later used the part to interview internet celebrities or just show more videos, with longer commentary on each one. There were also recurring segments that showed up in this part of the show, including "Is it Racist?" and "Guess What Happens Next", both of which are pretty self-explanatory. The Viewer Video of the Week is also usually shown during this part before the commercial break. It's not uncommon for Daniel to also use the fourth segment to show a longer video with more commentary than usual.

The fourth and final part was once not very significant but later frequently featured the show's fans in some way, either through their tweets or through videos they send in. These segments usually begin with Daniel describing the theme of the segment and what he did to get the fans to send in their tweets or videos, followed by showing the tweets/videos themselves. Whenever possible, the tweets/videos usually insult Daniel in some way; frequent targets include his sexuality, the perceived lack of humor in his show, and his mother.

On August 20, 2020, Comedy Central cancelled the show, with the planned 12th season being its last. The season ran from September 25 to November 24 of that year.

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This show provides examples of:

• 10-Minute Retirement: At one point Daniel decides to quit the show, and holds auditions for his replacement. Chris Rock ended up getting the gig and didn't even make it anywhere close to ten minutes before getting fed up, saying the show was stupid, and giving it back to Daniel.
• Ambiguously Gay: Daniel himself, though it is by his own doing. Lampshaded when, after filming a skit with Tommy Lee in which Daniel wore a bra, Daniel showed an e-mail he received from Lee's assistant, asking, "With all due respect, Tommy would like to know, is Daniel gay or straight?" Daniel replied, "With all due respect, Tommy Lee, I prefer to keep it a mystery; I don't want to be type-cast as a "straight"." Later in the episode, he danced in a rather suggestive way during the web remix of "What What in the Butt" with duct tape over his mouth and "NO H8" written on his cheek, eventually dancing quite close to Samwell at the end of the song. After the segment was over, he said, "There's your answer, Tommy Lee."
• Americans Hate Soccer: In one particular instance, he went on a particularly long-winded tirade regarding the sport. invoked
• Aside Glance: Daniel has a distinctive look he gives the camera any time he makes a joke that he knows is a bit too nonsensical or unbelievable compared to the rest of his humor, such as the above mentioned joke about being type-cast as a "straight".
• The Atoner: The premise behind the Web Redemption segment. If they simply did something embarrassing, the show will usually show them doing it again, but make it look cooler (such as the Lightning Bolt LARPer, whose redemption was a choreographed fight sequence that ended with him shooting CGI lightning out of his arms).
• Audience Participation: An involuntary example. Daniel wanted to show 2 Girls 1 Cup, but the network (obviously) wouldn't allow it, so he instead filmed his audience's reaction to it and showed that.
• Author Filibuster: Daniel usually gives a short monologue before every web redemption, loaded with a lot of Take Thats.
  • Also an example of Tropes Are Not Bad, as the people he's insulting during the monologue's usually deserve it.
• BFS: Tosh once bought a greatsword and fooled around with it before breaking it by trying to chop wood. Its blade breaks off at the hilt and goes flying, nearly hitting a camera-man's leg in the process.
• Black Comedy Rape: Frequently enough.
  • Particularly notable with Antoine Dodson's web redemption. This involved building an Acme Rapist Trap and using Daniel (in pink hotpants) as bait. The rapist they caught? Ben Roethlisberger.
  • Rohyphnol... RAPE DRUG.
  • "If it weren't for rape, Tori Amos would have nothing to sing about".
• Brick Joke: While talking about the fact that Ashton Kutcher has 2 million followers on Twitter, Daniel theorizes that part of the reason Ashton has so many followers is that he showed a picture of Demi Moore in her "granny panties". Realizing the "exploiting Demi" is the key to getting followers, Daniel shows a near-naked photo of her (which the network had to censor completely), showing off her very robust pubic hair^note  it was the '80s - genital grooming didn't take off until at least a decade later. A season later, Daniel does a segment in which he talks about "perfectly innocent" words and phrases that got bleeped because of their context, beginning with the phrase, "hair diaper".
  "What could I have possibly said that would make hair diaper sound dirty?... It was about Demi."
• Call-Back/Shout-Out: During the Web Redemption for Antoine Dodson, Daniel sets a rapist trap. Using himself as bait, he also brings along a bottle of pills, which he refers to as (in a German accent), "Rohyphnol -- rape drug."
  • He makes the Rohyphnol joke once more after getting the "American Idol Girls" to drink RC Cola. It's hard to tell if the girls are confused or worried.
  • At the end of the second segment of the show he says "We'll be right back with more [canceled Comedy Central show]"
  • After the promo for the Philly fan who ran out on the field, Tosh tossed out the idea that they should redeem the whole city of Philadelphia, since that was the second Phillies fan he had redeemed.
• The Cameo: A lot of (former) stars have shown up from time to time, usually as part of a Web Redemption. Some of the best include:

  • The Dizzy Dunker is going for his redeeming layup, only to be shot down at the last moment by Dennis Rodman.

  • One episode had Joel McHale suddenly replace Daniel to make a joke about a clip before switching back to Daniel. This happens at least two or three times and is never mentioned or referenced.
• Captain Obvious: Occasionally Played for Laughs by Daniel, such as when he showed a video of a walrus performing fellatio on himself as the woman filming it remarks, "What is he doing?" Daniel replies, "He's sucking his dick."
  • Also once played for laughs by frequent fan contributer SallyTwoDicks, who was asked to come on the show and explain why she calls herself SallyTwoDicks. Her response?
  "It's because I have two dicks."
• The Cast Show Off: Daniel Tosh is surprisingly athletic and will frequently demonstrate exactly what a daring individual was trying to accomplish with their stunt before Amusing Injuries. This includes a backflip with the Afro-Ninja Web Redemption and riding a bike off the back of a truck.
  • He once jumped higher than the (black) Football Player Who Tackled His Own Teammate, saying "You know what else is nice? Putting stereotypes to rest."
  • He also makes a show of any obvious instances of cheating, like using several quick camera cuts as he executes a backflip.
• Catchphrase: "...And for that, we thank you."
  • "Are you ready to give it another shot?"
  • There have been season-specific catchphrases too, the biggest ones so far being "Casual Jackets" and "High Fashion!"
• Censored for Comedy: One segment showed a bunch of "perfectly innocent" words that were bleeped because they sounded dirty in context, including "Hair Diaper"^note "What could I have possibly said that would make hair diaper sound dirty?... It was about Demi.", "Slop Hole"^note "Slop hole sounds like it should still be bleeped.", "Monkey Cancer", "Tumor Juice", "Slut Baby", "Rape Dungeon"^note He claims it sounds more like a video game level, and "Handy".
• Chekhov's Gunman: The girl who messed up the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner and then was helped out by Mo Cheeks, was originally shown in an assortment of videos of people messing up the lyrics to the national anthem before she was brought on in a Web Redemption a couple of seasons later.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Daniel does this occasionally, for comedic value, of course, mostly to create confusion for the home viewer because there's no way to know what he is saying.
  • Used particularly well in an episode where he encourages viewers to drink every time he gets bleeped.
• Comically Missing the Point: After showing the video of the worst wedding DJ ever, Daniel says, "That's not how you check for lumps... y-you use two fingers..."
  • Also invoked during a segment where people could ask Daniel questions over Twitter, and one asked, "How does such an unfunny douche get his own show?" Daniel replies, "Ok, that is not nice; Demetri Martin is a wonderful person."
  • One video has him standing on the table in a board meeting and swinging at an iPad with a golf club as if it were a golf ball. Among the snarky comments about his stupidity is a shot at his golf game — "Try opening up your stance and not drop your back shoulder so much. You swing like a girl." To which Tosh replied, "Yeah, if a girl could hit from the men's tees."
• Cool Old Guy: "Mad" Mike Hughes, the Flat-Earther rocketeer, is delightfully quirky and more than glad to dish on his sex life.
• Country Matters: As of season 3, Tosh's new sign-off phrase is "C U Next Tuesday you cunts!"
• Deliberately Monochrome: According to Daniel, this is what Eastern Europe looks like. Even their rainbows are brown.
• Diabolus ex Machina: What the fuck?! Did a polar bear just start eating her?!
• Dirty Old Man: In his interview, "Mad" Mike Hughes reminisces on his ex-wife's breasts and wrote on some of his lovers with a permanent magic marker.
• Discriminate and Switch: After showing a video of a Hispanic child riding a toy car down a hill and flipping over, Daniel remarks, "I hope he didn't get hurt, because you know he doesn't have insurance." *audience groans* "Because he's a child."
  • Of course he immediately reverses his position by adding "And he was so close to the border!" as the child tumbles toward a fence.
  • After giving Latarian "The Hood Rat Kid" his Web Redemption, Daniel says to the audience, "If he doesn't change his ways, he's gonna end up like Tracy Morgan... *audience groans* ...very wealthy and successful!"
• Disproportionate Retribution: When Daniel got iced and knelt down, seemingly to drink the Ice, he instead smashed the bottle on the ground and used it to cut the throat of the man who iced him. To rub it in, he then pulls out a Zima and drinks that instead.
• Don't Try This at Home: Frequently played with, but usually averted; Daniel frequently encourages viewers to send in videos of themselves doing things he does during the show.
  • Exaggerated when Daniel plays "Guess What Happens Next" with a video of an Asian kid who lights his crotch on fire; he spends about a minute driving home the point that viewer should not try this at home.
  • Zig Zagged with "Surprise Trust Falls." Subverted when Daniel follows his surprise trust falls by saying, "Feel free to send us your own surprise trust falls to our website, and be careful." Doubly subverted when Daniel is "forced" to ask people to stop doing them after people start sending in their own videos. Triply subverted when, after showing the surprise trust falls already sent in, Daniel says, "Screw it, keep sending them in!"
  • Subverted in the episode where he makes a human chain with a bunch of other people and has one end tazed. He shows clips of people around the office practicing with an electric fence wire on "Goat" strength, then remarked that nobody wanted to try "Bear" strength. He then tells the audience to not send him videos of them grabbing electric fence wires... unless it is at "Bear" strength.
  • Subverted when he shows a video of a woman being throw into a ceiling fan. Daniel says not to try it at home, then "Just kidding. I don't care."
• Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Antoine Dodson's web redemption involved building an Acme Rapist Trap and using Daniel (in pink hotpants) as bait. The rapist they caught? Ben Roethlisberger.
• Drinking Game: Daniel shows a video of a man drinking a bowl of gravy while the audience has their own bowl of gravy. Every time the man says "bowl o' gravy", the audience takes a sip.
• invoked Dude, Not Funny!: Daniel's reaction to one of the fan submissions for a new set background being a Nazi flag.
  "That's not funny. Just because I was born in Germany does not mean I think that set is appropriate."
• Exact Words: "Who wants to see a leg break?", no wait, he said brake. Que a bicycle brake STUCK IN A LEG!
• Precious Puppies: Daniel has a Havanese named Castro who makes occasional appearances, just because. Needless to say it cutens the place up considerably, even with all the depravity surrounding it. In later seasons, Daniel's other dog, Eva, also makes some appearances, but she's not as prevalent on the show as Castro.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The "Guess What Happens Next", "Is He Retarded" and "Is it Racist?" segments, as well as most of the clips that play before the commercial breaks (see Running Gag).
• Gone Horribly Right: Daniel noted that his page on The Other Wiki seemed to be lacking, so he encouraged his fans to edit and add whatever they'd like. Soon after, the page was extended-locked due to vandalism.
• A Good Name for a Rock Band:
  'Dick Vomit' is not good live.
  [Beat]
  That's their name! It's 'Dick Vomit'.
• Groin Attack: Frequently seen on the show. Inverted with the "Game Ovaries" segment, in which Daniel hoped to "introduce a new genre of video to the internet", i.e. the female groin attack.
• Grossout Show: Lots of the videos on the show are of a disgusting nature.
• Hookers and Blow: One of the commercials for Season 3 had Daniel claiming that all his new fame and wealth hasn't changed him, while using a giant razor blade to cut a massive pile of cocaine.
  • Of course, the joke could be that he didn't change anything, he still does coke, but more of it since he can afford more.
• Insult Backfire:
  • "I never knew my mom had so many fans!"
  • Reviewer: "Tosh.0 fans aren't funny." Tosh: "Couldn't agree with you more."
• Irony:
  • Verbal: During the breakdown of the video of the guy who fell through his roof, Daniel says, "And he takes a gruesome three-inch fall."
  • Historical/Situation: Early on in the show's history, during one of the first segments that involved Twitter, Daniel said he couldn't wait for Twitter to die so he wouldn't have to do those segments anymore. Two seasons later, half of the fandom-participation segments he does involve his fans responding to him via Twitter.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Daniel himself. He will usually not hesitate to crack a joke at the expense of the person he is redeeming during a Web Redemption, but he is occasionally very respectful of those he is redeeming, either because they are older than him (like the Afro-ninja), because they were genuine enough enough to earn his respect (like Scarlet or the balloon guy), or because they were young (like David or the Phillies fan's daughter). And even when he does make fun of them, he is giving them another shot at whatever they messed up at (Or barring that allowing them to show him up with their particular skill, like the armless chef).
  • This reflects the reality that insult comics have to be generally nice guys in real life because if you behave like that at all times no one will want to work with you.
  • Of particular note is at least one instance where Daniel requests for his viewers to buy tickets to a show he is doing with some other famous comics because the proceeds are going to charity. He makes a valiant attempt to avoid breaking character by explaining that he agreed to do the show for entirely selfish reasons, but the whole bit still had Mean Character, Nice Actor written all over it.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Invoked in a Web Redemption, when a video shows a man attempting to do a complicated slam dunk falling into a garbage can immediately after littering. In Daniel's words, "That would be some fast-acting karma."
• Let's Get Dangerous!: In one Video Breakdown, as a guy and a girl are walking by, one of two bystanders winds up and backhands her across the face. The girl's boyfriend immediately starts beating the shit out of them.
  Daniel: Whoa! And he flips the switch from "boyfriend" to "Jason Statham"!
• Major Injury Underreaction: "He's surprisingly calm for a guy who's skeleton is exposed."
• Minor Injury Overreaction: After hitting another boy with a stick, a kid got a skateboard thrown at him. It barely clips his leg, but he immediately falls to the ground, crying his eyes out.
  "Ugh, it hit him right in the vagina!"
  • A lawyer in a courtroom taps a woman with a manila folder, who instantly starts screaming for dear life, gets up, and then throws herself on the floor.
• Morality Pet: Daniel is "the proud owner of a gayish dog", an adorable Havanese. The dog is often referred to and will make occasional appearances, such as during Daniel's mock roast during which the dog sat on his lap, or during a bit where he says that rocking his dog in a basket hung from his penis is the only way to get him to fall asleep, which he proceeds to show.
  • It ought be noted that his dog's name is Castro. Being that this is Daniel, and that he lives in California, one can only speculate as to where he got the name.
    • Actually, Castro is a Havanese, which is the national dog of Cuba. Daniel named his dog after Fidel Castro, NOT the neighborhood in San Francisco.
• Naked People Are Funny: Crossing with Fandisservice, nudity and the accompanying censors are quite common during the show's sketches. It is almost exclusively male nudity.
• Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: The likely reason for the exaggeration of Don't Try This At Home listed above, as well as the likely reason that Daniel began his "Celebrities I Could Beat In a Fight" segment by saying that it was purely hypothetical and that he had nothing personal against any of the celebrities mentioned and did not want to actually fight them.
  • Season 3 now has a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode.
• Out of Focus: The actual "redemption" part of Web Redemption. Somewhere along the way, it became more about Daniel getting people with popular videos to do a related skit with him. The only part that seems to stay is the interview portion. Making this more of In Name Only.
• Overly Long Gag: "If you never heard of the double-jump, it's the trampoline version of "the Speedball." If you've never heard of the Speedball, it's what killed John Belushi. If you've never heard of John Belushi, he's the brother of Jim Belushi. If you've never heard of Jim Belushi, he's the star of According to Jim. If you've never heard of According to Jim... good for you!"
• Pedestrian Crushes Car: One episode had a Web Redemption, for a man who got hit by an ice cream truck while dancing in the middle of a street. It ended with the man starring in a music video where an ice cream truck hits him again, only for it to get demolished instead.
• Piss-Take Rap: Occasionally shown.
• Product Displacement: Daniel introduced a picture of a bat with a rather large, erm, "unit", by singing an off-key rendition of the theme to Adam West's Batman, eventually lampshading it by saying that he has to sing like he's tone deaf so the network doesn't get sued.
  • This was also used in a segment in a season 2 episode in which Daniel said goodbye to casual jackets by singing, "It's so hard—", cutting it off there and saying, "That's as far as I can go before I have to cut a check to Boyz II Men."
• Psychopathic Manchild: Tosh (the character host) acts like a dumbass teenage boy given too much control over his own tv show and let loose in front of the camera.
• Rapid-Fire Comedy: The show's signature style, especially during the first part of the show. Exemplified by the "20 Seconds on the Clock" segment.
• Replacement Scrappy: In-universe example (for lack of a better term). See 10-Minute Retirement. Inverted in that the studio audience clearly prefers Chris over Daniel, and when Daniel comes back they boo him and chant "Bring back Rock!" until the commercial break.
• "Risky Business" Dance: A web video of a failed attempt done by two teenage girls at this was the subject of a Web Redemption. While it concluded with a successful attempt, we first got a montage of them and Tosh spoofing scenes from Tom Cruise's other films.
• Running Gag: Tons.
  • Puke. Lampshaded when Daniel noted in one of the earlier episodes that every episode up to and including that one included a shot of someone puking. Practically parodied when Daniel did a segment in which the fans could ask him questions via Twitter; five questions were shown, in a row, in which separate people had asked why he stopped showing puke every episode, each dutifully followed by a video of someone vomiting.
    • "You're welcome."
    • In a Season 3 episode which featured a vomit clip, Tosh commented that he was getting back to his roots.
  • Daniel's completely one-sided rivalry with professional wrestler Arn Anderson. It's not entirely known if Arn is even aware of who he is.
  • Before the first and second commercial break of each show, Daniel frequently shows a clip with a very brief introduction. The concise and frank nature of these introduction is itself a running gag; examples include "Is this guy dead?", "Look at this stupid old woman", "Here are some huge fake boobs", "Here's your dick of the week", "Does a bear shit in the woods?"^note It does., "Here's a lot of shit," and "What did you think was going to happen?". Other frequenters of this part of the show include the Prank of the Week, the Flip of the Week, Rico's Black Clip of the Week, and Your Urban Dictionary Word of the Day.
  • Before the third commercial break, rather than saying, "We'll be right back with more Tosh.0," Daniel says, "Well be right back with more [name of some canceled Comedy Central show]." This too has been lampshaded, twice.
  We'll be right back with more—ugh, I'm not happy about this one—of The Sarah Silverman Program.
  We'll be right back with more Reno911. *crowd groans* Too soon?
  • "And your friends ignored your pain long enough to keep recording this video. And for that, we thank you."
  • Any bit with the show's blogger Karly will end with commentary along the lines of "That was the blankest blank ever run on our blogger Karly."
  • Cacao, and people eating it in its pure form.
• Self-Deprecation: Daniel makes no effort to hide the fact that some people don't like him or his show; whenever fans are given the opportunity to say something about his show, he usually give more air time to the negative comments than the positive ones. Justified in that the internet is full of negative people (i.e. trolls), so Daniel focusing on the negative comments reflects the nature of the internet at large.
• Shout-Out: After showing a video of two giraffes fighting by banging their necks against each other, Daniel goes, "Ow, my neck. Ow, my back. (Singing) My pussy and my crack!"
• Special Guest: The growing popularity of the show can be seen in the fact that the guests for the Web Redemptions have gone from people in relatively obscure videos to more well-known personalities, like Cara Crocker and Scarlet of "Scarlet Takes a Tumble".
• Stealth Insult — When his sexuality is called into question (yet again):
  Daniel: I'm as straight as Bradley Cooper!
• Straw Misogynist: Daniel, Played for Laughs.
  "I'm not saying women are inferior to men. I just think that they should be forced to drink at separate water fountains."
• Subliminal Seduction: Before the Web Redemption of the 'Worst Metal Band Ever', Daniel pointed out this trope by saying Satan didn't hide messages in the songs for [the viewer]. He then gives a demonstration of this trope in action. The message says, and I quote, "So if you're wasting your time deciphering those stupid fucking lyrics, by all means, please kill yourself. Love, Your almighty leader, Daniel."
• Survival Mantra: Janey, the girl who wiped out attempting to do the "Risky Business" Dance, was very cute but Tosh had this to say after her web redemption, "She's sixteen! I was saying that the entire time we were filming that segment."
• Take That!: During a segment where the audience got to name celebrities for Daniel to guess if he could beat them up, a few Take Thats came up. One was Khloe Kardashian, about whom Daniel said, "Ok, she is a fictional celebrity. That is like asking me if I could beat up Shrek." Another was when someone asked about Dane Cook and Daniel said, "You're not going to like this... Dane Cook would beat me up, but it'd be really, like, long and not original."
  • "Even the Klan's revamped their image nowadays. They've ditched the hoods and renamed themselves the Tea Party."
• Tempting Fate: You could say that Daniel does this when he cuts to the third commercial break by saying, "Well be right back with more [name of some canceled Comedy Central show]."
  • To some, they see it as more of a case of Medium Awareness and lampshading Comedy Central's habit of making a show (often by giving a stand up comedian a sketch show which ends with predictable results), and then canceling it after a season or so.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Many episodes have one of these.
• There Are No Girls Watching Shows About The Internet: After showing the Surprised Kitty video and thanking the kitten for "helping that old woman feel less alone", he paused, cupped his hand around his ear and said, "Do you hear that? That's the sound of our last female viewer changing the channel."
• Those Wacky Nazis: When the new set background was revealed, Daniel showed several viewer suggestions for the background, one of which was a Nazi flag.
  • He also claimed Dirk Nowitzki was a Nazi just because he was German and high-fived the girl who messed up the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner.
• Took a Level in Badass: Daniel's approach to the Web Redmeptions frequently amounts to showing the person doing the same thing, but making them look cooler while doing it. Tron Guy and the Lightning Bolt LARPer are particularly good examples of this.
• Unobtainium: Referenced to in one episode when discussing a video of a crazy lady on a plane. "She's allowed on Southwest, but I can't bring more than 3 oz of unobtainium."
• Villainous Crossdresser: The guy from the "Things You Shouldn't Run Into a Room and Yell" viewer response video who walks into a room in a dress and says, "Let's not turn this rape into a murder."
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Puke is practically a supporting cast member.

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