History Main / OverusedRunningGag

** It also gets referenced in the episode "Behind the Laughter" when it's called a comedy classic, and then deconstructed when we see Homer in rehab with several broken bones.

* ''DrawnTogether'' is yet another example of the "regurgitate the same jokes over and over, then acknowledge how they've stopped being funny and continue using the jokes over and over again" tactic.
* Find a RunningGag ''not'' [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], [[InvertedTrope inverted]], or [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] on PhineasAndFerb.

** It also gets referenced in the episode "Behind The Laughter" when its called a comedy classic, and then deconstructed when we see Homer in rehab with several broken bones.

* Strong Bad apparently got tired of people sending him WebAnimation/{{Strong Bad Email}}s signed "Crapfully yours", "With Crap" and the like as early as the e-mail "3 wishes". Starting with "vacation", he would usually react with a weary sigh whenever he answered an e-mail signed in this fashion, and in "do over" he reads the signature "Crapfully yours" as "[[SarcasmMode Totally not gettin' old]]".

** In the last season or so, Cleveland would get knocked out of his house on a regular basis. It was even used twice after Cleveland left for ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow''. Cleveland eventually lampshades it, saying "I fell out of that house way too many times than could possibly be funny." In fact, that's how Cleveland's first wife died.

* Strong Bad apparently got tired of people sending him WebAnimation/{{Strong Bad Email}}s signed "Crapfully yours", "With Crap" and the like as early as the e-mail "3 wishes". Starting with "vacation", he would usually react with a weary sign whenever he answered an e-mail signed in this fashion, and in "do over" he reads the signature "Crapfully yours" as "[[SarcasmMode Totally not gettin' old]]".

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has two major examples.
** The show had paintball episodes in the first & second seasons. The third season had the characters commenting on how played out paintball was at that point, and everyone agreed they shouldn't have another paintball game... Only for the fourth season to end on another paintball game.
** In the third season, Abed becomes a fan of "Inspector Spacetime" - an in-universe expy of ''Series/DoctorWho''. Subsequently, his love of "Inspector Spacetime" managed to usurp every other pop culture reference Abed would make, and it would play a part in several episodes of the third season. Season 4 took the joke to it's conclusion by featuring the Study Group going to [=InspectiCon=], a fan convention for the show, but only made one other reference to "Inspector Spacetime" over the course of the season.
** Season 5 seems to be making a concerted effort to significantly scale back, if not completely remove, several of the running gags that some fans have gotten tired of. This includes the various "Chang" and "Dean" puns, the ironic usage of Michael Haggins' "Daybreak", and the Dean's flamboyant outfits. The "''Troy and Abed [=something-SOMEthing=]''" jingles have also effectively been ended due to Donald Glover's departure, though variations appeared in each of his last two episodes.

** "No! Sorry! That's ''it'' for the [[GagWords Hawley-Smoot tariff]], you have our word." (''Literature/DaveBarrySleptHere'', which continues to allude to it in three subsequent chapters).

* DaveBarry often has Overused Running Gags in books which aren't merely recycled columns:
** "No! Sorry! That's ''it'' for the [[GagWords Hawley-Smoot tariff]], you have our word." (''Dave Barry Slept Here'', which continues to allude to it in three subsequent chapters).

** Season 5 seems to be making a concerted effort to significantly scale back, if not completely remove, several of the running gags that some fans have gotten tired of. This includes the various "Chang" and "Dean" puns, the ironic usage of Michael Haggins' "Daybreak", and the Dean's flamboyant outfits. The "''Troy and Abed something-SOMEthing''" jingles have also effectively been ended due to Donald Glover's departure, though variations appeared in each of his last two episodes.

** Everything [[WalkingTechbane Spencer]] touches catching on fire.

* In the film TheCourtJester, "Giachomo"'s response to mention of the Italian court, "What better place to court Italians?", eventually becomes this.

* In the film TheCourtJester, 'Iachimo''s response to mention of the Italian court, "What better place to court Italians?", eventually becomes this.

'''Note: This is for {{In-Universe}} examples only. Do not use this trope to [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike Complain About Running Gags You Don't Like]].'''

* [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'s CatchPhrase "Hulk Smash" is so overused in ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' and ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSMASH'' in so many variants that it can be used to sum up about 95% of the dialogues he has. That more or less worked when Hulk was talking in HulkSpeak, but since both of those shows have the character with human-level intelligence and capable of talking perfectly, this can result in his dialogues quickly becoming annoying and/or artificial.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' is especially guilty of this. It started in the first series, when he often didn't get the alien transformation he selected. Okay, makes sense. It was the prototype Omnitrix. By ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'', it tended to happen. Whatever. But by UltimateAlien and Ben10Omniverse? Oh, come on! Drop the joke already! In fact, Ben, himself points this out when he selects an alien, but ends up with the rotund, metallic Clockwork. "Clockwork? This is ridiculous!"

* ''StargateSG1'' had a habit of making WhosOnFirst jokes using the Goa'uld System Lord Yu. When Elizabeth Weir tried to get in on it, she was stopped by Daniel.

** Obviously, ThatTroper Did Not Do The Research!

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When the writers openly acknowledge that a RunningGag has run its due course, even as they are hauling it out again— [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch gain— gain— gain—]] '''[[PercussiveMaintenance *WHACK*]]'''

* ''FamilyGuy''

** In the last season or so, Cleveland would get knocked out of his house on a regular basis. It was even used twice after Cleveland left for ''TheClevelandShow''. Cleveland eventually lampshades it, saying "I fell out of that house way too many times than could possibly be funny." In fact, that's how Cleveland's first wife died.

* In ''TheSimpsons'', the clip where Homer falls down the Springfield Gorge (from the episode "Bart the Daredevil") was referenced several times. In the episode "The Blunder Years", when Homer flashes back to it, Lisa interrupts him, saying "Everyone's sick of that memory."

When the writers openly acknowledge that a RunningGag has run its due course, even as they are hauling it out again— [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch gain— gain— gain—]] '''[[PercussiveMaintenance *WHACK*]]'''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' is especially guilty of this. It started in the first series, when he often didn't get the alien transformation he selected. Okay, makes sense. It was the prototype Omnitrix. By AlienForce, it tended to happen. Whatever. But by UltimateAlien and Ben10Omniverse? Oh, come on! Drop the joke already! In fact, Ben, himself points this out when he selects an alien, but ends up with the rotund, metallic Clockwork. "Clockwork? This is ridiculous!"

* WrestleCrap's induction of a wrestler named Man Mountain Rock featured a picture of said wrestler shrugging with the caption "Yeah, I don't know either dude." After using this picture in 6 straight updates, writer RD Reynolds threatened to end its use. Fan demand brought him into an additional 6 updates and possibly counting.