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4[[quoteright:300:[[Franchise/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spiderman_comparison.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:300:In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', he's [[OhCrap toast]].\
6In ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', he's... [[VisualPun toast]].]]
7
8->''Mr. Howell now has the power to fly\
9The role of Mary Ann is now being played by Kareem Abdul-Jabar\
10Ginger is 500 feet high\
11She is made entirely out of zinc\
12I don't remember her being ''that'' way in the first season''
13-->-- '''Radio Free Vestibule''', "Something's Wrong with Series/GilligansIsland"
14
15The ToneShift a show goes through when its plots become increasingly exaggerated and cartoonish. Most often happens with shows whose initial premise is mundane, and ostensibly could take place in the real world, begin to gradually take in tropes from more elaborate genre fiction until the show is at a point where it no longer resembles its pilot episode at all. This is similar to CerebusSyndrome, except that instead of working on tone this trope increases the density and zaniness of literal plot elements, often requiring a greater WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief and viewer concentration level in order to succeed.
16
17This trope is typically used as a ratings grab. For a show that's losing appeal, it's much easier to instantly come up with wacky plot elements than it is to invest time in more complex character nuance. As with much ExecutiveMeddling, this motivation doesn't exactly have much basis in reality -- most long-running shows either don't undergo this process at all, or do so only when they're about to be canceled. Oftentimes, fans appreciate good consistency in tone. It must be added that it's very much distinct from LighterAndSofter since it's zany comedy that becomes the dominant trait rather than dropping a dark angle altogether. In fact, depending on the work, it can even overlap with DarkerAndEdgier if the wackiness takes the form of BlackComedy.
18
19Shows up fairly often in adaptation, particularly {{Animated Adaptation}}s, as this is an easy way to demonstrate how a show is different from its parent program.
20
21If the author takes advantage of established series elements that have gathered over time, then it's ContinuityCreep.
22
23Often a reason for JumpingTheShark, or, in some cases, GrowingTheBeard.
24
25Compare HotterAndSexier, ReverseCerebusSyndrome, KudzuPlot, BloodierAndGorier.
26
27----
28!!Examples:
29
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32[[folder:Advertising]]
33* ''Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike'': Isaiah Mustafah, of the series of ads for Old Spice, plays a suave, manly man with various prop changes through scenes of nature used in metaphor. Terry Crews, on the other hand, is a {{cloudcuckoolander}} with NoIndoorVoice, and who suffers from TestosteronePoisoning.
34* "Advertising/AmericanHondaPresentsDCComicsSupergirl": The first issue of this PublicServiceAnnouncement about seat belt safety discusses a serious real-life topic in a dark, grim way, showing lives and families being destroyed by reckless driving. The second issue has ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, two kids and one dog travelling through a dreamland and running into parodies of fairy tales' characters.
35[[/folder]]
36
37[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
38* This happened to manga works of Creator/FujioAkatsuka a lot. His comics such as ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'', ''Manga/MoretsuAtaro'', and ''Manga/TensaiBakabon'' were always comedic (although ''Ataro'' was originally more dramatic), but they both started out as being down to earth, but gradually became more and more insane with nonsensical, slapstick-heavy gags. In addition, this happened when all three promoted a BreakoutCharacter and eventually pushed the main characters aside.
39* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'' already starts out [[DeconstructiveParody far crazier and sillier than typical harem series]], then the craziness only intensifies as the manga goes on and adds even more girlfriends. The one-two punch of [[spoiler:Kusuri's and Hahari's introductions]] is a major turning point, showing most anything is on the table, particularly girlfriends.
40* The ''Manga/BlackCat'' manga started out with its deviations from "realism" being mostly limited to creative liberties taken with gun use. Then the plots got more and more convoluted, and by the end science with downright supernatural effects was commonplace.
41* ''Manga/CellsAtWorkWhiteBrigade'': While some of U-1146's fellow Neutrophils had some silly moments in the original ''Manga/CellsAtWork'', ''White Brigade'' expands on that idea... and some of these stone-cold killers are utter {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s in their down time.
42* ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}'' was Creator/TadaoNagahama's next mecha-flavoured work after he completed the Anime/RobotRomanceTrilogy. However, it lacks his signature dramatic tone of directing, is led by an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist, and has a lot of slapstick {{Slice Of Life}}y humour which clashes with the anime's post-apocalyptic setting. Worth noting, though, that Nagahama didn't direct it - he was involved in the production of it and drafted the concepts and ideas, but left before the first episode even aired to focus on directing ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles''.
43* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba''[='=]s Demon Slayer Academy universe is devoid of any serious events and drama found in the main series and instead is left completely free to focus and expand on the comical bits present in the original source. Thus, the Academy short segments are pure slice-of-life and comedy, taken even further when they spawned a full comedy spin-off series aimed at a children demographic.
44* The ''Anime/DoraemonFilmSeries'' can get pretty dark and serious at times compared to the SliceOfLife-[[Manga/{{Doraemon}} manga]] it's based on, but then there are these:
45** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasLittleSpaceWar'' has the gang traveling to a planet of {{Lilliputians}} to help said planet's president reclaim office from a dictator. They shrink themselves using Doraemon's ShrinkRay in order to blend with the locals, only to lose their gadget halfway through (thanks to being stolen by TheDragon), but in the climax the Shrink Ray's effects wears off, at which point Doraemon, Nobita and everyone else turns giant-sized, and the movie becomes a kaiju spoof with everyone stomping the villains' army underfoot. Quite a far cry from previous movies dealing with dinosaurs, sea monsters and netherworld demons.
46** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasDiaryOfTheCreationOfTheWorld'' sees Nobita trying to complete his summer homework assignment, with a futuristic "World Creation Set" Doraemon got for him just for the purpose. It's a NoAntagonist story with Nobita playing God, but because of his carelessness, Nobita's own created world gets overrun by hostile insect-people who somehow escapes into his reality.
47** And then there's ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpiralCity'', an adventure set in a planet of LivingToys, thanks to a gadget called a Life Key bestowing sentience to various inanimate objects. Then Shizuka's stuffed monkey stole the Life Key before using it to animate a Colonel Sanders statue, an election poster, a lab skeleton and a Manneken Pis replica (all who becomes supporting characters and even participates in the final battle). To top it all off, [[spoiler:the film ends with the animated Manneken Pis [[MakeMyMonsterGrow enlarged by Doraemon's Big Light]] and defeating the villains by peeing on them]].
48** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpaceHeroes'', an installment of the series which inexplicably enters SuperheroEpisode territory. Nobita and friends tries making their own {{toku}}, and Doraemon uses a gadget to grant everyone temporary superpowers before they meet an alien asking for their help, which leads to everyone fighting some silly-looking alien invaders (the leader which looks like a human-sized Muppet).
49* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Zigzagged for ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''. The show is definitely wackier than most of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. The sense of humor is closer to the original ''Manga/DragonBall'' and it even has a gag episode. At the same time, ''Super'' has some of the darkest moments in the franchise, with the Future Trunks Saga and its CruelTwistEnding, and the Universal Survival Saga and its premise.
50* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
51** The series began as a more traditional shonen [=manga/anime=] with supernatural elements and the occasional "Bizarre" feat in part 1 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]''). It started taking this approach with part 2 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'') and has kept at it ever since, becoming more self-aware in how bizarre the series and fights actually are.
52** From the creative ways Joseph and Caesar use their Hamon, the fact one of the reoccurring characters is a ''Cyborg Nazi'', one of the villains is a crybaby, and is part of a trio of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent tall, bulky, Aztec super-vampires]] that strike more poses than either Dio or Jonathan in ''Phantom Blood''... culminating in the main villain becoming an Aztec, glam-metal-style, screaming bird-vampire who constantly licks his lips.
53** In terms of superpowers, they become progressively more specific and nonsensical. Part 3 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'') introduces flashy but tame abilities such as SuperSpeed, [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and magnetism, culminating in a villain that can stop time. Part 4 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'') mixes things up with powers like weaponized {{Onomatopoeia}} and an artist who gains total control over you if you see his illustration of the main character of his best-selling manga franchise. A pair of high school students also eat at an Italian restaurant and after one of them scratched a softball-sized chunk of dead skin off their shoulder, and having their eyes water violently, they figure the chef might be trying to kill them ([[spoiler:he wasn't]]).
54** Part 5 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'') introduces a Mafia Caporegime capable of slipping objects into people's hands and mouths without them realizing it, who halfway in [=1v2s=] a dude who rapidly ages anything that isn't cold and his brother armed with a lethal fishing pole. ''Then'' Part 6 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'') begins with our protagonist feuding with her cellmate, who proceeds to shrink her and then stuff her body into a dead rat. Later, a prison guard that uses her abilities to give our protagonist an extreme case of short-term memory loss. Also rainbows ([[spoiler:[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext that turn people into snails]]]]).
55* ''Franchise/LupinIII'':
56** The art style of the ''Anime/LupinIIIPartIII'' series is this to the rest of the franchise. It says something when a character who is known for being just this side of possible evokes an "Are they smoking something?" feel. While the plots are no weirder than in the past, the new 1980's style made a lot of fans give up before the character designs become more consistent later in the show. Even then, there's still a ton of OffModel animation that doesn't help.
57** Of the TV specials, ''[[Anime/LupinIIISevenDaysRhapsody Seven Days Rhapsody]]'' is a particularly goofy one, with tons of sight gags, zany jokes, and occasional running commentary from the characters throughout the whole thing. Even TheComicallySerious Goemon can't keep a straight face at times.
58* ''Manga/OnePiece''
59** ''One Piece'' has always been a wacky and whimsical story, but it gets even weirder once the Straw Hat Pirates enter the Grand Line. In that stretch of ocean, there are far more Devil Fruit ability users and far crazier phenomenon like zombie-infested islands and flora that spew ridable soapy bubbles. It gets taken to an even higher level of strangeness in the New World half of the Grand Line, where islands made of desserts, weather that rains lightning nonstop, and secret laboratories filled with futuristic sci-fi tech all become nigh common sights. In comparison, all the outlandish Grand Line wonders somehow make the story's starting setting of the East Blue look mundane. The adventures only get more unbelievable and exotic as the Straw Hats progress.
60** Ever since Luffy [[spoiler:[[NextTierPowerUp gained access to his Gear 5 form (due to his Devil Fruit powers awakening)]], his fights have headed in this direction. He did have comical moments during many of his previous battles before gaining this form, but he typically had to dial down the goofiness and take strong opponents seriously. However, being dubbed as "the most ridiculous power in the world", Gear 5 essentially turns him into a {{Slapstick}} ZanyCartoon character[[labelnote:*]]For context, Luffy's Gear 5 abilities allow him to freely stretch his body without using momentum like before, [[{{Sizeshifter}} shrink and grow at the drop of a hat]], and his durability has skyrocketed to the point that he can withstand devastating attacks that would've otherwise [[NighInvulnerability knock him out or]] ''[[NighInvulnerability outright kill him]]'', but instead gains AmusingInjuries that he can brush off in mere seconds. Not only that, ''[[AreaOfEffect anything and anyone in his vicinity gain rubbery attributes as well]]''[[/labelnote]]. MoodWhiplash comes into play, since he first gained this form after a couple of failed attempts at defeating [[KnightOfCerebus Kaido]], who is absurdly powerful in his own right and Luffy's greatest opponent up until that point. It turns out that this was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by series creator Creator/EiichiroOda, who stated that Gear 5 was inspired by ''Franchise/TomAndJerry''. He felt that many other contemporary shonen manga would have constant serious high stakes and the comedic aspects of the medium had been lost over the years. Case in point, the [[SuperMode Super Modes]] of many other shonen protagonists would typically invoke a "cool" and "badass" aesthetic, not unlike Luffy's Gear 4 Snakeman form prior. Because of these expectations, Oda was aware several fans wouldn't be accepting of Gear 5, but he can now fully realize an aspect of Luffy he always wanted to showcase; having him be a comical lunatic as much as possible during battle!]]
61* ''Anime/PersiaTheMagicFairy'': The manga was much darker, with Persia's backstory being that she was an orphan raised by a lion until Dr. Yasogami found her. In the anime, Persia is more or less a ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' parody with how she dresses and loves being around animals. The anime also takes a HUGE leap of AdaptationDeviation by having with Persia become a MagicalGirl after encountering the [[CanonForeigner Queen of the Fairies]].
62* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
63** ''Advanced Generation'' is noted for this, having zanier plots in filler episodes, as well as Meowth having frequent [[ImagineSpot boss fantasies]].
64** The ''Sun and Moon'' arc is noticeably a cartoony SliceOfLife school series filled with SurrealHumor (mainly from Samson Oak) reminiscent of the original series, including the return of the RunningGag of James being attacked by a Pokémon (in this case, his Mareanie) out of affection, as well as Ash's considerably more cartoony characterisation compared to his more serious minded one from the previous ''XY'' series.
65* ''Anime/SailorMoon''[='s=] third season, ''S'', has a reputation for being the [[DarkerAndEdgier dark season]]. And it is... but it's also the point where the show's slapstick silliness goes into overdrive, the monsters start becoming ludicrous, and the minions start becoming [[AffablyEvil affable]]. It certainly helped that this season was directed by Creator/KunihikoIkuhara,[[note]]although this was actually his second season as main director[[/note]] who went on to build a career out of making shows with dark and shocking content juxtaposed with ludicrous premises.
66* This is the main reason some people get turned off by ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco''. It starts out as a slice of life. After episode 7, being a {{Toku}}satsu hero becomes SeriousBusiness.
67* Most of ''Literature/SorcererStabberOrphen'''s second season changes the fairly serious tone of the first one for lighthearted adventures and slapstick humor.
68* ''Manga/SupermanVsMeshi'' is probably the only Superman story out there where Superman and Lex Luthor have a social media spat regarding food online, and the whole thing being treated as Serious Business.
69* ''Anime/TenchiInTokyo'': Compared to past ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' installments, ''Tokyo'' is a lot zanier and wackier in humor and tone. Previous shows like the OVA or ''Universe'' had their humorous moments but never got as over-the-top as this series did.
70* ''Manga/YakitateJapan'', already a fairly comedic series out of the gate, goes completely insane as the series goes on. Originally, really good bread just causes a comedic reaction from the taster, but over time, said reactions become so extreme that it causes [[RealityWarper the entire fabric of reality to come unravelled]], sending people on a round trip to the afterlife, turning them into animals, causing someone to go back in time and prevent the death of his mother, [[BreakingTheFourthWall altering the real-life book the chapter is printed in]] and [[spoiler:in the BigBad's case, turning them into a monstrous human-bread hybrid]].
71* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
72** An In-Universe example is the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, a Toon version of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Seto Kaiba is not amused to have Pegasus turn his trademark monster into an animated abomination with ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} biceps. There's also Toon Summoned Skull, which is somehow even creepier than the original, especially when it gets flirtatious.
73** The Kaiba Corp Grand Prix filler arc, compared to the other filler arcs, and even the canon ones, which generally have little to no wackiness whatsoever. Not to mention that this is fresh off of the [[CerebusRollercoaster more serious]] DOMA filler arc. Also, how can you take a ''[[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Forest_Wolf non-anthropomorphic wolf]]'' [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood dressed in old lady clothes]] that attacks by ''[[SwallowedWhole eating the opponent's monster in one bite]]'' seriously?
74** ''Anime/YuGiOhSevens'' is easily the wackiest and funniest series in the franchise so far. ''SEVENS'' has all the trappings of a surrealist comedy, and it shows, particularly when it comes to LargeHam Gakuto and Luke and the thoroughly bizarre decks that are used by the side characters at times (including ramen ninjas, YoungerAndHipper versions of older female monsters, and Post-Apocalyptic Mad-Max style beast warriors in the first ten episodes alone).
75
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Comic Books]]
79* The first half of ''ComicBook/Batgirl2011'' is overly dark and gritty, what with the downcast tone, bloodthirsty, psychopathic villains and [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon]] struggling against her [=PTSD=]. The second half is more light-hearted, colourful and whimsical, featuring a recovering, happier Batgirl moving out of Gotham and fighting mostly eccentric baddies.
80* ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'' has an example that's weird because the increased wackiness is the result of the comic ''[[CerebusSyndrome trying to be serious and philosophical]]''. The first two issues are a ShallowParody of comic books. From the third to fifth, the protagonists [[GoingCosmic travel back in time looking for God]], then find someone who might be Him and witness the origins of life, dinosaurs and primitive humans (with the first man being [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]]) while spewing [[HollywoodScience nonsensical "science"]].
81* The two issues of ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'', written and illustrated by Milton Knight, are more cartoony, bizarre, and surreal compared to most of the other issues. The art is like the Fred Wolf cartoon if it were drawn by Creator/JohnKricfalusi and Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer.
82* ''ComicBook/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' is this compared to [[Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina the movie]]. There's more of an emphasis on the comedy aspects of the story, Jack Burton is less StraightMan and more TheFool, the {{Masquerade}} is [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade so paper thin that it seems everyone must be idiots for not noticing that magic and monsters are all around them]], and Jack is able to screw with and get the better of the villains much more easily.
83* Several of the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' comics from the 1950s and '60s are very bizarre and surreal; some stories involve [[GreatGazoo a magical being]] named [[Characters/BatmanSupportingCast Bat-Mite]] who's Batman's biggest fan and a RealityWarper, others include stories where Batman becomes a toddler and fights crime, Batman and Robin being turned into paper-thin beings by a multicolored monster, Batman becoming a genie, etc. {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact the anti-comic book crusade that led to MediaNotes/TheComicsCode forced DC to tone down the violence and the seriousness of the earlier years.
84* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' is this compared to IDW's other Transformers titles. The book focuses more on the RagtagBunchOfMisfits and their misadventures than it does on the plot, and silliness abounds. While there are still plenty of reminders that this is set in the same universe as ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' and ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'', this is also a book where the universe is saved thanks to a semi-colon, someone is affected by a metafictional bomb that [[MediumAwareness causes him to believe he's a comic book character]], the crew reacts to unexpected time travel by watching ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', and having an existential crisis is considered a rite of passage.
85* Unlike other ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Franchise/GIJoe'' works, the premise of ''ComicBook/TransformersVsGIJoe'' feels very much like a Silver Age comic, including Jack Kirby-esque artwork.
86* ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' was always set in a world with video game-like mechanics, but the early volumes downplay those traits. The first two Evil Exes are the most obvious "superpowered" characters but they only appear in-person in their respective battles. Then Volume 3 alone reveals that the world has save points and extra lives, has a man who gets superpowers just for being vegan, [[spoiler:there's a "Vegan Police" after said man for cheating his veganism]], and Honest Ed's is treated like some sort of EldritchLocation by the main leads (but the background characters shopping there seem to be just fine). A bonus short strip between Volumes 3 and 4 reveals that Volume 4's ArcVillain has the power to make posters come to life. In Volume 4 proper, the same Evil Ex turns into animals after being sliced in half, one character is shown to be able to slice a bus in half, and an EnemyWithout version of the main character is introduced.
87* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'':
88** The Warren run had the "Vampi goes to Hollywood" sub-arc. Technically still horror stories, but... no.
89** The 2017 Dynamite series is even wackier. A lot of bizarre things happen in this story without explanation or context. It's weirder than anything else featured in Vampirella ''by far''.
90* ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' was already about a superheroine who was actually just a girl from the real world who gets trapped in Marvel's comics, and whose eventual powers turn out to be [[NinjaProp weaponizing fourth wall exploitation]]. Yet this already loopy material is tame compared to Gwen's next title, ''Gwenpool Strikes Again'', where she's even more of a TalkativeLoon {{Meta G|uy}}al, and uses her fourth wall powers to create surreal situations such as her scaring the artist so his coffee cup would spill on the comic.
91* ''Clifton'' is a [[FrancoBelgianComics Franco-Belgian comic]] about a retired [=MI6=] agent who does private detective work and faces off against Nazi survivors, criminal organizations and the like. Despite the serious, down-to-earth tone, it has some comedic moments, but later albums veer it into territories of weirdness never seen before. A descendant of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte wants to get revenge on England, so he engineers and releases a chemical that forces drivers to drive on the right side of the road. In Napoleon's next appearance, he bombs weddings so that England's population growth will eventually drop to zero.
92* While ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' was already an outlandish and zany show (though that itself was a result of this trope - see the Western Animation folder), the [[ComicBook/TheSimpsons official comic book]] based on the series went even further, with much more in the way of overtly supernatural or impossible plotlines that the show itself generally doesn't resort to outside of ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episodes or the occasional throwaway gag.
93* The original run of ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' set on Earth-C was deliberately silly in a WorldOfPun with call-backs to classic funny-animal comics, but it still followed the basic plots you'd see in other comics. Since the Zoo Crew's reappearance on Earth 26 following ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'', subsequent writers have made them into a ZanyCartoon team instead. To compare, Captain Carrot's first heroic deed in 1982 was stopping an out-of-control plane with pilots incapacitated by Starro from hitting the airport; in a 2019 appearance, an anthropomorphic sun has hypnotized the people of Earth and Carrot solves it by giving it a hug and telling it it's appreciated.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Comic Strips]]
97* ''ComicStrip/{{Candorville}}'': This is probably better than CerebusSyndrome as a description of what's happened. Formerly a slow-paced ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' clone with a bit of MagicRealism thrown in, it later introduced vampires, soul-eating demons, and at least two factions competing to rule the world--but even the deaths of characters are still PlayedForLaughs.
98* In TheSixties, ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' started introducing a ton of sci-fi elements, including "Moon People". Once original author Chester Gould left the strip, they were quickly written out. The only remnant of the era is Honeymoon Tracy, the daughter of the Moon Queen and Dick's adopted son, Junior Tracy, but [[BroadStrokes we don't talk about who mom was]]. In 2013, creative team Joe Staton and Mike Curtis reintroduced Moon Maid via cloning. The other moon people are gone, though, their city in ruins.
99* ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' went this route. The drawing style was always cartoonish, but in the early years the characters and storylines were well-grounded in reality. Starting in the '90s, the style of humor became increasingly cartoonish and all traces of realism vanished. Interestingly, its creator still resisted ever having Jason's pet iguana Quincy engage in Snoopy-like adventures or "talk" but remain a simple lizard.
100[[/folder]]
101
102[[folder:Eastern Animation]]
103* ''Animation/MashaAndTheBear'' was never the most realistic cartoon around, but the first two seasons were quite down-to-earth, with a few supernatural things happening like a wish-granting goldfish or a FlyingBroomstick. By the end of Season 2, episodes not only became more fast-paced and zanier, but more supernatural things started to appear in the series, like aliens, a GenieInABottle, LivingToys, etc.
104* ''Animation/TreasureIsland1988'': Unlike the other adaptations, this version of ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' is more comical, featuring a lot of cartoony gags and slapstick humour thrown in.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Fan Works]]
108* If it's possible, ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheRestOfTheSentence'' manages to be even more surreal (both in story and in prose style) than ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndThePortraitOfWhatLookedLikeALargePileOfAsh'', to which it is a sequel.
109* The ''Fanfic/MegsFamilySeries'', which is a Meg-centric ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' fanfic that lasted from 2007 to 2010 and was later revived in 2015, is almost entirely faithful to the show's run at the time. As soon as Meg and [[LoveInterests Zack]]'s daughter Maddie is born, several storylines become chock-full of elements regarding this trope, such as [[FutureBadass Maddie's future self]], an entire chapter centered around the tank from the episode ''Hell Comes to Quahog'', Peter and Zack switching minds, and the Corvette from ''Literature/{{Christine}}'' becoming [[{{Yandere}} obsessed with Peter and trying to kill Lois]].
110* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' is a (mostly) DarkerAndEdgier variant of this. The first few chapters have plenty of wacky moments, and [[Funny/ChildOfTheStorm many more]] strewn through the rest of the story. It is near ridiculously dense.
111* ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'': Even if you don't factor in the legion of tiny spear-wielding baka-speaking Asukas, it's clear this take on the series is goofier than the original series by default. Kensuke getting involved with terrorists, Hikari hunting down students with a net gun and a brief mention of Rei kicking a racoon with a switchblade out of her apartment, for example.
112* ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook'' is this to the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' games. It's LighterAndSofter, removing much of the violence and melancholy found in the games, but also this notrope because of the sprawling cast and variously silly storylines.
113[[/folder]]
114
115[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
116* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailFievelGoesWest'' most definitely qualifies for this trope, what with the rubbery animation and any of [[PluckyComicRelief Tiger's]] scenes, both courtesy of Creator/{{Amblimation}} [[note]]The only film they made that was an exception to this trope is ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}''[[/note]]. A stark contrast to [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail the first movie]], which is a musical adventure about hard times (i.e. immigration, separation, and a war between mice and cats).
117* ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' is a pretty dark and somber movie about childhood friends being torn apart by society's expectations of them, with the only comedic moments coming from a few scenes with the comic relief birds. The sequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound2'' is MUCH more lighthearted with lots of over-the-top slapstick comedy, and the plot is about Copper joining a singing dog band.
118* The ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' film series. The first two movies have a lot of comedy and their share of silly moments, but they don't go too over the top. The plots are fairly serious and believable enough (well, as believable as one can get in a movie about talking animals). [[WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown The second]] has far less drama than the first one but does keep the dark comedy and the shadow of death over the main characters making it a restrained, partial example of LighterAndSofter. By the [[WesternAnimation/IceAgeDawnOfTheDinosaurs third film]], they have become this. Even the scenes with Scrat get more cartoony over the course of the films.
119* ''{{WesternAnimation/Tangled}}'' has a follow up short, ''WesternAnimation/TangledEverAfter'', which is 7 minutes of mostly slapstick, while the original spreads out the slapstick over the longer running time.
120* ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen|2013}}'''s follow up ''WesternAnimation/FrozenFever'' is a lot sillier than the source film, especially given the consequences of Elsa's powers this time causes mischief instead of danger.
121* The ''WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega'' series starts off with the fairly serious first movie, which focuses on the eponymous social standings within a pack of wolves. The DTV sequels where main characters Humphrey and Kate have three pups, while still starting off fairly grounded in reality, gradually get less so until eventually, the movies carry increasingly odd and cartoonish plots revolving around slapstick, pop-culture references, ghosts, wolf real-estate, and even ''dinosaurs''.
122* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo'', in contrast with the CerebusSyndrome of [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003 the series]], ends the show on a mostly silly, upbeat romp parodying various anime tropes that feel more in line with the {{Filler}} episodes of the earlier seasons (complete with ending on the Titans singing an English version of the Filler episode theme).
123* Unlike the other adaptations of what is a fairly serious pirate story, ''Animation/TreasureIsland1988'' is more comical, featuring a lot of cartoony gags and slapstick humour thrown in.
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
127* The ''Film/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' movie is much, ''much'' more comedic than the series it is based on which was more dramatic in tone.
128* The original ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy'' is pretty silly, with its lampooning of local news, '70s-related gags and the brawl between the news teams. The sequel, ''Film/Anchorman2TheLegendContinues'', cranks it up to the max, including a subplot involving Ron Burgundy adopting a pet shark after [[spoiler:being blinded]], to the final battle, which includes a [[spoiler:soul-sucking Stonewall Jackson]] and [[spoiler:Harrison Ford turning into a were-hyena]]. Needless to say, this trope is in full force.
129* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII''. Although the CrapsackWorld of 1985-A takes the film into darker territory than its predecessor, ''II'' is this for [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture the trilogy]]. While the [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 first]] and [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII third]] movies are relatively straightforward FishOutOfTemporalWater stories in existent time periods, ''II'' ups the adventure quota with multiple SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong scenarios that require multiple time jumps. The different time periods here all feature more fantastical elements than in the other movies; it starts with the protagonists journeying into what was then the distant future (with a lot of broad comedy aimed at contemporary '80s culture), then to the aforementioned alternate crapsack timeline, followed by a jump back into 1955 that has two temporal-fish Martys existing at the same time. The film also starts the franchise tradition of the actors playing multiple generations of the [=McFly=] and Tannen bloodlines, rather than just playing the younger or older versions of themselves.
130* ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' is a fish-out-of-water action comedy. The [[Film/BeverlyHillsCopII first sequel]] is more of the same. The [[Film/BeverlyHillsCopIII third]], however, ups the zaniness. The comedy, while there's [[ActionizedSequel less of it]], is wackier, and often integrated into improbable action sequences. There's even a gadget that's like something from a Franchise/JamesBond film and a novelty gun that belongs in a Bond ''parody''.
131* ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'' compared to the original ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''. While the original is an over-the-top comedy, it's far more realistic than the sequel, which features undead horse riders flying through the air during a musical number, a voodoo priestess who turns several soldiers and police officers into rats, and the band temporarily turning into zombies.
132* The ''Bowery Boys'' movies went from gritty urban melodramas with a substantial dose of comedy to broad and outlandish slapstick adventures with plenty of AppliedPhlebotinum.
133* ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' might very well be the first self-aware horror film, and while it's still a dark film with deep themes and genuine terror, it also works as a black comedy. This is a huge change of pace from the original ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'', which is straight horror. Director James Whale purposefully wanted to give the sequel a different tone to stand on its own.
134* A similar trajectory was followed by the ''Film/DeathWish'' films; the initial installment was a dark, sobering take on the VigilanteMan, who [[StressVomit vomits out of disgust]] when he first kills a man. By the third, he's mowing down horde of criminals with [[MoreDakka a minigun]].
135* ''Film/DeuceBigalow: Male Gigolo" is a comedy of errors about a guy who pretends to be a handsome gigolo. The sequel, European Gigolo, is a murder mystery that involves a secret order of gigolos.
136* ''Franchise/DieHard'' has John [=McClane=] going from "everyman action hero [[DieHardOnAnX trapped with baddies]]" to "MadeOfIron action hero wreaking havoc in various places". It gets even worse in the [[Film/AGoodDayToDieHard fifth movie]], which goes to Russia and barely gives room for John to be a DeadpanSnarker.
137* While ''Film/DoctorInClover'' had begun the ''Film/DoctorSeries''' descent into more physical comedy, ''Film/DoctorInTrouble'' has a much different tone to the earlier films such as ''Film/DoctorInTheHouse1954'', feeling almost like a ''Film/CarryOn'' film with jokes about scantily clad women, female impersonators, and {{Undercrank}}ed sequences.
138* The ''Film/{{Emmanuelle}}'' soft-core film franchise started off being based upon an autobiographical book, but later became increasingly wacky, with plots including extreme plastic surgery, time travel, and cannibals. They even made ''Emmanuelle [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace in Space]]''.
139* ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' has a trashy, indie-comic-book vibe, but is ultimately a science fiction SpaghettiWestern with a dark tone and relatively subdued action. ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' involves much bigger guns, Snake getting attacked by sharks, Snake attempting to remain alive by playing basketball, and a generally sillier tone where Snake becomes TheComicallySerious.
140* The first ''[[Film/TheEvilDead1981 Evil Dead]]'' film is a fairly straight horror movie, playing every scare and monster as a serious threat and highlighting its cast as "normal" college age kids in over their heads. The [[Film/EvilDead2 second movie]] mixes in more slapstick and cartoony elements, using over-the-top sets in place of actual locations and turning Creator/BruceCampbell's Ash Williams from an everyday guy into a shotgun wielding quipmaster by the end of the movie. Then, in the [[Film/ArmyOfDarkness third film]], he's fighting cartoon skeletons and an evil undead version of himself in medieval Europe through the use of ''[[Film/TheThreeStooges Three Stooges]]''-style slapstick and references to '50s sci-fi films.
141* ''Franchise/TheFastAndTheFurious'' series. ''Film/{{The Fast and the Furious|2001}}'' is pretty much a straight cop drama that revolves around the world of street racing. Starting with ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'', the focus shifts to the cars themselves, to the point where ''Film/TheFastAndTheFuriousTokyoDrift'' is almost entirely about the racing. Then, with ''Film/FastAndFurious'', it takes ''another'' change in tone, this time becoming an over-the-top action flick, while ''Film/FastFive'' dials the action up to the point where it becomes a completely absurd action movie that's closer to something like ''Film/TheTransporter''. SequelEscalation ensues across the [[Film/FastAndFurious6 sixth]], [[Film/Furious7 seventh]] and [[Film/TheFateOfTheFurious eighth]] films until ''Film/{{F9}}'' literally [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace has the crew driving into space]], putting it in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' territory both in setting and in far-fetchedness.
142* The original ''Film/{{Godzilla|1954}}'' is a deadly serious anti-war movie which uses a giant monster as a metaphor for the horror of the atomic bomb, obviously a risky subject in Japan just 9 years after WWII. The followup, ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain,'' is also pretty dark but not as well-made or successful, so the series was put on hold for a while. When it finally came back after seven years, it was in the form of ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla,'' which is a very goofy comedy that happens to have giant monsters. The series would flirt with serious themes every now and again for the next two decades, but in general it played up the comedy and silliness more and more as time went on, hitting its peak in the early '70s, which saw Godzilla ''flying'' and ''TALKING'', basically turning [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} the franchise]] into a live-action cartoon. When the series was rebooted in the '80s, it went back to the serious nature of the early films and has mostly stayed there ever since.
143* ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' is a dark comedy about frightening, mischievous creatures with plenty of violent and disturbing scenes that, along with ''Film/{{Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom}}'', was the reason the PG-13 rating was made. ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', despite being rated PG-13, is much sillier than its predecessor (the title creatures are a dangerous yet comedic menace in both films, but the sequel has a much less grounded and more overtly cartoonish setting than the original, which neuters the horror elements almost entirely). It features fourth-wall jokes and pop culture references, and pokes fun at the first movie. The film even starts with the opening shot of a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon where WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck steals the spotlight from WesternAnimation/BugsBunny.
144* The first ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' film adaptation is a bizarre half-example. There were clearly two conflicting visions for the movie: one as a straight adaptation of the very dark and violent source material, and one as a more lighthearted, slapstick-y adaptation geared towards children. The result is a film that would regularly and awkwardly transition from violent deaths to goofy slapstick with cartoony music. The sequel treats the first as canon, but all such silliness is dropped (the subtitle says it all: "Dark Hero").
145* ''Film/AHardDaysNight'' is a {{Mockumentary}} on Music/TheBeatles. ''Film/{{Help}}'' has no attempt in trying to resemble something real, with a loony and globetrotting plot about one of Ringo's rings being essential to a cult, that goes surreal at random points (says something the film was made when the band was starting to abuse drugs). And let's not delve into ''Film/MagicalMysteryTour'', a bizarre attempt by the band to make a film by themselves, "a camera in the hand and lots of drugs in the head".
146* The first ''Film/JohnWick'' movie is a straightforward mafia revenge story about the titular retired hitman who’s hunting down a New York mob boss’s son after said son kills John’s dog (which was his wife’s dying gift). [[Film/JohnWickChapter2 The sequel]], on the other hand, is about a member of a [[Characters/JamesBondBlofeld SPECTRE]]-esque world-ruling ShadowGovernment calling in a BloodOath as part of a plan to ascend to the syndicate’s “High Table,” and they are being opposed by a organization of spymaster hobos. One of the more memorable scenes has John and a bad guy casually walking through a subway station shooting at each other, nobody else realizing there’s an entire gunfight going on thanks to their [[HollywoodSilencer Hollywood Silencers]]. [[Film/JohnWickChapter3Parabellum The third movie]] has a motorcycle chase ''with katanas''.
147* This happens with the villains in ''Franchise/TheKarateKid'' series. John Kreese in the [[Film/TheKarateKid first film]] is over-the-top but is pretty grounded, basically being an intense teacher having been dialed up to an extreme, while Chozen in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII the next film]] is even more over-the-top but it's still believable given who and where he is. Terry Silver in the [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII third film]], however, is just a complete cartoon character who acts like a ''WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|AndThePlaneteers}}'' villain pretending to be a ''Franchise/JamesBond'' villain who is so ludicrously '''''EVIL''''' and constantly grinning and cackling that it's hard to take him even remotely seriously. ''Series/CobraKai'' even pokes fun at this when Silver returns in season 4, where even ''he'' admits he was out of control, that he was doing all the cocaine at the time, and depicts his return to Cobra Kai like something akin to a mid-life crisis:
148--> '''Silver (In Cobra Kai):''' Back in the 80's I thought conquer the world. And I came pretty close. I was so hopped up on cocaine and revenge I spent months terrorizing a teenager over a high school karate tournament! (Laughs) It sounds insane just thinking about it!
149* ''Film/MagicMike'' is a cynical SliceOfLife showcasing how empty the titular Mike's lifestyle as a stripper actually is. The sequel is more of a comedy BuddyPicture with Mike and his old friends going to a stripper convention. Even when promoting the movie, Creator/ChanningTatum described it as "what people ''expected'' the first movie to be."
150* While previous installments in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse had their moments of wackiness, ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' consists almost entirely of odd and crazy set-pieces. It does have its moments of seriousness, but overall the film does not take itself too seriously. Having a talking raccoon and a sapient tree being some of the leads tends to do that.
151** The MCU doubled down on this with ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', now lacking the series serious moments and being far more lighthearted than its predecessor ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld''. It focuses more on comedic elements and colorful SceneryPorn, making it closer to an 80s sci-fi adventure like ''Film/FlashGordon'' than a modern action movie.
152* ''Film/MenInBlack'' perfectly balances tongue and cheek humor with serious action. It's sequels leaned more on the silly side.
153* ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' is a shining example of this from the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' films, as is the slow VillainDecay of Jaws from genuinely menacing PsychoForHire to DumbMuscle and finally outright comic stooge.
154* ''Film/TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia'' lacks the whimsy of the first two movies, has absolutely no dramatic weight to it, and the antagonist is, instead of a legitimately threatening menace, Creator/JackBlack as the leader of a gang of bullies. However, this movie isn't canon to the original book like the previous installments (each adapts a different half of the book).
155* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'': The supernatural killer from [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 the first film]] is named just ''Fred'' Krueger, and is taciturn, creepy and imposing. In the sequels he becomes known as Freddy and turns at first darkly comedic and then just comedic, killing his victims in increasingly zany and bizarre ways (the top is probably using the Power Glove to kill a kid who gets sucked into a videogame), and acting much more like a cruel jokester.
156* ''Film/Piranha3D'' is definitely a tongue-in-cheek horror B-movie, but relatively little of it is played for outright comedy; ''Film/Piranha3DD'', on the other hand, has a lot more jokes and a lot fewer scares.
157* For a sci-fi/action/horror series, the first three ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' movies take themselves seriously and aren't too outlandish (''Film/Predator2'' is a bit more over-the-top, but not to a comical degree). ''Film/ThePredator'' instead has quirky characters (a whole bunch of them are literally on the way to the loony bin), weird plot developments (for starters, an autistic child who manages to understand Predator technology is very important) and an increase in comedic content, particularly in [[WorldOfSnark the dialogue being non-stop snark]].
158* After the first two ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'' movies, Creator/SylvesterStallone took over as director, leading to ''Film/RockyIII'' and especially ''Film/RockyIV''. The third movie has Rocky fighting Creator/MrT ''and'' Wrestling/HulkHogan, while the fourth one starts with [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a robot at Paulie's birthday party]]. Then the series gets serious again with ''Film/RockyV''.
159* ''Film/{{Sharknado}}'' is already a wacky movie, from the silly premise to the cheesy characters and acting and the over-the-top ways they kill off both humans and sharks. But ''Film/Sharknado2TheSecondOne'' takes it even further, with ridiculous celebrity cameos, the folks at Creator/TheWeatherChannel giving straight-faced reports on the shark storm, the hero of the first film becoming a badass who at one point [[spoiler:is sucked into the Sharknado and forced to chainsaw through the sharks in midair]], and an even greater [[HurricaneOfPuns Sharknado of Puns]]. And that's not counting how SequelEscalation hit the following movies, with bigger Sharknados that are "enhanced" with environmental effects (including nuclear radiation) and even used for time travel!
160* Aside from the monstrous villains, ''Film/Shazam2019'' is basically a superhero comedy, acting as this to the rest of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse movies.
161* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990'' is fairly grounded and subdued, more resembling the very mature original comic. ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'', on the other hand, is basically a live-action episode of [[Westernanimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the cartoon]], down to {{expy}} versions of the bumbling henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady - if not worse, as the Turtles don't use their weapons as much as [[ImprovisedWeapon items such as yo-yos and sausage links]]. The next movies try to be less goofy by comparison (and [[Westernanimation/{{TMNT}} one]] is a literal cartoon!), only returning to this sort of cartoonish styling with [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014 the 2014 reboot]] and ''especially'' [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesOutOfTheShadows its sequel]].
162* ''Film/VenomLetThereBeCarnage'' drops the self-seriousness of ''Film/Venom2018''; thus, instead of being an [[{{Narm}} unintentionally funny]] straight-up adaptation of the MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, it's a downright comedic sendup of those 90s comics with Venom, centered around the OddCouple dynamic between Eddie and Venom, alongside the comedy-horror brought by the unhinged (in both [[LargeHam performance]] and [[AxCrazy personality]]) villain Carnage.
163* It's interesting to see how the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' in general slowly gets closer to the source material over time, as the producers feel more confident about their broad appeal. Back when the first ''Film/XMen1'' came out, it was at the very start of the 2000s-2010s comicbook movie craze, and rather subdued both in tone and looks despite featuring characters with superpowers: just compare [[MovieSuperheroesWearBlack the black costumes]] adopted by the X-Men and Cyclops making fun of [[SuperheroesWearTights "yellow spandex"]] to something worn by, say, Creator/OliviaMunn as [[Characters/MarvelComicsPsylocke Psylocke]] in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', and an early villain like [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] compared to [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse Apocalypse]]. ''Film/DarkPhoenix'' even brings in aliens. And yet it remains serious, because the anti-bigotry message is always at its core, even when it's not the main plot. So not more comedic, just more cartoonish.
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:Literature]]
167* ''Literature/TheCyberDragonsTrilogy'': As compared to the ''Literature/AgentG'' series that precedes it. There is a lot more humor related to the worldbuilding, pop culture references, and characters snarking at one another. It also includes a talking electric sheep named Harrison (Ford).
168* Zig-zagged with ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. While the series gradually becomes more sophisticated in terms of characterization and theme, Pratchett also begins to riff on a wider variety of subjects. Thus, the humour and story elements move more towards "what would be funny here?" rather than purely commenting on fantasy tropes.
169* Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse:
170** ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'''s mission is to push the envelope on stories that can be told in novel form, but none do it quite like the novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresSkyPirates Sky Pirates!]]'', which even replaces the usual blurb with:
171--->''Stories deeper, wider, firmer, plumper, perkier, yellower, crispier and with more incredible bad jokes than you can shake a stick at, the New Adventures take the TARDIS into previously unexplored realms of taste and stupidity.''
172** The ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' start off full of lush gothic horror and realistic drama. By book five, they start suddenly retconning the TV series and getting a bit... odd. By book six, all realism is unceremoniously thrown out the window and the novels collectively become ''insane''.
173* Robert [=McCloskey's=] classic ''Literature/HomerPrice'' stories. The early ones, most famously the one about the doughnut machine, are gentle comic tales of small-town American life...but from there on out the stories keep getting steadily more outlandish, to the point where the final four stories (collected in a second volume, ''Centerburg Tales'') teeter on the brink of surrealism.
174* The ''Literature/TalesOfTheCity'' series starts off being very slice-of-life. The most outlandish things in the original book are D'orothea's efforts to [[spoiler:pose as a black woman]] and the [[spoiler:pedophilic]] private eye. The second book, in contrast, has [[spoiler:a cannibal cult]]. And then the third book has one of the main characters having a sexual encounter with a real-life closeted movie star (whose name is thus left blank) and a plot involving [[spoiler:Reverend Jim Jones]].
175* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': The first half of the series consists of relatively realistic stories about Greg Heffley, his family, and his school life. Starting with ''The Long Haul'', the series moves away from its realistic tone, including giving the family a pet pig who wears pants and walks on his hind legs, a hot tub crashing through the roof, Greg windsurfing into a nude beach, a camp serving stew with decades-old leftovers, and many {{Contrived Coincidence}}s.
176* Anne Carson's ''Red Doc>'' is this compared to its predecessor, ''Literature/AutobiographyOfRed''. While ''Autobiography of Red'' is a work of subdued MagicRealism in which the most overtly weird element is the fact that the main character has wings, ''Red Doc>'' verges on BizarroFiction: it includes a character named [[Letters2Numbers 4NO]], a flying musk ox, a psychiatric clinic disguised as a garage hidden inside a glacier, and a colony of "ice bats" who live in a structure called Batcatraz. Interestingly, it's also a bit darker than ''Autobiography'': amidst all the weirdness, characters have to deal with issues like [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] and the death of a parent.
177[[/folder]]
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179[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
180* ''Series/ThirtyRock'' gets sillier with each season. Back in the pilot, Jack's official job title being "Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming" is about the only especially unrealistic aspect of the show. In later seasons, SurrealHumor in the form of weird, off-the-wall stuff (up to and including having one character be literally immortal) is a regular feature of the series, and convoluted, interrelated multi-episode arcs are common...[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools and the series is widely accepted to be much better for it]].
181* ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' is initially pretty macabre and makes for somewhat uncomfortable viewing. Later, the series becomes much less serious, portraying the victims as buffoonish punching bags like stoners, narcissists and perverts and having many over-the-top elements to make the tone more comedic.
182* PlayedForHorror in the ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' episode "[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason6TheTaleOfTheWisdomGlass The Tale Of The Wisdom Glass]]". Allan and Jimmy find themselves trapped in a realm where whimsically attired adults rigidly enforce whimsically bizarre rules.
183* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':
184** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' starts as a gritty and semi-realistic show before being tied in with more standard superhero spin-offs like ''Series/TheFlash2014'' and ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''.
185** ''Series/{{Legends of Tomorrow}}'' starts out similar in tone to other ''Arrowverse'' shows, though with more pulp sci-fi, and received somewhat mixed critical reviews. As it finds its own identity, however, the show becomes more and more wacky and comedic, with outlandish plots and characters, all while simultaneously being praised for having better handle on emotionally weighty moments, relationships, and character arcs. Accordingly, the beginning of Season Two is also often cited as the show's GrowingTheBeard. This was fully cemented in the third season finale, which features a climactic {{Kaiju}} battle between a demon and a stuffed animal summoned by the power of teamwork/friendship, complete with [[WrestlerInAllOfUs wrestling moves]] and an impact cloud in the shape of a heart. Season 4 continues on the trajectory of silly, despite having monsters, demons, and Hell. Meanwhile, Season 5 starts with a mockumentary about the main characters confronting Rasputin, and culminates in an entire episode worth of television parodies, where the main characters get trapped in a ''Series/{{Friends}}'' ripoff, a fake ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', a sapphic version of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', and a ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' spoof. Despite the silliness of the concept, all of these end up helping at least one character find closure in parts of their season-long character arcs, or resolve relationship issues.
186* ''Series/{{The Avengers|1960s}}'' started off with the intent of becoming a gritty crime drama. Around the time Emma Peel takes over as Steed's partner, plots become a lot more cartoony and the lead spies much quippier. By the time the series shifts to colour, the show features plots like man-eating plants, housecats trained as assassins and an actual shrink ray. Uniquely for this trope, it's the wackier seasons that are more fondly remembered, and any attempts to bring the series back to its 'realistic' roots have been met with hostility.
187* Croatian ''Series/{{Friends}}'' - inspired sitcom ''Bitange i Princeze'' (translated, "Punks and Princesses") is a good example, as it started out as your typical sitcom with wacky misunderstandings, kooky characters and comedic plots. Then, in its later seasons it got more and more wacky, with plots parodying ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' and even Creator/HPLovecraft (the Necronomicon was an important part of one episode).
188* ''Series/BlackMirror''. The show, an anthology of cautionary tales about the negative impact technology can have on our lives, makes for quite harrowing viewing most of the time, but even it has some lighter episodes:
189** [[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister "USS Callister"]] explores fantastical technology far removed from contemporary technologies--how humans might mistreat artificial intelligences that are capable of passing the Turing test, and how that would be immoral, and indeed ultimately detrimental--and it throws in cheeky {{Shout Out}}s to sci-fi fiction and humour to lighten things up.
190** [[Recap/BlackMirrorRachelJackAndAshleyToo "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"]] starts as a dark drama about a pair of teenage sisters who feel isolated after the death of their mother. One of the sisters seeks solace in a robotic toy based on her pop idol Ashley O, and it brings out obsessive behaviour that causes friction between the two girls. Meanwhile, Ashley herself is a drugged-up depressive who loathes her current career path, but is kept under the thumb of her abusive aunt/manager. Then Jack blows the little robot's RestrainingBolt [[BrainUploading and it develops Ashley's full personality]], and then the film becomes a {{Parody}} of a Creator/DisneyChannel Original Movie (as well as a scathing TakeThat at Disney's past controlling treatment of its former child stars -- especially Music/MileyCyrus, who plays Ashley here).
191* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' in Season 7, especially when you compare it to [[CerebusSyndrome the more serious]] Season 6. While it has several serious episodes and some realistic plotlines, it also has a lot of convoluted and wacky plotlines, especially the Jack and Eric ones. For example, one plotline involves Eric gaining the ability to see into the future whenever he sneezes and Jack trying to use this power to win the lottery. Luckily, this is the show's final season.
192* ''{{Series/Charmed|1998}}'''s first two seasons lean more towards {{Melodrama}} with the supernatural stuff as mainly a bit of flavouring. Season 3 makes it more action-packed and tongue-in-cheek, with many of the more outrageous magical stuff getting {{Lampshade Hanging}}s. By the fifth season, several episodes literally revolve around one of the sisters getting turned into a magical creature that requires a SexyWhateverOutfit. This is reversed in the seventh and eighth seasons which are more serious - but not as much as the first two.
193* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' started out as a fairly slow-paced, relaxing, yet witty sitcom. With a lot of the plots in the early seasons being fairly grounded, and most episodes only taking place within the bar. As the series went on however, and especially after Diane left the show, the plots got increasingly more absurd, the jokes per minute increased in numbers, plenty of sight gags started popping up. The show's change in tone is best exemplified in the Season 10 finale "An Old Fashioned Wedding", essentially an over-the-top slapstick comedy with jokes moving at a breakneck speed centered around an utterly ridiculous plot.
194* ''Series/{{Community}}'' gradually became more outlandish and cartoonish through its first three seasons, with a growing number of genre parody episodes and Greendale descending in to chaos over mundane matters being treated as SeriousBusiness. By Season 3, there was an episode exploring alternate timelines [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane that may or may not have created actual parallel realities]] and an episode with the gang getting in to a highly advanced video game. Season 4 dialed it to such an extent that when it rolled back in Season 5, they referred to Season 4's events as the "Gas Leak Year." This is all lampshaded when Jeff says that the main characters went in to Greendale as real people and came out as "mixed-up cartoon characters."
195* The transition between Creator/WilliamHartnell's ''Series/DoctorWho'' and Creator/PatrickTroughton's tenure. The {{Edutainment|Show}} stuff is pretty much gone; Series 6 alone features clones, an IAmYourFather twist, memory loss, dinosaurs in modern London and {{space pirates}}. The show shifts away from hard sci-fi to focus more on [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters]], and [[TheSixties elements of psychedelia begin to feature more prominently]]: This is particularly apparent in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E4TheKrotons "The Krotons"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E2TheMindRobber "The Mind Robber"]]. However, in a zig-zagging move, though the Doctor is a lot sillier under Creator/RobertHolmes' pen, horror serials become a lot more common. The First Doctor only had three horror stories in his whole tenure: The {{Bottle Episode}}s [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E3TheEdgeOfDestruction "The Edge of Destruction"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E2MissiontotheUnknown "Mission to the Unknown"]], and his very last story, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet "The Tenth Planet"]] (which debuts the Cybermen). Conversely, just under half of the Second Doctor's stories are horror-based.
196** Another example is the period in the mid-to-late 70s. Under pressure of having [[NoBudget even less money than usual]], constant BBC strikes, the prima donna Creator/TomBaker being allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted, a [[Creator/DouglasAdams script editor]] who loved SurrealHumor and would constantly add it to everything he touched, and MoralGuardians cracking down on the usual ''Doctor Who'' strategy for generating cheap horror (namely graphic violence and screaming), the writers unleashed a parade of truly demented monster ideas that were selected based on cost-efficiency. Critics of the time found the show's tone too flippant to make you care about anyone, but too dark to be funny. Ironically, one of the stories filmed during this period, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath "City of Death"]], is considered to be one of the best, if not ''the'' best ever Classic ''Who'' story.
197* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' starts to do this, after a fashion, in Series 2. While Series 1 is a fairly light-hearted Edwardian comedy of manners, the second series features many SoapOpera elements, including a murder frame-up, interlocking love triangles, miraculous recovery from horrific injuries, and all manner of other bizarre occurrences. Semi-justified in that Series 2 is set during and immediately after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI--life was strange then.
198* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' starts out as a mundane sitcom, but succumbs to camp as a result of Steve Urkel. It begins with Steve's [[SexierAlterEgo chemically-induced alter-ego]] "Stefan Urquelle", and keeps escalating until Steve travels to outer space! In fairness, Steve Urkel being the harbinger of these changes is likely incidental, but the down-to-earth family sitcom nevertheless ends with genetic engineering, cloning, and teleportation being regular elements of the plot.
199** ''Series/KeyAndPeele'' examines this in a sketch called "Family Matters". Carl's actor Reginald [=VelJohnson=] (played by Peele) confronts an ABC executive (played by Key) about the changes in the show. At first the exec defends "Urkel-mania" as being good for the ratings, but in the middle of the shouting match, he abruptly shoots himself. It turns out that "Jaleel White" doesn't exist, Steve Urkel is real, and he's an evil telepath who has seized control of the show for his own purposes. The rest of the cast and crew are his terrified hostages for six more seasons.
200* The first season of ''Series/FantasyIsland'' has more mundane plots (a woman fakes her death for AttendingYourOwnFuneral) that a rich man like Roarke could logically pull off with a cast of actors and special effects. Starting in season 2, it becomes clear these people truly are being sent back in time, physically transformed, or thrust into fantastic circumstances, and Roarke may well not be human. By the later years, the show doesn't even bother hiding this is truly magic, to the point an episode can open with people rendered invisible and Roarke and his aides simply accepting it as normal.
201* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' starts off as a WagonTrainToTheStars that is only slightly wackier than usual, but from the last few episodes of the first season the writers really started pushing the boat out both in terms of CerebusSyndrome and in how crazy the situations they put the characters into became. Among mainstream TV shows, it's probably rivaled only by the ''Series/DoctorWho'' franchise for how close canon episodes get to what are usually CrackFic concepts. And it mostly does this while still keeping the stories emotionally significant. According to WordOfGod, the series was intended to be an ''anti-Franchise/StarTrek'', kind of like ''Series/TheRealWorld'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace in SPACE!]]. The dysfunction was written in from the start, and much of the increasing craziness is a result of the writers testing just how far they could push the boundaries.
202* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' did this right — after a first season that was very well-written, but quiet, sensible, slow-moving, and rather ''Series/{{Cheers}}''-ish in style, the second season amped the show up into a full-blown theatrical {{Farce}} and perfected its trademark blend of ludicrously overblown plots, highbrow wit, and slapstick, which it marinated in (and scooped many, many Emmys for) until it started losing momentum in season nine.
203* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' gradually becomes this after the Ross/Rachel breakup in S3. The characters become more cartoonish, the plots become sillier (particularly those involving Joey and Ross), and drama is significantly cut down. By S6, the show has more-or-less completed its transformation from "off beat sitcom about six 20-something New Yorkers trying to get by in life" to "fast-paced sitcom about six buffoonish New Yorkers acting silly/goofy for 30 minutes."
204* The last 2 seasons of ''Series/FullHouse'' have several subplots that fall into this trope, i.e. the guys hawking Jesse's new invention that keeps hair out of someone's face, the family getting addicted to Michelle's new Platform/{{Super N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES game, Jesse trying to keep his blood pressure down even though there's an ostrich in Kimmy Gibbler's yard, etc.
205* Season one of ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' is mostly a slightly-odd PoliceProcedural with ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' {{Mythology Gag}}s, and its villainies are limited to corporate and municipal corruption, serial killings, mafioso power-struggles and the occasional hitman. By season two it's widened its scope to include multiple MadScientist-types, crazy cult conspirators, tech-enhanced supervillains and mutants and, in season three, HatePlague terrorism and elements of the supernatural. By season four, even over-the-top stuff like Poison Ivy's killer plants feel like Gotham City business-as-usual.
206* Inverted by ''Series/HancocksHalfHour''. It began as a narrative-driven sitcom based around a ZanyScheme every episode with MediumAwareness, BreakingTheFourthWall, surreal touches and explicit NegativeContinuity. These elements was gradually downplayed until by the end it had become a SliceOfLife observational comedy.
207* ''Series/HappyDays'': The actual shark-jumping episode is a good example. Picture the premise of the show -- how the Cunningham family was so gosh-darn swell back in the fifties. Now, reconcile that image with [[EnsembleDarkhorse Fonzie]] water-skiing over sharks to overcome his fear of them, and you can see how JumpingTheShark became a {{Trope Namer|s}}.
208* ''[[Series/HenryDanger Henry Danger's]]'' first two seasons started out as a mostly typical superhero/crime-fighting family comedy show that you could expect from a [[KidCom sitcom from Nickelodeon]], but from Season 3 onward to its final season, Season 5, the show became noticeably zanier and weirder with ridiculously quirky, farcical, and over-the-top plotlines and jokes.
209** For example, In Seasons 1 and 2, the typical episode of Henry Danger revolved around Henry trying to balance his job as Captain Man's sidekick along with his social life and academic life at school, and balancing his relationships with his sister Piper and their parents at home. And because of the superhero/crime-fighting theme of the show, a lot of science fiction elements and motifs were also sprinkled in (such as time travel and alternate dimensions), as well, but nothing extremely ridiculous. Nevertheless, by the time you get to Seasons 3-5, the episodes featured more exaggerated fantastical storylines with the characters meeting aliens, meeting Bigfoot, and discovering talking trees, alongside more exaggerated science fiction elements as well.
210** ''However'', it should be noted that the show did feature some [[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode darker and edgier episodes]] every now and then, which allowed the show to not be seen as completely farcical and wacky all the time.
211* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' starts out a mostly grounded sitcom, with only a few really overly silly elements. As it goes on, (roughly around season 2/3), it starts to become a lot more over-the-top and cartoonish, also intentionally banking on the UnreliableNarrator elements to show things Ted were describing in-universe as a lot more outlandish than they actually were. The slapstick and silliness of the plots are ramped up, while the "narrator" excuse is increasingly downplayed, making the wackiness seem more like an inherent part of the world.
212* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' starts off as a fairly straightforward, if [[BlackComedy dark]] sitcom with realistic plots. Starting with Season 2, however, the show becomes far more manic and over the top, the violence gets kicked up a notch, the characters all [[{{Flanderization}} go from somewhat tame]] {{Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist}}s into some of the worst people in the world, and the humor gets dark enough to the point where it starts to resemble a less surreal, live-action version of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. [[GrowingTheBeard It also gets way funnier as a result.]]
213* ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' would come into mind. ''Franchise/KamenRider'' shows before it are generally [[DarkerAndEdgier more serious in tone]].
214* ''Series/LazyTown'': The show is this in relation to the plays which it was based on. Although the original plays were still cartoony in some aspects like the set design, they were much quieter and lacked the slapstick and zany humor ''[=LazyTown=]'' is known for. Season 4 features many plots that are outlandish and strange, such as going to space ("Let's Go to the Moon"), encountering trolls ("The Baby Troll"), and time travel ("The Last Sportscandy").
215* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' begins as a sort of office comedy interspliced with Clark's super heroics. Though the main duo stay more or less grounded in domestic reality, their surroundings become more akin to the [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age comics,]] with goofball villains (including Shelley Long, Creator/DrewCarey, Sylvia from ''Series/TheNanny'', and culminating in the guy from ''Night Court'' sporting [[MyBrainIsBig a giant latex head]] and calling himself Dr. Klaus Mensa), time travel, magic, and [[OpeningACanOfClones clones galore.]]
216** ''{{Series/Smallville}}'' followed a similar path in its later run: Whereas the show's first half focused on sleepy Americana life being confronted by ''X-Files'' weirdness (even featuring a show called "X-Styles" with disgraced muckraker Perry White), the second half was very much in tune with the old comics.... Though some of its takes on the classic DCU characters were weirdly dark and violent.
217* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' became this once the second season rolled around, with one episode focusing on Al going to extremes to kill a mouse. The shift in tone becomes more noticeable as soon as Jefferson marries Marcy after Steve left her, and stays that way for the rest of the series.
218* ''Series/NightCourt'' increasingly becomes more fueled by jokes than by plot.
219* ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' is this trope, even compared to the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles 1987 cartoon]]. Most of the characters have a tendency to act with less intelligence than expected (e.g. Leo, Raph, Mike, Bonesteel, etc.), Raph is more blunt and sassy even to Master Splinter, and just about every action is accompanied by wacky sound effects.
220* [[Series/TheOfficeUS The American version]] of ''The Office'' rolls with this, though not quite as bad as some other shows. The first two seasons (really the first season, but what was technically the first season was stunted) portray a fairly realistic day-to-day workplace with a PointyHairedBoss, who, while on the extreme of what should be firing offenses, is fairly realistic in his incompetence, but later seasons see a more ironclad ContractualImmortality take place for many characters, especially Ryan, Michael, Dwight, and (in one case) Meredith.
221* ''Series/OnceUponATime'''s gimmick in Season 1 is that there is a realistic Storybrooke plot to run alongside the fairy tale flashbacks each episode. Once the curse is broken in the Season 1 finale, the fantasy stuff comes to the forefront.
222* ''{{Series/Riverdale}}'' began as a fairly down-to-earth murder-mystery/teen drama, but as the series went on it introduced more and more outlandish elements like organ-harvesting rings, cults and openly supernatural elements, like superpowers, alternate dimensions, ghosts and time travel.
223* ''{{Series/Roseanne}}'' famously loses the plot in its ninth season, after the Connors win the Illinois State Lottery, and Roseanne Barr thought it would be clever to make the last season as wacky, farcical, and meta as possible. As Brad Jones [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4wzrdeFDc put it]], imagine if the final season of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' suddenly became a later season of ''Family Matters.''
224* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' started as a very subdued SliceOfLife medical sitcom, more similar to shows like ''Series/TheRoyleFamily'' and ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' with the nominal gimmick that the lead character narrates his life. Over time, it transitioned into a more standard American sitcom and then into something almost as wacky as ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
225* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' became this once Creator/LarryDavid resigned from writing duties after Season 7. The plots are more cartoonish and fast-paced, the characters are even ''more'' jerkish and self-centered, and the humor is less subtle. A good example of how much the show changes in its last two seasons is the Season 8 episode "The Bizarro Jerry", which centers on Elaine hanging out with somebody who's ''literally'' Jerry's exact opposite, Jerry dating a woman with the hands of a man, George concocting a manipulative-even-for-him scheme to get into an exclusive women's club, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Kramer getting a job]].
226* ''Series/Space1999'' had two seasons that were the polar opposites of each other. The first season was slower paced with subdued acting and dealt with cerebral issues, often delving into metaphysics and existentialism. It was more [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey Space Odyssey]] than SpaceOpera. Characterization was fatalistic and they often felt powerless and resigned to not understanding the the things that they often encounter. Many episodes ended with more questions than answers. Some episodes had aspects of CosmicHorror, again with the characters unable to proactively affect a turn of events. Season two upped the action and gave the characters recurring quirks such as Tony's failed attempts to make beer. The characters are far more proactive with John Koenig being a GuileHero and ActionHero when he needs to be. He and Alan Carter are now HeterosexualLifePartners when they weren't particularly close in the first season. Helena becomes TheHeart and now there also alien comedy relief sidekicks, TheSpock and fanservice. Most of the episodes have the Everybody Laughs Ending. The second season had a more WagonTrainToTheStars format for a good reason. Fred Frieberger took over as the executive producer and reformatted the show in the same way he approached the [[Franchise/StarTrek the third season of another famous wagon train to the stars]] for which he was also executive producer.
227* The affectionately named "Turd Season" of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. All those fans who wrote letters to keep ''Star Trek'' on the air must have been flabbergasted that ''this'' was the result of their efforts:
228##[[Recap/StarTrekS3E15LetThatBeYourLastBattlefield "You're dead, you half-white!" "I'll take you with me, you half-black!"]]
229##[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain}} "Spock’s Brain"]] is the peak of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LyFYv35ANw goofy plot lines,]] cheesy dialogue ([[https://youtube.com/watch?v=6o7UDpn1mKI "Brain and brain!"]]) and [[Creator/WilliamShatner Shatner]] going full Shatner. This episode is lampooned in a ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode, "The Magnificent Ferengi", by having an alien die and then his corpse be reanimated via remote control.
230##That one and [[Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden "The Way to Eden"]] (Don't be such a Herbert!) are always the ones people point to as too stupid to watch...
231##...but [[Recap/StarTrekS3E4AndTheChildrenShallLead "And the Children Shall Lead"]] deserves a nomination for guest-starring Melvin Belli, a celebrity defense attorney, as a melting alien known as Gorgan. Speaking of which, Kirk's [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=RAvRBDQqSmY meltdown]] in that episode needs to be seen to be believed.
232** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E13SubRosa Planet Scotland!]] According to the Memory Alpha wiki, there was a large demographic of middle-aged women that watched TNG; this episode is a failed attempt at rewarding them with something related to their interests. There's really not much to say besides everyone acting like they're from the most cliche romance novels, the accents are abominable, and Beverly Crusher has sex with a space ghost while reading a pornographic story about her grandma. At least they did better than [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E18UpTheLongLadder Space Ireland]] did.
233** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (a.k.a. the one with [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E15Threshold the salamander boinking]] episode). First, it's the second follow-up to ''The Next Generation'', starting one year after ''Next Gen'' went off the air. ''Deep Space Nine'' was running concurrently, but it began before ''Voyager'' did. Right off the bat, you have franchise fatigue, because there’s not a lot of ideas that haven't already been covered by then. Second, unlike TNG or [=DS9=], VOY was tethered to a network. {{Creator/UPN}}’s core demographics were skewed less toward sci-fi and more toward low-brow entertainment. (This is why we eventually got Wrestling/TheRock in [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS6E15Tsunkats an episode]], as UPN hosted {{Wrestling/WWE}} at the time.) So it not only had to contend with network demands, like getting more visually-appealing actors, but also expectations from a network audience who weren't predisposed to liking ''Trek''. Hence, ''Voyager'' skews lighter, with episodes such as [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS6E5Alice Tom Paris buying a spaceship]], which has a brain interface (plastic headband) for controls? Which results in him falling in love with the spacecraft, which kidnaps him and tries to kill his girlfriend. Which is the plot of ''{{Literature/Christine}}'', obviously.
234* ''Series/StrangerThings'': The first two seasons stayed in a zone somewhere between the 80's output of Creator/StevenSpielberg sci-fi/fantasy and Creator/StephenKing horror. Season three broadens the tone to include a lot more comedy and other material not known for the small town setting.
235** There is increased luxuriating in the 80s setting, with a mall opening up and the characters spending time there as the LocalHangout or BurgerFool. This makes the costuming more blatant and the women (Karen in particular) sporting much more elaborate, brightly-colored hair, makeup, and outfits. Some extras look like they're attending an 80s-themed party.
236** The "Russians under the mall" plot is also a more cartoonish concept, taking cues more from 80's action movies complete with the uniforms and thick accents. Relatedly, Hopper develops a rivalry with a Russian enforcer who is presented almost like a Franchise/{{Terminator}}.
237** One-note comedic characters like Murray and Erica are afforded much longer screen-time, appearing in multiple episodes.
238** Dustin and Suzie singing the theme tune from ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'' in the manner of a musical interlude — pop-cultural touchstones were previously presented much more subtly.
239* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' has two: ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'' and ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'', both of which are car-themed AffectionateParody seasons.
240* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' flip flops this trope. While the show pulls no punches in reminding you how crapsack it is it also has its wacky moments when a breather episode comes up. Like when Sam and Dean hunt a MonsterOfTheWeek pretending to be Dracula. While in full black and white. Then the Channel Chasers episode, and a crossover with ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''. [[Recap/SupernaturalS13E16ScoobyNatural No, really.]]
241* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' has a few as well, most notably ''Series/UltramanTaro'', ''Series/UltramanMax'' and the two ''Film/UltramanZearth'' movies. Like ''Carranger'' and ''Go-Onger'' above, they were both intended to be SelfParody entries of the franchise.
242* ''Series/UglyBetty'' becomes a full-blown farce starting about Season 3.
243* Played with in ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}''. Many of the artifacts have terrible consequences, and they're never unwilling to be serious. However, some of the artifacts start to become even more and more silly as the series goes on, among them an artifact that traps people inside a Mexican Soap Opera, Walt Disney's pen, and an artifact that summons a bunch of dancing showgirls that chase down people (while singing and dancing.)
244[[/folder]]
245
246[[folder:Music]]
247* Music/{{Autechre}}'s 2014/2015 live sets are this, to the extent that it applies to abstract electronic music. It's their most chaotic and club-oriented release of the ''elseq'' era, even sounding at times like their warped take on [[{{Dubstep}} brostep]].
248* Music/{{Eminem}}'s album ''Encore'' is this when compared to his original trilogy of albums. His [[Music/TheSlimShadyLP first]] [[Music/TheMarshallMathersLP two]] albums are [[LightmareFuel comedic in tone but also exceedingly violent and dark]] with [[VulgarHumor boundary-crossing bigotry used for humour]]; his third mostly cuts the cartoonish violence in favour of less exaggerated real violence. ''Encore'' is filled with puerile, playground humour inspired by {{Grossout Show}}s and plenty of goofy song concepts such as Eminem being a stage hypnotist ("Big Weenie") or delivering weepy childhood confessionals about killing Superman by putting his sticker on his fridge next to Darth Vader ("Rainman").
249[[/folder]]
250
251[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
252* Summer of 1999 into the early fall, {{Wrestling/WCW}} was beginning to hemorrhage viewers and money. They needed all the help they could get. Wrestling/VinceRusso was brought in as head writer to turn things around. 2000 was the ''[[NoFourthWall What you are now watching is fake]]'' era when people were ripping up scripts, discussing [[FinishingMove finishes,]] etc. Russo was in a cage match where he fluked his way into the world title, but he wasn't sold as a threat, and the overarching commentary was, ''{{Wrestling/Goldberg}} won't follow the script! The script for this show which is fake. And it's so fake that [[WriterOnBoard the head writer scripted himself to be champion!]]'' Another time, Wrestling/BookerT won the World Heavyweight Championship out of a box. The direction was also manic. The Texas Tornado Ladder Match from the November 8, 1999 episode of ''[[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro Nitro]]'' lasted only 7 minutes, including entrances. Another show had 9 matches, none of which lasted over 3 minutes, and at least half had run-ins. Russo had to average about 2 ridiculous GimmickMatches every 3 weeks, including four different varieties of pole matches. WCW 2000 was entertainingly bad, but he kind of threw a concrete block on a drowning promotion which needed a life preserver.
253* Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, aka JWP Joshi Puroreso, always had lighthearted elements but got wackier in 1992 after the majority of the serious "shoot" wrestlers left to form LLPW, with such highlights as "Princess" title belts, the NonIronicClown Command Bolshoi taking charge of proceedings, and implied romance drama spilling into the build up of open weight bouts. Unfortunately, a lot of crises comparable to the LLPW pullout (and [[CasualtyInTheRing in one case worse]]) seemed to come upon the promotion at regular intervals, spoiling some of the intended atmosphere. Eventually financial disputes came to a head and JWP seemed to die for good, only for Pure J to rise from the ashes and [[SpiritualSuccessor basically be the same thing]].
254* [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] got a little denser as it incorporated the more outlandish and fantastical gimmicks of rival promotions W*ING and IWA Japan following their unsuccessful "[[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny invasions]]", but really got wacky when Kodo Fuyuki took over and enforced his "Sports Entertainment" vision while also cutting back on the {{garbage wrestling}} the promotion was famed for.
255* Jaguar Yokota's promotion, Yoshimoto Women's Pro Wrestling Jd', or [=JDStar=], took this approach after three years of virtual aimlessness following Yokota's virtual abandonment of it, trying to bring a more GirlyGirl {{fanservice}} alternative to the traditionally serious joshi puroresu scene. (They may have had a point; the first act in Joshi to get over without gaijin aid ''was'' The Beauty Pair, even if the TomboyCrushgals later blew them out of the water.)
256* The "Puroresu Love" era spearheaded by [[Wrestling/TheGreatMuta Keiji Mutoh]] was a drastically wackier shift for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling, who had the most serious pro wrestling in Japan, possibly the entire world, from a presentation standpoint. MechaMooks, wannabe Mexicans, public kidnappings and {{Gorgeous George}}s suddenly became the norm, all in the name of new advertising and sponsors following the loss of the original network spot to [[Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH NOAH]].
257* IWA Japan itself went this route when its own founder Victor Quiñones basically admitted defeat to FMW and returned to working for them before returning to Puerto Rico to try the IWA brand again there. Rather than continue to fight for the garbage wrestling audience, IWA Japan tried to stay alive by incorporating more comedy into its shows (and to be fair, it did live for another decade or so).
258* Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1, as a result of losing its direction in the wake of Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto's hiatus and death, became a very cosmopolitan promotion where anything can be expected. [[HumiliatingWager Wagers]] involving food, or dancing. Wrestlers in bull (or cow) themed armor, a cosmic solider, sumo matches...''mostly'' just straight pro wrestling between "regular" athletes, but by no means limited to it.
259* Wrestling/{{Carlito|Colon}} from his "Caribbean Cool" gimmick onward. From his overly exaggerated Puerto Rican accent, to his increasingly [[FunnyAfro unkempt Afro]], [[SpitefulSpit to his tendency to spit apples in people's faces]], to a tendency [[ThirdPersonPerson to refer to himself in third person]], to his brightly colored tights, to his TalkShowWithFists, this Cabana boy was a ''far'' cry from the shovel wielding man in a wife beater who first gained fame in WWC. And Carlito Caribbean Cool only got goofier as he later incorporated elements from his GorgeousGeorge gimmick (itself an example of this trope). However, when it came time to humiliate or hurt someone, Carlito remained as brutal as he always had been, and in fact got ''[[TookALevelInJerkass more]]'' callous.
260* Wrestling/MichelleMcCool got a push in 2007 playing a down-to-earth AllAmericanFace-- who was a mostly serious wrestler and personal trainer. Likewise her heel turn in 2009 had her as a BloodKnight who did brutal sneak attacks on Wrestling/MariaKanellis, Wrestling/EveTorres and Wrestling/{{Melina}}. By the end of the year she and Wrestling/{{Layla}} formed Wrestling/LayCool. Initially a generic heel tandem, they became exaggerated versions of {{Valley Girl}}s, with a more comedic edge. This in fact was better received than her previous persona, as fans found that Michelle had a flair for comedy. Layla in particular became an EnsembleDarkhorse for her affinity as TheDitz.
261* Wrestling/JillianHall was a mostly serious character until she adopted the gimmick of a HollywoodToneDeaf bimbo. This eventually evolved into skits of her trying to serenade the various celebrity guest hosts-- and getting a slapsticky comeuppance each time.
262* Wrestling/SummerRae was likewise a serious wrestler on NXT-- with an undefeated streak and a habit of making sneak attacks. When she debuted on the main roster, it was as a dance partner to Wrestling/{{Fandango}}. As such, she changed her character to a superficial bimbo who could only get fluke wins.
263* Inverted for Wrestling/AlexaBliss who debuted as a glitter-obsessed fairy princess who wore a tutu to the ring. She turned heel to become a more serious AlphaBitch.
264* Wrestling/TetsuyaNaito ever since he left Los Ingobernables in Wrestling/{{CMLL}}, and especially since he {{start|myown}}ed his very own Wrestling/LosIngobernablesDeJapon. Best known as a HotBlooded half of the hotblooded TagTeam No Limit prior, and for his anti Mexican stint in La Ola Amarilla, Naito suddenly became [[TheSlacker lazy]]. To the point he spent more time in matches trying to get away from his opponents so he could spend more time lying down than he did actually trying to beat them. However, laziness also meant he was more willing to strike a foe with a weapon and had no problem with his Ingobernables softening up his opposition, so in a way Naito had become more dangerous.
265[[/folder]]
266
267[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
268* ''{{TabletopGame/Spelljammer}}'' is much weirder than the other ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' settings, taking its basic concept of heroic fantasy [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace in space]] and stretching it as far as they can go. Complete with space clowns, giant hamsters, flying galleons and cosmological concepts lifted straight out of the medieval era.
269[[/folder]]
270
271[[folder:Theatre]]
272* While the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 '87 Cartoon]] was fairly dense and wacky to begin with (especially after ExecutiveMeddling set in), the cartoon had ''nothing'' on ''Theatre/ComingOutOfTheirShells''. Mutant ninjas who are supposed to keep themselves secret flaunting themselves on-stage in GlamRock attire? Songs about pizza and stone-skipping? A villain that wants to take over the world instead trying to end all music because of a personal dislike of it? ''Singing'' about how much he dislikes music? You get the idea.
273[[/folder]]
274
275[[folder:Toys]]
276* The ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' toyline was never realistic, but the earliest vehicles tend to be [[CaptainErsatz based on existing military hardware with minor changes]], and the character design, while athletic, is somewhat restrained. This changed as the franchise headed in the '90s, with characters both new and old [[http://www.yojoe.com/action/94/viper4.shtml clad in bright primary colours]], [[http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/90/general/ overdesigned vehicles]] and wacky sublines (such as dinosaur-hunting and {{ninja}}s) being the order of the day. For a direct comparison, view the [[http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/84/ '84 vehicle assortment]] with the [[http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/91/ '91]] one.
277* ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' started out as a fairly edgy girls' toyline, with somewhat mature character designs and realistic high-school plots. Over time, the franchise shifted more toward fantasy influences in design and story, and the 2016 reboot softened a lot of its remaining edge.
278* ''Toys/TransformersBotBots'' contains tiny Transformers with wacky alt modes, such as food and gardening equipment, while also focusing on their mischief-inducing misadventures. This is a far cry from most other ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' series, which are often about intergalactic war between two feuding factions.
279[[/folder]]
280
281[[folder:Video Games]]
282* ''VideoGame/AlanWake'', a psychological horror thriller, has a downloadable sequel subtitled ''American Nightmare'', which adds more emphasis on gunplay, contains a hammy villain, and time travel shenanigans. It's justified in the fact that the plot (and enemy) come straight out of Alan Wake's old, [[StylisticSuck crappy]] grindhouse horrors and sci-fi horror. It's best described as Tarantino and Stephen King hanging out.
283* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'''s huge sense of humor relies very heavily on BreakingTheFourthWall, with its overall atmosphere being very silly and goofy. ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts Nuts & Bolts]]'' still has BreakingTheFourthWall aplenty, but overall it relies much more on traditional humor than the first two games do (to wit, the L.O.G is a FourthWallObserver, who would never fit into the previous games).
284* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' is considerably wackier than [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} the original]], which was more of an IndecisiveParody until the DLC came out. As a good example of just how not-seriously the game takes itself, there's a quest called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Shoot This Guy in the Face"]]. Overlaps with DarkerAndEdgier, however, given how much of the wackiness is undiluted BlackComedy.
285* The ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games start out as a relatively restrained and realistic war-time era shooters but grow more outlandish as they go on. An IGN [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/11/call-of-duty-the-original-and-the-best article]] even says something in the likes of this for why the franchise would be FirstInstallmentWins. The original employs an understated "docudrama" style, with a focus on realism and putting the player in historical battles while "work[ing] hard to make sure you felt like a small part of a bigger story, like the proverbial CannonFodder you really were." The current CashCowFranchise goes for instead an overblown [[TestosteronePoisoning macho]] SummerBlockbuster starring characters that wouldn't be out of place in an eighties action film.
286* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries'': The original ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert Red Alert]]'' is a more grounded, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-based version of [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries The Tiberian Series]], with the Soviets as chilling Nazi stand-ins after the actual Nazis are [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct removed from history]]. Then we have ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 Red Alert 2]]'', which introduces mind control, flying saucers, a giant brain in a tank, attack dolphins and giant squid. ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3 Red Alert 3]]'' just drops ''any'' idea of being serious and adds in a IFV that launches infantry out of a cannon, [[BearsAreBadNews Attack Bears]] also launchable from the same IFV, {{Animeland}} Japan with giant mechs, [[Film/BatmanAndRobin the Mister Freeze Corps]], magnetic satellites, S.H.R.I.N.K. beams, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] [[Creator/GeorgeTakei Emperor Takei]]. Oh ''my''!
287* ''VideoGame/TheConduit'' is a first person shooter about a shadowy organization called The Trust, trying to usurp control of the United States government, and the invasion of Washington D.C. by an alien race known as the Drudge, where the main character is a surly, no nonsense government agent. ''VideoGame/Conduit2'' is a globe-hopping adventure, visiting locations ranging from Siberia to {{Atlantis}}, shooting not only humans and aliens, but at one point a giant sea monster, while the protagonist has become a wise guy voiced by Creator/JonStJohn. To drive the point home, the game concludes with a cutscene where [[spoiler:the protagonist travels to the moon, where Abraham Lincoln steps out of a portal wearing power armour]].
288* While the main gameplay of ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseGrimsborough'' is still serious enough (investigating [[AlwaysMurder murder after murder after murder]]), the plot quickly became more outlandish by ''VideoGame/CriminalCasePacificBay'', when compared to the relative grounded nature of Grimsborough. For example, Grimsborough has a MobWar, [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals dogs being poisoned]], and a SerialKiller terrorising the university, while Pacific Bay has a ChurchOfHappyology brainwashing people, sending an alien back home to prevent his home planet from conducting an AlienInvasion, and a MadScientist intending to destroy the city.
289* ''Franchise/DeadRising'':
290** With each installment, the combo weapons get more insane - [[VideoGame/DeadRising2 the second]] features things like a lightsaber made from jewels and a flashlight, chainsaws strapped to boat paddles, and an electric wheelchair with machine guns. [[VideoGame/DeadRising3 The third game]] allows you to make your own death-machine vehicle, including absurd combinations running on RuleOfCool like combining a motorcycle and a steamroller.
291** ''[[VideoGame/DeadRising2OffTheRecord Off The Record]]'', the UpdatedRerelease of [[VideoGame/DeadRising2 2]] features a wacky new area- a theme park called "Uranus Zone" and several out-there combo weapons to coincide with Uranus Zone's outer space theme.
292** The ''VideoGame/DeadRising3'' DLC released in 2014, ''Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha'', shoots for the highest density of wackiness possible, allowing for four-player co-op gameplay and parodying everything that's ever had to do with Capcom, including CapcomSequelStagnation, with a sense of absurdity that wouldn't be too out of place in ''Saints Row IV''.
293** Then there's ''VideoGame/DeadRising4''. Some of the weapon combos are much sillier, and Frank constantly cracks jokes regardless of how appropriate it is for the time.
294* While ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' has a more complex plot than ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'', Dante himself begins to showcase his [[FranchiseCodifier now-trademark]] irreverent sense of humor here, likely as a response to ''Devil May Cry 2'' where he was constantly [[TheStoic dead-serious]]. Compared to ''Devil May Cry 1'' where he mostly had a few one-liners and stunts to demonstrate the RuleOfCool, ''Devil May Cry 3'' features over-the-top scenes such as Dante [[ItMakesSenseInContext fighting off demons shirtless while eating pizza]], riding a missile [[RocketRide like it was a skateboard]], and using a motorcycle [[CarFu like a set of nunchucks]] to fight demons while riding up the side of a tower.
295* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'' has much more wacky moments in comparison to the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 first]] [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest two]] titles, thanks to the Flanderization, funny enemy design, and Kiddy Kong himself. ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' multiplies the wackier elements by, well, sixty-four. Before the game begins, you are treated to a slapstick-filled rap number that introduces the Kongs. Lanky Kong in particular has sillier abilities such as inflating himself to reach high places. In addition to expected places such as Jungle Japes and Gloomy Galleon, there's also Frantic Factory with its LivingToy[=s=] and the majority of Fungi Forest.[[note]][[Trivia/DonkeyKong64 That level was originally planned for]] ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''.[[/note]]
296* ''Videogame/DoubleDragon III: The Sacred Stones.''
297-->'''[[http://projectnes.blogspot.com/2011/01/elsewhere-there-be-dragons-double.html Dr. El Sandifer]]''': The game plays with typical late-NES [[{{Sequelitis}} sequel sloppiness]] -- graphics feel rushed, flat, and lifeless. But conceptually speaking, the game is completely nuts, involving running around the world collecting Rosetta Stones, of which there are apparently several now, so that they can eventually fight [[UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII Cleopatra]]. Sadly, [[CulturalTranslation the plot was sanitized]] for the [American] release, not in the sense of censorship but in the sense of adding sanity.
298* ''VideoGame/Drakengard3'': Is filled with considerably more slapstick and Fourth Wall breaking humor than any prior game in the series, the game's story is still extremely dark, but now more blanced out with sillier moments.
299* Koei's ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors''. The launch titles for the "Musou" games, as they're known in Japan, mostly focus on basic armed combat on foot and some mounted combat, featuring entirely reasonable costume design. Come later titles, however, attacks are flashier, new, supernatural abilities are introduced, and costumes are more absurd. ''Strikeforce'' is possibly one of the weirdest incarnations of the Dynasty Warriors series thanks to the introduction of what can only be described as [[SuperMode powered-up super modes for every character in the game]].
300* The original ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' is already wacky, but its sequel goes off the deep end - for example, its third level features Jim in disguise as a cave salamander floating through a pinball bumper- and pencil-studded intestine while shooting inflated sheep on his way to a nonsensical game show at the level's end. Thankfully, it actually [[SurrealHumor works]]. After that, ''Earthworm Jim 3D'' on the N64 (developed by a different team) descends into infantile "random" gags and ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} the Bobcat''-quality puns.
301* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
302** ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' is generally a pretty bleak game, and while there is some humor, it's mostly quite dark.
303** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' boosts the wackiness factor, with plenty of memes, pop-culture references, fandom in-jokes and FlatWhat moments. However, it also adds a significantly darker villain faction than the first installment's WellIntentionedExtremist, and puts several extremely heavy themes like slavery, drug addiction, cults, prostitution and racism, that the first game only grazed, front-and-center.
304** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', with Bethesda at the helm, tones down the humor to roughly the same level or even a bit lower than the first game (but still has its odd moments).
305** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' brings back the wackiness in full force, and even features a SillinessSwitch as one of the traits you can pick (and, even without it, there's plenty of wacky elements, such as a gang of {{Elvis Impersonator}}s).
306*** The ''Old World Blues'' DLC is this to the rest of the game and its other expansions, being something of a send-up to 50s sci-fi B movies and featuring things like an evil talking toaster, a giant robot scorpion, and a very comedic conversation with the player character's own disembodied brain. That said, much of the humor is still very much DarkComedy.
307** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' is then a bit more serious than ''New Vegas'', but still has tons of silly moments and is generally LighterAndSofter than both ''3'' and ''New Vegas''.
308* ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'' takes the (mostly) serious gameplay from the ''Franchise/FarCry'' franchise and turns it into an AffectionateParody of every '80s movie ever made.
309* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
310** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' compared to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', which has a 'grounded' sci-fi type story with an all-human cast and a very brooding protagonist. ''IX'' returns the series to a MedievalEuropeanFantasy with animal people as characters and a much more cartoony art style. That said, it still contains many dark moments and tragedies happening throughout. Its main theme is even genocide, which you get to see enacted on multiple occasions.
311** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is one of the most somber games in the series, tackling themes like religious bigotry, racism, parental abuse, and a character who [[spoiler:is prepared to kill herself to save the world]]. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has a much more upbeat, goofy tone, with a peppy J-pop soundtrack, outrageous outfits and Yuna and Rikku becoming {{Genki Girl}}s.
312** The majority of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is treated seriously with dark tones and a serious storyline. The Hildibrand side quests are so over the top in wacky hijinks and comedy that it wouldn't look too out of place in a cartoon. WordOfGod says the Hildibrand content was deliberately designed this way so that the player can have some laughs to break up the mostly serious mood of the game.
313* The early ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon'' games are a slightly whimsical take on JidaiGeki motifs, BreakingTheFourthWall occasionally. It developed into an anachronism-laden QuirkyWork on the [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]].
314* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' itself zig-zags this. It begins as a rather subdued criminal-to-power story in the 2D games and ''III'', with an '80s soundtrack and more complex plots in ''Vice City''; but really took off in ''San Andreas'' with crazy conspiracy theories all over, raiding an Area51 parody [[spoiler:with a ''freaking jetpack'' to boot]], RC planes being used (albeit [[ScrappyMechanic quite poorly]]), a heist on a full-blown casino; and even more. ''IV'' on the other hand [[DarkerAndEdgier goes for a more realistic and darker path]], but ''V'' takes things to back to a wackier state with more conspiracy theories [[spoiler:with Bigfoot and aliens becoming realized]], complex plots of heists; among other crazy things.
315* ''Gundam: The Battle Master'' and ''Gundam Battle Assault'' already had the strange setup of 50ft tall walking death machines facing each other in 1-on-1 street fights, but the concept alone was counterbalanced by the heavy weight and feel of the Mobile Suits. ''VideoGame/GundamBattleAssault2'' takes what the previous three games started and runs with it full throttle, having a reworked battle system that allows for ''Street Fighter Alpha 3''-levels of action with the amount of crazy juggles and combo mix setups each Mobile Suit shouldn't even be capable of doing in the first place for the sake of CoolVersusAwesome setups. Though one should suppose that's what happens when ''G Gundam'' gets directly involved in some capacity.
316* ''VideoGame/KuruKuruKururin'': The sequels are noticably more comical and silly with an [[ThickLineAnimation updated art style]] to boot.
317* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' has a group of survivors trying to get away from the ZombieApocalypse with various [[EliteMooks special infected]] cranking up the horror factor in their designs and method of attacks. ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' turns up the crazy and silly by having a different group of survivors with exaggerated character traits, use of silly melee weapons like guitars and frying pans, and the new special infected looking goofy and attacking in sillier ways, like the Jockey that jumps onto a survivor's head and humps them.
318* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
319** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' is a pretty straightforward, serious adventure of good and evil. Its direct sequel, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', is much weirder. Among other things Link learns a song from tadpoles and stuffs a plant princess in a bottle. All while trying to stop the world from being destroyed by a moon with a face. The finale takes the MindScrew to new heights. In spite of that, it is also one of the darker installments of the series.
320** While most games in the series are relatively serious, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTriForceHeroes Tri Force Heroes]]'' takes place in a kingdom that treats fashion as SeriousBusiness, and where the heroes must save Princess Styla from being stuck in an ugly full-body leotard that she can't take off.
321* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' is a very serious game about the galaxy fighting a war of annihilation against a fleet of sentient spaceships that the galaxy is losing. The first two [=DLCs=] continue this theme. Then comes ''Citadel'', which is a very very wacky adventure where the stakes are much lower, [[EvilIsHammy the bad guys are hammy]], the plot involves silly sci-fi tropes like [[spoiler:evil clones]], and the whole thing ends with the characters having a party. There's a reason its SugarWiki/FunnyMoments entry is nearly as long as that of the core game and the other [=DLCs=] combined.
322* ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' plays like a relatively subdued action movie, with some sci-fi elements and a pinch of ridiculous comedy. The action, sci-fi and humour are all generally done more obviously and with more verve in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', which adds political subtext to the mix. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' adds supernatural elements, like psychics and ghosts, that are just accepted as part of the universe of the games. By ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', outrageously complicated conspiracy antics and vampires become involved, and every boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has some kind of supernatural power (and explodes after being killed). By ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' the setting is pure sci-fi; ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' has Turing Test-passing AI, magic, singing tanks, dragons and other monsters, [[AnachronismStew and MP3 players in 1974]]. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' goes DarkerAndEdgier, with a focus on ColdBloodedTorture perpetrated by a [[FacialHorror hideously deformed]] villain and a realistic prison camp as the main setting, but ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', while still DarkerAndEdgier, brings back the wacky futuristic sci-fi elements [[AnachronismStew in 1984]] and the over-the-top conspiracy plots.
323* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'', while an over-the-top, cartoony BlackComedy, was still grounded in a ''somewhat'' realistic military setting and aesthetic, and had some more serious moments. ''Metal Slug 2'' onwards, however, went full zany and introduced aliens, zombies, mummies, [[WeaponizedAnimal animals with guns attached to them]], and an enormously LargeHam announcer, all while upping the slapstick humor and [[BloodierAndGorier blood count.]]
324* Despite the storyline itself going into DarkerAndEdgier territory, ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' almost completely dispenses with the more serious tone of its predecessors by introducing far more cartoonish and silly {{Finishing Move}}s and significantly goofier-looking character designs, putting the series into something of an AudienceAlienatingEra it would take a few new installments to get back out of.
325%%* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' started out as ''Hack'', which is a fairly simple ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'' clone to begin with except for the addition of a CanineCompanion.
326* ''VideoGame/PaRappaTheRapper'', while not in a realistic setting in any way, has down-to-earth themes that would fall under SliceOfLife (learning karate for self defense, learning how to drive to get around, working a side job to get money needed to fix a wrecked car, etc) with [=PaRappa=] learning that he [[BeYourself just needs to be himself and never give up]]. In the sequel, [=PaRappa=] goes on a wacky hijinx adventure that involves saving the town from a guy that wants to turn all the food into noodles and turn everyone's hair into [[FunnyAfro giant afros]] while [=PaRappa=] learns what it means to be mature.
327* While ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' is already one of the sillier games out there, it balances its humour with some light horror elements, like the menus being set in a dark and gloomy cemetery and the nighttime levels, in some of which [[NothingIsScarier you can't see the zombies]] until they come closer. Come the sequel, ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'', and the wackiness is amped up by making the entire game a time-travel adventure, which is kicked off by Crazy Dave wanting to go back in time to a few moments ago in order to eat a taco. Oh yeah, and the time-traveling is done in Dave's new talking R.V., Penny. Most worlds are set during the daytime and have the zombies wearing silly period-specific outfits, a lot of which are anachronistic for the sake of humor. The king of the silly anachronisms, however, is [[HollywoodPrehistory cavemen (well, cave zombies) existing at the same time as dinosaurs]] in the Jurassic era.
328* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' was always a bit of a strange series, taking place in a magic world with mages and monsters duke it out in puzzle popping competitions that gets taken to SeriousBusiness levels of action, but it was still a bit grounded, and ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyon'' was an attempt to tone down the silliness with a more realistic art style and darker storyline. Then ownership transferred from Compile to Sega, and come ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever'', the wackiness got overclocked with more wild and varied art styles, outrageous character dynamics, and dialogue that almost reaches SelfParody-levels of humor, almost as if Sonic Team are aware of how ridiculous the series is and just wanted to have fun with it. And that is ignoring the fact that the ''Puyo Puyo'' franchise itself is this to the [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment deceptively dark]] ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' series.
329* Although ''{{VideoGame/Rayman}}'' was never serious to begin with, the [[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape second game]] is DarkerAndEdgier than the [[VideoGame/Rayman1 first]]. The [[VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc third game]] goes back to being dense and wacky, then the series goes beyond dense and wacky with ''[[VideoGame/RaymanOrigins Origins]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/RaymanLegends Legends]]''.
330* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''
331** While the first few games did have their moments of {{Camp}}, they were still fairly straight-faced SurvivalHorror games. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' fully embraces the campiness with far wackier scenarios than in the prior games and a great many silly conversations and one-liners, the tone being more akin to a silly Hollywood action movie than horror.
332** While ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7'' was an overall very serious game, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' has far more light-hearted and even goofier moments. The main villains act like Saturday morning cartoon villains, The Duke is the BigFun who will make some occasional quips, various {{Lampshade Hanging}}s by Ethan (such as his frustrations with FakeLongevity, BackTracking, and an ImplacableMan that keeps chasing him in Heisenberg's factory), and the generally more over-the-top elements of the series return here when they were almost completely absent from the previous game.
333* In ''VideoGame/RumbleRoses'', the storylines are full of anime goofiness, but the actual gameplay is pretty much just ProfessionalWrestling. For the sequel ''Rumble Roses XX'', the goofiness bleeds over into the gameplay, with such things as Benikage's finishing move being summoning a giant frog to inhale her opponents, final boss Lady X Subsistence turning into a fighter jet, the playable bear, and the "streetfighting mode" which features CartoonPhysics.
334* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' started off as a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''-inspired sandbox game about gang warfare, but its second installment [[DerivativeDifferentiation introduces]] outlandish minigames like streaking naked, driving a sewage truck spraying gunk everywhere to devalue property, riding a quad while on fire, and so on. The third game goes ''completely'' nuts, with a cyberspace level, futuristic VTOL jets and hoverbikes, a vehicle that sucks people up and shoots them out of a cannon, zombies, and so on. The fourth game takes it even further by featuring an alien invasion, superpowers that would make [[VideoGame/{{Prototype}} Alex Mercer]] weep with envy, weaponized dubstep and the main character becoming the President of United States. The preorder DLC pack includes patriotic hardware such as an eagle shaped jet and the [[SwissArmyGun "all guns in one"]] weapon.
335* Though the first ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' isn't exactly serious to begin it with, it still has a ''relatively'' realistic art-style and cartoonish but not that out-there StandardFPSGuns. Then came ''VideoGame/SeriousSamII'', which has things like a world based on fairy tales, a kamikaze parrot as a weapon and a [[YouDontLookLikeYou redesign]] for the hero to make him more cartoonish. However, the [[VideoGame/SeriousSam3BFE third game]] goes DarkerAndEdgier.
336* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'': The [[VideoGame/Shantae2002 first game]], while not lacking in comedic moments, was a simple adventure story about a young woman on a quest for magical artifacts that took itself reasonably seriously. ''[[VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge Risky's Revenge]]'' and onward jack up the silliness to the point that the franchise's oddball, self-referencial, [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall breaking]] comedy is now its most defining trait. Well, [[BestKnownForTheFanservice after the cute girls]], anyway.
337* ''VideoGame/TheSims1'' is a typical life simulator with a little humour. Expansion packs add oddities like genies and zombies, and this eventually escalated into a full-on WorldOfWeirdness with ''The Sims 2'' and its expansions. Most of the true weirdness is contained in the expansions, meaning that any given copy of the games will start out as (relatively) normal, and will accumulate supernatural elements as the player installs additional expansions.
338* While the ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' franchise always had goofy moments, ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'' heavily ramps up the zaniness that occurs with its scenarios, ranging from Murray seducing a room filled with guards by disguising himself as a geisha, Sly stealing a shipment of a corrupt sheriff's lollipops in order to get himself thrown in prison, and an elephant gaining hypnotic powers due to a trumpet getting stuck in her nose.
339* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
340** ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', compared to some of [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog the]] [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 earlier]] [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed titles]] before it, is definitely more cartoony and surreal in its plot and dialogue.
341** To a certain extent, ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed''. While still relatively serious, the game takes a very lighthearted turn in comparison to previous games, with the addition of Chip, a lot more comic relief, more cartoony cutscenes and humans designed to look more like they came out of a Pixar movie.
342** ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' is probably the most JustForFun/{{egregious}} example, being much lighter than [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure its darker,]] [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 more serious predecessors]] and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 successors.]] It goes to a more traditional "stop Eggman from doing bad things" plot for Teams Sonic and Dark (even if the latter does have a more complex reason), and Team Rose is hunting for Sonic, Cheese's brother Chocola, and Big's pet Froggy. Team Chaotix has a more serious story on paper, but in practice it's mostly them doing silly missions like collecting bingo chips with occasional ones related to Eggman.
343* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': While this fighting game series generally takes the story quite seriously, ''Broken Destiny'' and its Gauntlet mode is basically "What if ''Soul Calibur IV'' was a gag anime?" Most characters have their personality quirks exaggerated for comedy (Xianghua is a ClingyJealousGirl, [[BigBad Nightmare]] is DeathbringerTheAdorable), Cassandra and Hilde [[BreakingTheFourthWall directly address the player]] more than once, and the situations are ridiculous.
344* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
345** The series exemplifies this trope in that the first games involve fairly realistic (or at least familiar) premises: a carpenter trying to rescue his girlfriend from a gorilla (''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''), then a plumber clearing animals out of the sewer pipes (''VideoGame/MarioBros''), then a demolition crew tearing down a building (''VideoGame/WreckingCrew''). ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' makes this premise a little more epic and strange in that it's a princess being rescued from a bunch of turtle sorcerers, and it involves a journey across eight worlds, but it's still fairly straightforward. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' goes further into the wackiness side by having a dream world setting, while ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' makes each world wildly different from the others and adds more powerups. Since then, each ''Mario'' game seems to try to outdo the last in scale and zaniness, to the point of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', which has the plumber soaring through space and jumping from planet to planet.
346** The two ''Galaxy'' games exhibit this. The first game has a more epic scope, with the climax of the game being played as frightening and tragic, and great emphasis is put on the atmosphere and mystery of space, even introducing a new character, Rosalina, who has a melancholy backstory and introduces philosophical ideas about life and rebirth. The second game is more in line with other ''Mario'' titles, with a comical hub world and ship captain, a typical ExcusePlot conflict regarding Bowser and cake, and a less dramatic climax, even ending on a comedic note.
347** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' is much goofier than ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', going beyond the usual ExcusePlot to include an actual vacation story reminiscent of a SaturdayMorningCartoon. Also, ''64'' features the darkest, least comedic portrayal of Bowser in the entire series, who makes Mario survive floor traps and endless stairs to get to him, and is accompanied by OminousPipeOrgan music reminiscent of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]. In contrast, in ''Sunshine'', he's relaxing in a hot tub and complaining about Mario disturbing his family vacation for his final (and only) boss fight.
348** The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series has many mini-games that were very silly in concept. ''VideoGame/MarioParty5'' cranks it up quite a bit with mini-games where you are in scenarios like catching falling scoops of ice cream on a dessert-themed Statue of Liberty, climbing a beanstalk to outer space, or swinging a mallet at others in the eye of a tornado or '''on what is clearly the sun!'''
349** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' tops them all, with some of the wackiest and cartooniest animation in the series, new enemy types such as ''singing'' Piranha Plants, and a new power-up that turns the entire level you're playing in into a psychedelic acid trip. The characters can also [[{{Animorphism}} turn into an elephant]].
350* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':
351** The creators realized that if they wanted their FirstPersonShooter's gameplay and art style to match, they would have to drastically distance themselves from the feel of [[VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic the first game]], and take absolutely nothing seriously. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools It worked.]]
352** Done in-game after the Pyromania update with the Pyro. Any of the items Pyromania added for the Pyro, or anyone wearing the pyrovision goggles, shows that the Pyro sees their weapons as handing out rainbows, sparkles and bubbles. People laugh as they lay down to take naps while covered in dancing colors, and the landscape (of certain maps) is filled with lollipops and happy clouds.
353* The ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' series started out as a fairly standard game with some out there objectives but then the next couple of games became sillier when you can unlock characters like Spider-Man and contain silly background events like a floating magic bum. ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'' basically combines the game with ''Series/{{Jackass}}'' and a cartoon with the amount of slapstick and destruction that would seriously kill someone if it was a more realistic game.
354* ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'': ''Twisted Metal 3'' and ''4'', universally regarded as the worst entries in the series took this to increasingly greater extremes. Previously established characters from 2 that returned in 3 were turned into cliche stereotypes who's wishes range from completely pointless like "wanting to hang with the homies" to downright silly like "wanting all the candy and ice cream you can eat". 4 doubled down on the wackiness by bringing almost an entirely new roster with such zaniness like a leprechaun driving a toy car bent on world domination who actually wishes to be taller, a garbageman who wants the world to become a dump, to a lunatic exterminator who wants to kill all the bugs.
355%%* When you get into the Seraphic Gate in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume'', the game hits the SillinessSwitch.
356* ''VideoGame/WarioWare'': After ''[[VideoGame/WarioWareIncMegaMicrogames Mega Microgame$!]]'', the series gradually became sillier with each consecutive installment. Which is impressive, since the first game is already pretty... [[QuirkyWork out there]].
357* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'' not only moves the action from grim and rainy Chicago to Bay Area, but also gives the new protagonist a [[TrueCompanions meme-spewing hacker collective for friends]] and sets him, among others, against a movie studio shooting a very campy sci-fi movie involving a CoolCar that you have to take for a joyride.
358* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' continues the series tradition of hard-hitting crime drama stories, but the battle system is changed from the usual gritty and violent beat-em-up style of combat to a turn-based JRPG format, thanks to Ichiban Kasuga being a MrImagination who visualizes the scrapes he gets into as ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''-style battles. The vocations he and his companions take on are akin to a JobSystem, enemies embody various JRPG monster tropes (and even have an accompanying [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokedex]]-style phone app), calling for backup plays out like performing SummonMagic, and special abilities are over-the-top bordering on fantastical.
359[[/folder]]
360
361[[folder:Visual Novels]]
362* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' has its share of outlandishness in the beginning, but it becomes notably more extreme as the series went on. The prosecutors are the most affected by this, with Edgeworth's biggest oddity being an outdated sense of dress, while later prosecutors include a literal rock star, a convicted criminal, and a spiritualist monk.
363* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' has a relatively mundane setting, with everyone being trapped in a large high school, and relatively few plot elements that can be considered bizarre and out-there. Come ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', suddenly everyone's trapped on a series of tropical islands guarded by giant robots [[spoiler:and one character transforms into a robot himself]], the trial room is reached via a giant Monokuma version of Mt. Rushmore, and Monokuma himself has a sidekick to serve as a comedic foil against (in theory, at least.) The executions are pretty silly and full of BlackComedy in the first game, but in the second they get completely insane, including deep-frying people in active volcanoes and rocketing them into space on a giant rocket arm. The plot is still serious, but the setting is far more outlandish. [[spoiler:Which makes sense when you find out it's all a VR simulation.]] The [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony third mainline game]] goes for balancing out these competing approaches, both by reducing the zany and raising the darkness, and having it not be a direct sequel. How well this works, and even what type of sequel it ultimately is, will remain hotly debated until definitive answers are given, which may be never.
364* ''VisualNovel/TheFruitOfGrisaia'' started off as a pretty grounded romance visual novel with only a few hints of oddities like a bit about cellular memory being a plot device and Yuuji's often hinted job as a black ops agent. The sequel even retconned away the cellular memory thing when the writers realized it was a discredited theory. However, ''VisualNovel/TheEdenOfGrisaia'' contains super soldiers, super serums, cloning, brain uploading and artificial arms [[spoiler:though it turns out the latter two were actually lies. Kazuki is connected to the Thanatos computer system rather than it being formed around an uploaded version of her brain and the artificial arm was just a really tasteless joke]].
365* While most of ''VisualNovel/PrincessEvangile'''s ''W Happiness'' fandisc routes go for the LighterAndSofter path, Konomi's route is this, with every other moment Masaya and Konomi spending together being an incredibly awkward and hilarious moment of some sort, down to [[spoiler:Konomi just loudly proclaiming to the other main heroines that she and Masaya had TheirFirstTime the other day]].
366* ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'''s Yuina route is this, her route involves fighting aliens and giant mecha-robots, in an otherwise straight dating game.
367[[/folder]]
368
369[[folder:Web Animation]]
370* ''WebAnimation/BattleForDreamIsland'''s 4th season, ''WebAnimation/BattleForBFDI'', is more fast-paced with more impulsive humor, now that episodes are shorter and released biweekly, and Four, the host, whose actions make the Announcer look tame.
371* WebAnimation/{{Benthelooney}} when his rants/reviews were UnCanceled. To begin with before the uncanceled seasons, Ben was a straightforward ranter who exaggerates how angry he was and adds an occasional joke, but still focuses on the subject of his rants. In the Uncanceled seasons, Ben takes a Denser and Wackier approach which is a trait flanderized in the second run of Ben Rants to the point of where, starting in 2013, his entire rants start to follow this formula.
372* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' was always silly, but grounded in science fiction that wouldn't be out of place in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' games it borrows from. That is, until Season 16, ''The Shisno Paradox'', which introduces time travel, ancient gods and such. The high point is a cyclops [[RogerRabbitEffect portrayed by a live-action person]], ensuring complaints from people who preferred [[CerebusSyndrome how dramatic the show got as it went on]] instead of an inversion.
373* ''WebAnimation/SonicForHire'' was already wacky to start with, but the story goes on, plot points such as running a mafia and even time travel get introduced and allow for even wackier adventures.
374* {{YouTube Poop}}s are an art form of Neo-MediaNotes/{{Dada}} consisting of video remixes that are edited from a large array of video clips. The source material can be mashed all together into a nonsensical CrossOver story, or just repeat footage of the characters gesticulating oddly or [[ManipulativeEditing apparently saying something dirty]] [[OverlyLongGag over and over and over again]]. By their very nature, these mashups are often edited in a way to be much crazier than their source material.
375[[/folder]]
376
377[[folder:Webcomics]]
378* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' started with this trope as a goal and succeeded admirably.
379--> Creator/AndrewHussie: "There was only one sure thing I knew when starting HS. That was that this thing would go batshit insane in ways I couldn't begin to imagine. In fact, it was practically the mission statement."
380* ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' slides from gentle, mildly complicated antics into [[WorldOfWeirdness utter, ultra-convoluted chaos]]. Some fans consider the change to be where it [[GrowingTheBeard really picks up]].
381* ''Webcomic/LearningWithMangaFGO'' starts as a simple, if not silly, parody of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''... at least until they introduce the udon Servants, at which point the series goes straight into crazy territory.
382* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': This happened apparently accidentally with the long-running {{Guest Strip}}s by Creator/IanMcDonald, called "Meanwhile in the Dimension of Pain [or elsewhere]". While the demons of the Dimension of Pain had always been humorously dumb and parodic, their world still looked like a set of caverns with no modern Earthly features (except for the Demon King's fridge -- which shows the difference we're talking about here is relative). In the guest strips, it begins to look more and more modern, and they soon have shopping malls. Ian eventually noticed this -- perhaps due to the amount of criticism he was getting -- and made it into a plot point where an interloping angel is subtly changing the nature of the whole dimension, first to Earth-like and then ridiculously kid-friendly so that it parodies both ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' and ''Series/BarneyAndFriends''.
383* ''Webcomic/{{Walkyverse}}''
384** ''Webcomic/{{Roomies}}'' ZigZagged this. It wasn't down-to-Earth and serious to begin with, but its early strips deal with fairly realistic personal issues, only to start to go down this route with the introduction of the Aliens...while still [[MoodWhiplash inter-splicing them with the comic's more serious moments]] (e.g After [[spoiler: Ruth's HeroicSacrifice]], Joyce is abducted by the aliens and {{Mind Rape}}d...by being shown a porn movie).
385** ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' is mostly a big SelfParody of the ''Walkyverse'''s sprawling superhero lore, as the author has fun with previously melodramatic plot points while making the comic a Pop-Culture satire akin to ''Webcomic/PennyArcade''; and though [[CerebusSyndrome its own dramatic elements are eventually introduced]], they're much LighterAndSofter than previous comics.
386[[/folder]]
387
388[[folder:Web Original]]
389* You can argue Website/TVTropes itself has gotten wackier since its inception.
390[[/folder]]
391
392[[folder:Web Videos]]
393* [=Beta64=] started out documentary-like but received a more comedic overtool with the ''Super Smash Bros Ultimate'' video. Due to backlash, this was toned down by the next episode, but the videos are still have more jokes than earlier ones.
394* ''WebVideo/JakeAndAmir'' starts as (usually) a skewed short-form WorkCom with a strong CringeComedy bent. By the end it's much more of a SurrealHumor-based GagSeries [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything that happened to take place at an office]], reminiscent of its Website/CollegeHumor sister series ''WebVideo/HardlyWorking''. (One early episode, for instance, centers around Amir stealing a muffin from Jake and eating it despite being allergic; by the end of the series [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext it's established canon that Amir lives in a muffin after being talked into it by a real-estate agent]].)
395* ''WebVideo/LifeSMP'': Owing to the ridiculous tasks that also frequently ask for involvement with the other players, things get comically wacky as Season 5, ''Secret Life SMP'', goes on, with so many people acting in so many bizarre ways that [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight nearly everyone just goes along with it]]. Of course, this being a DeadlyGame, this all makes [[WhamEpisode the sessions where the bodies start dropping like flies]] hit far, ''far'' harder.
396* As a result of ''WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter'' being called out for getting too angry in some of his ''Animated Atrocity'' reviews, he goes in this direction for reviews of more outlandish cartoon episodes/movies. However, Enter does save whatever anger he has for more contemptuous subjects.
397* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': From 2016 onward, the premise of Stampy's builds reach increasingly absurd concepts that are decreasingly possible in the universe of ''Minecraft'' the series is set in.
398[[/folder]]
399
400[[folder:Western Animation]]
401%%
402%% This section has been alphabetized; please place any new examples in the correct order.
403%%
404%%
405* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' interestingly combines this with DarkerAndEdgier. Season 1, despite the trippy and wacky setting, had fairly realistic SliceOfLife plots. From Season 2 onwards, however, the humor becomes more BlackComedy laced, the tone overall more cynical, the plots feature {{deconstruct|edTrope}}ions of common sitcom tropes, and, eventually, a story arc involving [[spoiler:a huge void that erases things from existence as they become irrelevant to the show]]. However, the show becomes even ''more'' wackier than before, with the surrealism being [[ExaggeratedTrope boosted significantly]], there is a noticeable increase in [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breaking]], and the plotlines becoming so [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext bizarre that they have to be seen to be believed]].
406* While the existence of [[AlienAmongUs Roger]] and [[TalkingAnimal Klaus]] gave ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' a sci-fi angle from the beginning, the show's plotlines were initially relatively grounded and down-to-earth, focusing more on political satire and low-stakes family matters with some outlandish gags and subplots around the edges. Over time, the political commentary was ''heavily'' downplayed, the characters became crazier and more irrational, and the plotlines became far more surreal and over-the-top, throwing more and more sci-fi and fantasy elements (such as TimeTravel, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the apocalypse]], and [[AlternateUniverse alternate universes]]) into the mix. [[TropesAreTools All this is generally agreed to be for the better and helped to give the show its own identity.]]
407* Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/TheAnimalsOfFarthingWood'' compared to the previous two seasons. The first two seasons are more realistic (other than the animals speaking and some of the bipedal animals doing human-like motions), but in season three the art style and animation is far cartoonier, with over-the-top facial expressions, cartoonish gags, and everyone minus the quadrupedal animals moving and acting like people with their paws and wings acting like hands.
408* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' was UnCanceled and given a {{Retool}} with ArtEvolution to become ''The New Batman Adventures''. The previous series is known for its stronger ties to FilmNoir and [[{{Reconstruction}} a bigger effort to explain some of the more outlandish comic book plots]]. This new season introduces more superpowered villains and MadScience portrayed as a casual occurrence, in part so it can cross over with ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''.
409* Inverted with ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead''; the series started out extremely deranged and cartoony, but as the years went on, the art style and plots (while still rather quite wacky in themselves) gradually became far more down to Earth.
410* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' goes for this after the previous DarkerAndEdgier sequels ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' ended up being {{Contested Sequel}}s. However, this makes it just as divisive as those iterations.
411* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', starting with season 2. The show starts out as an animated series with fairly realistic settings and events for the most part (much like ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''). Once it enters its second season however, the characters become very {{flanderiz|ation}}ed, the story-lines zanier and far more outlandish, and the show as a whole much more cartoony and fast-paced (to the point where even the characters seem to be talking a mile a minute at times).
412* The pilot for ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' is much more dark and actionized (if still cartoony) with a much greater sense of mortal peril for the heroes. The following episodes downplay things into a HarmlessVillain series with the Urpneys, with most episodes following their buffoonery or some EpicFail to take the title stone. CharacterFocus is rearranged accordingly; the Urpneys become {{Villain Protagonist}}s, while the [[KnightOfCerebus genuinely sinister]] BigBad, Zordrak, becomes obsolete and is gradually put OutOfFocus. The heroes, who are ImmuneToSlapstick and still play the formula seriously, spend most of the series as {{Hero Antagonist}}s, though the closing points make Rufus and Amberley more comical and savvy so as to give them more active roles again.
413* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' starts to become wackier first after its transition from ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'', then when the movies are cut down from 90 minutes to an hour, then when Poof arrives, and finally, with the additions of talking fairy-dog Sparky and ParodySue Chloe Carmichael.
414* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
415** The first few seasons are rather realistic in comparison to what the show later becomes -- the only ''really'' crazy things happen in {{Cutaway Gag}}s. Starting with the fourth season (after the show was UnCanceled), however, the plots and the characters become wackier, zanier, [[TookALevelInDumbass dumber]], and quite [[TookALevelInJerkass mean-spirited]] at times.
416** Season 12 takes this trait and [[ExaggeratedTrope amps it up]], to the point where every scene is comedic. [[note]]Except for the 3 episodes where Brian is briefly killed off.[[/note]]
417* The later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', especially the U.S. Acres segments. [[GrowingTheBeard This is actually a good thing.]] The last three seasons are the funniest and the wackiest of the series.
418* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' starts out with mostly macabre and morbid BlackComedy, particularly when it was still part of ''WesternAnimation/GrimAndEvil'', but becomes more and more bizarre as it goes along, with several plots involving some ''very'' out there concepts.
419* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'': As a whole, the franchise always had its moments of levity, but the newest reboot is much sillier in tone, especially when compared to the 2002 series and ''[[WesternAnimation/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation Revelation]]''. The setting trades some of its fantastical elements in favor of a ScienceFantasy setting, this reboot's version of Skeletor and his minions are much [[DeadpanSnarker snarkier]] than the sometimes NoNonsenseNemesis crew from previous incarnations, and a few episodes feature some absurd plot ideas, such as a BirthdayEpisode involving Skeletor of all people in the second season, and a FreakyFridayFlip in the third season where the titular Masters end up trading minds with ''a group of sentient radish-like critters''.
420* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' starts out as a typical SliceOfLife series with a good balance of humor and drama. Once the show switched from cels to digital paint, it put a bit more emphasis on comedy (though it certainly ''does'' still have its serious moments, such as when the topics of Arnold's missing parents and Helga's home life come up).
421* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' is already a lot sillier than its infamous pilot, but Season 2's {{Retool}} takes things further. How exactly is a bit hard to explain to non-fans, but let it be known Season 1 would never have had an episode in which a giant talking sandwich cowboy is central to the plot rather than just a one-off joke. However, some fans believe the increasingly goofy tone cemented the series' SecondSeasonDownfall.
422* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' began life as Creator/WarnerBros' answer to the ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'', with the more sentimental tone to match. Starting around 1935 with the introduction of WesternAnimation/PorkyPig (and especially by 1937, when WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck was created), the shorts became more gag-oriented. By 1938, ''Looney Tunes'' would pioneer the ZanyCartoon genre with hits like ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuckAndEgghead'', ''WesternAnimation/PorkyInWackyland'', and ''WesternAnimation/PorkysHareHunt''.
423* Later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' feature increasingly off-the-wall plots and slapstick humor compared to early seasons where the series functioned as a more grounded animated sitcom. In the first season, one of the most wacky episode premises involved Lincoln and his sisters treating an infectious bout of the flu in the house as a zombie virus. Fast-forward to Season 5, and you have plots such as Lisa creating a working time machine to transport a dinosaur into her classroom, Lincoln and Clyde discovering that the neighbors are peach-obsessed Georgians plotting to destroy all of the town's cherries, and Lori trying to banish a ghost in her college; all of which would have been treated as {{Imagine Spot}}s or dream sequences in the first two seasons.
424* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' grows denser and wackier as it went onwards. Compare "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E25PartyOfOne Party of One]]", probably the zaniest episode of the more down-to-earth first season, with the season 4 MusicalEpisode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E12PinkiePride Pinkie Pride]]" -- it's almost like watching a different show. Naturally, this tonal shift follows the show changing creative directors from Creator/LaurenFaust herself to someone else.
425* ''WesternAnimation/NatureCat'': Over time, the show's use of [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall jokes]] would steadily increase. By Season 4, the show had fully entered NoFourthWall territory, up to and including characters pulling out the scripts for some episodes and implying that they're AnimatedActors. This also coincided with slightly wackier animation and more pop-culture references.
426* ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' was never the most realistic cartoon around, but the first season has the team involved in fairly normal situations, such as when they help a baby whale back into the ocean, with the more zany moments usually being AllJustADream. As the series progresses, the show begins introducing sillier plots and characters, such as space aliens, a [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces Dick Dastardly]] {{Expy}} and his team of EvilCounterpart [[CuteKitten kitties]] who live in a town of perpetual fog, a kleptomaniac {{Pirate}} and his dachshund first-mate, the team getting superpowers from a golden meteor, rescues involving ''living dinosaurs'', so on and so forth.
427* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' from its second season onward is noticeably wackier than the more laid-back first season.
428* While ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' had its lot of comedy (especially in the last few seasons), the [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 2016 revival]] ups the antics by having everyone act more excitable, [[CharacterExaggeration exaggerating characterizations]] (for example Blossom went from {{The Smart G|uy}}al to being a NeatFreak that's ObsessivelyOrganized), featuring WingdingEyes often, and frequently mentioning memes.
429** In a lighter note, the 10th anniversary special ''The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!'' is this. According to Creator/CraigMcCracken, he wanted to embrace the silliness of the show, feeling that ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'' was too serious.
430* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' has the Slimer shorts, which begin airing in the fourth season. While the main show has its comedic moments, some episodes are downright dark and scary. Slimer's cartoons, on the other hand, are purely comedic, the character designs are simplified, and most of the plots are about Slimer being assigned some task which leads to wacky and cartoonish antics rather than catching ghosts.
431* ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', while not quite as goofy as the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 87 cartoon]], is definitely one of the sillier incarnations of the titular team. There's a higher focus on episodic comedy, pretty much all of the characters are AdaptationalComicRelief[[note]]with some [[VileVillainSaccharineShow notable exceptions]][[/note]] and magic and mystic abilities are a major element from episode 1.
432* The first season or two of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' are very grounded in a quite realistic premise, often bordering on dramedy grounds. In "Bart Gets an F", Bart is struggling in school and makes a sincere effort to pass a test, only to fail miserably and start crying... quite unlike the "anything goes" antics of later seasons. However, some would say [[SeasonalRot this went too far]] as the years dragged on, especially during the Mike Scully seasons, where this trope is allegedly used to death. After Al Jean took over, he toned down the wackiness ''just a bit''[[note]]How much? A significant plot point in a Season 22 episode involves characters' eyes popping uncontrollably out of their heads following their consumption of an experimental new drug Lisa has invented[[/note]] in attempt to return to its original roots.
433* A notable inversion comes in ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom''. While ''much'' more gag-focused, the fantasy adventure plots of previous Sonic incarnations give way to simple SliceOfLife affairs like Sonic firing Tails as his sidekick, and Eggman driving Sonic crazy moving in with him for a while.
434* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' starts as just a vulgar comedy, but by the time season 7 rolls around, the show goes through a CerebusRollercoaster by having more dramatic moments once in a while. Season 13 is the only season where the show becomes wackier compared to the previous 6 seasons before it, with episodes such as WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse using Music/TheJonasBrothers to shill purity rings to horny preteen girls, confusion over what real wrestling is like, Cartman's insane logic about ''Franchise/TheSmurfs'' to get back at Wendy, and apocalypse at a water park involving pee. Some MultiPartEpisode[=s=] tend to be rather serious, such as "Cartoon Wars". Ironically, the mostly serious 12th season has a two-part episode about ''giant guinea pigs'' attacking. [[MediumBlending And they are REAL guinea pigs dressed in cute costumes that were integrated with the animation]].
435* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGoofs'': The 2005 season takes it even further than the 1997 season due to the increase in animation quality.
436* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The characters become wackier, [[TookALevelInDumbass dumber]] and rather callous after the movie. The show as a whole also becomes much zanier and more surreal as it goes along. Starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom", the plots and facial expressions become this trope (emphasis on the word wackier, rather than denser, while trying to keep the show more constant in quality), especially "Company Picnic," "Patrick the Game" and "Food Con Castaways". This is because, according to Vincent Waller on Twitter, he and the artists wanted to make the show [[OffModel cartoony]] again. Season 10 is Denser and Wackier than most of the entire show, especially "Whirlybrains" and "Krusty Katering." It should be noted that this trope become more pronounced once Waller and Marc Ceccarelli became the supervising producers, even moreso when Ben Gruber joined the show.
437* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake: Berry in the Big City'' zig-zags this. It's much more comedy-centric than the iterations of the franchise predating it, which were largely feel-good shows, but it also drops the supernatural elements like the talking animals and [[PlantPerson berry people]] and places the characters in a modern setting.
438* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' has always been a down-to-earth show about the engines of Sodor, but starting with about season 18, the writers start adding more outright comedy and ParentalBonus to the show. The Fat Controller goes from a stern figure to a bumbling BigFun, and railway realism, while more realistic than the Sharon Miller seasons, starts to waver again, especially in the ''Big World, Big Adventures'' seasons. Luckily, the writing team remains consistent in their framing of the characters and the Island of Sodor itself.
439* The ''Franchise/TomAndJerry'' cartoons started out as a fairly typical 'cat chases mouse' cartoon, which even in the early 1940s wasn't anything new. As time went on though, episodes began taking place [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace in different time periods and settings]], and thanks to the influence Creator/TexAvery [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons had on]] MGM's animation studio, the slapstick violence was cranked up. This of course coincided with western animation as a whole becoming Denser and Wackier in the 1940s, as cutesy cartoons starring WoodlandCreatures fell out of popularity, to be replaced by ThePrankster and the KarmicTrickster.
440* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': This series as a whole is a lot more cartoony and zany than its predecessor, ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'', but seems to get even moreso as time goes on. However, the spinoff ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'', as well as the 2023 reboot, see a significant toning down of the craziness for the most part, with the cast of contestants, eliminations, injuries, and challenges being more in line of those of the first season.
441** The first season was a pretty exciting, relatively realistic, and at times surprisingly down-to-earth "animated reality show" set in a traditional "[[SummerCampy crappy summer camp]]" on a small island. Afterwards, as the drama is upped with every season, so is the craziness. The second season takes place in an abandoned movie studio and every episode is a movie parody with much cartoonier antics. The third season has the contestants flying around the world in a rundown jet and singing every episode. The fourth season takes place in the first island, which is now a radioactive waste deposit full of mutants and monsters. The fifth season sees the island restored to normal, [[spoiler:but then get destroyed in the finale]], while the sixth season is instead set on an artificial island with shifting geography and robotic animals.
442** The way contestants are kicked off the show each season get more over-the-top every time. In Season 1, a boat came to take the contestants off the island. In season 2, a broken-down limousine drove the contestants off the movie set. Season 3 had the contestants sky-dive out of the jumbo jet they were flying in when voted off. In season 4, a giant catapult flung them off the island. And in Season 5? [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext They're flushed down a giant toilet.]] And Season 6 launches them out of a giant cannon.
443** In the first season, each of the teen contestants were exaggerated teenage stereotypes, but otherwise mostly realistic and very easily recognizable as people you'd have probably known from school or seen in a teen drama or high school movie (e.g., jocks, nerds/geeks, bullies, loners/outsiders, popular kids, etc.). Later seasons mostly moved away from this, with such weirdo characters as a ParodySue LoonyFan, a CreepyChild with supernatural powers, a BubbleBoy, a boy with {{Split Personalit|y}}ies, a mute super-genius, a {{Motor Mouth}}ed compulsive liar, a CrazySurvivalist who believes zombies are real, a wannabe supervillain, a Disney princess parody, a literal EvilTwin, and a homicidally insane EvilGenius. Yeah, not really the kinds of kids you see in high school.
444** This also goes to character injuries as well. In the first season, the worst injury sustained was when Cody got mauled by a bear, though he recovered in the end. In Season 3, Alejandro is engulfed in lava, leading him to become an {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] for nearly two years. Ezekiel, after being voted off, stows away on the plane, causing him to become feral with his skin becomes ghastly pale, eventually making him an {{Expy}} of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]]. In Season 4, Scott gets mauled by a mutant shark, leading him to become a [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Pike]] {{Expy}}. Dakota is exposed to radioactive material in a mine, causing her to become a giant, humanoid ''monster''.
445** The challenges get more ridiculous and life-threatening in every season. The first season's challenges were mostly simple or straightforward activities associated with summer camp or high school like canoeing, cooking, talent shows, and dodgeball, with the occasional challenge similar to those of well-known reality shows but cartoonishly exaggerated. But as the series went on and Chris' love of putting the contestants in danger for cheap ratings got flanderized, we get completely insane challenges of which most would either be impossible or illegal in real life like having to escape a giant robotic monster going on a rampage, climb an active volcano to throw a dummy into it, traverse a radioactive mine while carrying bombs on one's back, collect the eggs of giant mutant monsters created by toxic waste, and carry sleeping babies past dangerous animals, an avalanche zone, and a blindfolded Chef with a bazooka that launches globs of pasta.
446* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramarama'' manages to be even wackier than its parent series. While the setting has been moved to a daycare run by Chef and most of the first season's cast [[SpinOffBabies are now pre-schoolers]], many of the situations they have to deal with are cartoony, sci-fi elements are firmly involved, there are inanimate talking objects, and the realism is entirely gone.
447* As pictured atop this page, ''Westernanimation/{{Ultimate Spider|Man2012}}-Man'' is a very comedic approach to the Webhead, especially during Peter's FourthWall {{Imagine Spot}}s.
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449%% This section has been alphabetized; please place any new examples in the correct order.
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453[[folder:Real Life]]
454* Taiwanese news outlet NMA (also known as Tomonews) got famous for doing relatively straight, 3D-animated re-enactions of events, such as Tiger Woods's car crash, the [=JetBlue=] flight attendant who opened up the emergency slide on the plane, and a cartoonish representation of the fight over ''Series/TheTonightShow'' returning to Jay Leno. Nowadays, their videos are completely off-the-wall, have recurring gag characters such as a weed monster, two midget pilots named Sum Ting Wong and Wi Tu Lo (after an infamous incident where an intern gave fake, racist names to a news station regarding a fatal accident at San Francisco International Airport), and a mockery of Ark Music Factory's "Chinese Food". Compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGfVB9kA5QQ this]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oqrUPkW77k this.]] It was enough to make an intern infamously quit the company (with an equally silly method: an interpretative dance explaining why she left).
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