Line #138 Main/ReadingAheadInTheScript


1	[[quoteright:206:[[Webcomic/BobAndGeorge https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bob_and_george.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:206:Fourth Wall? [[NoFourthWall What Fourth Wall?]]]]
3
4	->''"I didn't look too far into it since I don't like spoilers, y'know, ruins the fun in the story."''
5	-->-- '''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]]''', ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm''
6
7	The actors have to read the script in order to know what to act. That's just a given. This, however, is when the ''characters'' read the script so that ''they'' know what's going to happen next.
8
9	Usually a comedy trope, and a part of behind the scenes comedy. But sometimes this trope can be played straight with something else standing in for the script, such as when a children's show is doing a ReadingIsCoolAesop story which rips off from one of the classics, and the children in the show are outright reading the classic book in question to see what comes next in ''their'' plot.
10
11	A type of MediumAwareness (and, by extension, often a sign of NoFourthWall in the comedy variation). Closely related to NoticingTheFourthWall; also compare GenreSavvy, ThisIsThePartWhere, and ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud. Will often prompt a "WhoWritesThisCrap" reaction in {{Self Parody}}ing works. Contrast ''both'' SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and ThisIsReality. Can overlap with AnimatedActors.
12
13	----
14	!!Comedic examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
18	* ''Manga/DragonHalf'': In the OVA's second episode, Dug Fin swears to get revenge on Mink for [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole something that happened in a manga scene that was left out of the first episode]]--which leads to him getting a TV out to rewatch the preceding episode when Mink doesn't recognize him. After discovering his introductory scene was cut, he loses his temper and swears to get revenge anyway.
19	* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'':
20	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'': The RunningGag of Joseph [[ImprobablyPredictable knowing what someone's next line of dialog will be]] is an example mostly LostInTranslation: the joke is that, as a fan of American comic books, [[MediumAwareness he reads the manga panels left-to-right instead of right-to-left]].
21	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'': Boingo's Stand, Thoth, is a manga that tells a future with 100% accuracy, telling Boingo and his current ally what to do next to reach the desired outcome... emphasis on '''a''' future, not '''the''' future. Something goes wrong in both of its appearances, with its first being [[MetaphoricallyTrue only technically correct]], and its second having [[NoodleImplements very specific and seemingly nonsensical prerequisites]] which they follow incorrectly and [[OffTheRails accidentally derail the predicted path]].
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* ''ComicBook/{{Superlopez}}'': Superlópez in one of the short stories of ''La aventura está en la esquina'':
26	-->'''Superlópez:''' I have a feeling that Al Trapone is behind this! It's in the script!
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
30	* In ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'', Opus was once lost without direction in a desert, and finally got a script, and edited it so that the inbred psycho who's picked him up hitchhiking turns into Zsa Zsa Gabor. Then when Zsa Zsa drops him off in Vegas, he leaves the script in the car, and is stuck back in the desert again.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Fan Works]]
34	* ''Fanfic/ThinkingInLittleGreenBoxes'' ends the [[Literature/HarryPotter Philosopher's Stone]] arc when Harry reads ahead in the book to find that [[spoiler:Quirrel was Voldemort.]] Disappointed by this, ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, Harry's father, punishes Harry by banning him from BreakingTheFourthWall for five whole chapters. Harry kept to it... mostly.
35	* ''FanFic/TheInfiniteLoops'' takes this trope and does the tango. Looping universes are backed up on the Hub universe, our reality, which causes the natives to write fiction about the backed up worlds and results in a lot of MutuallyFictional scenarios. Savvy loopers gather as much fiction as they can, so they can quickly acquaint themselves with any other world they end up in; some loopers even keep their own scripts on hand to offer to newcomers.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
39	* The Genie from ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' pulls out a copy of the movie's script and tries to feed Aladdin his next lines, which will have him use his third wish to free the Genie.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
43	* ''Film/TheDeadDontDie'': During the climax, Ronnie reveals to Cliff that the reason he's been so pessimistic throughout the movie is that he read the script and knew it was going to end badly. Cliff is pissed at this, as the director only gave him his own scenes instead of the whole thing.
44	* Creator/MelBrooks uses this from time to time, always PlayedForLaughs:
45	** In the climax of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', after the battle spills over into the film studio, Lamarr runs away and finds a movie theater showing ''Blazing Saddles''. He buys a ticket and sees a later point in the film -- showing him that Bart is on his trail. He runs outside to have a final confrontation with Bart. After Bart wins, he and the Kid go back into the theater to see the end of the movie.
46	** In ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', when the eponymous villains lose track of Lone Star and Princess Vespa, they try to find her by watching ahead in the film. Dark Helmet wonders how that's possible if they're still ''making'' the movie, but [[HandWave future tech]] takes care of that. But they do have to fast-forward through the whole movie to the point they want to see, leading to Helmet having to relive his LudicrousSpeed escapade ("No no no, go past this, past this part. In fact, [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain never play this again]]."), and a memorable sequence when they're in real time and looking at "[[DrosteImage now]]" (confusing the hell out of Helmet).
47	** During the archery contest in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', when Lucky Lucha bests Robin by [[SplittingTheArrow splitting his arrow]], Robin is so stunned that he lost that he pulls out the movie's script in disbelief ("I'm not supposed to ''lose''!") -- and finds out that he gets another shot. [[BigBad Prince John]] and the [[TheDragon Sheriff of Rottingham]] consult their own scripts and begrudgingly admit that he's right. Cue Robin's [[DeusExMachina "Patriot Arrow".]]
48	* In ''Film/MonstersCrashThePajamaParty'', [[OnlySaneMan Miss Petrie]] calls up Professor Williams to tell him that she's sure that something is wrong, adding, "I read ahead in the script!"
49	* In ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'', rather than explain the whole complicated story so far, Kermit simply hands the Electric Mayhem the movie script, and they read up to the point where they are now. This comes back as a BrickJoke when the gang gets stranded in the desert and the Electric Mayhem comes to their rescue. How did they knew they were there? Kermit left the script behind.[[note]]Although, even with the script, it's still fairly far-fetched that Dr. Teeth managed to locate them.[[/note]]
50	-->'''Kermit:''' How did you know where to find us?\
51	'''Dr. Teeth:''' We just read the script. ''[holds up script]'' "EXT. DESERT -- NIGHT." We knew right where you were.
52	* In ''Film/{{Rubber}}'', Sheriff Chad, the only actual character who knows he's in a movie, has to do something similar to remind himself of the outcome. This is after [[spoiler:his accomplice failed at ending the movie by poisoning the audience]].
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* In one of the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' novels, the main characters come across a character whose talent is to read the chapter name. Unfortunately for them, this occurs in a chapter titled "X".
57	** The Muses are the ones who decide on chapter titles in the volumes of history they record so a minor character knowing this stuff is less BreakingTheFourthWall and more of a weird form of clairvoyance. At least one main character has had the good fortune to be in the library of the Muses when some of the safeties were turned off, so the book titles for about a dozen of the novels in the series, including those about future events, became public knowledge in-universe.
58	* In the Harvard Lampoon's ''Literature/BoredOfTheRings'', Bromosel, the Boromir parody, displays this ability a few times, once even taking note of how much of the book was still in the reader's right hand.
59	* A variation in ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. After Mina transcribes everyone's notes and voice recordings, Van Helsing orders the vampire hunters to read the compiled book. Because the book is [[EpistolaryNovel epistolary]] at that moment, the reader and the characters have both read the same 2/3 or Bram Stoker's novel.
60	* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': Subverted when the Childlike Empress asks the Old Man of Wandering Mountain to read ahead in the Neverending Story that he is writing. He tells her there is nothing but empty pages.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
64	* Happens in the ''Series/RedDwarf'' miniseries ''Back to Earth''. The characters then start ''writing'' the script to make each other do humiliating slapstick routines.
65	* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' features fly-on-the-wall style sections with the actors having chats as themselves on the set. In one of them, David Mitchell points out that these are as scripted as the rest of the show, and shows Robert Webb the script for the sketch they're in, which includes the direction "[[DrosteImage Cut to a close-up of the script. It reads: cut to a close-up of the script. It reads:...]]"
66	* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': In several episodes characters would read the script to find out what was going on or what they (or another character) were supposed to do.
67	* In an episode of ''Series/RaumschiffGamestar'', Captain Langer figures out the villains' EvilPlan by reading it from the script of the episode.
68	%% * In the series finale of ''Series/SmallWonder'', Vanessa (posing as Vicki) does this, to the chagrin of the film director.
69	* In the Creator/DouglasAdams episode of ''The South Bank Show'', Ford Prefect reads the draft of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'' and casually mentions the existence of Random Frequent Flyer Dent to Arthur. He then tells Arthur to try to look surprised when it happens.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Theatre]]
73	* ''Theatre/ForbiddenBroadway Strikes Back'' has a weird variation -- the characters from ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' read ahead in the script for ''Theatre/LaBoheme'' to see what they should do next. Of course, since the plot of ''Rent'' is only ''very'' loosely based on ''La Bohème'', it's not a reliable guide.
74	* ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'' has the song ''Go, go, go Joseph'' with the line "Go, go, go Joseph, fight till you drop/We've read the book, and you come out on top." Not to mention, "Don’t give up Joseph, wait and you’ll see/We’ve been outside, and you’re on the marquee."
75	* ''Theatre/AStrangeLoop'': At one point the Thoughts, who are very skeptical of Usher's writing choices, are thumbing through the script of the play he's writing, ''A Strange Loop''. Thought 3 gets to the end, where Usher turns his back to the audience, and says "That's seriously how the show ends?"
76	-->'''Usher:''' Possibly. In this draft at least.\
77	'''Thought 3:''' Hmm. Well, that's certainly a choice.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Video Games]]
81	* Played with in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'' twice. Early in the game, the manual for the game itself falls in front of Bart which helps move the plot forward. Later, Bart looks up the walkthrough for the game online to find out what they have to do next. Subverted in that he gets cut off before he actually says what they need to do by aliens attacking the house, and the rest of the plot evolves from there.
82	* The game of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' does this. For example, defeating Yzma at the end of the River series of levels earns this exchange:
83	-->'''Pacha:''' Phew! I hope that's the last we'll see of her.\
84	'''Kuzco:''' She'll be back. I've seen it in the script!
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Web Animation]]
88	* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie]] doesn't waste any time; she already had a good part of the script read beforehand, thus she already knew what one of [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix's]] next destinations was, and that "something strange" was going to happen there. At least she had the courtesy of not reading too far into it to avoid spoilers.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Webcomics]]
92	* [[OnlySaneMan Proto Man]], in [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/020704c this]] ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' strip, reveals a device he uses to read ahead in the webcomic.
93	* Played with in ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'' [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=753 #29]] where the DM reads a script he was supposed to read later. When he realizes his mistake he tells the players to forget what they just heard. But given the players' dislike of the WallOfText backstory and NPC monologues, they weren't listening anyway.
94	* ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' has one character become an author, so they can read the comic's buffer to counteract any plan set in motion against them. [[spoiler:The other authors manage to get around this by deliberately posting the page that details the character's downfall late.]]
95	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', during a FourthWallMailSlot storyline, Tedd reads what he thinks is [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-08-15 the script for the upcoming stories]] only for it to be [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when he is informed what he was actually reading was the author's sketchbook.
96	* A variant is common in ''Webcomic/FinalFantasyVIITheSevening.'' Rather than read ahead, the characters are usually checking the script to make sure that the impossible thing, plot-hole, or out-of-character dialogue they just experienced was not some kind of mistake on their part. At times they're reduced to tears.
97	--> '''Cloud:''' ''[to a copy of the script]'' You ''monster!!''
98	* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
99	** The [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-04-08 04/08/01 strip]] has Captain Tagon tell the InteractiveNarrator to start reading the script again after everybody got distracted trying to figure out what the heck happened in the last six strips. (There was a weird segue in mid-story where Tagon and Brad got captured by aliens, interrogated, and disintegrated.) Then he cuts the narrator off on account of they'd reached the last panel; the narrator says he's going to go have a word with the author.
100	** [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-08-31 Here]] Breya guesses that the terrorists they captured in the last story arc were trying to stop the wormgate aliens, meaning they're on the same side as the mercenaries.
101	--->'''Tagon:''' Breya, I know you're smart, but that's quite an intuitive leap.\
102	'''Narrator:''' I bet she's been reading the author's back-story notes.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Western Animation]]
106	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
107	** In the short "Wind-Blown Hare", TheBigBadWolf reads a copy of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'' to know what to do. When WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pretends to be Literature/LittleRedRidingHood, he gives the wolf a copy of that book to catch up.
108	** In "Ain't That Ducky", WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck interrupts a chase scene to point out that someone forgot to put a barrel on the scene for him to hide in, and pulls out his copy of the script as proof.
109	** In "Thugs With Dirty Muggs", police officer F.H.A. Holmes is trying to figure out where gangster Killer will strike next. A silhouetted member of the audience tells him he saw the cartoon before and knows that Killer and his gang will rob the home of Lotta Jewels.
110	* In the ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' movie, when trapped in a slowly-filling underwater carriage and at a loss for what to do next, the housemates listen to the DVD commentary.
111	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', Genie is seen watching Aladdin's latest predicament on a TV in his lamp and reads the script to see where he'll come in.
112	-->'''Genie:''' Let's see, "Al plummets. Al says 'Oh no'. Genie poofs to the rescue." Sort of predictable. ''[his pocket watch rings]'' I'M LATE! ''[poofs to the rescue]''\
113	'''Aladdin:''' Genie, thanks.\
114	'''Genie:''' Oh, just doing my part, Al. I think.
115	* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'' episode "Retakes Not Included". Bull and Axl realise that they have digressed too long and that the plot has moved on without them. They flip backwards through the script in order to catch up and prevent Taz from eating a cute fluffy bunny.
116	* In the Creator/TexAvery cartoon ''WesternAnimation/KingSizeCanary'', a mouse cautions an alley cat against eating him, explaining he'd seen the picture before and that he'd save the cat's life before it was through.
117	* WesternAnimation/DangerMouse knows that the acronym [[FunWithAcronyms C.H.M.F.F.G.]] stands for "Car Holding Magnetic Force Field Generator" (episode "Journey To The Earth's 'Cor!") because he read the script.
118	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyDucksTheAnimatedSeries'' had resident MetaGuy Nosedive showing he had the script to the episode, and when Klegghorn questions it, Nosedive reads the line the policeman was about to say.
119	* In the "Daemon Rising" arc of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', Little Enzo (a duplicate of the original child Enzo, created when Mainframe was restored in the season 3 finale) needs to know what happened to his older self, Matrix, and other plot developments he wasn't around for. Phong hands him...a DVD of ''[=ReBoot=]'' (copied directly from one of Creator/ADVFilms' releases of the time) and tells him to watch. It turns out to actually be a re-enactment of past events by the same binomes and others who put on a musical number at the end of the third season.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	----
123	!!Serious examples:
124
125	[[foldercontrol]]
126
127	[[folder:Comic Books]]
128	* In ''ComicBook/SwampThing'', as the world undergoes a TimeCrash, the real-life [[TheGreatDepression Depression-era]] bank robber Clyde Barrow tearfully watches his and Bonnie Parker's death on a videotape of the 1967 [[Film/BonnieAndClyde biopic]], and wonders if he should tell her about their fate.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
132	* ''Film/InTheMouthOfMadness'': When Linda Styles realizes that Sutter Cane's latest novel is in fact their own reality, she reads ahead to see the ending for herself. The revelation [[GoMadFromTheRevelation turns her into one of Cane's minions]], and she's later retconned out of the story.
133	* A film script in ''Film/SouthlandTales'' turns out to be unconsciously prescient, and the characters increasingly realize they have no choice but to play their parts.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Literature]]
137	* One of the most integral plot elements in ''Literature/DevilVenerableAlsoWantsToKnow'' is that Wenren È gets a copy of a book written about the story he's living in that gives him a lot of information about characters he hasn't met yet and events slated to happen in the future, including him falling in love with the book's female lead and sacrificing his life for her which he isn't too keen on letting happen. The book's contents also start getting rewritten in real time when he and other characters' actions begin altering its original plot, which lets him regularly read back through it to see what kind of new events have occurred to its heroine.
138	* This kind of happens in the novel ''Literature/{{Lanark}}'', when the title character meets the author and learns about some of the things that are in store for him.
139	* In ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'', the Childlike Empress seeks out the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, who writes the book that contains all of Fantastica. She asks if he can look ahead in the book to see what will happen, and gets the reply, "Empty pages". There's nothing ahead in the book, because it hasn't happened yet.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
143	* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'':
144	** The entire story of the series, a sci-fi drama based on comic books, exists in-universe as... a comic book, drawn by a man with precognitive powers. This is an important plot point early on -- Hiro finds the comic and reads ahead a little, effectively consulting the oracle before their quest.
145	** Later, Hiro is so confused that he hunts down a comic book store to find out what happens next, only for a couple of comic book geeks to recognize him from a scene they just read. They answer some of his questions about plot details and share some fan theories, which may or may not have been based on actual fan theories from people watching the TV show.
146	* ''Series/RockyJonesSpaceRanger'''s episode "Rocky's Odyssey", as the name implies, rips off the plot of [[Literature/TheOdyssey Homer's epic of the same name]]. The TagalongKid, who is reading said book as homework, [[GenreSavvy quickly figures out that their adventure is suspiciously similar to the adventure he's reading]], and by the third act he's outright reading ahead in the book to figure out what they should do next.
147	* In ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson: TheMovie'', actor Jett Jackson meets his RefugeeFromTVLand counterpart Silverstone and informs him that the shooting script has Silverstone KilledOffForReal in the last episode, meaning the real Silverstone is doomed if his world continues to mimic the televised fiction.
148	* A variation occurs in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Angels Take Manhattan". The events of the episode are written down in a book the Doctor found. Amy is quick to realize that reading ahead gives them some warning about what will happen, only for the Doctor to tell her not to do it. This is because it becomes close to impossible to ScrewDestiny once you've read it. Reading ahead would seal their fate, with no way to know if it would be for better or for worse. As a balance between the two, they read the table of contents to see the chapter titles. [[SpoilerTitle To their horror, though, one of the chapter titles still gives away plenty]].
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Video Games]]
152	* In ''VideoGame/AtelierSophie2TheAlchemistOfTheMysteriousDream'', the present-day version of Plachta encounters a younger version of herself in the dream world of Erde Wiege, which exists in a timeline separate from the real world's. This results in the younger Plachta learning many details about her future, including how she'll be forced to transfer her soul into a book to survive, and that [[spoiler:that her friend Luard will fall into evil]]. However, she also learns that these events will culminate in her forming a powerful, life-changing friendship with Sophie. At the end of the game, [[spoiler:the young Plachta, before being sent back to her time, asks for her memories of her time in Erde Wiege to be erased, in order to stop herself from averting the catastrophes she's fated to suffer, so she can still follow the destined series of events that lead to her meeting Sophie]].
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
156	* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has [[HumanoidAbomination Featherine]] [[PhysicalGod Aurora]] who can not only read the script, but also [[RewritingReality rewrite it at will]]. This is played [[CosmicHorrorStory for all the drama it can be]].
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Web Animation]]
160	* In the ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' episode "Bill Cipher VS Discord", most of the fight is a stalemate consisting of the two {{Reality Warp\|er}}ing combatants hitting each other with increasingly-spectacular attacks, then instantly recovering from it. Then Discord reveals that thanks to BreakingTheFourthWall, he's seen ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' and therefore knows how to defeat Bill. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, said victory condition involves performing a HeroicSacrifice in order to banish Bill.]]
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Western Animation]]
164	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels'': In "The Creepy Case of the Creaky Charter Boat", the Teen Angels find a copy of the script for the play in which one of the ship's passengers, a famous stage actor, is starring. As the girls realize that their situation follows the script exactly, Taffy finds that one page has been torn out. Reading the last page of the script, the girls discover that their actor friend is named as the perpetrator.
165	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ReadingAheadInTheScript