History Main / DenserAndWackier

* ''FamilyMatters'' starts out as a mundane sitcom, but succumbed to this trope as a result of Urkel, who got initially got into plots with his suave, handsome, scientifically induced alter ego Stefan until the end of the series featured him traveling into [[RecycledINSPACE space]]. Urkel being the harbringer of these changes was likely incidental, as his character type (TheUrkel) does not require fantastic elements in order to function.

* ''ThirtyRock'' get sillier with each season. Back in the pilot, Jack's official job title being "Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming" was about the only especially unrealistic aspect of the show. Now weird, off-the-wall stuff happens in almost every episode.

* ''ThirtyRock'' get sillier with each season. Back in the pilot, Jack's official job title being "Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming" was about the only especially unrealistic aspect. Now weird, off-the-wall stuff happens in almost every episode.

* TheOffice in the USA rolls with this, though not quite as badly as some other shows. The first two seasons (really the first season, but what was technically the first season was stunted), portrayed a fairly realistic day-to-day workplace with a PointyHairedBoss, who, while on the extreme of what should be firing offenses, was fairly realistic in his incompetence, but later seasons saw a more ironclad ContractualImmortality take place for many characters, especially Ryan, Michael, Dwight, and (in one case) Meredith.

* The later episodes of {{SpongebobSquarepants}} after the movie the show along with the characters (except for Squidward and Plankton) became wackier and zanier as well as [[TookALevelInDumbass dumber]] and became very [[TookALevelInJerkass callous]] towards others.

* TheOffice in the USA rolls with this, though not quite as badly as some other shows. The first two seasons (really the first season, but what was technically the first season was stunted), portrayed a fairly realistic day-to-day workplace with a PointyHairedBoss, who, while on the extreme of what should be firing offenses, was fairly realistic in his incompetence, but later seasons saw a more ironclad
ContractualImmunity take place for many characters, especially Ryan, Michael, Dwight, and (in one case) Meredith.

* The first ''StreetsOfRage'' was a fairly typical urban BeatEmUp with nothing especially outlandish. The sequel introduced robots and ninjas to the mix but it was still fairly grounded in the urban seeting of the first game. Thei third game, however, had a much more hi-tech design to some of the enemies, and two of the player character were respectively a cyborg and a boxing kangaroo.

* The later episodes of {{SpongebobSquarepants}} after the movie the show along with the characters (except for Squidward and Plankton) became wackier and zanier as well as {{TookALevelInDumbass dumber}} and {{TookALevelInJerkass callous}}.

* ''{{Roomies}}'', which was never exactly down-to-Earth and serious to begin with but nevertheless dealt with fairly realistic personal issues, went this route with the introduction of the Aliens. ''[=~It's Walky!~=]'' took it even further, with a Godlike robotic force known as the Cheese, inter-dimensional British ninjas, and zombies. ''{{Shortpacked}}!'' is a more textbook example of this trope, which--due to sharing a universe with the first two -- never pretended to take place in the real world but was certainly more "cartoony" than its predecessors, which did a fairly good job adding a touch of CerebusSyndrome.

This trope is typically used as a ratings grab. For a show that's losing appeal, it's much easier to instantly come up with wacky plot elements than it is to invest time in more complex character nuance. As with much ExecutiveMeddling, this motivation doesn't exactly have much basis in reality - most LongRunners either don't undergo this process at all, or do so only when they're about to be canceled. Oftentimes, fans appreciate good consistency in tone.

Note that, like its [[{{CerebusSyndrome}} somber counterpart,]] this trope is critical and highly subjective. If the author takes advantage of established series elements that have gathered over time, then it's ContinuityCreep.

* ''TheSimpsons'' is one of the better executions of this trope, as the first season of the show, while not bad, is very grounded and quite unlike the anything goes antics that made the show a pop-culture fixture in later seasons. However, many viewers feel that as the seasons dragged on this went too far.

* The first ''StreetsOfRage'' was a fairly typical urban BeatEmUp with nothing especially outlandish. The sequel introduced robots and ninjas to the mix but it was still fairly grounded in the urban seeting of the first game. Thei third game, however, had a much more hi-tech design to some of the enemies, and two of the player character were respectively a cyborg and a boxing Kangaroo.
* The ''TomAndJerry'' cartoons started out as a fairly typical 'cat chases mouse' cartoon, which even in the early 1940's wasn't anything new. As time went on though, episodes began taking place [[RecycledInSpace in different time periods and settings]], and thanks to the influence TexAvery had on MGM's animation studio, the slapstick violence was cranked UpToEleven.
* Though the first ''SeriousSam'' wasn't exactly serious to begin it with, it still had a ''relatively'' realistic art-style and cartoonish but not that out-there StandardFPSGuns. Then came ''Serious Sam II'', which had things like a world based on fairy tales, a kamikaze parrot as a weapon and [[YouDontLookLikeYou redesigned]] the hero to make him more cartoonish. However, the third game is apparently going to be DarkerAndEdgier.

* ''{{Roomies}}!'', which was never exactly down-to-Earth and serious to begin with but nevertheless dealt with fairly realistic personal issues, went this route with the introduction of the Aliens. ''{{ItsWalky}}!'' took it even further, with a Godlike robotic force known as the Cheese, inter-dimensional British ninjas, and zombies. ''{{Shortpacked}}!'' is a more textbook example of this trope, which--due to sharing a universe with the first two--never pretended to take place in the real world but was certainly more "cartoony" than its predecessors, which did a fairly good job adding a touch of CerebusSyndrome.
* This is one of the common criticisms of ''TeamFortress2'', as best represented by the "Demopan Meme" - a picture of the Demoman wearing a pirate hate with a miniature treasure chest, a shield on one arm, a frying-pan in the other, and wearing [[HomestarRunner Dangeresq Too?]]'s sunglasses.
* TotalDramaIsland was a pretty exciting relatively realistic "animated reality show". The second season takes place in a movie studio and every episode is a shout out to films with much cartoonier antics. The third season is a musical.
* This happened to manga works of Fujio Akatsuka A LOT. His comics such as ''Osomatsu Kun'', ''Moretsu Ataro'', and ''Tensai Bakabon'' were always comedic (although ''Ataro'' was originally more dramatic), but they both started out as being down to earth, but gradually became more and more insane with nonsensical, slapstick-heavy gags. In addition, this happened when all three promoted a BreakoutCharacter and eventually pushed the main characters aside.

* ''{{Farscape}}'' started off as a WagonTrainToTheStars that was only slightly wackier than usual, but from the last few episodes of the first season the writers really started pushing the boat out both in terms of CerebusSyndrome and in how crazy the situations they put the characters into became. Among mainstream TV shows, it's probably rivalled only by the ''DoctorWho'' franchise for how close canon episodes got to what are usually CrackFic concepts. And it mostly did this while still keeping the stories emotionally significant.

This trope is typically used as a ratings grab. For a show that's losing appeal, it's much easier to instantly come up with wacky plot elements than it is to invest time in more complex character nuance. As with much ExecutiveMeddling, this motivation doesn't exactly have much basis in reality- most LongRunners either don't undergo this process at all, or do so only when they're about to be canceled. Oftentimes, fans appreciate good consistency in tone.

* The actual shark-jumping episode from ''HappyDays'' is a good example. Picture the premise of the show- how the Cunningham family was so gosh-darn swell back in the fifties. Now, reconcile that image with [[EnsembleDarkhorse Fonzie]] water-skiing over sharks to overcome his fear of them, and you can see how JumpingTheShark became a TropeNamer.

* This happened to manga works of Fujio Akatsuka ALOT. His comics such as ''Osomatsu Kun'', ''Moretsu Ataro'', and ''Tensai Bakabon'' were always comedic (although ''Ataro'' was originally more dramatic), but they both started out as being down to earth, but gradually became more and more insane with nonsensical, slapstick-heavy gags. In addition, this happened when all three promoted a BreakoutCharacter and eventually pushed the main characters aside.

* This is probably better than CerebusSyndrome as a description of what's happened to ''{{Candorville}}''. Formerly a slow-paced ''{{Doonesbury}}'' clone with a bit of MagicalRealism thrown in, it's introduced vampires, soul-eating demons, and at least two factions competing to rule the world--but even now that characters are getting killed, the whole thing is still PlayedForLaughs.

Often a reason for JumpingTheShark. Compare CerebusSyndrome, KudzuPlot.

* The re-imagined ''{{Battlestar Galactica}}'' started out focused around the concept of a migrant fleet fleeing evil robots while looking for a new home. By season four, however, we had [[spoiler: prophetic dreams, angels, immortal robots, half-robot children, ancient astronauts, etc.]]

* This is one of the common criticisms of ''TeamFortress2'', as best represented by the "Demopan Meme" - a picture of the Demoman wearing a pirate hate with a miniature treasure chest, a shield on one arm, a frying-pan in the other, and wearing [[HomestarRunner Dangeresq Too?'s sunglasses.

* This is one of the common criticisms of ''TeamFortress2'', as best represented by the "Demopan Meme" - a picture of the Demoman wearing a pirate hate with a miniature treasure chest, a shield on one arm, a frying-pan in the other, and wearing StrongBad's sunglasses.

The process that a show goes through when its plots become increasingly convoluted. Most often happens with shows whose initial premise is mundane, and ostensibly could take place in the real world, begin to gradually take in tropes from more elaborate genre fiction until the show is at a point where it no longer resembles its pilot episode at all. This is similar to CerebusSyndrome, except that instead of working on tone this trope increases the density and zaniness of literal plot elements, often requiring a greater WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief and viewer concentration level in order to succeed.

* This happened to manga works of Fujio Akatsuka ALOT. His comics such as ''Osomatsu Kun'', ''Moretsu Ataro'', and ''Tensai Bakabon'' were always comedic (although ''Ataro'' was originally more dramatic), but they both started out as being down to earth, but gradually became more and more insane with nonsensical, slapstick-heavy gags. In addition, this happened when all three promoted a BreakoutCharacter and eventually pushed the main characters aside.

* This happened to manga works of Fujio Akatsuka ALOT. His comics such as ''Osomatsu Kun'', ''Moretsu Ataro'', and ''Tensai Bakabon'' were always comedic (although ''Ataro'' was originally more dramatic), but they both started out as being down to earth, but gradually became more and more insane with nonsensical plots. Coincidentally, when this happened they all went through BreakoutCharacters that eventually pushed the titular characters off the side.

* TotalDramaIsland was a pretty exciting relatively realistic "animated reality show". The second season takes place in a movie studio and every episode is a shout out to films with much cartoonier antics. The third season is a musical.

Note that this trope applies on a relatively subjective sliding scale- if elements in the series are present from the beginning but not immediately elaborated on, that's not this trope. Rather, it's the author taking advantage of established series elements for future narrative devices.

* This is one of the common criticisms of TeamFortress2, as best represented by the "Demopan Meme" - a picture of the Demoman wearing a pirate hate with a miniature treasure chest, a shield on one arm, a frying-pan in the other, and wearing StrongBad's sunglasses.

* This is one of the common criticisms of TeamFotress2, as best represented by the "Demopan Meme" - a picture of the Demoman wearing a pirate hate with a miniature treasure chest, a shield on one arm, a frying-pan in the other, and wearing StrongBad's sunglasses.

* This is one of the common criticisms of TeamFotress2, as best represented by the "Demopan Meme" - a picture of the Demoman wearing a pirate hate with a miniature treasure chest, a shield on one arm, a frying-pan in the other, and wearing StrongBad's sunglasses.

* ''{{Roomies}}!'', which was never exactly down-to-Earth and serious to begin with but nevertheless dealt with fairly realistic personal issues, went this route with the introduction of the Aliens. ''{{ItsWalky}}!'' took it even further, with a Godlike robotic force known as the Cheese, inter-dimensional British ninjas, and zombies. ''{{Shortpacked}}!'' is a more textbook example of this trope, which--due to sharing a universe with the first two--never pretended to take place in the real world but was certainly more "cartoony" than its predecessors, which did a fairly good job adding a touch of CerebusSyndrome.