History Main / AGoodOldFashionedPaintWatching

* ''WebVideo/NotJustBikes''' 16 minute long video about moving in Amsterdam is actually a five minute video about moving, ending with 11 minutes of the paint drying on a wall in his new apartment.

* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'': One Treehouse of Horror issue has pod-people taking over Springfield, and they manage not only to get Krusty, but the entire production staff of Itchy and Scratchy, so instead of mindless violence, the show consists of Itchy and Scratchy watching a wall dry (and commenting on it).

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Paint Drying'' is a film consisting of over 10 hours of footage of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin paint drying on a wall.]] The film was made to be a protest against the requirement that all films released in the UK obtain a classification from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), which the film's director felt imposed an unfair cost on independent filmmakers. The idea was to {{Troll}} the BBFC by forcing them to watch and classify 10-hours of paint drying. The classification fee was paid via money raised on UsefulNotes/{{Kickstarter}}, which also determined the length of the film since the BBFC charges by length for classification, and the amount of money raised paid for a 10-hour film.
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* In 2016, independent film-maker Charlie Lyne produced a movie that was over ''ten hours long'', consisting [[LeaveTheCameraRunning entirely of silent footage of a freshly-painted brick wall]]. ''Paint Drying'' was created as as way to protest the fees charged by the British Board of Film Classification, by way of forcing BBFC agents to literally watch drying paint for 607 minutes.

** The song "When I Was Your Age" has lyrics about not having Creator/{{Nintendo}} games as a kid and having to pour salt on snails as entertainment.
** Another song of his, "I Can't Watch This", invokes this trope literally while decrying the state of modern television: "It's about as much fun as watching paint dry!"

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''

* In ''{{Dinosaurs}}'', there is a TV channel about ''grass growing''. [[FridgeLogic Doubly strange, given that the family is noted to be carnivores]]. If they were herbivores it would be analogous to all the cooking/food channels we have on cable.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* As a 2017 April Fool's joke, ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan The Movie!'' is revealed to be Jeffy painting a fence and then watching the paint dry for an hour.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

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* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide''
** A pre-television family is sitting on and around a couch, all staring at a blank wall.
** Another one shows cavemen trying to play RockPaperScissors before scissors and paper were invented. Every round they play ends in a tie.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': In a StoryArc where the television set in Calvin's house is stolen, he tries watching the blank wall where it used to be and finds that it's not fun at all:
-->'''Calvin''': So here I am, not being entertained.\\
'''Hobbes''': A pointless existence, huh?\\
'''Calvin''': I mean, the wall is even plain old ''white!''

* In a novel by Creator/TomHolt, [[WarriorHeaven Valhalla]] is being locked in a theatre forever - watching an exciting performance of paint drying.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* In ''Jim Henson's Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', there is a TV channel about ''grass growing''. [[FridgeLogic Doubly strange, given that the family is noted to be carnivores]]. If they were herbivores it would be analogous to all the cooking/food channels we have on cable.
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* Mab from ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' is the fae kingdom's champion grass watcher five years running.

* When WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic reviews ''Film/WarriorsOfVirtue'', he says that he'd rather watch paint dry while watching grass grow and watch a TV show about Creator/MrT, Wrestling/HulkHogan, and Creator/BruceCampbell filing their taxes.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** When Bart falls down the well:
--->'''Jasper:''' A Good, Old-Fashioned Hole Digging, my gods it's been a while.
** One of the most exciting pastimes in Grandpa's retirement home is sitting at the window of the rec room watching a tree. Keep in mind that this is one of many gags about how bleak and depressing retirement homes are and how there is basically nothing to look forward to.
* An episode from the ''WesternAnimation/VivaPinata'' cartoon is about visiting a character's old uncle at a retirement home. One of the gags used is that paint drying is actually an exciting pastime for the residents (along with the Grass channel, which featured grass growing in real time).

* Billy, of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', drives the Goddess of Chaos crazy by watching paint dry. In his underwear. He shushes her when she talks, as he can't hear the paint drying.
* On ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Garfield compares visiting Jon's cousin to watching paint dry. Sure enough, Jon's cousin makes Jon watch boring slides mostly of his wife waving while on vacation.
* In the U.K. ''ComicStrip/{{Dennis the Menace|UK}}'' cartoon, Dennis' granny jokes that before TV was invented, they all sat around waiting for TV to be invented. Her actual youth activities however (reading, hunting dodos and listening to the wireless) are little better, as far as the main character is concerned.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''
** Candace described reading as something people did before they invented fun.
** After the boys get zapped with a [[ItMakesSenseInContext Dull and Boring-inator]] by accident, their usual antics are replaced by playing with a lint roller and watching grass grow. The thought of paint watching actually ''excites'' them.
--->'''Phineas:''' What color paint? Can it be beige?
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E3TooManyPinkiePies "Too Many Pinkie Pies"]], this -- a literal watching-paint-dry test -- is how the other Mane Five determine who the real Pinkie is. The fakes can't stand not having fun for so long, but the real, more complex Pinkie Pie (who suggested the idea) can withstand anything if it means she won't be made to leave her friends. And besides, while the real Pinkie Pie would have been afraid of the unknown consequences of failing, the fakes had nothing to lose that way.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' episode "Father Figures", when Porky Pig joins the Father Figure Program and becomes a father figure to Henery Hawk, some of the activities he takes him on is watching paint dry and grass grow. Henery was not amused. Henery even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s how Porky's idea of fun is acting out the expression of watching paint dry.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'': In "Panfake" Peppermint Larry is forced to perform puppet shows for money after the Candy Barrel temporarily goes out of business. His initial attempts prompt people to watch a painted fence dry.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Viral Vidiots", Cosmo posts a video of him watching paint dry (although he gets frustrated and starts yelling at it to dry faster and pounding on the wall). He thinks the video has 1 million hits because people like watching paint dry. Actually, they like seeing the wall collapse on Cosmo.
* ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam2019:'' Part of what shows that Guy-am-I's about to hit the DespairEventHorizon is that he's considering taking up an actual ''job'' as a paintwatcher, advertised in the newspaper as something that takes no skills whatsoever, since all his actual ventures have bombed ([[MadeOfExplodium literally]], in his inventions' case).

* On the commentary for the ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Five Doctors," ''Who'' scribe Terrance Dicks likened the process of watching his scripts being acted out before the cameras to this (owing to ''Who's'' lengthy effects setups and other problems).

* In 2016, independent film-maker Charlie Lyne produced a movie that was over ''ten hours long'', consisting entirely of silent footage of a freshly-painted brick wall. ''Paint Drying'' was created as as way to protest the fees charged by the British Board of Film Classification, by way of forcing BBFC agents to literally watch drying paint for 607 minutes.

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Granny and Nanny comment on how there is too much "making your own entertainment" these days, they never had time for it when they were young. Nanny certainly did make her own entertainment, though. [[ReallyGetsAround With the help of many handsome young men.]]

* One "drawn from a hat" suggestion on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' is something along the lines of "world's most boring TV shows", and so Ryan Stiles does this trope: "...and now that we've got that second coat on, let's just watch it dry!"

A specific form of IncrediblyLameFun. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] sending a badly behaved child to sit in the corner and stare at the wall as punishment.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' likes this.
** When Bart falls down the well there is, to quote Jasper:

Compare IncrediblyLameFun. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] sending a badly behaved child to sit in the corner and stare at the wall as punishment.

* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'', Scuttle the seagull tells Ariel that before they discovered music, ancient humans "used to sit around and stare at each other all day. Got very boring."