Whos On First / Western Animation

Who's on First? in western animation.

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• Used in the first episode of Adventures in Care-a-Lot, with Grizzle calling for his robot minion, UR-2, and UR-2 retorting, "I am not!"
• Done on the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, in which an Owl has the name.
  Robotnik: I've kidnapped Who!
  Sonic: ...Who?
  Robotnik: The very same!
  Sonic: Wait, do you mean Bert Who?
• The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin:
  • In "Beware of the Mudblups", when the Trio are in the Great Desert, a geologic fault called Trembly Fault causes an earthquake that splits the ground wide open.
    Gimmick: It's Trembly Fault.
    Grubby: Well, that's a relief. I was afraid it was something I did.
  • In "The Faded Fobs", while Tweeg is reading a book about villainy, the following exchange happens:
    L.B.: Hey, Twizzle, what's that book called again?
    Tweeg: You've got a memory as long as your arms, L.B. So You Want to Be a Villain?
    L.B.: I do?
    Tweeg: No, no, no! That's the title of the book, you brainless Bounder!
  • In "The Mushroom Forest", we meet creatures called "Nothings" (later renamed "Anythings"), which confuses the Trio when they ask them what they are. And if that isn't confusing enough, their names are This, That, and The Other. "The other what?"
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Whereas The Who makes no appearance, it works the same way, with the Firth of Forth, the 4th of July, the Firth of Clyde and Clyde Crashcup rotating wildly until nobody has a clue.
• In the All Grown Up! episode "Miss Nose It All" when Phil asks his teacher about vowels.
  Phil: Which is the vowel that's only "sometimes"?
  Miss O'Keats: Y.
  Phil: Just curious. So which is it?
  Miss O'Keats: Y.
  Phil: Why don't you just tell me?
  Miss O'Keats: It's A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y!
  Phil: Uh... thanks.
• This exchange from Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  Traveler: Not to worry, Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey.
  Aang: Aunt Who?
  Traveler: No, Aunt Wu.
• Animaniacs:
  • One episode has Slappy and Skippy Squirrel discussing whether it was The Who, The Band, or Yes on stage at Woodstock, leading to this sketch. (This is probably an homage to an old SCTV sketch that featured Eugene Levy and Tony Rosato discussing the same bands.)
  • A similar premise is used with a hapless Dr. Scratchandsniff playing bingo with Wakko and running into this problem.
    Scratchensniff: Oh Nein!
    Wakko: O-9? Bingo!
  • The episode "King Yakko" has one as a Running Gag; Dot would pull out some spotted dresses, and others would comment on the design with "Polka dot?" Dot would take it as an invitation to polka dance and accept.
  • "Very Pete Townshend-esque." "Who?" "Exactly."
• Arthur: In "Friday the 13th", the Brain sees his friends watching a movie. He asks what the movie is called and they reply, "I Know What You Did Last Wednesday". Brain responds by telling them what he did last Wednesday.
• The Beatles: The episode "Little Child" has the group visiting an Indian village. As they approach an Indian guide:
  Guide: How.
  George: How? How what?
  Ringo: Not "how what." Just "how." [the boys now exchange "how you," "who me," "who how," etc. back and forth]
• In the Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! episode "Doo Not Disturb", we get this gag when the gang finds a giant neon S in the hotel basement:
  Fred: Oh.
  Daphne: Gee.
  Shaggy: No, S.
  Fred: I see.
  Scooby: No, S.
  Velma: But why?
  Shaggy: No, S. See?
  Scooby: No, S.
  Shaggy: No, I know S. Like see, as in you see?
  Scooby: Neither of them. Just S. See?
  Shaggy: NO! S!''
• An episode of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures has the boys looking for Mark Twain. They find Sam Clemens on a riverboat, shouting "Mark twain!", causing them to ask "Where?!" Clemens explains what the term means, but the next time he gives out the call, they again ask "Where?!"
• BoJack Horseman:
  • The show features this in the form of Dr. Hu, who Bojack assumed was Doctor Who.
    Sarah Lynn: Hu's not Dr. Quinn, Hu's Dr. Hu.
    Todd: I don't know!
    Dr. Hu and Sarah Lynn: Third base!
  • Later on, Diane's coworker Guy.
    Bojack: So what's his name? Your suitor? Your gentleman caller?
    Diane: Guy.
    Bojack: Fine. What's your guy's name?
  • Season 3 has a running gag of characters misinterpreting "Ojai" as "Oh, hi" and vice-versa.
• In one episode of The Boondocks, Huey and Uncle Ruckus need a password for a computer, but the security guard they interrogate just keeps saying "Eat my ass!". After a few minutes of Ruckus kicking him in the crotch and demanding to know the password, Huey eventually realizes that "eat my ass" is the password.
• Space Ghost tries this with Zorak in an episode of Cartoon Planet, but Zorak would have none of it.
• Codename: Kids Next Door: In one episode guest starring The Upper Crust:
  Lord Bendover: We are The Upper Crust.
  Delightful Children: The Who?
  Lord Bendover: No, The Upper Crust String Quartet. ^note The joke here is that The Upper Crust mistook the Delightful Children mistaking them for the band named, "The Who."
• Count Duckula:
  • "No Sax Please We're Egyptian" has a pretty original one, with two Egyptian priests who happened to be named "Hoomite" and "Yubi" (Who might you be?) Watch the madness.
  • In "Transylvanian Takeaway", Duckula has some problems with the convention of ordering Chinese food by the number on the menu.
    Duckula: Now, I'd like one number forty-seven.
    Gaston: One number forty-seven.
    Duckula: One number fifty-three.
    Gaston: One number fifty-three.
    Duckula: Er, no, make that two.
    Gaston: One number two.
    Duckula: No, no, no. That's two fifty-threes.
    Gaston: One number two-fifty-three. But, er, we don't have a two-fifty-three.
    Duckula: No, I don't want a two-fifty-three!
    Gaston: Well, that's all right then.
    Duckula: I want two fifty-threes.
    Gaston: But you said you didn't want...
    Duckula: Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it! Let us start again.
    Gaston: Very good.
    Duckula: One number forty-seven.
    Gaston: One number forty-seven.
    Duckula: One number fifty-three.
    Gaston: One number fifty-three.
    Duckula: And another number fifty-three.
    Gaston: That's two fifty-threes.
    Duckula: Yeah, you got it! Eventually...
• Danger Mouse On The Orient Express has this exchange as Colonel K gives DM and Penfold the assignment of retrieving a stolen document:
  Colonel K: Some department I never heard of coughed up for tickets...for a train...Orient Express.
  DM: I beg your pardon, Colonel?
  Colonel K: Tickets for the Orient Express at your hotel.
  Penfold: What's the Orient Express doing at our hotel, Colonel?
  Colonel K: I don't know, Penfold. Are you staying at the station?
  DM: [extremely long-suffering] I don't think I can take much more...
• Happens once on DuckTales (1987) when Scrooge finds his captain has been replaced by The Ditz:
  Scrooge: Where's my regular flagship captain?
  Capt. Foghorn: Goodness me, I thought this was your regular flagship!
  [pause as Scrooge no doubt wonders "Why me?"]
  Scrooge: [slowly] Where is the captain who regularly captains my flagship, Captain?
• In one of the Dug Days shorts, Dug the dog is caught digging under Carl's fence. After Dug proudly proclaims he "digged" them, Carl tries to correct his grammar:
  Carl: And it's not "digged." It's "dug."
  Dug: Yes?
  Carl: No. You didn't "digged." You "dug."
  Dug: I am Dug.
  Carl: (groans) You're missing my point.
  Dug: (points) Point!
  Carl: Start over. Did your paws dig the flowers?
  Dug: Yes?
  Carl: And did that already happen?
  Dug: Yes!
  Carl: Then you digged the flowers.
  Dug: Yes!
  Carl: But the correct word to use...
  Dug: Yes?
  Carl: ...past tense...
  Dug: Yes!
  Carl: ...is "dug." Get it?
  Dug: I am Dug. Got it.
  Carl: (sighs, facepalms) I am arguing with a talking dog.
• Used in the Elefun and Friends short, "A Tangled Tale", when Elefun meets a panda who calls him "peng you," the Chinese word for friend:
  Elefun: Peng You is a pretty name.
  Pandarama: My name is Pandarama.
  Elefun: Then who's Peng You?
  Pandarama: You!
  Elefun: No, I'm Elefun.
  Pandarama: Of course you are.
• Family Guy
  • In the subplot to the episode "Peter's Daughter", Brian and Stewie attempt to fix up an old house when they communicate via walkie-talkie. Brian gets confused over the whole "over" thing that people would do on these devices.
  • In the episode "Dog Gone", where Brian wants to found an animal rights group... (this works by the fact that due to Lois's accent, she pronounces "Peter" as "Petah"):
    Brian: See, I thought I'd start locally, and then maybe try to merge with one of the larger groups.
    Lois: That's a great idea, Brian! Maybe you could join PETA!
    Peter: Join me for what?
    Lois: No, PETA, the organization.
    Peter: What organization?
    Lois: PETA.
    Peter: What?
    Lois: PETA is an acronym, Peter.
    Peter: No, I'm not, I'm Catholic!
    Stewie: Are we really doing this?
    Lois: No, Peter, I'm just saying, maybe if this meeting goes well, Brian could be part of a PETA rally.
    Peter: Somebody is having a rally for me now?
    Lois: No, for PETA!
    Peter: That's me! I'm Peter!
    Lois: I'm not talking about you, Peter, I'm talking about PETA!
    Peter: Somebody better have something to say to me pretty damn soon, or I'm gonna have something to say to them! I'm very busy!
    Chris: I think Betty White is in PETA.
    Peter: That doesn't even make any sense!
  • In "Extra Large Medium", Peter directly references the Abbott and Costello routine:
    Peter: I will now use my psychic powers to seek help from beyond! I shall now channel the ghost of Lou Costello who will guide us to this soul in distress! (minor seizure) Hi everybody, it's me, Lou Costello! All right, what's the name of the guy we're looking for?
    Joe: He's an Asian fellow, Melvin Hu.
    Peter: That's what I wanna find out.
    Joe: What?
    Peter: The name of the guy.
    Joe: Hu.
    Peter: Are you a cop?
    Joe: Yeah.
    Peter: You handling this case?
    Joe: Yeah.
    Peter: Then what's the name of the guy?
    Joe: Hu.
    Peter: The guy we're looking for.
    Joe: Hu.
    Peter: The guy who's buried.
    Joe: Hu!
    Peter: The guy with the bomb.
    Joe: HU!
    Peter: What street's he live on?
    Joe: First!
    (explosion)
    Peter: Yeah, I'm not psychic.
  • Peter also mentions the routine in "You Can't Do That on Television, Peter", stating that he will perform it with a puma playing Abbott's part. The puma, confused by the routine, mauls Peter, but later visits him in the hospital to tell him that he understands the joke.
  • In "Road to the North Pole", when Stewie and Brian are stranded on the side of the road and a Canadian man stops to help them.
    Canadian: Oh, hey there. Having some car trouble, eh?
    Stewie: Yeah, we're trying to get to the North Pole. I don't suppose you're from Triple A, are you?
    Canadian: Who?
    Stewie: Triple A, you know? A-A-A.
    Canadian: Oh, AA, eh? Oh, I just came from AA.
    Stewie: No, not AA! AAA!
    Canadian: Yeah, that's what I said. AA, eh?
    Stewie: Oh, so you are with Triple A.
    Canadian: Oh, no, that's AAA I just came from AA, eh?
    Stewie: Huh?
    Brian: Stewie, I think he's just a drunk.
    Stewie: Well, drunk or not, can you help us?
    Canadian: I can if you wanna join AA, eh?
    Stewie: Oh, I'm already a member of AAA! I need help with the car!
    Canadian: Oh, I see. Yeah, looks like you got some water leakage. You might need a hose, eh?
    Stewie: José, Roberto, whatever. If you got some Latinos up here that can fix cars, that'd be great.
    Canadian: No, I mean, it looks like you need a part, eh?
    Stewie: Well, yeah, when it's fixed, we can celebrate, but let's deal with first things first.
    Canadian: Well, I can probably take you to a gas station, eh? You have cash, eh?
    Stewie: Well, I dunno, my name carries a little weight, but I don't see how that matters.
• The Flintstones: One episode has Fred going on a rampage at a restaurant called Mother's Place, run by a man named Sam Mother, where he smashes a TV set that's playing the show Wilma has been ignoring him to appear on. Afterward, Fred calls Barney to bail him out of jail, and he has this conversation with Betty.
  Barney: [on the phone] You broke up a television set? In Mother's Place? And hit Mother? Oh-oh, okay, Fred. [hangs up] I have go down and bail Fred out, Betty.
  Betty: Why you ought to leave him there! Anyone that would strike his mother and break her TV set should be in jail! Those old folks love TV!
  Barney: Not Fred's mother, Sam Mother.
  Betty: I don't care whose mother it is! It just isn't nice!
  Barney: But he runs a beanery, y-y-you know, a restaurant!
  Betty: It makes no difference what he does! We're concerned with his mother!
  Barney: But-But-But Sam Mother, who-who owns, er, er...Aw, skip it, I'll explain later.
• Fudêncio e Seus Amigos: In the episode "Cotas de Cocotas", the characters visit the hospital to do DNA tests. When the doctor and his bizarre, ogre-like assistant show up, one of the patients asks "What the fuck is this?" and points to the assistant. The doctor asks "How do you know his name?" The patient says he was only asking a question, but the doctor tells him his name actually is "What the Fuck is This". The character has since reappeared in other episode, with the same joke being reutilized (without the explaining, however, since the audience already knows his name).
• Garfield and Friends has a U.S. Acres cartoon in which three dogs named Who, What and Where are hired to work at the farm. At one point, Roy laments the bad Abbott and Costello routine they have gotten themselves into.
  • They explained their names by mentioning their father was a reporter who liked to make those questions. It'd also explain the name of their sister (Why).
  • Apparently, they also have an Uncle named Forget It.
• Garfield's Babes and Bullets: Garfield's alter-ego was named Sam Spayed, which he notes leads to some awkward moments when people ask him if he is, in fact, Spayed.
  Femme Fatale: Are you Spayed?
  Private Eye Monologue: I never know how to answer that question.
• Histeria!:
  • A variation of this sketch in the form of Father Time quizzing Lucky Bob and Susanna Susquahanna about the Zhou dynasty.
    Father Time: Next question: The Zhou dynasty was founded by...[Susanna presses her buzzer] Sue?
    Susanna: Who?
    Father Time: No, Sue, the correct answer is Wu! And Wu's father was...[Bob presses his buzzer] Bob?
    Lucky Bob: What?
    Father Time: Not "what", but Wen!
    Lucky Bob: Six-o'clock?
    Father Time: Follow me, Bob. Wen was his name, Wen!
    Lucky Bob: Now?
    Father Time: Not now, but Tao!
    Susanna: Who?
    Father Time: Not who, but Wu!
    Lucky Bob: What?
    Father Time: Not "what", but Wen!
    Lucky Bob: Six-o'clock?
    Father Time: That's when Bob has chow.
    Lucky Bob: And how!
  • Another one involves Lewis and Clark, with Lewis getting confused on which direction Clark wants him to take at a fork in a river, resulting in them going over the falls.
• House of Mouse:
  • The short "Answering Service"
    Mickey: This place must be fully automatic. Nobody's here.
    Goofy: Ooh, who's nobody?
    Mickey: You know, nobody.
    Goofy: I know just about everybody, but I don't know a nobody.
    Mickey: No, there's nobody here.
    Goofy: But we're here. Does that make us nobody?
    Mickey: No, we're somebody.
    Goofy: Ah-ha, so somebody is here.
    Mickey: Yes!
    Goofy: Then where are they and why don't they help us?
    Mickey: We're the somebody! Him, you, me...
    Goofy: Well then help me! See, our phone's dead...
    Mickey: No!
    Goofy: Yes it is! Don't you remember?
    Mickey: I can't help you!
    Goofy: Then what are you doin' here?
    Mickey: I'm trying to find some help!
    Goofy: [beat] Hate to break it to ya, Mickey, but somebody told me that there's nobody here.
    Mickey: But you and I and...AW FORGET IT!
  • In "How to Be Smart", Goofy has ended up a contestant on a quiz show after following instructions about "How To Be Smart", but is asked a final question about a baseball play that he doesn't know. He blurts out "Heavens to Betsy", and is told that that's correct, as the play involved two players with the last names of Heavens and Betsy. (Unfortunately, he still doesn't take home any money, because he already owed them from the last time he was on there.)
  • In another House of Mouse short, Mortimer Mouse is trying to get rid of Pluto for a while, so he throws the pup in a cab and says "Take him to the other side of town and step on it." The cab goes a short distance and then stops, revealing it's literally reached the intersection of two streets called The Other Side of Town St. and Step On It Lane.
• Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness: "Shifu's Back" features this dialogue:
  Hu: Ah, there you are, we have to talk!
  Shifu: This isn't a good time.
  Po: I'm going to bed.
  Hu: No, he wants to met you too!
  Po: Who?
  Hu: Woo!
  Shifu: Who?
  Hu: Yes.
  Shifu: What?
  Po: No, not Hu, Hu. "Who" Who?
  Hu: No, Woo Who.
  Shifu: [beat] What's he talking about?
  Po: He wants to know what— [Shifu rings a service bell] Okay, enough with the bell! [Po takes Shifu's service bell away] Stop with the bell!
  Hu: My supervisor, Superintendent Woo, is in town. He's none too happy about all the criminals running about, says the situation has gotten out of hand!
• Men in Black: The Series has fun with this, since agents are all named after single letters, leading to some confusion whenever Agent U was mentioned. This always elicited cries of "Not you U, Agent U!" Also inverted once, with J deliberately misinterpreting "We asked for you" as "We asked for (Agent) U", and getting a reversal of the standard line in response. Funnily enough, this almost never happened with Agent K, despite being simply called "K" several times; the one exception was when K was accidentally neuralyzed.
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey does a joke like this as well.
  Principal Pixiefrog: [to the scientist in the office] I'm sure you'll be pleased with the candidates, Mr. uh, uh, what did you say your name was again, son?
  Scientist: I Didn't.
  Principal Pixiefrog: You didn't?
  Scientist: No, I. Didn't. My name is "I. Didn't."
  Principal Pixiefrog: Hm, oh, I'll just call you Larry.
  I. Didn't: [grumbles]
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: In "Tanks for the Memories", four Pegasus ponies on weather duty get into confusion over their names, three of which are Clear Skies, Open Skies, and Fluffy Clouds:
  Sunshower: So where do these clouds go?
  Open Skies: Over by Clear Skies.
  Sunshower: But there's clear skies everywhere.
  Clear Skies: Yo, Clear Skies right here!
  Sunshower: But there's clear skies over there, too! [points towards Open Skies]
  Clear Skies: That's Open Skies!
  Sunshower: There's open skies everywhere!
  Open Skies: I'm not everywhere. I'm right here!
  Sunshower: [sighs] Wait. So you're Open Skies, and you're Clear Skies. Then what's all that? [points to the sky around them]
  Clear and Open Skies: Open, clear skies!
  Open Skies: Hey, where'd our fluffy clouds go?
  Clear Skies: Fluffy Clouds? He's over there!
  [Fluffy Clouds waves]
• The New Woody Woodpecker Show In one episode, Woody is given a physical (of sorts). For the eye chart, he is told to read the first letter. That letter is U. The doctor misinterprets this as "you". Another letter is K, which is misunderstood as "kay" (OK). Another letter is I, misunderstood as the first-person pronoun.
• Numberjacks: In "Stop and Go", Six sees Spooky Spoon and says, "It's Spooky!". Three thinks he means that the situation is spooky.
• An episode of Peter Pan & the Pirates has a Running Gag involving a gnome:
  Gnome: I am a gnome, like my father before me.
  Peter, Wendy, whoever: Gnome?
  Gnome: Of course I know him! He's my father!
• The PJs episode "The HJ's" features a "Who's On Crack" skit with Thurgood and Smokey:
  Thurgood: I'm trying to clean up this neighborhood, and I'm wondering if you could help me by pointing out some of the drug addicts.
  Smokey: Mm, okay, but uh, nowadays drug addicts have some pretty peculiar names.
  Thurgood: You mean nicknames.
  Smokey: Well, street names like uh, Who's on crack, Say What's on smack, and uh, I Don't Know freebases.
  Thurgood: Well do you know the fellows' names?
  Smokey: I said Who's on crack, Say What's on smack, and I Don't Know freebases.
  Thurgood: Well, who's on crack?
  Smokey: Yes.
  Thurgood: I mean, the fellow's name.
  Smokey: Who?
  Thurgood: The guy on crack!
  Smokey: Who?
  Thurgood: The crack addict!
  Smokey: Who is on crack.
  Thurgood: I don't know!
  Smokey: I don't know freebases.
  Thurgood: Who freebases?
  Smokey: No, who's on crack.
  Thurgood: Say what?
  Smokey: No, he's on smack.
  Thurgood: Who's on smack?
  Smokey: No, who's on crack.
  Thurgood: I don't know!
  Smokey: Freebase!
  Thurgood: Shut up, you damn stupid crackhead!
• The Powerpuff Girls (2016):
  • From episode "The Power of Four", after the plates are broken:
    Bubbles: It was... Bliss.
    Blossom: [skeptically] Riight. And where exactly is this "Bliss"?
    Bubbles: She left.
    Buttercup: [skeptically] Riight... With her elephant?
    Bubbles: Mee.
    Buttercup: You?
    Bubbles: No, the elephant.
    Blossom: Wait, who?
    Bubbles: Mee.
    Buttercup: What about you?
    Blossom: Oh, I think she means the elephant is "me".
    Buttercup: Wait, you're an elephant?
    Bubbles: No, that's his name, "Mee"; the elephant's name is Mee.
    Blossom: Okay, so "Mee", the elephant, was in this kitchen?
    Buttercup: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, great!
  • Later on, after "Mee" turns out to be "Him" in disguise:
    Blossom: Bliss!
    Bubbles: You're free!
    Bliss: What happened?
    Blossom: Mee was Him!
    Buttercup: And Him was you!
    Bubbles: And you was Him, and who was Mee?
    Buttercup: Mee was Him.
    Blossom: Him was you?
    Bliss: And I'm confused.
• Ready Jet Go!: In "The Grandest Canyon", Carrot serves Mr. Peterson a chocolate cake, which he calls a "Carrot cake". Mr. Peterson points out that it isn't a carrot cake, but Carrot points out that he called it a carrot cake because Carrot is his name.
• The Real Ghostbusters:
  • In "Mrs. Rogers' Neighborhood", the guys face off against a particular demon. Its name?
    Wat: WAAAAAT.
    Peter: Who said "what"?
    Egon: What?
    Peter: Did you say "what"?
    Egon: Peter, I'm trying to work.
    Winston: Say what?
    Egon: I didn't say "what".
    Peter: Then who did?
    Winston: Did what?
    Peter: Say "what"!
    Winston: Man, I didn't say a word!
    Peter: Yeah, right. Then who did?
    [all hell breaks loose]
    Wat: WatwatwatwatWatWatWatWATWATWAT!
    Peter: [is sent flying] YEEEAAAOOOOWWW!!! I withdraw the question!
  • After the perfect timing of the first scene, Egon getting annoyed is almost a letdown. Almost.
    Egon: The prime motivator is a demon named Wat.
    Ray: Named what?
    Egon: Wat.
    Ray: I asked you first!
    Peter: No, Wat is its name.
    Ray: Don't ask me, ask Egon.
    Egon: This'll show you Wat.
    Ray: Huh?
    Egon: Never mind. Let's just track it down.
• Robot Chicken has an inversion of this: They show the Fourth Doctor standing on a baseball diamond for a few moments until he looks at the audience and yells, "Do you get it?!"
• Rocky and Bullwinkle:
  • Happens in a "Bullwinkle's Poetry Corner" segment doing the nursery rhyme "Simple Simon":
    Bullwinkle: Simple Simon met a pie-man
    Going to the fair
    Said Simple Simon to the pie-man
    "Let me taste your ware!"
    Boris Badenov: My what?
    Bullwinkle: Not your what, your ware.
  • A similar gag happens in an episode of the "Wailing Whale" story arc:
    Rocky: You know, Bullwinkle, I got a funny feeling we're being watched.
    Bullwinkle: By who?
    Rocky: Whom!
    Bullwinkle: Whom is watching us?
    Rocky: That's what I want to know!
    Bullwinkle: We're being watched by whom?
    Rocky: Yeah, by whom?
    Bullwinkle: By me too.
• The Simpsons:
  • In "Marge Simpson in: Screaming Yellow Honkers", Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers try to perform this comedy sketch. Subverted when Skinner explains the point in the second sentence, as quoted on the main page.
    • On Skinner's defense (if any), Chalmers is the one who asked "Who's On First?" first. On the routine, it's the Costello character (Skinner's) who starts the asking, and the "Abbott" character who continues to play the pronoun game, as well as (like mentioned above) it's important to not give an answer as direct as the one Skinner gave. Then again, Chalmers didn't made himself any favors by asking Skinner to do the "Costello" character.
  • In "Barting Over", where Bart gets a divorce from his parents (read: gets emancipated), has an attorney go "You WHA?!", but he's asking for his secretary — Yuwa.
  • Also, you have Bart constantly prank calling Moe's Tavern asking to speak to nonexistent patrons with names like "Seymour Butts".
  • In "Homerpalooza", Homer meets The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan:
    Billy: Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins.
    Homer: Homer Simpson, smiling politely.
    • This exchange was originally written between Courtney Love and Homer, as "Courtney Love", "Homer, grateful!".
  • From "Bart To The Future":
    Tribal Chief: If you want to see your future, throw a treasured personal item into the fire.
    Bart: Okay. [tosses a firecracker, which explodes in the fire]
    Tribal Chief: Not a firecracker!
    Bart: Hey, I bought it from a guy on your reservation!
    Tribal Chief: That's Crazy Talk!
    Bart: No, it's true!
    Tribal Chief: No, I know, that's my brother, Crazy Talk. We're all a little worried about him.
  • In "Homer To The Max", Homer has changed his name to Max Power, attracting attention with the similarly-cool-named Trent Steele:
    Trent: You like Thai?
    Homer/Max: Tie good. You like shirt?
  • In "Stark Raving Dad", Homer gets sent to a mental institution where he bunks with an inmate that thinks he's Michael Jackson:
    Homer: Oh, of course I've heard of you! I mean, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know... What'd you say your name was?
    Man: Michael Jackson.
    Homer: Doesn't ring a bell.
    Man: Well, have you heard of MTV?
    Homer: No.
    Man: Motown?
    Homer: No.
    Man: "Beat It"?
    Homer: You beat it!
• In the South Park episode "Terrance and Philip: Behind the Blow", when Terrance and Philip break up but Terrance tries to continue his comedy career, he combines this kind of joke with his usual style of humor, leading to this exchange:
  Gary Wallace: Excuse me sir, do you know who farted?
  Terrance: He sure did!
  Gary: What's the person's name?
  Terrance: Who!
  Gary: The guy that farted!
  Terrance: Who!
  Gary: The person that passed gas!
  Terrance: Who passed gas!
  Gary: Now why are you asking me?!
  Terrance: That's the man's name!
  Gary: That's whose name?!
  Terrance: Yes!
  Gary: Look buddy, all I'm trying to find out is what's the guy's name that farted.
  Terrance: What's the guy that drank his own urine!
  • When Terrance and Philip reunite in the end, they perform the "Who farted" routine at the end of the episode.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • In "Good Ol' Whatshisname", Squidward asks a customer's name, but is seemingly asked "What's it too ya?" When he eventually looks at his ID, Squidward finds out his name is "What Zit Tooya".
  • In "Shellback Shenanigans", Karen is spying on Mr. Krabs and telling Plankton what he's saying to SpongeBob. When he says "What?", Plankton initially assumes Karen didn't understand him.
• Steven Universe: A surprisingly serious example is the key to a major plot twist in "Are You My Dad?"/"I Am My Mom". A very childlike Gem named Aquamarine asks Steven "Are you my dad?" — which confuses everyone because Gems do not have parents. After some speculation that she might be a Half-Human Hybrid rather than a full Gem, they eventually figure out that she's not trying to reunite with her (nonexistant) father, and is in fact looking for someone named "My Dad". Who she intends to kidnap. Because three seasons prior, when Peridot asked Steven if Earth still had humans, and Steven mentioned several people he knew, that list of people was wildly misunderstood. It was assumed to be a list of types of human who are all named after their types, similar to Gemkind's own Hive Caste System. Aquamarine was then ordered to abduct a human of each "type" so they could be put in a People Zoo. Steven mentioned "my dad" in the list, and since Gems don't know what parents are, they assumed "My Dad" was the name of a caste (as well as the name of every individual within said caste).
• Timon & Pumbaa: In one episode, Timon is being chased by the royal guards of his meerkat colony. When he hails a taxi, his pursuers follow him in before he gets out and tells the driver "Far away and fast!". The driver then speeds off...only to instantly come back. Turns out they were at the intersection of Far Away Rd and Fast Lane.
• A brief version of this comes up in the Tiny Toon Adventures "K-ACME TV":
  Gogo: Hey, who are you?
  Y: Y.
  Gogo: Because I wanna know, that's why!
  U: No, that's Y.
  Gogo: Who're you?
  U: I'm U. Who're you?
  Gogo: Why?
  U: You mean him?
  Gogo: Who do you think you are?
  R: You rang?
  • In another episode, Montana Max accidentally gives the right answer to a quiz-show question about a Chinese premier.
    "Name the Secretary-General of China from 1981 to 1987."
    "Who?"
    "That's absolutely right! Secretary-General Yaobang Hu!"
• Transformers: Animated:
  Bumblebee: Hi, I'm Bumblebee!
  Sari: I'm Sari.^note Sounds like "sorry".
  Bumblebee: Oh, don't be, I like my name.
• In T.U.F.F. Puppy, Bird Brain has this shtick involving his minions: an owl that says "Who?" and a blind bat that asks "Where?". In future episodes, he has more minions to add to this: a lady sheep, or a ewe^note You and a Duck! named Skip. This was referenced in one episode when it was shown he hired two more minions: a goose named "Peeck Ma" (pronounced "Peck Me"), and an alligator named "Beetme" (which is pronounced "Bite Me", resulting in Bird Brain firing him).
• The Harvey cartoon T.V. Fuddlehead inverts the joke listed above:
  Game Host: Who was responsible for the discovery of the electrical power of one ampere flowing across a potential difference of one volt?
  T.V. Fuddlehead: What?
  Game Host: You are absolutely right! It was James Watt!
• Done at least four times in VeggieTales.
  • In "Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space", Larry-Boy is getting info on the titular monster from Alfred on his computer when this exchange occurs:
    Alfred: Ah! We know what the monster is now.
    Larry-Boy: What is it?
    Alfred: It's a lie.
    [Beat]
    Larry-Boy: What's a lie?
    Alfred: It is.
    Larry-Boy: Which part?
    Alfred: The whole thing. It's a lie. The monster is a lie!
    Larry-Boy: Oh my!
  • In the episode "Duke and the Great Pie War", Duke Duke is challenging Otis to reclaim an artifact that Otis stole from the family of Petunia, but has been bested in the first of 3 parts, the physical challenge. But the second part, a quiz, goes something like this:
    Abbot of Costello: There are three members of the royal family with strange names; Sir Who, Prince What, and Lady I Don't Know. They want to board a ferry to cross a treacherous river. Taking into account their rank, what would be the reverse order in which they should board the ferry?
    Duke: Wait, you wanna know who's on first?
    Abbot of Costello: Correct! Next?
    Duke: What?
    Abbot of Costello: Absolutely correct! And third?
    Duke: I don't know.
    Abbot of Costello: Correct!
    Otis: Wait...who went third?
    Abbot of Costello: WRONG!
    [Otis gets flung into a bucket of slime]
    Otis: MOMMAAAAAAAAAAAA...!
  • In Veggies In Space: The Fennel Frontier, this exchange occurs at one point:
    Captain Cuke: This is the U.S.S Applepies. Someone called in an anonymous tip that there were some robots in loincloths fighting over here.
    Robots: Who called it in? Who? WHO?
    Archibald: That's Doctor Who to you!
  • In Robin Good and His Not-so-Merry Men, the Sheriff of Bethlingham (Bob) asks Robin Good (Larry) his name:
    Sheriff of Bethlingham: The Prince has asked that you be his guest tonight for dinner.
    Robin Good: Dinner? Really? That's great!
    Sheriff: I wouldn't be so excited.
    Robin Good: I've been wanting to talk to him. There's some things I think he needs to know about the hams.
    Sheriff: I'd be careful if I were you, uh...
    Robin Good: Robin.
    Sheriff: And do you have a last name, Robin?
    Robin Good: Yeah, it's Good.
    Sheriff: I believe you, I'm sure it's great!
    Robin Good: No, it's not Great, it's Good.
    Sheriff: There's nothing to be ashamed of; my last name is sort of mediocre.
    Robin Good: I told you, Sheriff Mediocre, it's Good; my last name is Good.
    Sheriff: Then why won't you tell me?
    Robin Good: Tell you what?
    Sheriff: What your last name is!
    Robin Good: It's Good, Robin Good.
    Sheriff: Oh... [nervous chuckle] Nice to meet you, Robin Good.
• Victor & Hugo: 'Victor & Hugo' has this, what? Yes? Not you Watt! What? Precisely.
• Wacky Races (2017): Done in "Guru My Dreams". Bonus points for the guy they meet being named Hu, and the Shout-Out to the Trope Namers.
• Woody Woodpecker:
  • In "Queen of De-Nile" from The New Woody Woodpecker Show, after Winnie Woodpecker finds the lost tomb of King Tut's court jester, Izzy Watsupwithat, she gets into this with archaeologist Wally Walrus:
  Winnie: [pointing at the mural on the front of the pyramid] Ooh, look, professor! Is he the court jester?
  Wally: Yah, Izzy.
  Winnie: I asked you first, who is he?
  Wally: No, Izzy.
  Winnie: That's what I'm asking you, is he the court jester?
  Wally: He's the court yester, Izzy!
  Winnie: Yeah, is he? What's up with that?
  Wally: EXACTLY! Izzy Vatsupwithat! Yeepers...
  • In another Winnie Woodpecker episode, Medical Winnie Pig, Dr. Nutts gives Winnie an eye exam, where in the letters of the Snellen eye chart fit perfectly in the context of the dialogue.
  Dr. Nutts: [pointing at the letter U on the eye chart] Please read the top line.
  Winnie: U.
  Dr. Nutts: No, you read it. [points at the letter I]
  Winnie: I.
  Dr. Nutts: [sighs exasperatedly] Yes, you. Now, go ahead. [points at the letter Y]
  Winnie: Y.
  Dr. Nutts: Because I said, okay? [points at the letter K]
  Winnie: K.
  (awkward silence)
  Dr. Nutts: [sighs] Never mind.

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