History Main / CaptainsLog

** [[Series/StarTrekVoyager VOY: "The Cloud"]] poked fun at the franchise staple with something similar to LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn. Janeway makes the usual episode-opening log entry as a voice-over monologue while on a stroll throughout the ship, ending with:

->''"Captain's Log supplemental: Eh, [[BlahBlahBlah beedoobeedoobeedoo]]. That's all."''
-->-- '''EddieIzzard'''

** On ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'', "The Muse" actually opens with some actors from some extraterrestrials' roughly Bronze Age culture putting on a theatrical production with something a lot like a GreekChorus reciting some of Voyager's logs to their patrons in the audience to set the tone for their story.

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* ''Series/BabylonFive'' uses this occasionally, with not only the CaptainsLog, but also Commander Ivanova and Dr. Franklin's personal logs.

** Which leads to a bit of FridgeLogic...would Zapp even know about the Stardate system? Considering that Franchise/StarTrek is forbidden and all...
*** Must be a TropeNamer.

* And of course both ''DoogieHowserMD'' and Carrie Bradshaw of ''SexAndTheCity'' summarizing their episodes, quandries and lessons into their computers.
** One does wonder what they're going to think in 20 years, reading those elliptical, reference-filled sentences that won't make any sense at all to someone who hasn't just watched the episode. Also, wasn't Carrie supposedly writing her column rather than a journal?

** ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', however, tended to avoid this, leading to very few episodes having stardates.

If it's being used for exposition purposes when the viewpoint characters are LateToTheTragedy it probably fits better under ApocalypticLog, but [[TropesAreFlexible the two can overlap]]. Compare PrivateEyeMonologue, a similar narrative style typically used in FilmNoir.

* One of many {{Shout Out}}s by [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} George]] in ''TheLongestJourney''.

* A different take on this occurs in ''Film/{{Gravity}}''. Despite being cut off from MissionControl, the protagonists continue to transmit to them (even asking permission for various actions) in case they or someone else can hear their transmissions and help in some way. This serves as a handy means of exposition for the audience.

'''Kif:''' (sighs) April thirteenth!\\

* Early seasons of ''{{The X-Files}}'' had AgentScully writing reports to her superiors at the end of many of the MonsterOfTheWeek episodes. In the final seasons, after David Duchovny left the show, Scully read her journal entries as letters to the missing Mulder.

* In ''[[Webcomic/MightyMartinsFarFromHome Far From Home]]'', [[http://mightymartianstudios.com/2011/02/18/ffh-sci-fi-webcomic-pro-01/ the log of the scout ship]] ''Calvin''.

* [[OriginalGeneration Kazuma Ardygun]] from ''SuperRobotWarsW'' keeps a diary that he writes on at the beginning of each chapter. When he can't update it, his sister Mihiro takes over for him.

* averted in the Aubrey/Maturin books. Aubrey's log is referred to occasionally, along with the logs kept by the Sailing Master, the midshipmen ( which Aubrey reviews as part if their training) and there is also a scene where Aubrey specifically refers to his log while appearing before a Navy Board, but the use of "Captains Log" as exposition never appears

* Frequently used by JohnWyndham, with several books opening with a description of what situation humanity will be in by the end of the book. In addition, since the books are often framed as an in-universe account by the main character, some entire books could be seen as fitting the trope. DayOfTheTriffids and TheKrakenWakes are probably the two best examples.

* SouthPark usually ends with one of the children giving a CaptainsLog style Aesop. Occasionally subverted and lampshaded:

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}!'' 1711 - Whitesmile'' is spaced out by several interludes in the form of status reports Victor was sending to his employer, Lucrezia de Dormentaire. The thing is, he was also sleeping with her. And since he figured that Szilard and Carla would send more formal reports covering all the boring details anyways, he decided to personalize his own. Acquiring [[CompleteImmortality immortality]] shortly after the mission, he comes to regret this in 2002 when one of his underlings finds them in a dossier regarding the Lotto Valentino bombings.

-->'''Inspector Jennifer:''' Would it be acceptable to begin my reports to you with 'Hey. How've you been? Feel any
lonely 'cause I haven't written to you in so long'?