History Main / OrphanedSetup

* Layer 955 of ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'' leads with Dr. Balmer telling a joke to Staphelia. He gets as far as "So I said to the imbecile, 'We don't even serve sausage so do take your hands off my" before being interrupted by Neckslob freaking out due to [[spoiler:Fern having had her core transferred into it.]]

* ''Series/FraggleRock'': In one episode, it's Joke Day, when the Fraggles wear silly costumes and tell jokes. A RunningGag has Wembley forgetting the punchline to his joke: "Why did the radish kiss the banana?" Subverted when he finally remembers at the end of the episode: "Because it had appeal! Get it? [[{{Pun}} A PEEL]]!"

* ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'' once had the jester start a "cute ethnic joke." First he asks whether there are any Burgundians in the audience - "no use offending any sensibilities." Hearing no answers, he starts his joke. "Everyone knows how slow Burgundians are, right? Okay, so there's a Burgundian who wants to peel a fig..." He gets a few lines into the setup, but is interrupted by an audience member: "Hey, wait a minute...''I'm'' a Burgundian!"

* In ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', Bender tells a long complicated joke [[spoiler:to himself while crawling through an air duct,]] but then [[spoiler:falls through the ceiling]] before he can finish. - No real-life punchline, Creator/JuddNelson ad-libbed the setup. That hasn't stopped [[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1nq9ey/can_someone_finish_the_unfinished_joke_from_the/ some people from making up their own punchlines.]]

'''Pierce''': An Irish and a Jew walk into a Chinese laundry. With a gay duck.\\

'''Pierce''': So you're telling me they're ''not'' good at basketball?\\

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', to explain away Creator/AlysonHannigan's maternity leave, the show has Barney tell Lily a "hilarious boy joke" that causes her to shun Barney (and the cameras) for several weeks. The setup is, "What's the difference between peanut butter and jam?" Future Ted does not reveal the punchline of this joke to his kids (or the audience) but [[spoiler: it's a real joke with a punchline along the lines of "I can't 'peanut butter' my dick up a girl's ass."]]

-->'''Cleese''': Have you ever heard the one about the two beautiful blondes who were on their way to a nudist camp? One of the blondes suddenly noticed that-- ''[audio cuts out for several seconds]'' --Well, I didn't know that he played the violin.

--> '''Abderite''': How many children do you have?
--> '''Eunuch''': None, I'm a eunuch!

* In ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'', you have to distract [[spoiler: the BigBad]] by telling him [[ComedyAsAWeapon "the Ultimate Joke"]], which is funny enough to incapacitate anyone with helpless laughter the first time they hear it. The player learns nothing except that it's "the one about the wizard and the [[FarmersDaughter farmer's daughter]]".

** In "Black Widower", while filming Selma and Sideshow Bob's wedding, Marge asks Krusty to tell a joke, and he begins, "A man walks into a bar with a small piano, and a twelve inch pianist— whooaaa hooaaa— I can't tell that one!" (This is a well-known joke involving a genie with poor hearing and a pun on the word pianist.)

[[quoteright:339:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/orphhaned_setup.png]]

[[folder:Comic Book]]

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/CannibalTheMusical'' has the town's drunken sheriff say "YouKnowWhatTheySay about sunrise?" After a long, pregnant pause, he simply walks off without making his point. The actor was apparently drunk and forgot his lines, but Trey Parker thought it was funnier than the actual line.

* A RunningGag in ''Literature/TheDwarves'', a fantasy series about dwarves (by Creator/MarkusHeitz) is the joke about [[ArchEnemy the orc asking a dwarf for the way]]. It never got resolved.
* ''Literature/IJedi'': Wedge's joke, "So a Bothan walks into a bar with a gornt under his arm," [[JustifiedTrope because Luke's using the joke as a distraction to put Corran in a meditative trance for a mind probe]]. {{Lampshaded}} later by Corran's friend Iella, who's apparently heard several variations on that joke in New Republic Intelligence (given their [[PlanetOfHats penchant for espionage]], NRI has more than its share of Bothans), but naturally doesn't tell us any of them.

* In ''Series/NewsRadio'', Bill runs a knock-knock joke by Dave.
-->'''Bill:''' Knock-knock!\\
'''Dave:''' Who's there?\\
'''Bill:''' Bill.\\
'''Dave:''' Bill who?\\
'''Bill:''' That's all I've got so far.
* On ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', [[TheDitz Ted]] also starts working on a knock-knock joke, and runs it past Murray before he has a punchline. The payoff then leaves this trope: Ted not only comes up with a punchline--very unlikely given the setup is "Anna Maria Alberghetti"--but the punchline is ''actually funny''. (Assuming you've heard the old pop/jazz standard it references, which the characters then sing.)

* In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E2TheNakedNow The Naked Now]]" episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Data is cut off before he can finish a limerick about a woman from Venus.
* On ''Series/{{QI}}'' mention was made of an ancient Greek joke (#114 in the ''Literature/{{Philogelos}}'') that was orphaned in this fashion, involving a eunuch and an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdera,_Thrace Abderite]]:
--> '''Abderite''': How many children do you have?
--> '''Eunuch''': None, I'm a eunuch!
** For a punchline, Clive Anderson suggested: "How many grandchildren, then?"

* A sketch in ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'' has Stephen Fry try to tell a joke to his girlfriend, but keeps getting interrupted before he can tell the punchline.
* In ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
-->'''Col. Blake:''' There was a young lady from Kent, who took off her...
-->'''Hawkeye:''' Steady, Henry.

* ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'': Mr Spooner tries to tell a limerick that starts "There once was a girl from Prestatyn / Who said 'look here, I couldn't put that in'". He is cut off by the seniors but explains that she's packing her suitcase for the nunnery.
* Creator/DavidLetterman did something along these lines when he gave a list of the top ten UsefulNotes/BillClinton jokes. He never actually got to the punchline, he just would trail off and look at the audience, who could figure it out for themselves and were hysterical by that point.
* An early episode of ''Series/MadamSecretary'' has Liz's theologian husband Henry repeatedly testing out a joke he was going to tell at a convention that begins, "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas Thomas Aquinas]] walks into a bar." He's interrupted the first time; the second time it cuts away to Liz busting out laughing on the other end of the phone line.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has the famous RunningGag of Tyrion trying to tell a story about [[NoodleIncident what happened when he took a honeycomb and a donkey into a brothel]], only to get interrupted. Fans have wracked their minds trying to finish the joke, [[https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a6VDq3A_700bwp.webp and some have come with pretty good answers]] (NSFW). The final episode acts like it's going to finally reveal the punchline in Tyrion's last scene... and then [[TrollingCreator abruptly cuts away mid-sentence, just as he's starting the story]].

* In one episode of ''Series/TheCharmings'', the family is hosting a Halloween party. When a giant shows up (long story), Prince Charming and Snow White go off to handle the situation, leaving Luther in charge.
-->'''Luther:''' What should I do?\\
'''Prince Charming:''' Tell them a ghost story.\\
'''Luther:''' ''(to kids)'' OK, two ghosts walk into a bar...

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]
* ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'' once had the jester start a "cute ethnic joke." First he asks whether there are any Burgundians in the audience - "no use offending any sensibilities." Hearing no answers, he starts his joke. "Everyone knows how slow Burgundians are, right? Okay, so there's a Burgundian who wants to peel a fig..." He gets a few lines into the setup, but is interrupted by an audience member: "Hey, wait a minute...''I'm'' a Burgundian!"
* ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' has a RunningGag where the characters will [[OverlyPrepreparedGag spend the whole strip to build up to a pun]], then in the last panel Rat will give a LamePunReaction to [[NoFourthWall author Stephen Pastis]]. On one occasion we got the first panel of a pun strip, then Rat [[RageAgainstTheAuthor went and clobbered Pastis with a baseball bat]].
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', Snoopy as the flying ace starts to tell Marcie the story of the ten nurses, the four pilots, the case of root beer and the barbed wire, but laughs uncontrollably just after he starts the joke.
-->'''Snoopy:''' Well, there were these ten nurses, see… HA HA HA HA HA! Hee hee hee hee hee. ''[Marcie dumps her root beer on him]'' I didn't realize that her father owned a barbed wire store.
* One strip of ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' began with a bird telling Garfield to stop him if he'd heard the joke already, then proceed to begin his joke: "An ostrich walks up to a farmhouse with a monkey under its wing..." Garfield promptly eats the bird.
--> '''Garfield:''' Heard it.
[[/folder]]

* ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' once did a skit about an audition for comedic "straight men", with one setup line after another being delivered in rapid-fire fashion. Finally one guy blurts out a punch line by mistake ("Okay, you're a cab"), prompting the derision of everyone else in the room.
* During the usual TakeThat against pianist Colin Sell in an introduction to "One Song to the Tune of Another" on an episode of ''Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue'', Humph read out "Even after all these years, the sound of Colin's playing still makes me want to clap"; this alone was enough to get laughter and a round of applause from the audience, and he decided not to bother with the punchline.[[note]]It wasn't until the episode was released as part of the "Live" CD range that the punchline was revealed as part of the retakes between shows: "Both hands over both ears!"[[/note]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* In ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'', you have to distract [[spoiler: the BigBad]] by telling him [[ComedyAsAWeapon "the Ultimate Joke"]], which is funny enough to incapacitate anyone with helpless laughter the first time they hear it. The player learns nothing except that it's "the one about the wizard and the [[FarmersDaughter farmer's daughter]]".

* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 4'' has a mission where, if you take a certain lancemate, he starts telling you a joke until cut off by another person reminding him radio silence is required for this part of the mission. After the need passes, the guy decides not to finish it. The part he does manage to say sounds like a variation of the classic "a man enters a bar with weird companions he got due to receiving ThreeWishes from a LiteralGenie".

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* An early episode of ''AudioPlay/LeDonjonDeNaheulbeuk'' has the Enchantress mention "the joke about the drunk orc" to the Dwarf, only to get interrupted. The joke appears in full in the comic book version, told by a drunk orc to another.
* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'':
** A common joke is for an UnfortunateImplications situation where the obvious punchline involves racism or prejudice where Fred is interrupted by a big [JOKE ABORTED] klaxon.
** A [[TheMerch JDG doll]] (supposedly the reason the show even exists) is shown to not do much except speak random messages like "look both ways before crossing the street!". Then as Fred wonders why it never sold, it starts saying "So a black guy, an Arab and a communist-" and Fred hurriedly throws the doll away.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' uses this to to begin his famous opera opener, "There once was a man from Nantucket..." Cue the crowd gasping before he can say a bad word.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' has an episode where Grandpa tries to explain an event that had happened to him 15 years prior, during a bowling competition. He gets interrupted so many times that, at the end of the episode, when they're ''finally'' willing to hear his story, he no longer has the motivation to do so.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "A Pest in the House", WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck bursts in on a sleeping hotel guest to tell him a joke he just heard, which takes too long because he's laughing so hard. During the set-up, the guest goes down to the lobby to punch manager Elmer Fudd in the face (a RunningGag throughout the cartoon), then comes back to the room just as Daffy is getting to the punch line... which he's forgotten.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', Marlin, because he's a clownfish, is often being asked to tell a joke. He tries, but he keeps getting the set-up wrong and has to backtrack, never getting to the punchline. In the end he finally gets the joke right, but that time [[OrphanedPunchline we only hear the punchline]] ("With fronds like these, who needs anemones?")
* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!" Candace is practicing talking on the phone before she can call Jeremy for real and tries telling a joke to break the ice ("What do you get when you cross a yak with a Martian?"), but Linda interrupts her before she can finish.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' movie, Irwin is forced to live out his worst nightmare: having to perform stand-up in a room full of bears. He starts with, "So a bear and a rabbit are pooping in the woods..." before the bears jump on stage and maul him.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', to explain away Alyson Hannigan's maternity leave, the show has Barney tell Lily a "hilarious boy joke" that causes her to shun Barney (and the cameras) for several weeks. The setup is, "What's the difference between peanut butter and jam?" Future Ted does not reveal the punchline of this joke to his kids (or the audience) but [[spoiler: it's a real joke with a punchline along the lines of "I can't peanut butter my dick up her ass."]]

** In the "Treehouse Of Horror" segment "Survival Of The Fattest", [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame Mr. Burns is hunting some of Springfield's men]]. As Burns shoots Krusty, Krusty tries to tell a joke, saying "Dying is like golf, except in golf-" [[KilledMidSentence when he's shot some more]].

** While filming Selma and Sideshow Bob's wedding, Marge asks Krusty to tell a joke, and he begins, "A man walks into a bar with a small piano, and a twelve inch pianist— whooaaa hooaaa— I can't tell that one!" (This is a well-known joke involving a genie with poor hearing and a pun on the word pianist.)

** In another episode, Bart starts telling Lisa about something he told Mabel when he's interrupted by Homer. As Homer leaves, Bart starts telling the story again before the scene switches.

* On ''Series/{{QI}}'' mention was made of an ancient Greek joke (#114 in the ''Literature/{{Philogelos}}'') that was orphaned in this fashion, involving a eunuch and an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdera,_Thrace Abderite]], the [[AcceptableEthnicTargets Acceptable Target]] of the day:

--> What has three legs, a tail and drinks martinis from a mug?

* ''Blabber Mouth'' by Morris Gleitzman briefly mentions a joke about an octopus and a combine harvester, [[TakeOurWordForIt which is apparently only funny if you tell it in sign language]].

* Subverted at the end of one chapter of ''ComicBook/TheDemon'', where we hear the setup (two HillbillyHalfwits each buy a horse and try to find ways to tell them apart, but their manes, tails etc. were already cut), but when {{ComicBook/Etrigan}} asks for the punchline, it isn't shown to the reader. It is revealed at the end of a later chapter when a FourthWall-breaking imp asks him for it ([[spoiler:they take the horses to a vet, who tells them the black one is slightly bigger than the white one]]).

* On ''Series/{{QI}}'' mention was made of an ancient Greek joke (#114 in the Philogelos) that was orphaned in this fashion, involving a eunuch and an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdera,_Thrace Abderite]], the [[AcceptableEthnicTargets Acceptable Target]] of the day:

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Dumbledore starts to tell a joke about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar, but [=McGonagall=] convinces him not to finish it. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' a joke about "the hag, the healer and the Mimbulus Mimbletonia" is mentioned.
** There's also Uncle Vernon's "Japanese golfer joke," which was orphaned for good reason, as the joke he's talking about is possibly one that's NotSafeForWork. (Which makes you wonder why Vernon was actually telling it to his ''boss''...) In the book, we only read Vernon saying "You ruined the punchline of my Japanese golfer joke" but in the film we also hear some of the setup.

[[folder:LiveActionTelevision]]

-->'''Bill:''' Knock-knock!
-->'''Dave:''' Who's there?
-->'''Bill:''' Bill.
-->'''Dave:''' Bill who?
-->'''Bill:''' That's all I've got so far.

* ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'': The famous "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is never given an answer (a common answer is "Poe wrote on both of them").

** There's also Uncle Vernon's "Japanese golfer joke," which was orphaned for good reason, as the joke he's talking about is possibly one that's NotSafeForWork. (Which makes you wonder why Vernon was actually telling it to his ''boss''...) In the book, we only read Vernon saying "You ruined my Japanese golfer joke" but in the film we also hear some of the setup.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', to explain away Alyson Hannigan's maternity leave, the show has Barney tell Lily a "hilarious boy joke", i.e. a dirty joke, that causes her to shun Barney for several weeks. The setup is, "What's the difference between peanut butter and jam?" It's a real joke with a punchline far too risqué for network television: "I can't peanut butter my dick up her ass."

* A RunningGag in the fantasy series about dwarves (by Markus Heitz) is the joke about [[ArchEnemy the orc asking a dwarf for the way]]. It never got resolved.

* Before his time on ''Monty Python'', Creator/JohnCleese had a special called ''How to Irritate People'', known most famously for the airline sketch, but before that, he tells the following joke, adding in an OrphanedPunchline for good measure.
-->'''Cleese''': Have you ever heard the one about the two beautiful blondes who were on their way to a nudist camp? One of the blondes suddenly noticed that-- ''[audio cuts out for several seconds]'' --while I didn't know that he played the violin.

The InvertedTrope of OrphanedPunchline. Often a form of GettingCrapPastTheRadar.