Reworking: If It Was Funny The First Time

I was wondering if it would be possible to make the trope If It Was Funny the First Time... into making the examples in-universe only. I'm only saying that because as it stands, the page seems to mostly be complaining about running gags you don't like.

edited 18th Jul '11 1:40:11 PM by pimpdaddy

Fully support. This is too easy of a trope for people turning into bashing.

Bumping, because I think this does need a little attention.

I'll take a chainsaw to it after my nap, I don't want to read complaining until then for fear of missing an actual example.

Bump.

Okay, reading the page, I'm getting conflicting definition. Is this:

1) a joke that is used constantly to the point of nearly every episode, without lampshadings

2) a joke the fans are tired of seeing

or what?

Deboss,

My understanding of the trope is that it fits (1, or at least the examples on the page make it seem like that is the case. I think the audience reaction part of the trope is not entirely necessary, but that it is logical to expect some people to get tried of the joke after a while.

edited 12th Nov '11 12:39:10 PM by LouieW

True, but one is an audience reaction and the other is an objectively provable trope.

Gave it a once over and rewrote the description a little.

Le bump. Anything else to do here?

I like keeping it in-universe only.

I've added it to my watchlist, if someone can clean any wiks I can try to keep it clean.

Deboss,

Your edits look pretty good to me, thanks for making them.

I took a look at the wicks. For the most part, I think they seemed to fit the trope as it is now, but I deleted the example on Batman Under The Red Hood since the joke in question was only used twice and I edited out the one on The Red Green Show because it was about repeating segments rather than a specific gag.

Never Heard That One Before just seems to reference the title of the trope. If anyone thinks it is worth editing out If It Was Funny the First Time... from its description, I would not be opposed.

Alright then, I think we're done here.

Well, unless it needs to be renamed for being a line of dialogue title.

edited 15th Dec '11 8:18:14 PM by Deboss

Huh. Maybe not quite done. At least, I've got some observations and a proposal.

I notice that this one has no YKTTW. If it had gone through YKTTW I suspect would have been picked up as a The Same But More Specific take on Running Gag.

More that that — the way it's been chipped off Running Gag is problematic: Consider:

• Garfield: Garfield likes lasagna and hates Mondays.

I see the point, even if the example could use more details. But the series is a study in getting millage at repeating a gag. Even at its most repetitive no one outing of the gag is exactly like the other. Often that repeated gag is being used to drive a one-off gag.

Or perhaps more clearly:

• Inspector Gadget: Every time Inspector Gadget receives his next assignment on a self-destructive piece of paper, he reads it, then crumbles the paper and tosses it into whatever compartment his chief is hiding in this time, where it explodes right in the chief's face.

What do we mean by "the same every time"? It's the same gag, it's got the same structure (almost always). But the details keep changing.

I suspect this stuff, these variations or lack thereof, would be better handled in Running Gag and the examples could be merged in. Does that sound reasonable?

edited 15th Dec '11 11:18:24 PM by Camacan

Myself as well, but somebody asked for a cleaning and I did a cleaning. I'm strongly of the opinion that this was just somebody doing a Running Gag Done Badly page.

Thirding a merge with Running Gag.