History Main / ScrewTheElectricBill

* Justified and lampshaded in ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestSpaceQuestVIRogerWilcoInTheSpinalFrontier''. Examining one of the activated lamps in the laboratory will have the narrator comment that the light has a motion detector that automatically turns on when someone enters the room, implying that it turns off when we don't see it. He then adds that it was also cheaper to animate that way.

->"No, we don't have the lights on because it's dark. We have them on because the power company needs the money."\\
Unknown Movie Quote

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' routinely displays the entire city lit up despite only having a few hundred people on it, and despite the fact that looking for new ZPM's to power the city is a regular plot driver. It may simply be a scale thing, though. Each ZPM has enough power to open a wormhole to ''another galaxy,'' and they have Naquadah reactors with them (which are basically enhanced miniature nuclear reactors). It may just be that turning off the ''lights'' to conserve energy for whichever critical system keep draining these would be like turning off a faucet to save the water you need to keep Niagara falls thundering...

* ''WesternAnimation/MissionMagic'': Baron Borealis, Count Celestra, and Madam Marquee are three rivals in "The Land of Lights," who continually vie to create the brightest light display, in order to become that land's ruler.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': "Electric bills are for squares! Like pants!"

Furthermore, these sets will typically feature numerous practical lights (table/floor lamps, sconces, etc). No matter how many such lamps are present, every last one will be burning, day or night. This could be seen as perhaps an attempt to justify the amount of illumination the studio lights are pumping out.

* A ''TwoAndAHalfMen'' episode restored some comedy after a dramatic scene: Charlie, exhausted from the drama, turns out the light and climbs up to bed. Then, the camera pans to reveal the rest of the family, still at the dinner table, wondering what just happened.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the ChristmasEpisode variety in "How Lily Stole Christmas." After seeing Lily's "winter wonderland" decorations, Marshal first says how amazing the are followed by "And thank God we don't pay for utilities."

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* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in Series/MarriedWithChildren when Al asked his family why they need to have all the lights on.

* In {{Christmas Episode}}s of ''Series//HomeImprovement'', Tim is always shown to be competing to have the best light display in the neighborhood. This usually results in him using so many lights that his house becomes a navigation hazard to passing airplanes. And while his wife may sometimes criticize him about getting overzealous, the electric bill is never brought up. (Then again, [[FriendsRentControl the writers glossed over a lot of other questions about money]], so at least they're being consistent.)

* [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents "Electric bills are for squares! Like pants!"]]

* [[TheFairlyOddparents "Electric bills are for squares! Like pants!"]]

* In {{Christmas Episode}}s of ''Series//HomeImprovement'', Tim is always shown to be competing to have the best light display in the neighborhood. This usually results in him using so many lights that his house becomes a navigation hazard to passing airplanes. And while his wife may sometimes criticize him about getting overzealous, the electric bill is never brought up.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in an episode of ''{{Friends}}'', after Joey sees how big the electric is, he quickly turns off the lights.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in MarriedWithChildren when Al asked his family why they need to have all the lights on.
* TheBigBangTheory used this in much the same way as the TwoAndAHalfMen reference above. Penny is forced to sleep on Leonard and Sheldon's couch for the night and they all go off to sleep, turning out the lights. Cue the camera panning over to Raj who is left standing bewildered in the darkened kitchen holding a sandwich.
* In {{Christmas Episode}}s of ''Television/HomeImprovement'', Tim is always shown to be competing to have the best light display in the neighborhood. This usually results in him using so many lights that his house becomes a navigation hazard to passing airplanes. And while his wife may sometimes criticize him about getting overzealous, the electric bill is never brought up.

* HowIMetYourMother [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in the ChristmasEpisode variety in "How Lily Stole Christmas." After seeing Lily's "winter wonderland" decorations, Marshal first says how amazing the are followed by "And thank God we don't pay for utilities."

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' routinely displays the entire city lit up despite only having a few hundred people on it, and that they are constantly looking for new ZPM's to power the city. Although it may simply be a scale thing: they have Naquadah reactors with them (which are basically enhanced miniature nuclear reactors), and each ZPM has enough power to open a wormhole to ''another galaxy'', so it may just be that turning off the lights to save energy for the shields and engines would be like turning off a faucet to save the water you need to keep Niagara falls thundering...

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' routinely displays the entire city lit up despite only having a few hundred people on it, and that they are constantly looking for new ZPM's to power the city. Although it may simply be a scale thing : they have Naquadah reactors with them (which are basically enhanced miniature nuclear reactors), and each ZPM is stated to have enough power to open a wormhole to ''another galaxy'', so, maybe they just have enough energy to afford not turning the lights off.

* ''StargateAtlantis'' routinely displays the entire city lit up despite only having a few hundred people on it, and that they are constantly looking for new ZPM's to power the city. Although it may simply be a scale thing : they have Naquadah reactors with them (which are basically enhanced miniature nuclear reactors), and each ZPM is stated to have enough power to open a wormhole to ''another galaxy'', so, maybe they just have enough energy to afford not turning the lights off.

* ''StargateAtlantis'' routinely displays the entire city lit up despite only having a few hundred people on it, and that they are constantly looking for new ZPM's to power the city.
** Possibly justified by the Atlantis team bringing Naquadah reactors with them, and eventually having intergalactic starships, so they could just be flying in more Naquadah from home.

One of the few times this trope gets a mention is the ChristmasEpisode, where there are so many more lights than usual that someone will feel the need to, er... hang a lampshade.[[hottip:*:[[IncrediblyLamePun Sorry...]]