History Main / SeriousBusiness

* The premise behind many ''WebVideo/HitlerRants'' parodies, where Hitler melts down over anything from getting his UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade account banned, getting a Wii instead of a [=PS3=] for Christmas, and so on.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'': When Mr. Clipboard stomps on a bag of chips [[ForTheEvulz for no real good reason]] (declaring, "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, LEONAAAAAARD!"), Leonard the shopkeeper's reaction is utter heartbreak and horror, as though a teenage girl had just been gunned down in front of him.

* While the plot of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' just happened to be about two monsters who worked for the eponymous company, ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' gives the impression that ''every'' course and program the school offers is related to the scaring industry in some way.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pastacolypse}} involves a worldwide ban on gluten that everyone takes seriously to the point that, among other things, there are entire clubs themed around a gluten-free lifestyle and illegally having possession of gluten is enough to be charged for a federal crime. Alfredo Manicotti sees the ban as an assault on his lifestyle and after turning into a man-pasta hybrid, decides to create pasta monsters made of gluten to unleash on the world and kill anyone associated with a living a gluten-free life.

* ''Radio/TrueCapitalist'': Ghost is convinced his show is this. Most of his audience (Read:{{Troll}}s) [[HilarityEnsues seems to think otherwise]].

* This is [[ForTheFunnyz part of the indicative]] behind CausticCritic shows like ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'', ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' and ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment''. Reviewers on Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses treat most anything they review as Serious Business, PlayedForLaughs. Deconstructed in ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' when [[spoiler:Holokara]] takes things a step further and plans to threaten a DeathFromAbove against Marvel over the handling of Spider-Man, which is NOT played for laughs.

* ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' has roleplaying games as serious business. "You don't understand man. He TOUCHED my dice!"[[note]]Ask any hardcore gamer in Real Life. Touching someone else's dice/mini/whatever without permission can be considered a breach of etiquette, and with some players, is indeed Serious Business.[[/note]]
* ''ComicStrip/ShermansLagoon'': One storyline has Megan become addicted to Sudoku and treating it as such. Sherman makes the mistake of telling her that it's "just Sudoku."

** And he treats his snowman creations like modern art. Though he certainly puts more thought into them than most kids. This is [[CloudCuckooLander Calvin.]] ''Everything'' comes to life, and most of it [[EverythingTryingToKillYou tries to kill him.]]

* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' once had a ShowdownAtHighNoon having ended in defeat for the older cowboy, treating it with all the gravity you'd expect... except it was at ping-pong.
-->'''Older gunslinger''': Well, you won. Now every player in the world will come after you, looking to make a name for himself... Welcome to Hell, kid.
* [[http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/00000/7000/100/7165/7165.strip.gif This]] ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip illustrates how to apply the principles of Serious Business in the workplace. This comic was based on one of Scott Adams' coworkers, who actually said "I will fight you to the end of the earth!" To him, it was serious business.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', the frenzy over Toys/BeanieBabies (see the RealLife section) was mocked in a storyline that saw Uncle Duke steal Alex Doonesbury's collection and hold them for ransom. The whole thing is treated as seriously as an actual kidnapping.
* ''ComicStrip/{{FoxTrot}}'': Thanksgiving is a big deal for resident {{Big Eater}}s Roger and Peter. There have been several week-long arcs over the years of them preparing to eat as much food as possible when the day comes.

--->'''Sunset:''' Hold up everyone! Pinkie Pie and I aren't in the game!
--->'''[[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Smith]]:''' [[NotAGame What game?]] '''[[SuddenlyShouting This here's]] ''[[ThisMeansWar WAAAAARRRR]]!!!'''''
* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'':
** From the short ''WesternAnimation/AGrandDayOut'': "No crackers, Gromit! We've forgotten the crackers!" Cue dramatic music and a frantic race against time.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'' is what the writers call "perhaps the first vegetarian horror movie." To keep some kind of tension, given that the monster is no threat to people, it turns out that everyone in town is insanely protective of their vegetables. For them, country fairs are serious business. "We're simple folk! It's all we have!" NB: In real life, competitive growing ''is'' sometimes taken quite seriously, and incidents of sabotage and theft are not unknown.

* ''Radio/TrueCapitalist'': Ghost is convinced his show is this. Most of his audience (Read:{{Troll}}s) [[HilarityEnsues seems to think otherwise]].
* ''Podcast/MikeAndTomEatSnacks'': the Snack is very serious business. People's careers are made and destroyed by how Mike and Tom rate snacks (according to them), and often fans can get upset by their ratings.
* ''Podcast/MysteryShow'': Creator/JakeGyllenhaal's height is Serious Business to the folks at celebheights.com. David mocks them while also becoming [[NotSoAboveItAll overly invested himself.]]

* In the FinalBattle of ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'', when a large number of Dino Attack agents used the comm chatter to crack jokes or make silly references, one Dino Attack agent attempted to ShooOutTheClowns by telling them to stop making jokes and references and start concentrating on the battle, using the comm chatter only for coordinating attacks and strategies. This example is largely PlayedForLaughs, since this one Dino Attack agent is apparently the only one trying to use the comm chatter for its intended purpose in the battle, yet everyone completely ignores him (or, in one agent's case, openly mocks him with a quote from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'') and continues using the comm chatter for less-than-serious commentary.

** Manfred von Karma takes the serious business of being a prosecutor to its limit. He is so obsessed with having and maintaining a perfect record (i.e. a 100% conviction rate, regardless of whether any of them were actually guilty or not) that he [[spoiler: murders a defense attorney over a penalty]]. And in case that wasn't enough, he also took the man's son under his wing and trained him to be a prosecutor every bit as cold and obsessed with winning as he was.

* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', which started out as the continuing story of a battle fought over a box canyon in the middle of nowhere, although only [[BloodKnight Sarge]] seemed to take victory in Blood Gulch that seriously. Or beating the Blues in whatever confrontation they had later.
** In one PSA, Grif states that "some games are serious business." Apparently, he once "played Donkey Kong so well that he cured kidneyism. It was the best day ever. The End."
* ''[=DigitalPh33r=]'' regularly parodies the concept in his ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' movies with unnamed characters brutalizing things in game and/or shouting to the heavens "THIS IS SUCH A BIG DEAL!!!"

* In ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'', Lie Ren, usually TheStoic and TheQuietOne, will take certain things a little overboard -- he has a TrainingMontage for playing tag, scoffs as how Team RWBY pillow fights and blows up at his own team for their inability to dance right.

* In ''WebAnimation/AnimatorVSAnimation'', in the ''VS Minecraft'' shorts, apparently building is this. [[SoreLoser TNT throwing during building contests]] is a regular occurrence, and in "[=PvP=]", Green starts a brawl over a conflict in building space.
* The Andrés Guerrero [[https://twitter.com/AndyL4nd/status/1449414032281292800 cartoon]] about [=itemLabel=]'s [[https://itemlabel.com/collections/plush/products/dinkle Dinkle]] depicts him as taking the art of {{chiptune}}s so seriously that he [[DisproportionateRetribution goes completely overboard]] responding to [[CantTakeCriticism critics]] saying that his music doesn't qualify as chiptune.
* ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'' takes place in a world where video games are ''extremely'' important, to the point that ArtificialLimbs have been developed and nobody seems to have ''considered'' using them for anything other than [[MundaneUtility playing video games better]], and the plot revolves around a gaming MegaCorp [[spoiler: having performed a massively unethical science experiment that led to the apparent death of its subject and scientist]], all for the sake of producing the ultimate gamer.

* Creator/FreddieWong's ''WebVideo/VideoGameHighSchool'' is set in a world where video games are Serious Business. Losing a game at the title school can get you ''expelled''.

* ''WebVideo/MovieTriviaSchmoedown'' is the most serious business movie trivia contest the internet has ever seen. There's championship belts. There's tournaments. There's wrestling-inspired storylines. Search around in the right places you'll find a list of statistics. Over Movie. Trivia.

* [[http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-5825493270005637835# This]] (subtitled) episode of the Québecquois series "Tom et ses chums" ("Tom and his pals") has the titular character playing a game of D&D with old friends. What he doesn't realize beforehand is that they've kept playing the same party every week during the years he hasn't seen them (meaning they have absurdly high-level characters), and for them (barring the GM), this is very serious business. When they demand that his new character start at level 1 (making him useless since the encounters are tailored for a high-level group), and then belittle him for being a peasant, he gives up and decides to be TheLoonie.
* [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/community/myvideos/74334-thebanjokid/video/4029-Banjo+Kid+Reviews%3A+Hell+Girl Cake is serious business!]]
* Website/CollegeHumor: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4vf8N6GpdM For the Nazi Party,]] grammatical correctness is apparently very serious business:
-->'''Monsieur La Padite:''' I swear, I do not know where Mademoiselle Dreyfuss is at.\\
'''Hans Landa:''' ...[[TranquilFury Did you just end a sentence with a preposition?]]
* [[http://youtu.be/jCIFnmmnoSE This video. More specifically, at 1:30.]] "Being a lawyer, as the internet says... IS SERIOUS BUSINESS."
* ''Hiring'' a boat is Serious Business. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU&feature=channel_page Just ask Andy Samberg and his friends]].

* ''WebVideo/RhettAndLink'': Do ''not'' mess with the [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj613a_trail-mix_fun trail mix]] that Rhett's mom made!
* The premise behind many ''WebVideo/HitlerRants'' parodies, where Hitler melts down over anything from getting his UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade account banned, getting a Wii instead of a [=PS3=] for Christmas, and so on.
* ''WebVideo/PittsburghDad'' and the Pittsburgh Steelers. God help you if you're a Ravens fan!
* In the Trailer for [[LetsPlay/MarioPartyTV LP Every Mario Game]], Steeler's biggest strength is stated to be that he takes Mario Party seriously. (It's also listed as his greatest weakness.)
* This is [[ForTheFunnyz part of the indicative]] behind CausticCritic shows like ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'', ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' and ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment''. Reviewers on Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses treat most anything they review as Serious Business, PlayedForLaughs. Deconstructed in ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' when [[spoiler: Holokara]] takes things a step further and plans to threaten a DeathFromAbove against Marvel over the handling of Spider-Man, which is NOT played for laughs.
* ''Series/{{Noob}}'' takes the "{{MMORPG}} are serious business" route also, but is much more nuanced than ''WebVideo/TheGuild'' due to them mostly showing up in reports about video game addiction in mainstream media in France. SkewedPriorities happen a lot and the top guilds ask for people joining them to have a lifestyle that can only happen if you're single and unemployed. At the same time, people that arrive at the top in the domain get enough recognition to appear in advertisements and live off it. Characters are also seen doing other stuff than playing, while a small portion of the cast is explicitly doing it for fun and being able to enjoy the company of their guildmates.
* ''WebVideo/ProjectLibrary'' has been described as "a Creator/MichaelBay movie with books", full of fight scenes and action clichés, but set in a library and whose plot revolves around an overdue book.

* In ''WebVideo/RosyTheRascal15'''s Locos Doritos video, Jerry eventually goes ballistic over his bag of Doritos being stolen, including up to [[spoiler: shooting Amy, who was trying to talk him down]].
* LetsPlay/{{Jayuzumi}} tends to run into these players a lot when playing video games and using soundboards to prank others. This happens mostly in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', and to a lesser extent in ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}''.

-->'''Tomoko:''' Everything's changed. It's been three years since Refrigerator-senpai killed Lamp-senpai and left our village. My outfit is now black, because things are Serious Business now, in ''Chairem Anime: Sofaden.''

* ''WesternAnimation/Foodfight'': When Mr. Clipboard stomps on a bag of chips [[ForTheEvulz for no real good reason]] (declaring, "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, LEONAAAAAARD!"), Leonard the shopkeeper's reaction is utter heartbreak and horror, as though a teenage girl had just been gunned down in front of him.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Misericorde}}'', most of the nuns of Linbarrow Abbey love a good game of chess, but Sister Adela is ''very'' passionate about the game and has strong opinions about how it ought to be played. When Sister Moira beats her using an aggressive strategy which Adela views as an affront to the game, Adela angrily flips the table over, goes on a heated rant about why that strategy is bad, and challenges Moira to a rematch using "the rules of real chess". The exasperated reactions of the other nuns indicate that this isn't the first time she's done this.

* Invoked in Creator/ProZD's "Chairem Anime" series, in the installment about [[https://youtu.be/xEfFy-uZ8_g anime timeskips and spinoffs]].

Compare DuelsDecideEverything, ComicalOverreacting. When a relatively minor crime is treated as Serious Business, that's FelonyMisdemeanor.

Contrast NotAGame, MatterOfLifeAndDeath.

* [[http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2010-01-17/ Board games]] are apparently serious business to Rat in ''Comicstrip/PearlsBeforeSwine''.

* In the storylines of many ballets, DancingIsSeriousBusiness. The hero of ''Theatre/SwanLake'' dooms his beloved to spend eternity as a swan because he mistakenly dances with the wrong woman at a ball. The titular heroine of ''Giselle'' dances herself ''to death'', and later spares the man she loves from the same fate by offering to dance in his place to appease an evil ghost queen who is forcing him to dance again and again. In ''The Sleeping Beauty'', Aurora pricks her finger not from ''spinning'', but from ''dancing'' with the spindle despite her mother's warnings that doing so would be dangerous.

* The play ''Teh Internet Is Serious Business'' by Tim Price, staged by the Royal Court Theatre in London, autumn 2014. It is about the "hacktivist" groups Anonymous and [=LulzSec=].

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', which started out as the continuing story of a battle fought over a box canyon in the middle of nowhere, although only [[BloodKnight Sarge]] seemed to take victory in Blood Gulch that seriously. Or beating the Blues in whatever confrontation they had later.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'':
** The show is a web series that pits two fictional characters against each other in... well, a battle to the death. The show features fairly extensive research on the combatants involved, but many of the outcomes are taken a bit too seriously by various fans of the losing side. While many complaints [[JustifiedTrope are indeed]] founded into research that could have swung the battle but the team missed ([[ChekhovsSkill subtle]] or [[CriticalResearchFailure obvious]]), others are simply founded on how the critic [[FandomRivalry likes Character X more than Character Y]], and other complains are just... [[InsaneTrollLogic not really founded on anything]]. One of the biggest examples of this has to be [[spoiler:Goku losing to Superman. Twice. ''Dragon Ball'' fans did not appreciate]].
** This happens in ''Johnny Cage vs. Captain Falcon''. Captain Falcon won't let Johnny star as him in a movie unless he beats him in a fight to the death. Johnny even comments at one point that "[[LampshadeHanging you sports types really take auditions seriously!]]"