Line #72 BreakingTheFourthWall/Chowder


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6	[[caption-width-right:350:"Look! You've made the viewers ''cry''!"]]
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8	->'''Mung Daal:''' No money means...\
9	''(cut to the show's live-action recording booth)''\
10	'''Creator/DwightSchultz:''' No ''animation''!\
11	'''Creator/TaraStrong:''' What're we gonna do?\
12	'''Creator/JohnDiMaggio:''' Radda radda!\
13	'''Dwight Schultz:''' No, we are ''not'' going home! We've got to save the show!\
14	'''Nicky Jones:''' But where are we gonna get the money to pay for it?
15	-->-- "Shopping Spree"
16
17	It would be an {{Understatement}} to say that ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' completely and utterly '''''[[BreakingTheFourthWall destroyed]]''''' the fourth wall in almost ''every'' episode, so much so that it's like the show denies there's even such a wall to begin with. CH Greenblatt, the creator HIMSELF, has appeared in puppet form. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCH84s0cxug&t=517s At one point, someone complied all of them]] and found that there were around ''twenty-three minutes'' worth of these types of jokes spread throughout the show's entire run (which equals one full episode with two segments)! Such instances include...
18	----
19	* In "The Froggy Crumple Apple Thumpkin," Chowder regurgitates all the food he was sent to pick up and makes a mess. Mung asks Shnitzel to clean it, and Shnitzel removes the entire scene from its frame and shakes the mess out of it, leaving it spotless, before re-attaching the scene. At the end of the episode, Chowder eats the scene before exiting stage left.
20	* In "Chowder's Girlfriend," Chowder orders a wedding cake for Panini. Mung mentions that baking the cake will be a meticulous, time-consuming process while Chowder walks to the side and flips the scene, skipping to when the cake is already made.
21	* In "Grubble Gum," Mung asks for suggestions after he, Chowder, and Shnitzel get stuck together on Grubble Gum. Kiwi, the [[GreekChorus pink monster that occasionally makes comments on a scene]], suggests that they end the show then and there.
22	** When Truffles gets stuck with the gang, her hand gets stuck to the background and she rips off a piece of scenery. The gang tries to exit the kitchen before any more damage is done, but Shnitzel trips and more of the scenery is ripped out.
23	** In Chowder's dream, it is stated that one of the possible side effects of swallowing Grubble Gum is "Mobius loops," an ever-looping band. "Grubble Gum" is an example of a Mobius Loop, an ever-looping episode. This is a very subtle fourth wall break.
24	* Mung tells Shnitzel to cut to the next scene due to Chowder's [[HollywoodToneDeaf horrendous singing]] in "Sing Beans."
25	* In "Mahjongg Night," Chowder attempts to scale down the catering company to apologize to Truffles, but gets attacked by a cloud monster. Chowder reaches the kitchen window, but a gust of wind blows [[ColorFailure the colors out of Truffles, leaving her in black and white]].
26	* In "The Flibber-Flabber Diet," Mung devises a plan and gets an {{Extreme Close Up}}. Mung says, "Get that camera outta my face!"
27	** During the following {{Travel Montage}}, Truffles points out the dots following her and Chowder. Also, Shnitzel accidentally cuts off a corner of the scene before repairing it.
28	** Earlier, while watching Chowder eat Flibber-Flabber straight from the Flibbius-Flabbius plant, [[AsideGlance Mung looks at the audience]] and comments, "This kid is a bottomless pit."
29	* Chowder practices his handwriting in "Gazpacho Stands Up." At one point, he begins scribbling on the screen before Gazpacho tells him to stop. After getting the camera close enough to him, Gazpacho wipes the scribble off the camera. Chowder points out the Creator/CartoonNetwork logo and asks if that can be removed. Gazpacho replies that he tried to remove it, but it doesn't come off. Reruns of the episode after the logo was changed or on Boomerang reveal that the logo seen in the episode is burned-in, making the joke rather awkward.
30	* After a beat-up Mung and Shnitzel beg Chowder to stop sleep-eating in "The Sleep Eater," Truffles offers to help with Chowder's sleep-eating problem. Chowder declines, declaring that she is not in this episode; [[PuffOfLogic Truffles vanishes]] and is never seen for the rest of the episode.
31	* In "The Bruised Bluenana," Chowder explains to Gazpacho what happened in the episode... by commenting on the episode moment by moment. Gazpacho tells Chowder to skip ahead and Chowder fast-forwards into the credits. Gazpacho panics and tells him to rewind to the present.
32	-->'''Gazpacho''': (flustered) STOP! Ah, see that-- Now look what-- You went too far! Now you gotta go back!
33	* In "The Brain Grub", Chowder overdoses on the brain grub and becomes so smart that he notices the existence of the fourth wall... and proceeds to change the show into a [[GenreShift dull]], [[FormulaBreakingEpisode educational]] cooking show. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone After realizing what he has done]], Chowder hammers his brain... [[NiceJobBreakingItHero only to send the gang into a white void with an on-off switch]]. Chowder flips the switch, [[SmashToBlack cutting to black]].
34	** In the same episode, Truffles asks what is taking the order so long, and Mung says that the order takes time. Truffles grumbles, "We've only got eleven minutes," referencing the run-in time of each episode.
35	* In "Shnitzel Quits," Shnitzel decides to work for [[TheRival Endive]]. Panini immediately asks Shnitzel a series of questions about Chowder, one of which is, "What's his favorite cartoon? I bet it's 'Chowder'!"
36	** At one point in the episode, a chained-up Shnitzel falls from a great height, only to stop inches above the ground before impact. [[DescendedCreator A puppet version of C.H. Greenblatt]] takes Shnitzel to a cloud, erases his chains, and draws back his body. While convincing Shnitzel to return to the catering company, C.H. Greenblatt shows a video of himself dropping a massive stick of blutter on Mung and Chowder.
37	* In "The Broken Part," Mung looks for Chowder. At one point, [[ScreenTap he knocks on the screen]] to see if Chowder somehow got out.
38	** In the same episode, Chowder goes through a TrainingMontage with [[LivingStatue Grits]] coaching him. The duo then talks about the montage in the next scene.
39	* In "The Meach Harvest," Chowder and Shnitzel get mauled by meaches. Mung, who was attacked by meaches when he was younger, distracts himself by babbling the theme song.
40	* In "The Apprentice Games," Endive tells Mung, "We heard you in the first part!"
41	* In "The Fire Breather," Mung explains to Chowder why he married Truffles and tells him [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain to never talk about it again]]. He then winks at the camera.
42	** While attempting to speak Spanish, Chowder nervously reads the captions.
43	** When Mung accidentally sets his mustache on fire, Chowder attempts to get his attention, but Mung replies, "Don't interrupt me while I'm monologuing, Chowder."
44	** Shortly after eating the Dancing Diablos, Chowder [[FireBreathingDiner sets Mung and Shnitzel on fire]]. Chowder ends up burning off a part of the scene.
45	** After Chowder accidentally sets the kitchen on fire for being unable to hold back his fire breath, Mung yells at him, saying, "Chowder, look at what you've done! Now the animators are gonna have to draw all this fire!"
46	** While packing, Chowder rips off a part of his room and packs it in his suitcase.
47	** Mung reads Chowder's note but cannot make anything out due to Chowder's horrendous penmanship. He then comments that "It's a good thing I could hear the voiceover."
48	* In "The Hot Date" Chowder [[CallBack recalls when he got a huge brain and changed the show]], referring to "The Brain Grub".
49	* Perhaps the most infamous instance of the fourth wall breaking happens after Mung, Chowder, and Schnitzel run out of money in "Shopping Spree". Mung points out that they don't have any money left for the animation budget...at which point the show [[MediumShiftGag cuts]] to the live-action voice actors of the four main characters--Creator/DwightSchultz, Nicky Jones, Creator/TaraStrong, and Creator/JohnDiMaggio--sitting in the recording studio lamenting the lack of cash. They then decide to hold a car wash to raise the funds they need, and after a minute of live-action footage of the quartet spraying down various vehicles, Schultz/Mung announces that they've "made enough to get the animation back"; the show becomes a cartoon again.
50	* After Chowder creates a {{Temporal Paradox}} in "Won Tom Bombs," the characters all vanish and the background splits, revealing C.H. Greenblatt in a blue wig drawing a picture of Chowder in the studio. He turns, sees the camera, and jumps.
51	** Lo Mein always prefaces his story about Mung's failure with a variation of "featured in entertaining thought bubble form."
52	* In "The Big Hat Biddies," Mung, stressing the importance of the meeting, says, "If mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy," before pointing to the viewers and saying, "Not even YOU!"
53	* In "The Deadly Maze," Chowder's [[TheConscience conscience]] [[TalkingToThemself tells Chowder to save]] Gumbo. Chowder objects by saying that Gumbo will hurt Mung. The conscience replies that he won't pull off his revenge since the episode is not long enough.
54	* In "Kid Shnitzel," Chowder and Shnitzel bond after making a mess with a dish, and the word "friendship" is displayed. Mung walks in and waves the letters away, saying, "Where did all these letters come from?!"
55	** When in the Baby Pound, Shnitzel uses harsh language. In his [[PardonMyKlingon radda's]], anyway. Chowder replies, "All you had to say was 'no.' No need for harsh language. This is a kids' show, yeesh!" He says the last part while [[AsideGlance glancing at the audience]].
56	* In "Gazpacho Fights Back," Rosemary lays multiple eggs. Chowder comments, "I thought this was a kids' show," before covering his eyes with his hat.
57	* In "The BLT's," Mung breaks the classroom door down. He attempts to get the class to evacuate by saying, "Quick! The show's been canceled! I need everyone to get out as soon as possible!"
58	* In "The Trouble with Truffles," Shnitzel, soothed by Truffle's new, sultry voice, finally gains the ability to speak English, saying, "Now the audience can finally understand me!"
59	** In the same episode, Shnitzel complains to Mung about being a rock monster. Mung acknowledges this but says that the episode is not about him.
60	** Truffles cries so loudly part of the background shatters and reveals a white void.
61	** Shnitzel is ordered to clean the catering company. He frantically runs out of the scene and scrubs it with a sponge.
62	* In "Big Ball," Mung tells Chowder, "Get away from the screen. Your giant head is blocking the view."
63	** Mung tells Chowder to warm the bench because it's got a nasty cold. Mung looks at the camera and says, "Don't judge me."
64	** Chowder walks to a panicky Mung to tell him that the bench is warm (read: set on fire). When the camera cuts back to Mung and Chowder, Chowder is only in his underwear; he ate his clothes because he got hungry during the cutaway.
65	** Truffles, while coaching the players of Goulash United, tells them to break... [[LiteralMinded and the players break into pieces]]. Truffles sarcastically remarks, "[[SarcasmMode Yes, that's very funny]]. [[BitingTheHandHumor I hate]] [[SelfDeprecation this show]]..."
66	* In "Endive's Dirty Secret," C.H. Greenblatt states flat-out that he's the creator of Chowder.
67	* In "Paint the Town," Chowder decides to dance out his frustration. It cuts to a live actor dancing a la Music/MichaelJackson while dressed as Chowder.
68	** While dancing, Chowder breaks a hole in his room, revealing a white void.
69	** Chowder misremembers Mung's words, and Mung breaks out of Chowder's {{Imagine Spot}}.
70	* In "The Blackout," Chowder uses Gorgonzola as a light. Gorgonzola storms out, telling Chowder to "leave [him] out of [his] silly cartoons."
71	** Chowder [[ElevatorButtonsMash presses all the buttons in the elevator]]. When he and Gorgonzola reach the basement, the two [[WaitingSkeleton seem to be reduced to skeletons]]. Chowder and Gorgonzola, alive and well, step out of the elevator, and Chowder asks him if they can take the skeletons. Gorgonzola says, "Nah, they were just for a gag."
72	* In "The Chain Recipe," Mung refuses to cook the chain recipe and gets a deep paper cut. Chowder declares that his years of bad luck have begun as the background warps, revealing a white void behind him.
73	** Mung gets a skin rash, and his nose falls off. When Chowder points that out, Mung responds, "[[ImplausibleDeniability Happens every episode]]."
74	** Truffles loses her hair and dress; she points at the audience and says, "Don't you look at me!"
75	** After Chowder says, "If Mung won't cook the chain recipe, then Mung will cook the chain recipe!" [[IdenticalStranger Colonel Chicken]], a Colonel Sanders-esque look-alike of Chowder, tells Chowder that he doesn't understand what he meant. Chowder responds by telling him that he's not supposed to understand until after the wipe (transition).
76	* "The Garden" begins with Mung breaking the fourth wall from the word "go." He tells Chowder, "this is gonna be the best episode ever cause I'm gonna teach you about where food comes from." Later in the same episode, Mung spends most of his time sobbing over losing Chowder as an apprentice. Finally, he snaps out of it, saying, "No! That's enough crying for one episode."
77	* In "The Grape Worm," Chowder prepares to ride the foothills. Jam, the Grape Worm, asks, "Why does the music sound like it's gonna get all energetic?" In the same episode, Jam declares that there is a worm who will appreciate Chowder as much as he has but immediately points out that the background got dark and that there is a see-through copy of himself.
78	* In "Apprentice Appreciation Day," Mung attempts to convince Chowder that he's special by saying that "not everyone has a weird show named after themselves," to which Chowder responds, "Yeah, well that's true. This show is weird."
79	* Near the end of "A Faire to Remember," Chowder says that [[MistakenForCheating Panini misinterpreting Chowder's friendship with Marmalade is a convenient misunderstanding]]. Marmalade adds, "Yeah, it happens every 11 minutes." Panini then takes Chowder away, and Chowder begs for Mung and Truffles to save him even though they never appeared in the episode, as he put it. Finally, Mung and Truffles appear in the episode but can't do anything as they only have the last few seconds of the episode.
80	* In "Tofu Town Showdown," the citizens of Tofu Town sing the Chowder theme song to Shnitzel [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment to punish him for abandoning Tofu Town and getting Shabu Shabu captured]]. Shnitzel does not take it well.
81	* In "Hands on a Big Mixer," Mr. Fugu reveals that Chestnut won the mixing bowl at the end of the episode. Chowder replies, "Man, I hate it when shows have a twist at the end!"
82	* In "The Spookiest House in Marzipan," Chowder hesitates to deliver the sandwiches to the creepy house across the street. Mung scrolls the scene, forcing Chowder to slide closer and closer.
83	** In the same episode, Gazpacho asks Gorgonzola if he is dead, to which Gorgonzola sarcastically replies, "Yes. I'm dead". Gazpacho, sobbing, laments how "[he didn't] really [get] to know [his] character for the show."
84	* In "The Poultry Geist," the gang rides a boat through the Gravy Yard. The C.H. Greenblatt puppet can be briefly seen in the foreground.
85	** At the end of the episode, Mung Daal says, "[[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain Let's never speak of it again]]." Chowder turns to the audience and says, "The End," before getting possessed again.
86	* At the beginning of "The Belgian Waffle Slobber-Barker," Chowder asks Mung why he asks so many questions, to which Mung replies that it is the fastest way to inform the loyal fanbase, the audience, on what wacky recipe the two are cooking. Chowder then greets the audience.
87	** In the same episode, the gang climbs a mysterious ladder. After a cutaway, they come back down the ladder, and Mung says, "Boy, that has to be the craziest episode we ever had!" He does this again later on in the episode. After cooking another Cryberry Pie over the duration of the episode, he set it out to let it cool. After another cutaway, Mung comments once more, "Boy, that has to be the craziest episode we ever had!"
88	* A very subtle one in "A Little Bit of Pizzazz." After a {{Freaky Friday Flip}} involving the gang, Mung (in Chowder's body) reads a recipe book, which is the outline for the episode.
89	* In "The Heist," Endive states that the gang has to pay back all the money for the sugar sapphires. Mung responds, "There won't be any money left in the budget for the third season!" Chowder adds, "I had so many more stories to tell."
90	* In "Old Man Thyme," Chowder unleashes a baby invasion on Old Man Thyme. At one point, the babies attack C.H. Greenblatt.
91	* In "Weekend at Shnitzel's," Chowder gets so bored that he lashes out, saying, "This is boring! You're boring! Your life is boring, and this episode is boring!"
92	* In "Taste Buds," Mung Daal asks the younger audience in a Dora the Explorer-esque fashion who likes food the most. The camera goes to Truffles, Shnitzel, Chestnut, and Chowder, with the audience saying "yes" or "no" to each one.
93	** In the same episode, Mung says he has a picky clientele. Cue a {{Cutaway Gag}} of a [[VisualPun pick unsatisfied]]. Chowder says, "Good one, Bill Reiss." Bill Reiss is the show's creative director.
94	* In "The Toots," Mung tells Chowder that Tootin' Fruit makes bread rise just like yeast. Chowder then asks why they couldn't just use yeast. Mung answers, "Because this is Chowder!"
95	* In "Chowder Grows Up," Mung tells Chowder that he has to grow up. Chowder replies, "But this whole cartoon series is based on me being the apprentice!"
96	** During the musical number, Gorgonzola tells Chowder to stop because he is "getting [his] stinky song all over [him]." Gorgonzola blows Chowder down before asking the audience, "How did I get in this music number, anyway?"

Context BreakingTheFourthWall / Chowder