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Catchphrase Interruptus

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Rainbow Dash: Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow—
Runaway Bus Passenger: Excuse me, uh, do you think you could skip your catchphrase and just hurry up and save us?!

A subversion of the Character Catchphrase or One-Liner where another character interrupts the expected line, usually with something disparaging.

Usually takes advantage of the Dramatic Pause in the middle of the catchphrase. Also a sure sign that the once cherished phrase is now at risk of gettin' old.

See also Talk to the Fist, Subverted Catchphrase. Compare Musicalis Interruptus, which is this trope applied to songs, and Finish Dialogue in Unison.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Angel Beats!: Takeyama's catchphrase ("Call me Christ") became more and more prone to interruptions as the episodes go.
  • In later seasons of Pokémon: The Series, it became increasingly common for someone to interrupt Team Rocket in the middle of their super-long catchphrase.
    • Latter seasons? It started already in the latter part of the original series, but then reverted to the status quo after each Theme song change.
    • As spoofed here in VG Cats.
    • Though Ash actually attempts to do this as early as the fourth episode, only to be met with "Nobody interrupts the Team Rocket motto!" and then they finish it.
      • Team Rocket still gets annoyed if they're not allowed to finish the motto, though even they apparently clued in on how old it was getting to an extent, since they've gone through a couple of new (still long) replacement mottos.
      • During the Sinnoh arc, they would get interrupted by Barry every time he appeared.
    • In one instance, they're about to deliver their motto when they find "the twerps" in Team Rocket outfits, who then declare it to them. Jessie is furious.
    • Cilan's "Tasting Time~!" is interrupted midway by Stephan (who proceeds to defeat him) when they battle each other in the Donamite.
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has a somber and poignant version of this: The last time anyone says "Who the hell do you think I am", the speaker now aged Simon, cuts himself off because the listener isn't paying attention, so he decides to say that he's no one.
  • In the Slayers light novels, Xelloss's last appearance ends with him storming off in a huff after Gourry pre-empts his catchphrase.
    Xelloss: Now, I owe you nothing. So with regards to what we were discussing...
    Gourry: It's a secret, isn't it?
    Xelloss: Gourry-san, you spoiled everything!
  • In episode 5 of Tiger & Bunny, Blue Rose's catchphrase "My ice may be a little cold, but your crime has been put on hold!" is interrupted, much to her dismay.
  • From Marvel Anime: Wolverine: "I'm the best there is at what I do. And what I do isn't very niiiiii—"

    Comic Books 
  • In Tom Strong, Timmy Turbo's catchphrase, "Holy socks!", which precedes nearly every sentence he says, grates so much on his friends that, well...
    Holy so- hey, I wasn't really going to say it, guys, I- ow...

    Fan Works 
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series:
    • In episode 26, Seto Kaiba commits Catchphrase Interruptus on himself, cutting off Yami's "did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?" before he can actually finish the straight line.
    • This happened to Bandit Keith's "In America" as well.
      Joey: Let me guess... "In America".
      Bandit Keith: I wasn't going to say that! [Beat] In America.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Abridged: Oh let me guess, "the only way to open a casket is to burn it"?
  • The Red Dragon's Saber: When Artoria is summoned, she turns to Issei and starts to give her classic, "I ask of you, are you my Master?" speech, noting it's been a while since she was able to say that. In the middle of her sentence, Issei snaps out of the shock of her arrival and incredible beauty and runs to Asia trying lead her to safety. Artoria then protects them from an attack by Freed and dryly comments that answered her question.
  • OSMU: Fanfiction Friction: While eating at The Nutcracker, a waitress comes up to the Mobile Unit and verifies if they really are part of Odd Squad. Opal starts to go into her "we're an elite team of agents" spiel before she's cut off by the waitress.

    Films — Animation 
  • Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie: During the scene with the motor, Jonah interrupts Khalil's "[thing] runs very deep in my family" catchphrase:
    Khalil: Perhaps I can help. You know, technical competency runs-
    Jonah: I know, very deep in your family.
    Khalil: Oh! Our reputation precedes us!
  • Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: In the bar scene, once Puss realizes the Wolf is out for his bounty, Puss pulls out his rapier and begins his "Fear me... if you dare!" catchphrase. The Wolf interrupts him by backhanding the rapier out of his hand without even looking up from his drink, showing Puss he means business.

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • In Animorphs, there's at least one time where Marco cuts off Rachel's traditional "Let's do it!" so he can say it himself. He interrupts her another time to make a bet with Jake as to whether or not she'll say it—she finishes with "Let's go for it!" out of spite.
  • In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge "tried to say 'Humbug!' but stopped at the first syllable."
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair:
    "Many have taken ship at the pale beaches," replied the Warden, "and—"
    "Yes, I know," interrupted Puddleglum. "And few return to the sunlit lands. You needn't say it again. You are a chap of one idea, aren't you?"
  • Isaac Bell from The Isaac Bell Adventures frequently uses "On the jump" in place of "Now!" In The Assassin, he's trying to relay information on a raging fire over telegraph. After he reports all of the important information, he tries to cap it off with "On the jump", but only gets as far as "the" when the line goes dead. In the narrative, it's mentioned that his associates would know what he was saying.
  • Reign of the Seven Spellblades: When the conspiracy goes to assassinate Demitrio Aristides, Oliver starts his customary Pre-Mortem One-Liner, "The night of April 8th, 1525, of the Great Calendar. Where were you, and what were you doing?" only for Demitrio to cut him off before he gets any further than mentioning the year, because he's already deduced from the two previous murdered teachers that this is about Chloe Halford's murder in the series' Distant Prologue.
  • In A Storm of Swords, third book of A Song of Ice and Fire, Ygritte is in the middle of her usual refrain about how Jon Snow knows nothing, when she's promptly struck dumb by him performing oral sex on her.
    Yritte: You know nothing, Jon Sno-oh. Oh.
  • Star Wars Legends:
    • In Timothy Zahn's 2007 novel Allegiance we have this exchange:
      Random extra: ... But I gotta tell you, I've got a bad—
      Han: No time for that now.
    • Michael Stackpole pulled the same trick in Star Wars: Union. Mara specifically tells Luke not to finish saying he has a bad feeling.
  • Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga: In A Civil Campaign, perpetual Phrase Catcher Ivan "You idiot" Vorpatril manages to pre-empt Miles' traditional greeting.
    Miles: Ivan you idi—
    Ivan: Don't... say it. I just saved your ass, again. And what thanks do I get, again? None. Nothing but abuse and scorn. My humble lot in life.

    Live-Action TV 
  • In Arrested Development the Bluth family's has the shared catchphrase "I've made a huge mistake..." But in season 4, as Maeby finds out that she has inadvertently committed statutory rape, this happens:
    Narrator: And Maeby was about to realize that she had made a huge mis-
    Maeby: (unconcerned) Nah, I'll be fine!
  • Arrow. Oliver Queen who likes to dress up in green and confront villains at arrowpoint saying, "You have failed this city!" is first introduced to Deadshot when the latter guns down the man he's confronting in mid-spiel.
  • In later series of Blackadder, Edmund would frequently anticipate Baldrick's announcement that he had "a cunning plan". Only a Catchphrase Interruptus when he stops Baldrick at "Fear not, my lord", rather than pre-empting the whole phrase.
  • In Black Books: In 3rd season episode Party, Manny had convinced Bernard to go to a Parteyh.
    Manny: Let's paaaar...
    Bernard: DON'T YOU DARE USE THE WORD 'PARTY' AS A VERB IN THIS SHOP!!
    Manny: Let's... poooootter along... in order to attend the party!
  • El Chapulín Colorado: A Running Gag is that when El Chapulín wants to object to something, he says "Yo opino..." ("I think that...") only to be immediately be interrupted and forced to do whatever is needed at hand.
  • In Criminologist Himura and Mystery Writer Arisugawa, Himura usually says "This crime is not beautiful" when he's figured out the culprit. In one episode, however, he gets cut off as Sakashita manages to figure out the case at the same moment. While the rest of the gathered detectives furiously try and figure it out too, Himura can be seen in the background, quietly annoyed.
  • CSI: One of Greg's many transgressions against the Quip to Black is that he sometimes interrupts Grissom, who owns that riff.
  • Doctor Who:
    • In "The Robots of Death", the Fourth Doctor begins his catchphrase of "Hello-o-o, I'm the Doctor. Would you like a jelly ba-" before getting the bag of jelly babies smacked out of his hands by Borg, who is stressed out of his mind. The Doctor is hurt.
      Fourth Doctor: A simple "no, thank you" would have been sufficient...
    • In "Asylum of the Daleks", one of the Daleks has a speech impediment, causing their familiar cry of "EXTERMINATE" to get shortened to... well...
      Dalek: Eggs.
    • In "Kill the Moon", the Twelfth Doctor attempts to say the Second Doctor's catchphrase of "when I say 'run', run..." but is cut off before he can say the final "RUN" by being asked who made him the boss.
      Twelfth Doctor: You say "run", then!
    • For a Phrase Catcher version, the Captain in "Twice Upon a Time" is trying to say that the TARDIS is Bigger on the Inside...but the First Doctor talks over him to complain about Twelve's choice of decor in the finest of Time Lord traditions.
      The Captain: But it's b-
      First Doctor: Hideous!
  • Fawlty Towers: In "The Builders", Basil finally tires of O'Reilly's constant references to The Good Lord.
    O'Reilly: I tell you, if The Good Lord...
    Basil: ...is mentioned once more, I shall move you closer to him.
  • Frasier's catchphrase from Cheers ("You will rue the day you did that!") only appeared once in Frasier in "Look Before You Leap", and it got cut off by Niles.
    Frasier: No, Niles! You can’t leave me now, I need you more now than ever.
    Niles: Oh, give it up. No one who’s followed your little “take a leap” philosophy has ended up even remotely better. I don’t care what you’re saying, I’m going to Maris.
    Frasier: You will rue the day- !
    Niles: (interrupting) I don’t care! Niles gotta have it!
  • Invoked in Friends when Joey starts his signature "How you doin'?" on Rachel's sister, but before she can get it out, she cries "Don't!"
  • Here's an extreme example: in the second season finale of How I Met Your Mother, Barney starts his catchphrase "It's gonna be legen... wait for it..." when the episode ends. It was not until the third season premiere four months later that he got to finish with "..dary!" Also a Brick Joke.
    • There was a shorter one earlier on, when Barney fainted from the flu after finishing the first half of his catchphrase, and then waking up at the end of the scene to finish it.
  • In Kamen Rider Decade, DiEnd interrupts his summoned Den-O Sword Form's "I have arrived!" by shooting him with a Final Form shot, turning him into Momotaros. The first thing Momo does is to start bawling out DiEnd for cutting him off mid-sentence.
    • In the very next episode, DiEnd performs Decade's usual "No More Holding Back" Speech. When Tsukasa/Decade says "Quit stepping on my lines!", Daiki/DiEnd completes the theft: "I was a 'passing-through Kamen Rider' long before you ever were!"
  • Game of Thrones: In The Broken Man, Bronn reminds Jaime that he's owed a "lordship, a castle, and a highborn beauty for a wife." Jaime responds by attempting to pull out the Lannister catchphrase that hasn't been uttered for a season or two now (which Bronn has heard many times):
    Jaime: And you'll get all three. A Lannister always pays-
    Bronn: (completely deadpan) Don't say it. Don't fucking say it.
    • As in the book it's based on, in Kissed By Fire, Ygritte's usual refrain about how Jon Snow knows nothing is abruptly interrupted by him performing oral sex on her, something neither of them have ever done before.
    Ygritte: You know nothing, Jon Sno-oh. Oh.
  • Letterkenny: One of the most common refrains in Shoresy's strings of verbal abuse is some variation on, "Give your balls a tug, titfucker." When Reilly and Jonesy finally get some revenge by setting Joint Boy and Tyson on him, Shoresy only gets out, "Give your balls a tug, you tit-" before the beating begins.
  • In the last iteration of the Spanish Inquisition sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, the Cardinal is cut short by the end of the episode, leading the to the phrase "Nobody expects the Spa...oh, bugger".
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000: Revenge of the Creature. Upon finding himself in orbit around a Planet of the Apes, Mike tries to launch into a sequence of Charlton Heston catchphrases, only to have each one interrupted by Professor Bobo, who's heard it all before. ("Damn us all to hell, yes, yes, I know.") Also happened while they were parodying a catchphrase.
    Tom: To infinityyyy...
    Crow: Ahem. Disney? Lawsuit?
    Tom: ...a-and other places!
  • Only Fools and Horses has this exchange...
    Uncle Albert: During the...
    Del Boy: [interrupts Albert] If you say during the war one more time, I'll pour this cup of tea over your head!
    Uncle Albert: I wasn't going to say "during the war" actually. You bloody know-it-all!
    Del Boy: [Backing down] All right.
    Uncle Albert: During the 1939-1945 conflict with Germany...
  • Perfect Strangers: In early seasons, Larry would announce the Zany Scheme of the week by saying "I have... a plan!" In later seasons, every instance of this catchphrase would replace the "..." with someone else saying "Oh god."
  • Happens all the time to Tenaya 7 in Power Rangers RPM. All she wants to do is finish her speech about how she's the doom of mankind once.
  • The Really Loud House: Lynn Sr. and Rita are dragging the kids out of bed and preparing them to go to school in record time thanks to waking up late (unbeknownst to them, it's Saturday). So when Lincoln exits his room and starts addressing the fourth wall as he usually does, Rita pulls him away saying "We don't have time for that."
  • This exchange from Reba:
    Barbra Jean: Yoo hoo! I'm here! And I'm —
    Reba: Oh, shut up and grab a doughnut!
  • Saturday Night Live:
    • John Belushi once held the show hostage by refusing to say the Opening catchphrase. He had a list of demands.
    • SNL also did an show-opener parody of American Idol and its unfathomable level of padding in which Jimmy Fallon as Ryan Seacrest kept cutting to commercial, including immediately after returning from commercial ("Welcome back to American Idol. We'll be right back.") and finishing with, "Kimberly, you are... LIVE, FROM NEW YORK... We'll be right back."
    • During a time period where SNL was being heavily criticized for being uninspired and lazy, Steve Martin and the cast opened the show with an elaborate musical number about how they were not going to phone it in for once, only to end with Martin booming in grand Broadway fashion, "LIVE FROM NEW YOOOOOOOOOOOORK..." then an awkward pause, then, "...line?"
  • Star Trek:
    • The only time in the entire franchise that the Borg were shown to be easily defeated was in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager where they got as far as "Resistance Is—" before being blown out of the sky.
    • In another episode, B'Elanna interrupts the series-long Star Trek medic catchphrase.
      EMH: I'm a Doctor
      B'Elanna: Not an engineer, right.
    • In "Hope and Fear", Janeway directly answers Seven of Nine calling something — her importance to the Voyager crew in the latest crisis — "Irrelevant." with, "No, it's not!"
    • In "Timeless", Voyager gets destroyed in a crash-landing on an ice planet. 15 years later, the sole survivors, Harry and Chakotay, who were aboard the Delta Flyer, find Voyager and activate the Doctor, who starts giving his standard "Please state the nature of the medical emergency" greeting, but stops on "the nature of..." when he sees that the ship is frozen in ice.
  • In the Supernatural episode "Devil May Care" (S09, Ep02), Dean punches Crowley in the face after he says, "Hello" and before he is able to say "boys".
  • Super Sentai:
    • Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger episode 14 has the team come out of their Transformation Sequence with Captain Marvelous ready to fight, starting his catchphrase "Let's make a show of it!", only for it to be interrupted when it turns out the villains escaped during the sequence.
    • Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger episode 21 has a more vicious version.
      Daigo: Hear our roar!
      Debo Meteor: I'd rather not! (Launches attack)
      Daigo: The fanged- (Attack hits)

    Professional Wrestling 
  • Used with an especially long delay in an episode of WWE Raw: Booker T began to yell his catchphrase, "Now can you dig that... SUCKA!" into Christian's face, only for Christian to interrupt by punching Booker, causing a brawl that had to be broken up by officials. Not to be deterred, Booker reappeared nearly an hour later to finish, bellowing "SUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" to Christian, in a hilarious moment that must have horribly confused anybody tuning in late.
  • Despite his impeccable mic skills, The Rock has had his catchphrases interrupted many a time, usually with the one interrupting to finish saying whatever it is they had to say. Sometimes, they finish The Rock's phrase themselves. This is often played for laughs and usually ends up badly for the interrupter, as no one interrupts the Great One.
  • The Rock did this to himself while going through a list of catchphrases from different WCW wrestlers .note Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Bret Hart—until he finally gets to the Most Electrifying Line in Sports Entertainment Today: if ya smell what the Rock is cookin’!
  • But probably the most famous interruption of The Rock was Chris Jericho's interruption of him on the Smackdown preceding the 2002 Royal Rumble, after Rocky dismissed his angry ranting and looked forward to Wrestlemania, taking it for granted that the Rock would beat Jericho and face Austin for the title.
    Rock: If ya smell—
    Jericho: NO! No, no, no, no, NO! This is not a joke! I am not a joke! And you will not look past me, you stupid son of a bitch!
  • During Ken Anderson's TNA debut, he almost introduces himself as "Mr. Kennedy" before correcting himself and declaring that he is "Mr. Anderson".
    Anderson: MISTEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! KE—(Beat) ANDERSON!!!

    Radio 
  • Mel Blanc, playing a train conductor on The Jack Benny Program, once went into his catchphrase, "Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc...", went offstage for a five-minute routine by other members of the show, then came back on stage to shout, "amonga!"
    • The "Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim Azusa and Cuc" other dialogue "amonga!" became a Running Gag in its own right.
  • On The Goon Show, Bluebottle's catchphrase upon entering a scene was always a description of how he enters the scene (e.g., "Bluebottle enters stage left") followed by the phrase "waits for applause, not a sausage". Over time, the character became popular enough that his appearance really *did* result in wild applause, resulting in a gradual transition from: saying the line to laughter; saying the line to applause; saying the line and getting cut off by the applause, then completing it after the applause; saying the line and getting cut off by the applause, followed by some acknowledgement of said applause instead of completing the catchphrase; and abandonment of the catchphrase altogether.
  • I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: Barry and Graeme's sketches in the Sound Charades round are usually done with the characters of Hamish and Dougal. These always begin with 'Hamish!' 'Dougal! You'll have had your tea.' In one episode of Season 45 Graeme wasn't available, so Andy Hamilton filled in for him on Barry's team.
    Barry: Hello! You'll have had your tea.
    Andy: ...What?
    Barry: I said, you'll have had your tea.
    Andy: Well that's none of your business, what's that got to do with this?

    Theatre 
  • In Noah Smith's stage version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll, Lanyon, and Utterson called themselves The Three Musketeers when they were younger, complete with "All for one, one for all" as their motto. Any time in the play one of them tries to invoke their old bond with the catchphrase, it gets interrupted, either by one of the others making a joking comment or by the speaker being attacked by Hyde.

    Video Games 
  • In the very early gameplay demo of Diablo III in a dialogue between the barbarian hero and Cain, Cain is about to say "stay a while and listen" But before he finishes the word "stay" the barbarian tells him there is no time for idle talk.
    Cain: [disgruntled] No one ever listens.
  • A silly variant happens in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Link (being a Heroic Mime) does not have a spoken catchphrase, but he does have that standard animation and tune every time he holds up an important item, and that's what gets interrupted.
  • Throughout Tales of Monkey Island, Guybrush tries to say, "You Fight Like a Cow!", but then gets interrupted. The first time is at the beginning of Chapter 1, when he gets interrupted by Elaine; the second is at the beginning of Chapter 2, when Morgan cuts off his hand before he can finish; and the third is in Chapter 4, when both Guybrush and the human LeChuck start saying the catchphrase at the same time, but both stop themselves before they can finish, then look at each other and laugh.
  • A variation occurs in the beginning of Mortal Kombat X. Scorpion isn't interrupted when using his old "Get over here!" catchphrase, but it's not as dramatic as he likely intended it; Johnny Cage catches the spear in mid-air and quips, "Damn, I'm good," before plowing into him.
  • A Running Gag in Trails of Cold Steel III is Rean attempting to summon Valimar with his usual catchphrase "Heed my call, Valimar the Ashen Knight!", only to be cut-off mid-sentence with "That won't be necessary" as someone else performs a Big Damn Heroes.

    Web Animation 
  • Homestar Runner: An Easter egg in the Strong Bad Email "rock opera" has a scene from a Dangeresque ice show where Strong Bad falls through thin ice as he's in the middle of saying his character's catch phrase.
    Dangeresque: So I'm gonna have to jum— (SPLASH!)
  • It's Me I'm Alex: When the show is approaching The End at the conclusion of each episode, Alex will implore the viewing audience to not forget something, when the ending screen and final goodbye typically interrupts him before he can say what it is he wants them to forget.
  • Red vs. Blue LOVES this trope...
    • Season 8:
      Sarge: Agent Washington, you just got— [blows up the barrels next to Washington] God dammit, I messed up my one-liner!
    • Season 9:
      Washington: What the hell? It bounces? Who designs a gun that bounces? This is the worst gun ever. Of all—\\ [Carolina tackles him]
    • Season 10: Not really anyone's catchphrase but a symbolic line for the series anyways.
      Mook 1: Hey.
      Mook 2: Yeah?
      Mook 1: You ever wonder why we're— [cue Pelican]

    Web Original 
  • Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
    "Eeeeeeveryone's a heroooooo in theeeeeeeeeir-" ... gets frozen in time, an entirely different song begins and ends, then gets unfrozen ... "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay"
  • During Riley Mcllwain's first season on Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?, he interrupted Jory's catchphrase (Nobody likes roasted nuts) in every single episode for that season.
  • From Red Panda Adventures, after setting up the second "behave yourself" from the episode:
    Kit: Have you ever considered a leotard?
    Red Panda: Kit Baxter—
    Kit: We've done that bit...
  • A Running Gag in Kingdom Hearts in a Nutshell is that any time Yen Sid attempts to say his catchphrase, "My name spelled backwards is Disney", someone else will interrupt him before he can finish. There are only two occasions where he says the line and is able to finish it.
  • Scarlet Lady: In "Princess Fragrance", Chloé complains to Tikki about being "stuck on the sidelines like some civilian".
    Chloé: Ridiculous, utterly-
    Tikki: Chloé.

    Western Animation 
  • Amphibia: In General Yunan's first appearance, a Running Gag is that she will say her name and MANY titles (Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of general in the Newtopian Royal Army!!!) to anybody who asks (or doesn't know) who she is. Cut to the season finale:
    Hop Pop: Who the heck are you?!
    Yunan: I am General Yu-
    [Lady Olivia interrupts.]
    Lady Olivia: Her name is Yunan, she's very important, Blah, Blah, Blah, we don't have time for this!
  • DuckTales (2017), Webby meets Violet for the first time.
    Webby: HI, I'M WEB—
    [Violet without pausing her reading holds up her palm at Webby, spends ten seconds finishing the page, calmly close the book and then finally looks at Webby]
    Violet: Yes?
  • In the second season of Kim Possible Ron uses his "That would be so cool if it wasn't going to hurt us" twice but gets interrupted both times: first by Wade and another time by himself.
  • In an episode of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Bruce Banner attempts his iconic "You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!" catchphrase, only to stop short when he realizes The Falcon has drugged him.
  • The second and third seasons of South Park did this in almost every episode with Kenny's deaths, as Stan and Kyle's collective catchphrase from Season One ("Oh My God, They Killed Kenny!" "You Bastards!") would be subverted in some way (In "Prehistoric Ice Man", Kyle wasn't speaking to Stan and so refused to say his line, and in "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000" it was used flatly after Stan and Kyle were the ones responsible for Kenny's death: "Oh my god, we killed Kenny." "We killed Kenny?" "Yep, we're bastards.").
    • Done as early as the first season, such as the episode where Kenny dies in a microwave, and Kyle angrily calls the appliance a bastard.
    • Or an episode where they have flashbacks and remember everything wrong...including one where they're outrunning Death. Kenny stops, flips him onto his back, and jumps up and down on him, to as speechless "Oh my God, Kenny, you... killed... Death..." "Yeah, you... bastard?"
    • Though they occasionally go to great lengths to maintain it. Once Kenny was killed in a mosh pit with only Cartman to witness it. Cartman dutifully breaks out the first half of the phrase, and we cut to a wide outdoor shot wherein Kyle walks up from nowhere and yells the conclusion, then leaves.
      • Though not as well-known as a previous example, the boys had a standard exchange with Chef ("Hello, children! How's it going?/"Bad."/"Why bad?") that was subverted on two occasions: once when Chef scolded them for not being able to solve their own problems, and another time when the boys said that everything was fine, thus tipping Chef off that they were in serious trouble.
      • There was also the subversion of Chef's usual practice of having a song for every occasion:
        Stan: We need you to promise not to tell anybody!
        Chef: Now, children, every problem can be worked out. What was it?
        Stan: We... killed our teacher and they found our Sea Men in her stomach.
        Chef: Oh, children, that's a problem we all have to face at one time or another. Here, let me sing you a little song that might cheer you up: ♪ Sometimes you kill your teacher / And they find your semen in her stomach / And then you—Wait, what theWHAT?!
  • The Simpsons:
    • Overlaps with Borrowed Catchphrase in "Homer's Night Out". When Homer learns Bart took a candid photo of him dancing with a belly dancer at a bachelor party, Homer prepares to strangle Bart with his usual shout of "Why you little...!", but Marge ends up interrupting him with a shout of "Why, you big...!" and trying to strangle Homer.
    • In "Treehouse of Horror XIV" segment "Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off", Nelson is in the middle of his catchphrase ("Ha Ha!") when Bart stops time and removes his clothes. A nude Nelson ends up saying "Ha Huh?"
    • In the "Treehouse of Horror XVI" segment "B.I. Bartificial Intelligence," Bart attempts a backwards jump out a window into a swimming pool and only gets out "Cowa—!" before hitting the ground and ending up in a coma from which he's predicted never to wake up. This becomes a Brick Joke later when he unexpectedly emerges.
      Bart: —BUNGA! (realizes he's in a hospital bed) What the—
  • Reversed in Transformers: Beast Wars, in an instance where instead of getting his catchphrase interrupted, Rattrap was left to say the catchphrase response himself.
    "We're all gonna die... Yeah, yeah, I know, 'Shut up, Rattrap.'"
  • In Futurama Bender's catchphrase "Bite my shiny metal ass" is interrupted in three occasions. In "War is the H-Word", Fry stops Bender from saying the last word because it triggers a voice-activated bomb inside him. In "Roswell That Ends Well", Bender's head falls off the ship as he says, "1947 can bite my shiny metal AAAAAAHHHHH!" In "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", Bender realizes that he had traded his "butt plate" to the Robot Devil, so it comes out "Bite my shiny metal... Oh, no!"
    • Also in "War is the H-Word", A list of Bender's most often used words form "Bite my shiny daffodil ass."
    • Prof. Farnsworth's "Good news everyone!" was among the first of the show's catchphrases to be parodied. At first by following it with something contradictory ("Good news everyone! There's a news report on the TV with some very bad news...") and finally out and out parody (e.g. "Bad news nobody. The super collider super exploded."). Not to mention:
      Cubert: (using a voice changer to sound like the professor) Good news everyone! I'm a horse's butt!
      Farnsworth: I am? That's not good news at all!
  • One of Commander Feral's usual lines in SWAT Kats is "Bring me chopper backup!" By the end of the first season, he starts getting regularly interrupted mid-line - typically due to his helicopter crashing, melting, or what-have-you.
  • Occurs in El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, when Manny enters a supervillain contest with a bunch of huge hairy men. He tries to console himself...
    Manny: You know what they say. The bigger they are...
    Frida: The more likely they'll cause internal bleeding! I know!
  • Tends to happen to Darkwing Duck. Usually due to him being injured or otherwise inconvenienced in the middle of his "I am the terror..." routine..
    Darkwing: I am the terror that flaps in... (gets run over) Hey! Hey, I'm not finished!

    Darkwing: I am the terror that flaps in the night! (aside, to Morgana) Stand back, you might get some blood on ya. I am the single career man all women wanna date! I am— (gets chomped by a pair of chattering teeth) Quackerjack!
    Quackerjack: No! I'm Quackerjack! You are Darkwing Duck!

    Darkwing: Fe fi fo fum! I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am... (gets hit on the head by a tree) Stegmutt.
    Stegmutt: I thought I was Stegmutt.

    Darkwing: I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the check writer in the cash only line! I am... obviously all out of my trademark blue smoke.

    Darkwing: I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the paper cut that ruins your morning! I am—
    Secretary: (noticing that Gosalyn and Honker are with him) Lemme guess, you're Daycare Duck.

    Darkwing: I am the terror that flaps in [SPLAT]... your windshield!
  • Occurs in the very first episode of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. When Michelangelo is about to shout his catchphrase "Cowabunga" from the 1987 series, he gets interrupted by Raphael.
  • Regular Show:
    Muscle Man: I know someone who can help...
    Benson: If you say your Mom, you're FIRED!
    (pause)
    Muscle Man: My mom!
    Benson: GET OUT!
    Muscle Man: It was Worth It!
  • In Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
    "Utinn—" *KICK!*
    • In "Bombad Jedi":
      C-3PO: I am a protocol droid, fluent in over six million forms of–
      Battle Droid: Quiet!
  • Dr. Rockso the Rock n' Roll Clown's constant declarations that he does cocaine are so annoying that many people cut him off either verbally or physically.
  • Happens a couple of times in the My Little Pony (Generation 4) cartoons:
  • Phineas and Ferb has a horrific yet hilarious scene from "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted", where the boys are sprayed with water (as if from a fire hose) whenever Phineas tries to say "Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today".
    • A less vicious one occurs at the start of "We Call It Maze" where Phineas starts, but Ferb just raises his hand and tells him "You don't even need to say it"
    • In "Ready for the Bettys", Dr. Doofenshmirtz is interrupted from completing his line "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!" because he keeps getting shot by a tennis ball launcher full of mops.
    • In "Candace Disconnected", Dr. Doofenshmirtz gets as far as "Curse you, Perry the—" before his cell-phone rings with a call from his daughter Vanessa. He answers the call, chats with Vanessa a bit, then briefly puts her on hold so he can finish: "—Platypus!"
  • From the beginning of an episode of The Powerpuff Girls (1998):
    Narrator: The City of—
    Mayor: Never mind that hoohah! I've got an emergency!
  • At the end of Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders:
    Steve: And we would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for...
    Officer: Yeah, yeah, yeah...
  • In the Thomas & Friends episode, "Spencer's VIP", when Duck and Oliver nearly run into each other, Oliver uses this to Duck's catchphrase:
    Duck: There are two ways of doing things, Oliver, the Great Western Way or....
    Oliver: ...the wrong way. I know. And you're doing it the wrong way!
  • Teen Titans : Raven is chanting her mantra while battling Dr. Light, but Light blasts her before she can finish.
    Dr. Light: Bit of advice: Find shorter magic words.
    • Of course, it turns out she doesn't need to say them to do magic but to maintain control over her Superpowered Evil Side, as he finds out to his misfortune.
  • Looney Tunes: The 2003 Tweety/Sylvester short "Museum Scream" has this happen to Tweety.
    Tweety: I tawt I taw a puddy— (grabbed by Sylvester) ACK!

 
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Alternative Title(s): Interrupted Catchphrase

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"If you say 'During the war'..

Uncle Albert has to substitute his 'During the war' catchphrase for 'During the 1939-1945 conflict with Germany...' after Del Boy finally gets fed up with his war stories

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5 (3 votes)

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Main / CatchphraseInterruptus

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