History Main / TestingTheEditors

* In ''WesternAnimation/AnItchInTime'', Creator/BobClampett intentionally wrote the gag where Elmer's dog drags his butt in pain across the floor, stopping for a moment to mug to the audience [[ADateWithRosiePalms "Hey, I better cut this out, I may get to like it"]] to see if the censors would tell him to change it or remove it. They didn't.

* A variant: Music/VanHalen famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant the venue's inatt(ention had resulted in serious safety issues.

* ''Literature/AtlantaNights'' was an elaborate hoax novel designed to test (and {{troll}}) [=PublishAmerica=], a publishing company notorious for its conspicuously lax standards of quality and persistent denials that they were a [[VanityPublishing vanity publisher]], purporting themselves to have a very thorough screening process that only accepts the highest quality of work. The novel, written by almost forty different authors under the shared pen name [[PunnyName "Travis Tea"]], was made to be [[StylisticSuck an almost completely incomprehensible mess]], with [[RandomEventsPlot a narrative with absolutely zero consistent through-line]] (each chapter was written by one author, and the authors made a vested effort to ''not'' communicate with one another in order to make the story as disjointed as possible), chapters 4 and 17 [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment being completely identical]], having multiple chapter 12's [[UnInstallment while missing chapter 21]], chapter 34 being written by an AI churning out [[WordSaladLyrics total word salad]], on top of the rest of the prose being laughably nonsensical. The transcript was submitted, and despite [=PublishAmerica=]'s claims, they took the bait and accepted it for publication -- it wasn't until the authors publicly revealed their hoax a few months later that [=PublishAmerica=] redacted their offer.

* A variant: Music/VanHalen famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant the venue's inattention had resulted in serious safety issues.

* The original ''Film/GoodWillHunting'' script pitched to studio executives included an out-of-nowhere homoerotic SexScene between two characters who were never identified as gay. When [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]] questioned why it was there, Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/MattDamon answered:

* A variant: Music/VanHalen famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant there were serious safety hazards.

[[AC:Comics]]

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Music]]

* ComicBook/PowerGirl's [[MostCommonSuperpower famous]] [[BoobsOfSteel bust]] became bigger and bigger in comics because one of the artists that pencilled her slowly expanded her breast size to see if any of his editors noticed and called him out for it. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140722211125/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/interviews/3318/jimmy-palmiotti-time-bomb-and-power-girl-the-breast-of-friends/ It took them eight issues to notice]], and by then it was too late to go back.

* In the "Making Of" section to ''Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies'', Creator/{{Don Rosa}} writes that he deliberately includes things for his editor to catch to give him a laugh and make his job more interesting. [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Some of those things managed to slip through]].
* Comicbook/PowerGirl's [[MostCommonSuperpower famous]] [[BoobsOfSteel bust]] became bigger and bigger in comics because one of the artists that pencilled her slowly expanded her breast size to see if any of his editors noticed and called him out for it. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140722211125/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/interviews/3318/jimmy-palmiotti-time-bomb-and-power-girl-the-breast-of-friends/ It took them eight issues to notice]], and by then it was too late to go back.
* As a joke, Dark Horse Comics writer Randy Stradley created a character called Soon Bayts in the ''Star Wars'' comic ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsRepublic Jedi Council: Acts of War]]'' because he knew that editor Sue Rostoni had a habit of going through scripts and changing every Jedi character's name to "Master [Surname]". He was surprised that she missed that one.

* Music/{{Oasis}}' "D'You Know What I Mean" has a [[ProlongedPrologue long opening]] and [[EndingFatigue an extended coda]] leading to a runtime of over 7 minutes, that Noel Gallagher later admitted that he expected requests to cut at least two minutes of the song. [[ProtectionFromEditors Given how high their clout was at the time, no one did so.]]

* In the "Making Of" section to ''Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies'', Creator/{{Don Rosa}} writes that he deliberately includes things for his editor to catch to give him a laugh and make his job more interesting. [[{{Getting Crap Past the Radar}} Some of those things managed to slip through]].

* The original ''Film/{{Good Will Hunting}}'' script pitched to studio executives included an out-of-nowhere homoerotic SexScene between two characters who were never identified as gay. When [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]] questioned why it was there, Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/MattDamon answered:

* A variant: Music/VanHalen famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant there were serious safety hazards.

Compare {{Censor Decoy}}, for when the offending material is included to distract from something the writer actually wants to include.

* Comicbook/{{Power Girl}}'s [[MostCommonSuperpower famous bust]] became bigger and bigger in comics because one of the artists that pencilled her slowly expanded her breast size to see if any of his editors noticed and called him out for it. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140722211125/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/interviews/3318/jimmy-palmiotti-time-bomb-and-power-girl-the-breast-of-friends/ It took them eight issues to notice]], and by then it was too late to go back.

* In ''Hop on Pop'', Creator/{{Dr Seuss}} included a line "When I read I am smart / I always cut whole words apart. / Con Stan Tin O Ple, Tim Buk Too / Con Tra Cep Tive, Kan Ga Roo." to make sure his publisher was actually reading the manuscript. (He was, and the line was changed, as Seuss planned.)

* A variant: Music/{{Van Halen}} famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant there were serious safety hazards.

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* In ''Hop on Pop'', Creator/{{Dr Seuss}} included a line "When I read I am smart / I always cut whole words apart. / Con Stan Tin O Ple, Tim Buk Too / Con Tra Cep Tive, Kan Ga Roo." to make sure his publisher was actually reading the manuscript. (He was, and the line was changed, as Seuss planned)

* A variant: Music/{{Van Halen}} famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant there were serious safety hazards.
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* A variant: Music/{{Van Halen}} famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant there was serious safety hazards.

* A variant: Music/{{Van Halen}} famously included a stipulation, buried halfway through their [[{{Doorstopper}} impressively long]] contract, requiring the band to be provided with a bowl of M&Ms, from which all the brown ones had been removed. This served as a quick way to determine whether the host had actually read the contract. Since the contract was mostly about technical issues to ensure Van Halen's epic concerts could be performed correctly, lack of M&Ms, or the presence of brown M&Ms, inevitably meant there was serious safety hazards.

Sometimes, a writer ''doesn't'' want {{protection from editors}}. Perhaps they have enough self-awareness of realise that they are as capable of bad writing as anyone else. Or maybe they just see the value in their work being appraised by a fresh set of eyes. Either way, they view the editor's role as a valuable and worthwhile one. But how to be sure the editor is doing their job?