History Main / AmbulanceCut

* Done in ''LastofTheSummerWine'' where Nora and Ivy joke about showing off their "Flapper" outfits to Compo (who had a thing for Nora), cut to an Ambulance and then a hospital waiting room. This is because prior to filming that episode Bill Owen who played Compo passed away, and [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim they wrote Compo out with a heart attack]].

Someone is either [[TemptingFate doing something obviously dangerous]], [[DescriptionCut suggesting a cunning plan that]] [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong can't possibly go wrong]], or has [[IAteWhat just found out what it is he's eating]]. Cut directly to an ambulance flying down the street, sirens blaring. A variation of this for the "cunning plan that can't possibly go wrong" would be a GilliganCut to the character getting arrested or already in a jail cell.

Someone is either [[TemptingFate doing something obviously dangerous]], [[DescriptionCut suggesting a cunning plan that]] [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong can't possibly go wrong]], or has [[IAteWhat just found out what it is they're eating]]. Cut directly to an ambulance flying down the street, sirens blaring.

** While it lacks the actual cut, the spirit is the same. Homer decides that he's going to eat ''everything'' in the form of a power bar, and has a machine to compress things. He does so to a lasagna and possibly several other things, and eats the result. He then calmly picks up the phone and says "Ambulance please."

** So did ''AmericanDad'', when Roger goes so crazy from trying to keep the house clean that he spreads gasoline everywhere and lights a match. Cut to a fire truck passing by the restaurant at which Stan and Steve are dining.

** While it lacks the actual cut, the spirit is the same. Homer decides that he's going to eat ''everything'' in the firm of a power bar, and has a machine to compress things. He does so to a lasagna and possibly several other things, and eats the result. He then calmly picks up the phone and says "Ambulance please."

Someone is either [[TemptingFate doing something obviously dangerous]], [[DescriptionCut suggests a cunning plan that can't possibly go wrong]], or, occasionally, actually falling victim to AmusingInjuries. Cut to an ambulance flying down the street, sirens blaring.

Can also be played for drama, but usually without the quick cut associated with the comic usage.

* In the season one episode of ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', Lois is fired for trying to return a bottle of cognac her son Dewey accidentally stole and the family tries to cut their budget while Lois is unemployed. The family receives canned goods from people in the neighborhood who actually take pity on them. Lois rants about how people only ever donate the crap they don't want. Hal says the olives he's eating are perfectly fine, and Lois points out the can he's eating from ''used to be peaches''. Cue the speeding ambulance.

* ''{{NewsRadio}}''; Bill tries chewing his nicotine patch. Three guesses what happens next.
** Another episode begins with Matthew jumping out of the fridge to scare Mr. James who goes into a fit of laughter clutching his chest. Cue ambulance.

* In the season one episode of ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' in which Lois is fired for trying to return a bottle of cognac her son Dewey accidentally stole and the family tries to cut their budget while Lois is unemployed, the family receives canned goods from people in the neighborhood who actually take pity on them. Lois rants about how people only ever donate the crap they don't want. Hal says the olives he's eating are perfectly fine, and Lois points out the can he's eating from ''used to be peaches''. Cue the speeding ambulance.

Someone is either [[TemptingFate doing something obviously dangerous]], [[DescriptionCut suggests a cunning plan that can't possibly go wrong]], or occasionally is actually shown falling victim to AmusingInjuries. Cut to an ambulance flying down the street, sirens blaring.

* ''BlackBooks'' after Manny swallows ''The Little Book Of Calm.''

** Also in the season eight episode "Lisa's Date with Density," Lisa asks Milhouse if he can deliver a note to Nelson Muntz. The note reads "Guess who likes you?" Nelson looks back and sees Milhouse wiggling his eyebrows. Jump cut to Milhouse being wheeled out of the school on a gurney with everyone in the school watching.

* ''HancocksHalfHour'': In the classic TV episode "The Blood Donor" our hero has just given a pint of blood and discovered that he has a rare blood group. Back home, fretting that his rare blood might not go to "the right sort of person", he decides to sharpen a bread knife. Cue StockFootage of ambulance, and guess who needs the blood.
* In an episode of ''SpongebobSquarepants'', Mr. Krabs is about to take a bite of a Krabby Patty that, if it were any more disgusting, would require EPA financial assistance. Immediately cut to an ambulance with the siren blaring. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Cut back to Mr. Krabs, remarking "Oh, look, an ambulance."]]]] Then [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion he eats the burger and is rushed to hospital.]]]]

* The ''CornerGas'' Christmas episode "Merry Gasmas" uses this trope four different times. The first three are flashbacks to previous Christmases. Emma says her eggnog tastes off and Oscar tells her to drink it anyway, cut to an ambulance. Emma tells Oscar to be careful with the sharp carving knives, cut to an ambulance. Emma again tells Oscar to be careful with the knives, so Oscar gives them to a very young Brent, cut to an ambulance. At the end of the episode, Brent climbs onto a shaky ladder to take down some mistletoe, time for another ambulance cut. Emma watches the ambulance pull away and says, "Same damn thing every year."

* Knowledge of the trope leads to momentary audience confusion in the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Eleventh Hour": The Doctor gets clobbered with a cricket bat, and then we cut to an ambulance pulling up at a hospital. The Doctor is not in the ambulance, and does not appear in the following scene within the hospital (nor in fact does the ambulance, which apparently is just there to make it clear that it's a hospital).

* {{Seinfeld}}:

* {{"Seinfeld"}}:

* "Seinfeld":
--> ""I'm an eggplant!""

** There's also the episode where Squidward tries a Krabby Patty for the first time and becomes addicted. At the end, he breaks into the Patty Vault and eats all of the burgers. After Spongebob remarks that they'll [[BreadEggsMilkSquick go right to his thighs...and then blow up]], we see an explosion, and then a cut to the ambulence, with Squidward blown to pieces, all of his tentacles in a bucket.

* In one episode of ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', the family are the recipients of a canned food drive and are discussing how people only ever donate the crap they don't want. Hal says the olives he's eating are perfectly fine, and Lois points out the can he's eating from is supposed to be ''peaches''. Cue the speeding ambulance.

* [[http://nerfnow.com/comic/411 This]] NerfNow strip.
* SteptoeAndSon used a variation featuring a fire engine instead of an ambulance.

* On the season eight ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode "Lisa's Date with Density," Lisa asks Milhouse if he can deliver a note to Nelson Muntz. The note reads "Guess who likes you?" Nelson looks back and sees Milhouse wiggling his eyebrows. Jump cut to Milhouse being wheeled out of the school on a gurney with everyone in the school watching.
** Also on ''TheSimpsons'' episode "Homer and Apu" (from season five), Homer buys a pack of ham that expired in 1989 (it was 1994 at the time this episode aired). The first time he eats it, Homer gets a horrible stomachache, then it cuts to the ambulance. After Homer spends some time at the hospital, he returns to the store and complains to Apu that the ham made him sick. Apu then bribes Homer with ten pounds worth of bad shrimp, which is then followed by a jump cut back to the same footage of the ambulance.
** The ambulance itself is StockFootage for the show. It was used when Mr. Burns went to the hospital in the season two episode "Blood Feud", and in "Homer's Triple Bypass" after Homer passes out from a heart attack after Mr. Burns yells at him for being a lazy, incompetent worker.

** Also on ''TheSimpsons'' episode "Homer and Apu" (from season five), Homer buys a pack of ham that expired in 1989 (it was 1994 at the time this episode aired). The first time he eats it, Homer gets a horrible stomachache, then it cuts to the ambulance (which is actually StockFootage of the ambulance that took Mr. Burns to the hospital on the season two episode "Blood Feud", which in turn was used as StockFootage in the season four episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" after Homer passes out from a heart attack after Mr. Burns yells at him for being a lazy, incompetent worker). After Homer spends some time at the hospital, he complains to Apu that the ham made him sick. Apu then bribes Homer with ten pounds worth of bad shrimp, which is then followed by a jump cut to that StockFootage of the ambulance.