Line #88 Main/FormatSpecificJoke


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ScottPilgrim https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ew8q5pxwyaqo7wb.png]]]]
5
6	The makers of a work decide to add a joke specific to the format it will initially be displayed in, usually a movie theatre or broadcast on TV. All meaning to the joke is lost when the work is released on Blu-ray or DVD.
7
8	Possibilities include:
9	* 3D-dependent elements in a Platform/ThreeDMovie which are lost in 2D
10	* A TV show makes jokes about a commercial break is shown on DVD
11	* A TV show makes jokes about the ads which run at the bottom of the screen during a show
12	* A TV show interacts with or makes mention of the network's logo bug floating in the corner of the screen
13	* A movie that directly mentions the audience in a movie theater is shown on DVD
14
15	This is not limited to movies. Early music albums which were recorded for distribution on vinyl records generally contained tons of these, generally involving the needle running off the track at the end of the record, or the need to flip the record to its B side. While the mentions of flipping were still relevant on cassette tapes, they didn't make any sense when the albums were distributed on CD.
16
17	Supertrope of BornInTheTheatre.
18	----
19	!!Examples
20
21	[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/CipherAcademy'': In a two-page panel in Chapter 18, Anonymity (who has a tendency for [[MetaGuy fourth-wall breaking gags]]) is leaning on the stitch between the pages. The gag only makes sense if you're reading the manga in its paper edition; in the digital version, it just looks like Anonymity is holding her hands in mid-air for no reason.
23
24	[[AC:Comic Books]]
25	* A minor joke in ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' has Scott ask Ramona Flowers if her hair is her natural color, to which she gives a noncommittal response. As a caption notes, the book was originally printed in black-and-white. For the color re-release, where Ramona's hair is clearly blue, her answer remains the same; however, she's visibly confused, and the caption is changed to explain that the joke was funnier in black-and-white.
26	* One joke in ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' has Mark meeting an artist for his favor comic book. Mark asks how he can draw a whole issue every month, but the artist admits he makes deadlines by reusing art in multiple panels. [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall There are a series of identical]] {{Beat Panel}}s before [[SelfDeprecation Mark responds with disappointment]].\
27	[[WesternAnimation/Invincible2021 The animated series]] takes considerably pains to adapt the joke appropriately and makes it more elaborate: Mark brings up the comic's TV adaptations and questions why (like ''Invincible'' itself) it had such a long break between seasons. The artist replies that animation is a very slow process, which necessitates [[LimitedAnimation cost-saving techniques]] (specifically FilmingForEasyDub, slowly panning static background to appear more dynamic, and making freeze-frames so detailed they end up looking out of place) as they occur to the viewer.
28
29	[[AC:Comic Strips]]
30	* One ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' comic has Garfield bemoaning a boring day until he gets the newspaper and realizes it's Sunday. The comic is printed entirely in black and white except for the newspaper and the last panel, which reflects how newspapers tend to run weekday strips in monochrome and Sunday strips in color. However, if you read this in certain paperback ''Garfield'' collections that aren't printed with color, the last panel is still uncolored, and the intended joke is lost. The same thing happens vice versa if you read it online or in a collection where ''all'' of the strips are in color.
31
32	[[AC:Films -- Animated]]
33	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForceColonMovieFilmForTheaters'': The movie begins with a parody of theater promos about the refreshment stall and theater etiquette.
34	* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' features a Barbie doll saying goodbye to people as they leave the theater. Doesn't really work on DVD or TV.
35	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'':
36	** The opening mocks viewers for going to the cinema to watch cartoons when they could watch them for free on television at home. Also, as in the TV show, for the opening title a choir sings "The Simpsons...", but this time Professor Frink adds "movie...on the big screen!". For the DVD release, Frink introduces the DVD ''menu'' in the same way, except that he says "small screen", but he still says "big screen" in the movie itself.
37	** As Homer and Bart are playing in the yard, a news banner rolls across the bottom of the screen displaying the message, "That's right, we even advertise shows during movies now". The implication is that the advertisement is being done live, but the joke is lost with anything other than a live viewing.
38	* The last gag in ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' has the moon suddenly start laughing with the Genie's face, then for Genie to [[BornInTheTheatre push back the film reel]] and announce "Made you look!" The gag was meant to psych out audience members who started leaving early because they thought the movie was over, only to look back when something else starts going on. Nowadays in home viewings the reason for the gag is much less clear.
39	* The WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse short ''WesternAnimation/GetAHorse'' had the characters coming through the movie screen and into the theater. When watching it elsewhere, the effect is somewhat less engaging.
40	* TheStinger of ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}'' has Terry telling the audience to go home now that the movie has ended. The film was originally meant to be released in theaters, but it was instead released on Creator/DisneyPlus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, meaning most of the audience was already watching it at home. With the film being reissued in theaters in 2024, the gag finally makes sense in that context.
41
42	[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
43	* ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'' had the foresight to change a theatre-specific gag for the VHS release -- instead of the Gremlins invading the theatre's projection room and being stopped by Wrestling/HulkHogan, they break the VHS tape and mess around with the viewer's TV, being stopped by Creator/JohnWayne. For the DVD and Blu-ray releases, the original Hulk Hogan scene is used, but the alternate VHS scene is available as a bonus feature. The {{novelization}} adapts the scene in a different way, by having the Brain Gremlin lock the author in a closet and write a monologue about himself.
44	* ''Film/TropicThunder'' begins with fake movie trailers. These might possibly make sense on DVD, but it also begins with a fake movie theater candy commercial.
45	* The original ending to ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' has a laughing Audrey II breaking through the movie screen.
46	* ''{{Film/Bean}}:'' ends with an after-the-credits gag of Mr. Bean sitting in a cinema, saying that he stays after the credits as well.
47	* TheStinger of ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' consists of Ferris asking the audience why they're still in the theater, telling them to go home. Wrestling/CMPunk's Blu-ray/DVD, "CM Punk: Best in the World", along with ''Film/Deadpool2016''[[note]]Despite the [[NoFourthWall obvious problem]], the dialogue wasn't re-recorded for the Blu-Ray and DVD release, nor on Creator/DisneyPlus when it was finally added in 2023.[[/note]] also end this way, presumably as {{Shout Out}}s.
48	* In ''Film/FatAlbert'', the characters tell the audience to sit back down as the movie isn't over yet. However, they're clearly addressing a film audience, calling out "you in the back", so it doesn't have the same effect if watched on DVD.
49	* In the middle of ''Film/WillSuccessSpoilRockHunter'', Tony Randall comes on screen out of character and compares film's big screen to the tiny TV screen.
50	-->Ladies and gentlemen, this break in our motion picture is made out of respect for the TV fans in our audience, who are accustomed to constant interruptions in their programs for messages from sponsors. We want all you TV fans to feel at home, and not forget the thrill you get, watching television on your big, 21-inch screens.
51	* ''Film/SpyKids'':
52	** In ''Film/SpyKids3DGameOver'', there are a lot of [[PaddleBallShot scenes specifically made in such a way to showcase the 3D effect as forcefully as possible]]. While this works if you're in a 3D theater, watching this movie in 2D shows very clearly just how forced such moments are.
53	** ''Film/SpyKidsAllTheTimeInTheWorld'' has scenes in which the audience is supposed to use their Aroma-scope card to smell what's happening. Each card had eight smells, and on-screen annotations told the audience when to scratch each one.
54	* The DVD for ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' starts with the opening credits to ''Dentist on the Job'', which run for a couple minutes before the projectionist realizes his mistake and switches out the reels. Obviously, this falls a bit flat outside a theater.
55
56	[[AC:Jokes]]
57	* Many, many jokes involving [[{{Pun}} wordplay]] only work when written down and not when spoken aloud, or vice-versa.
58	** [[ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld There are 10 kinds of people in the world]]: those who understand binary and those who don't. In this context 10 is pronounced "one zero" instead of "ten" so it ruins the joke if you say it aloud.
59	** One that doesn't work in print: What's the difference between 'illegal' and 'unlawful'? 'Unlawful' means 'against the law'. 'Illegal' is a sick bird ('ill eagle').
60
61	[[AC:Literature]]
62	* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' features the famous line "The spaceships hung in the sky in exactly the way that bricks don't". The film adaptation, using visuals rather than narrative description, simply depicts brick-shaped starships... and the LemonyNarrator element of the humour is absent.
63	* Film adaptations of Creator/TerryPratchett's novels are unable to indulge in his famous FootnoteFever. (Some stage adaptations get round this by featuring "The Footnote" as a character.)
64	** Invoked by Pratchett himself in ''{{Literature/Mort}}'', when he tries to use a TwistedEchoCut in prose, then has to [[DontExplainTheJoke explain it]] in a footnote:
65	--->"You're a wizard. I think there's something you ought to know," said the princess.
66	--->'''THERE IS?''' said Death.*
67	--->* That was a cinematic trick adapted for print. Death wasn't talking to the princess. He was actually in his study, talking to Mort. But it was quite effective, wasn't it?
68
69	[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
70	* An episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' about a plague of cockroaches threw in a gag where a roach appears to run across the TV screen on which the program is being viewed. Watching this episode on a large television detracts from this effect, because the roach looks so big that it'd be too heavy to scamper across a vertical surface.
71	* In one of ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'''s AprilFoolsDay "spot the mistakes" episodes, one of the mistakes is the ABC logo bug floating away from where it's supposed to be (in the corner of the screen) and Lewis catches it & puts it back in its proper location. In syndication (and presumably on DVD release if there is one) the ABC bug is replaced by a balloon, but it makes no sense for a balloon to be there.
72	* The ''Series/Dimension404'' episode "Matchmaker" features ads for a fictional matchmaking website that are meant to resemble the ads that accompany Hulu videos.
73	* The first section of the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode [[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E08TheIllusionOfTruth "The Illusion of Truth"]] features an ISN crew filming a story on board the station. As Sheridan turns on the screen to watch the show when it airs, he comments, "It'll probably be a commercial". The episode's original airing [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall cut to an actual commercial break]] at this point. The gag extended to including an in-universe commercial for the Psi Corps at the start of the next segment (so it would follow the actual adverts), so when viewing the episode in a format where you don't get ad-breaks, you do still get the joke...
74
75	[[AC:Music]]
76	* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra's hit song "Mr. Blue Sky" ends with someone saying "Please turn me over," into a vocoder. This is because, on the original double-LP ''Out of the Blue'', "Mr. Blue Sky" was the last song on side C--so there were still four more songs to hear on the last side. (As a result of this, the vocoded speech is frequently misinterpreted as someone saying the title of the song.)
77	* Music/HappyMondays: The US release of ''Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches'' has the message "CALL THE COPS" laser-etched in the CD matrix (the little ring around the disc hub usually containing catalog information for the label and/or manufacturing plant). The Disctronics US CD, meanwhile, instead reads "HAPPY MONDAYS." These messages are not present on LP or cassette copies, and the trick is obviously impossible to achieve with a digital download or streaming release.
78	* [[Music/TheRutles Neil Innes]] on Music/TheBonzoDogBand's ''Gorilla'' album opens a track with the line "Good to see you, happy you could stick around!" This is puzzling to people who buy the CD, but in the original format it was on the start of Side Two, where you physically had to lift the playing arm, flip the record over, and re-start on the other side.
79	* CD pressings ([[TechnologyMarchesOn and digital releases]]) of Music/TomPetty's fourth album, ''Full Moon Fever'', contain a hidden track inserted about midway through the album, consisting of Petty giving a brief monologue while his bandmates make animal noises in the background.
80	--> Hello, CD listeners. We've come to the point in this album where those listening on cassette or records will have to stand up--or sit down--and turn over the record or tape. In fairness to those listeners, we will now take a few seconds before we begin Side Two. ''[{{beat}}]'' Thank you. Here's Side Two.
81	* The song "Let's Talk About Sex" by Music/SaltNPepa tells people who don't want to hear the song (due to the topic) to "pick up the needle, press pause, or turn the radio off." While one can still press pause on a streaming song or turn the radio off, hardly anyone is going to pick up a record needle.
82	* The CD release of Music/TalkTalk's ''Music/SpiritOfEden'' contains a 30-second {{beat}} at the end of "Desire" that isn't present on LP or cassette copies, simply to mimic the brief silence required when switching sides on those formats.
83
84	[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
85	* When ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram'' moved to TV they realized that some of their most beloved running gags couldn't be replicated in a visual medium so they had to be abandoned: namely, Jack's underground bunker/safe and the polar bear guarding it, and Jack's very old car.
86	* The LP version of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978'' carried the scene where one cast member, whose identity shall not be disclosed because revealing it here would only hold up the story, bruises their upper arm in a tense stand-off with guided nuclear missiles. The run-out groove at the end of the side tells you the bruised crewmember was Arthur Dent.
87	** The original radio and LP versions featured multiple jokes based on the lack of visuals, mostly based around withholding information from the viewers that was obvious to the characters. Zaphod's multiple heads and arms were an example of this. The more famous book version, of course, had to explain everything in narration as it was presented, so this was lost.
88	* Failing to get around this trope was one of the primary reasons that the 1950s attempt to produce a [=TV=] adaptation of ''Radio/TheShadow'' never came to fruition. Visual effects of the era couldn't make the title character's powers work in a visual medium.
89
90	[[AC:Recorded and Stand-Up Comedy]]
91	* ''Hey, Hey It's Darryl and Ozzie'' - one of the comedy [=LPs=] made by the cast of ''Series/HeyHeyItsSaturday'' - has joke about someone getting upset and storming off to the other side of the album through the hole in the middle. Needless to say, this joke will not work in any other format.
92
93	[[AC:VideoGames]]
94	* In ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'', Jamjars teaches Banjo and Kazooie their new moves to the tune of the army jingle "I Don't Know, But I've Been Told". He does this by rhyming. However, the rhymes only sync up to the buttons on the original N64 release. When the game was rereleased on the [=XBox=] Live Arcade, the buttons were updated, but the songs remained exactly the same, so the rhymes sounded off.
95	* The Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem controller had multicoloured buttons in Japan and Europe, but purple buttons of different shades in North America. One of the tutorials in the North American version of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' describes the controller as "[[BuffySpeak that thing with the purple buttons]] on it". This line remained in the British release, even though it was no longer accurate.
96	* In ''VideoGame/LittleNinjaBrothers'', there's a moment where the game appears to glitch out in the way that NES cartridges typically did, before going back to normal, with a character laughingly telling the player not to get so uptight. This terrified many gamers - this was exactly how NES games acted when they froze!
97	* In the original floppy disk versions of ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', examining a stump in Mêlée Island's forest makes Guybrush realize that there is a hole at the base of the stump to "a tunnel that opens onto a system of catacombs!" The player is then prompted to insert the non-existent disks 22, 36, and 114, and Guybrush concludes he'll "just have to skip that part of the game." Not only did this joke lead to plenty of confused players calling the support line (to the point that one of the later games features a character you can ask about "the stump joke"), but it's specific to the era of games being released on multiple floppy disks -- so it was removed for the single-disc CD version and the digitally-released Special Edition.
98	* A plot point in ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' is [[spoiler:the fact that the bottom screen of the original DS release was actually Akane's perspective from the past, which meant that Junpei's perspective was strictly the upper screen. This culminated in a Sudoku puzzle which required the player to turn their DS upside-down to see properly since Junpei on the top screen is now sending information to Akane on the bottom screen.]] The ''Nonary Games'' rerelease had to majorly alter this by [[spoiler:having two different screen modes available (Adventure and Novel) which can only be visible one at a time and replace the final puzzle with a non-format-specific one]].
99
100	[[AC:WebOriginal]]
101	* LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}}'s original outros asked viewers to rate the video five stars and asked them to click the subscribe button "up above." Later revisions to the site would remove the star ratings and move the subscribe button below videos.
102	* Some Platform/YouTube videos are dependent on annotations. After [=YouTube=] removed the annotation feature in 2019, the effect was completely lost without the aid of browser extensions.
103	** The WebVideo/{{Muppet Viral Video\|s}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAtBki0PsC0 Beaker's Ballad]] is about Beaker getting harrassed by annotations. Unlike the other examples, the annotations are in the video itself, since it runs on RuleOfFunny (Beaker walks in front of them, some of them move around, and some of them have bigger text -- all of which are impossible with real annotations).
104	** [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBADD97EBC3ADC5EA This playthrough]] of the [[VideoGame/MegaManDrWilysRevenge Game]] [[VideoGame/MegaManII Boy]] ''VideoGame/{{Mega\|ManIII}} [[VideoGame/MegaManIV Man]]'' [[VideoGame/MegaManV series]] uses annotations instead of a voice-over for its commentary. There are a few gags that rely on the annotation commentary. For example, if you watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st-ak_OgPjk this video]] without the annotations, you might get confused over [[spoiler:the screen fading to black and immediately returning]] at one point. This is because [[spoiler:the player initially dismisses an option to go to the shop as unimportant, then does a FakeOutFadeOut before saying, "Wait! I remember now!"]].
105	** WebVideo/StuartAshen sometimes puts annotation links to other videos, and he usually points to where they pop up. Examples include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ1VVMbgiW0 the 3D Color Games review]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asox-lFWPhQ a Poundland Special featuring a dinosaur excavation kit and a racing loop among others]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d49oW0jVXUc the Game Child review]].
106	** The ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony'' episode "Shameless Self Reference" has a running gag of dialogue [[ShamelessSelfPromoter awkwardly referencing the series creator Wacarb's other works]]. Each time, an annotation pops up with a link to the object of the reference. Without these annotations, the joke makes a lot less sense.
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108	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
109	* According to the DVD Commentary of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'', when the Professor first creates the girls and stares right up at the screen, the framing on a theater screen is meant to make the audience see his face the way the tiny girls did -- huge and staring at them.
110	* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' they made a joke about the Cartoon Network channel bug in the corner of the screen (which was actually part of the animation in the shot it came up in). On DVD and VOD, the channel bug appears and disappears when the joke comes up. In later rebroadcast, after Cartoon Network changed their logo, the two logos end up overlapping just in that shot.
111	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' uses IsThereADoctorInTheHouse on more than one occasion, which makes no sense to TV or DVD viewers watching at home.
112	** They also use the "hair in the aperture" bit, where the projectionist's hand comes in to remove it.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
114	** On at least one occasion, the show has built a gag around a promo running at the bottom of the screen. The joke stumbles a bit on DVD, or when viewed on TV in a country which doesn't have on-screen promos.
115	** In "Switch the Flip", Stewie encourages Brian to offend God by telling him, "Say something you couldn't say on TV." Brian looks up, says, "Hey, God..." and the rest of his speech gets censored.
116	** In "Big Man on Hippocampus", a gag resembling an Creator/AdultSwim card appears, chiding the viewer for watching the show on FOX. This joke only works in the episode's original airing on FOX, but given that encores would air a week after on Adult Swim, the joke is lost, much moreso when the show left Adult Swim completely for FXX and Freeform.
117	---> "Can I ask you something? Why are you watching this on FOX? Family Guy is a lot funnier on Adult Swim, because we don't cut out the funniest jokes. You probably think you're watching this on Adult Swim right now, don't you? Well, you're not. It's still FOX."
118	*** That said, the Adult Swim airings attempt to salvage the joke with [[http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/2069 a fake FOX]] StationIdent insisting the viewer ''is'' watching the show on FOX... as in, "FOX for people who watch FOX on Adult Swim."
119	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', Cleveland Jr. gets into a rap battle with [[{{Expy}} Kenny]] [[Music/KanyeWest West]]. At one point, Jr. flips Kenny off, singing "On the DVD, this won't be pixelated."
120	* In the Ireland episode of ''WesternAnimation/YogisTreasureHunt'', Huckleberry Hound makes a reference to a commercial break, which made no sense when it was shown on Creator/TheBBC.
121	* ''WesternAnimation/CodeMonkeys'', being styled after a video game, displays a pause screen whenever the show cuts to commercial. In a commercial-free format, this results in random pauses appearing for no reason. Although considering all the other random nonsense in the show, it's not entirely out of place.
122	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Forced to come up with a plan on the spot in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E5FearOfABotPlanet Fear of a Bot Planet]]", Leela says, "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall If only I had two or three minutes to think about it!]]", cuing the first ad break. The next act opens with her putting a plan in motion.
123	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
124	** In "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington", a ''Joe Millionaire'' screenbug runs across the bottom of the screen. Homer eats it, but [[BitingTheHandHumor spits out the Fox logo]].
125	** "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" opens with Marge's frustration over screenbugs popping up as she's trying to talk to the audience. She ends up killing all of them.
126	** "Funeral for a Fiend" has some LeaningOnTheFourthWall at the first act break, which assumes the presence of ads.
127	--->'''Sideshow Bob:''' And now you're all going to die. Just because you watched a television commercial.\
128	'''Homer:''' Ohhh, next time a commercial comes on I'm gonna close my eyes, cover my ears and scream as loud as I can!
129	** "The Sound of Bleeding Gums" has a joke about Homer saying that only losers watch broadcast television, as a scrolling promo for a fake Fox show appears. This makes less sense if you're watching the digital releases.
130	** In "Poorhouse Rock", Lisa's rap tells the viewers that they "can't even afford what they sell in this commercial," then pulls down a black screen. The joke makes less sense when watching without ads.

Context Main / FormatSpecificJoke