Family Feud: Some players take questions rather literally.
In a September 1980 "Fast Money" round, Richard Dawson asked "During what months of pregnancy does a woman begin to look pregnant?", to which the contestant answered "September", which was so absurd that Dawson lost all composure.
In a November 2015 episode:
Steve Harvey: We asked 100 women: what might a blind date conveniently forget to mention about himself? (contestant rings in) Contestant: He's blind. Steve: He's blind? (the audience laughs) Steve: (laughing) Blind date conveniently forgot to mention— he's— "I really am a blind date!". (strike buzzer sounds)
On Let's Make a Deal, many of the Zonk joke prizes on the series are literal versions of different kinds of prizes. Examples include "Horse Shoes" (shoes that look like a horse), a "Coin Purse" (a purse that resembles and is the size of a coin), and "Laundered Money" (money hanging from a clothespin).
Password: Following a celebrity accidentally giving the Cashword as a clue on Super, Bert asked the producer what they did in that situation. Upon being told to "throw it out", he picked up the Magic Toaster and threw it behind him, asking what to do next as he did so. The Toaster – the show's nickname for the container which held the card on which the Cashword was printed – broke as it hit the floor. Cue an Oh, Crap! look on Bert's face when the celebrity informed him that he broke the Toaster.
The Price Is Right: How some contestants interpret the explanation of a given game's rules. While examples do exist from the Bob Barker era, these have become somewhat more frequent since Drew Carey took over as host. It remains debated whether these explanations are due to poorly worded instructions or the contestant being unable to interpret figurative language.
One frequently cited example occurred on the June 1, 2011, episode, where a contestant playing the Race Game — where the objective is to match four price tags with their correct prizes in a 45-second time frame and correct any mistakes if time allows — was told by Carey to "throw" the tags in front of the prizes she thought they matched. Carey meant, "place them quickly on the podiums, because you have just a short amount of time to play this game," but the contestant literally interpreted the instructions and threw the price tags on the floor in front of the prizes. When confusion reigned, it was ultimately decided that the contestant should be given the benefit of the doubt and was given all four prizes.
By Series:
In Adventures in Wonderland, all the Wonderland characters tend to be literal-minded, with Alice often having to explain figures of speech to them. The March Hare is especially prone to this.
This trope is exploited in The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Young Pete and his two friends are called into the principal's office for being troublemakers and is about to give them detention before another issue takes his attention. Before he leaves, the principal tells the trio to not leave his office but forgets about them and goes home, leaving Pete and his friends in school for the whole night. After having an adventure in School during the night, the trio returns to the principal's office before he arrives in the morning. When the principal asks them what they are doing in his office, the trio reply he told not to leave his office so they did. Shocked that they did what he told them and that he had accidentally locked the kids up in the building, the principal decides to not give them detention and allows them to take the day off.
In ALF, ALF is talking to Lucky II in preparation to eating him, and hides him under a box when Lynn comes in and calls for Willie. Lynn and Willie are pissed off at what seems like a successful attempt to eat the cat, until noticing the box moving, which ALF tries to pass off as a psychic power. They lift the box and discover the cat alive and well, and ALF begs to keep him. Lynn then says she knew he wouldn't eat him, ALF asks why she didn't give him the cat in the first place, and she explains that maybe he would have. ALF interprets this as some kind of logic puzzle.
Gary Bell from Alphas tends toward this, as a result of having autism. He gets the concept of metaphors and sarcasm, but he doesn't always recognize them... or understand them when they're used.
Bill: Who's manning the fort? Gary: It's not a fort, Bill; it's a bad metaphor. Forts have ramparts and cannons.
There was a sketch on The Amanda Show about an entire family with this condition ("Hold this for a second."/"All right. One-Mississippi." *drop*). Naturally, they were named "The Literals."
Angel: In one instance, several employees of the Wolfram & Hart were reported to have been sacked with actual sacks, and Knox mentioned that on at least one occasion they literally fired an employee. As mentioned by Harmony, there are also non-Human resources.
A lot of the jokes in Angie Tribeca come from a character taking cop slang or everyday figures of speech literally. One example is a perp bargaining for immunity, and then getting a vaccination shot (along with a lollipop).
Mrs. Parsons: I just really hope you catch the animal that did this. Angie: Thank you, ma'am, but we think it was a human who did it.
The Doctor: It looks like he's dead. Lucille: Oh my God! Michael:Just to be clear, it looks like he's dead, or he is dead? The Doctor: It just looks like he's dead. He's got, like, blue paint on him or something, but he's going to be fine. GOB: What is wrong with you!?
In another instance:
The Doctor: We lost him.
When Buster loses his left hand, the doctor said he would be all right.
Lucille: But you said he's going to be all right. Dr. Wordsmith: Yes. He's lost his left hand, so he's going to be "all right". Lucille: You son of a bitch! I hate this doctor! Michael: He's a very literal man.
Better Call Saul: In a flashback during the final episode, Saul and Mike have a conversation about past regrets and wonder what they would do if they could Time Travel. Saul asks Walt for his own take, saying he wants a scientist's opinion, only for Walt — being the Insufferable Genius he is — to presume Saul is talking about literally building a time machine to undo his mistakes, proceeding to go on a self-important rant about how time travel breaks the laws of physics and is probably impossible. He then gets really flustered and irritated when Saul points out the obvious; that it's just a metaphorical thought experiment.
Penny: I give up, he's impossible. Sheldon: I can't be impossible, I exist. I believe what you meant to say is, "I give up, he's improbable."
Another example:
Leonard: For God's sake, Sheldon, do I have to hold up a "sarcasm" sign every time I open my mouth? Sheldon:(intrigued) You have a sarcasm sign? (a few moments later, Leonard actually made the sign)
Blackadder II: In "Beer", Blackadder is writing letters and decides they should be written in blood to make them more intimidating; rather than shed his own blood, he calls his Bumbling Sidekick Baldrick:
Baldrick: Will you be wanting me to cut anything off? An arm or a leg? Blackadder: Oh, good lord no — a little prick should do. Baldrick: Very well my lord, I am your bondsman and must obey. (pulls open the waistband of his pants and starts to lower the knife) Blackadder: Oh for God's sake, Baldrick! I meant a little prick on your finger! Baldrick:(looks at hand, worried) I haven't got one there!
The same episode had a similar gag where Blackadder asked Baldrick to get the door; cue the off-screen sound of a door being torn off its hinges as Blackadder Face Palms.
Blackadder Goes Forth: In "Corporal Punishment", when Capt. Blackadder is being court-martialed for shooting and eating the general's pet carrier pigeon, George (acting as Blackadder's defense counsel) calls Pvt. Baldrick as a witness. Blackadder instructs Baldrick to "deny everything," and he follows the order.
Bones: It's not a spaceship. Booth: Well, if it smells like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Bones: Then it would be a duck, not a spaceship. Your point escapes me.
Zack Addy had shades of this too.
Cam: Well, it's a pickle. The platform's a crime scene, but we need to access it to investigate the crime. Angela: A "cake and eat it too" situation. Zack: Is it a cake or a pickle? Hodgins:It's Schrödinger's Cat. Zack:That I understand. Cakes and pickles meant nothing to me.
Eddie: Shit your pants, did you? Cry, did you? Richie: No, quite the opposite, actually. Eddie: What? You sucked water in through your eyeballs?
On The Bridge (US) Detective Sonya Cross (off-duty) goes to a singles bar, where a man offers to buy her a drink. She says no, and when he walks away, follows him and asks why he left, saying she just didn't want a drink, and would he like to come home with her and have sex? (She's presented as Hollywood Autistic.)
Anya: That's so very humorous. Make fun of the ex-demon! I can just hear you in private. "I dislike that Anya. She's newly human and strangely literal."
Willow is also this. "KISS Rocks? Why would anyone want to kiss— oh."
Also a giveaway for robots.
El Chavo del ocho: El Chavo does this when Don Ramon is explaining to him how to play bowling (starting at approximately 0:30). The confusion in this case comes especially when Don Ramón mentions the "pinos", which in Spanish can mean either "pine trees" or "bowling pins", and el Chavo obviously thought he meant the former.
In the live/puppet series Diver Dan, Baron Barracuda, who hates being called "Boss" by his dim-witted Mook, constantly retorts "Call me 'Baron' [epithet]!", only to have him respond "Sure, Baron [Epithet]."
The Doctor: There we are, K9, we got the first segment to the Key to Time, piece of cake. K9: Piece of cake. Radial segment of baked confection, relevance to the Key to Time nil. The Doctor: Like I said, piece of cake.
"Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead": A computer being this is a major plot point. When the Library was sealed off 100 years before, its central computer sent a message: "4022 people saved. No survivors." That doesn't appear to make sense until the Doctor figures out the Exact Words meaning: The 4022 people who tried to teleport away were saved to the hard drive because there was nowhere safe in the Library to send them. There were no survivors because there was no one technically alive on the planet anymore.
Rory: And you kissed her back? The Doctor: No, I kissed her mouth.
"Arachnids of the UK": The Doctor says she eats danger for breakfast, before admitting she really eats cereal, croissants, or this Portugese fried—
"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror": While preparing to defend Wardenclyffe, Graham reassures Dorothy that it's "not [their] first rodeo". Ryan immediately points out that he's never been to a rodeo.
"Shada": K9 repeatedly mistakes a frustrated "Blast it!" for an instruction to fire his nose laser.
The dolls in Dollhouse are often like this. For example, Alpha's Handler suggests he watch his step when he gets caught coming onto Echo. Alpha does exactly that: he walks away by staring at his feet.
Waldo Faldo from Family Matters is like this at times. For example, when Carl mentioned he knew a celebrity and Eddie said "get out of here!" in surprise, Waldo said, "You can stay, Mr. Winslow."
Haven from Future Cop was programmed to know common police slang terms, but he'll still take instructions like "Take a walk" literally.
Get Smart. A Running Gag with Hymie the robot. When Smart asks for a hand he starts to unscrew his hand, on being told to "Put the word out on the street" he graffiti's the pavement, and "Kill the light" causes him to shoot the lightbulb.
At the end of an episode of Grace Under Fire, the title character laments to Nadine on how her ex-husband is behind on his rent payments. She explains that they agreed on the exact amount to be paid "under the table"... then suddenly says "Oh no. He couldn't be THAT stupid." She then reaches under the table they are sitting at and finds an envelope full of money.
Grace: Maybe next time I should say it's "on the house" just to see what happens.
Subverted in an episode of iCarly: Carly, Sam, and Freddie know a dead man had hidden a recipe inside his computer, but fail to find it. Turns out it was inside the computer, so the kids had failed to follow the literal logic of the owner.
Played for Laughs and at the same time Justified in Spanish science-fiction comedy El inquilino. Chubi was a ditzy alien that had found itself stranded on Earth. Although Chubi could speak Spanish fluently, it obviously wasn't its native tongue and the meaning of many idioms would go over its head, to the point that the show made a Running Gag out of cutting to an Imagine Spot depicting the literal meaning of whatever idiom Chubi had just heard.
On The IT Crowd, Moss is very literal minded. An early episode has him read "Stand upright" on a fire extinguisher and take a moment to realise that it doesn't mean him.
Keeping Up Appearances episode "Iron Age Remains" had this dialogue (though Onslow was only pretending to not understand):
Rose: I'm at the crossroads! Onslow: You wouldn't be passing an off-license, would you? Rose: I mean the big crossroads! Do you continue with your life, or do you just give in? Onslow: Could you go to the off-license first, then struggle with your life? Rose:[to Daisy] Your Onslow is such a pleb.
Nate and Sophie:(discussing their current con)The Fiddle Game. Parker: I don't know how to play the fiddle.
Seen in Lost in Oz, as Alex tries to explain to the Wicked Witch that she didn't mean to be involved in what was going on.
Alex: I was told that if I freed that little girl I could go home. I don't have any part in this, I'm just stuck in the middle. Witch: You poor girl... stuck in the middle... [brandishes knife] Allow me to illustrate what that phrase means to me.
Eve Edison from Mann & Machine is better with metaphors than most fictional robots, but she still has trouble sometimes.
Mann: If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Eve: I don't see what ducks have to do with anything.
Pipin from Mimpi Metropolitan misunderstands many things her friends said, half of the time it's because she takes their figure of speech literally (the other half is caused by her poor vocabulary).
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Towards the end of one episode, Servo is asked to play a song about the '70s, and busts out something about the years 70-79 AD. Mike has to unplug his keytar to explain that to him, and he asks why people don't "get off their lazy butts and say "the 19-70s."
Ziva, on occasion. Once, the team had to come in on a Sunday, and Tony joked that Gibbs was wearing a suit because he was getting married again:
[Tony gets up and heads for the victim's home; Ziva stays] Gibbs:[angrily] Are you waiting for an invitation, Officer David? Ziva:[clueless] Oh. So you really are getting married? Tony: He means you're with me. Ziva: Oh!
Palmer too, sometimes. Once, Abby tells him that "they need some fresh ears", and he responds that he'll look in the morgue if he can find some. To which Abby has to correct that she just meant living fresh ears, i.e. an unmarred viewpoint.
Nova: In the Nova Science Now episode How Does the Brain Work?, someone explaining how robots apply knowledge is also playing chess with one, and says after taking its queen, "Your turn." It turns around and around, and then he instructs it to "go" (leaves), "make your move" (dances to music), and finally, "move one of your pieces in response to mine."
The show itself can be literal-minded at times when it comes to oddities that can occur. For example, a "hair towel" is a towel that adds hair to whatever it touches. It's not limited to Odd Squad's rules, either — "desk duty", for example, is building desks, not being forced to stay inside and not solve cases.
Dr. O is prone to being this from time to time, such as in "Hold the Door".
Oscar: They don't call her "Doctor" for nothin', heh heh! Dr. O: No. They call me the doctor because of eight years of medical school and countless hours of hard work and studying.
In "Disorder in the Court", during Olive's trial, Oscar is called to the witness stand due to the fact that he was eating lunch with Olive in the time frame when the crime of stealing the museum was committed. Odd Todd submits a menu from Debbie's Pizzeria into evidence and asks Oscar to read what it says on the bottom. Oscar reads aloud what's written directly on the bottom, "Printed in China", then Odd Todd tells him to read what's placed higher. Oscar reads the text above: "Don't forget to tip your server." Eventually Odd Todd becomes fed up, and puts on a tight smile as he angrily snatches the menu out of Oscar's hands and points at what he actually wants him to read: "Pizza delivered to your table in one minute or less."
Odie and O'Terry in "Oscar Strikes Back" slip into this when brainwashed by Obbs. Case in point: after they are attacked with the Sticky-String-inator gadget courtesy of Oscar and Oprah, Obbs orders them to clean themselves off. They take a tissue each and begin rubbing them on each other in a robotic manner. Obbs then tells them to use the whole box, and Odie picks up the box and rubs that on himself. Cue an anguished cry of frustration from Obbs as he spins around in his chair.
In "Running on Empty", the London Eye depicted isn't the actual London Eye — instead of it being the Ferris wheel, it's quite literally an eye in London.
When the Mobile Unit is landing at Devils Tower in the beginning of "Odd in 60 Seconds", Orla remarks how it doesn't look as "devilish" as she imagined.
This exchange in "Down the Tubes".
Opal: We're about to give people the best rides ever! Buckle up, partner! Omar:[looks down at his belt, then to Opal] I am buckled.
Our Miss Brooks: In "Public Property on Parade", Miss Brooks gives Bones Snodgrass directions, using the fateful phrase, "take the traffic light to the right". Bones takes the traffic light to the right off the pole, brings it back to Miss Brooks, and requests further instructions.
Planet of the Apes: In "The Interrogation", Urko believes that brainwashing involves removing the brain from the skull and washing it with water.
Pretty much every single character in Police Squad!, often combined with Visual Pun or Who's on First? Examples include a Japanese garden consisting of Japanese people in pots, a man coughing up the money he owes, and a name that "rings a bell" producing a literal ringing noise.
Kramer is often this way in Seinfeld. In fact, "The Betrayal" reveals that historically speaking, his iconic Drop-In Character status hinges on a specific incident of this; when they met, Jerry invited a shy Kramer into his apartment for a bite to eat with a casual "What's mine is yours," and Kramer proceeded to spend the next decade (and then some) taking him at his word.
Shaun interviews Mick Onk to try and figure out the symbolism of carrying a puppet of Tony Abbott wearing a blindfold at a protest of Abbott's climate change policy (or lack thereof).
Shaun: I'm interested in the message behind your protest, namely, if Mr. Abbott is, as you portray him, a puppet, who is controlling him? Mick: Me and Dirk. Shaun: No, symbolically, though, who is controlling Mr. Abbott? Mick: Oh. Big business? Shaun: Okay, and so, is it big business that's put the blindfold on him? Mick: Nah, me and Dirk.
Shaun: Is your point that Mr. Abbott has blinded himself to these climate change facts, or has someone else done it? I.e., who put the blindfold on Mr. Abbott? And if you say "Me and Dirk" I will arrange to have you injured. Mick: ...Someone else did it? Shaun: Alright, well presumably whoever controls him. Mick: Yeah, me and Dirk.
Teal'c of Stargate SG-1. Take an episode where the team encounters a society who can create energy via heavy water and want it to wage war.
Daniel: Their planet is on fire and we're offering them gasoline. Teal'c: We are in fact offering them water. Daniel: I was speaking metaphorically. Jack: Well stop it. It's not fair to Teal'c.
Vulcans discipline themselves into becoming The Stoic by embracing rigid logic. Thus, Vulcans tend to be very literal-minded and precise, with many Vulcans seen in the franchise having trouble understanding the casual idioms and metaphors spoken by their non-Vulcan crewmates. This characterization began with Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series, who would often get confused by a fellow officer's use of a metaphor or idiom and ask them to explain it to him.
Klingons show this mindset through their language, such as how the verb "ghaj" means "have" or "possess"note Klingon has no infinitive, so on their own, the verbs could mean things like "he does" or "she does it" as in literal possession. You can say that you have a car or a house, but not that you "have fun" or "have a dream" unless if you somehow possess them for real.
In the early seasons, Commander Data would often interpret things literally. For instance, if somebody in Engineering spoke of "burning the midnight oil" (meaning they would be working late), he would advise them against the use of open flames near the warp core. Fortunately, Data was good about questioning orders given to him that he didn't fully understand, allowing those in command over him to clarify what they meant before he acted on them.
This trope is the reason most characters address the computer in a firm, formal manner. While the computer is quite good at deciphering commands issued to it, it has trouble parsing more casual language. Geordi La Forge in particular likes to speak casually to the computer while giving it commands, and often has to backtrack and restate his intentions when the computer responds with an error to what he said.
Some of the angels on Supernatural. While most of the angels encountered — notably Zachariah (surprisingly), Anna (who had been human) and Gabriel (the Trickster) — seem to understand sarcasm and are often sarcastic themselves, others have more difficulty — particularly Uriel and especially, especially Castiel:
Dean: Your buddy Lucifer— Uriel: Lucifer is no friend of ours. [...] Dean: Try New Mexico, I heard [God]'s on a tortilla. Castiel: No, He's not on any flatbread.
Dean: You know what, blow me, Cas. [cue a slightly confused expression on Castiel's face]
Also from "Mommy Dearest":
Dean: Why's it always gotta be me that makes the call, huh? It's not like Cas lives in my ass, dude's busy! [Bobby and Sam give Dean a disbelieving look] [Castiel shows up an inch behind Dean] Dean: Cas, get outta my ass! Castiel: I was never in... your... [awkward looks]
Terminators are naturally ripe for this joke. In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a Terminator is searching the schools for John Connor by posing as an FBI agent carrying out a drugs investigation. The school administrator asks him "Look me in the eye and tell me you've never smoked a little marijuana." The terminator does just that (it is, after all, true!).
The aliens of 3rd Rock from the Sun are sometimes like this, especially in the earlier episodes:
Mary: Are you seeing anybody? Sally: I'm looking at you, aren't I?
In Wizards of Waverly Place, Jerry tells Max that they'll have to dance delicately around the issue of taking the Family Robe from Justin to give it to Maxnote Now in the lead for the Family Wizard, which Max thinks it means dancing to convince Justin. Later, when the discussion with Justin goes South, Max decides it's a good time to dance delicately.
Bernard in Yes, Minister could be a tad slow to realize something was not intended literally, although not quite as much as most examples.
Sir Humphrey: I'm taking the director of the bank to lunch, we might manage to cook something up. Bernard: Why don't you go to a restaurant — oh... I see what you mean.
, asking what to do next as he did so. The Toaster – the show's nickname for the container which held the card on which the Cashword was printed – broke as it hit the floor. Cue an Oh, Crap! look on Bert's face when the celebrity informed him that he broke the Toaster.