One thing that can make a show distinctive is to have a catchy way of changing between scenes or segments. Whether it's with a jingle, a particular graphic, or possibly a catchphrase, it can become an iconic part of the show if it's done right, to the point where someone who may have never seen the actual show would recognize it by seeing/hearing the transition.
While this is often done with visual gimmicks like Idiosyncratic Wipes and Eye Catches, some shows are known for these transitions being done by the cast, as some celebrities, especially hosts of game shows and talk shows, have a signature way of making a transition from one part of their show to another. This often involves a combination of an action or gesture of some sort and a catchphrase, although only one or the other can be used.
These often intersect with a show's Running Gags.
Examples:
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Live-Action TV
- Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In:
- Dan Rowan introduced Dick Martin for "News of the Present" with the Motor Mouthed intro phrase "And now for the News of the Present, here's the man for whom the news wouldn't be the news without the news. Heeeeeere's Dicky!" along with turning and pointing from his waist. When Dick finished his bit, he mimed swinging a golf club to transition over to Goldie Hawn so she could introduce Dan for "News of the Future".
- The "Cocktail Party" skit was almost always introduced by Rowan, at the end of the opening monologue, saying something about going to the party and inviting the audience to join them; he and Martin would then walk through a double door into the Party's set.
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson had two instances. Announcer Ed McMahon's iconic "And now, ladies and gentlemen, heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" was Carson's cue to come on stage to greet the crowd and begin his opening monologue. Once Carson's opening bit was done, he segued to the subsequent orchestral performance by miming swinging a golf club.
- On The Graham Norton Show, at the end of the Cold Opening skit, Norton throws up his hands in a manner similar to "jazz hands" and says "Let's start the show!" before the opening credits.
- On his game shows, host Chuck Woolery would often say "We'll be back in 2 and 2" with a V-Sign turned forward then backward before the show went to an ad break, referencing the 2:02 such breaks typically last for.
- Saturday Night Live:
- The iconic transition between the end of the opening skit and the opening credits is the host breaking character to yell "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
- In both the Wayne's World films and Saturday Night Live sketches, Wayne and Garth would initiate a flashback or fantasy sequence by waving their arms and saying "dillilu" several times, which would result in a wavy transition.
- On The Kenny Everett Video Show, Everett would segue to another sketch, as himself, by making a manic hand-gesture and saying "And now... this!" before the scene changed to another of his bizarre comic characters.
- Monty Python's Flying Circus had a gag where John Cleese, as a newscaster, would occasionally announce "And now for something completely different!" as a segue between skits. This has gone on to be one of the troupe's most well-known lines.
- In the original '60s and '70s version of The Dating Game:
- Host Jim Lange would introduce the three bachelors by announcing "And heeere they are!" and doing an extravagant pointing to the area of the stage where they were seated, which was the cue for the partition to turn and reveal them to the contestant.
- At the end of the show, the host and the winning couples would, on cue, fade back and blow the viewers a kiss, accompanied by the word "Kiss" appearing onscreen and approaching the camera, which was followed by the closing credits.
- The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Craig would always end his opening monologue by smacking the side of the camera as they cut to commercial.
- The Carol Burnett Show: Carol closed every episode by singing the Ending Theme and tugging one ear, which was a nod to her grandmother. The credits rolled after the ear tug.
Web Video
- Jeremy Jahns ends his movie reviews by throwing a "punch" at the camera, which then cuts to the video credits.
- Anthony Fantano ends his album reviews by saying "Tran-"; the shot then cuts to a different frame of him at his review set or somewhere else in his house where he then says "-sition!" and goes into his Signing-Off Catchphrase.
- Whenever Thomas Sanders says "What is up, everybody!" at the start of his videos and "Peace out!" as part of the outro, he does a fast, extreme closeup of his face along with an outward wiping motion with both hands.
- When Arkada is doing a full review of an anime for his series Glass Reflection, he does a finger snap with added screen distortion and accompanying sound effect to transition from his introduction to the actual discussion, and at the very end of the video to cut to the credits.
- With rare exceptions, Lost Pause's videos start with Noble saying and/or doing something very silly, which then cuts to "DOY" on a black screen (with Noble saying the word, which is similar to "D'oh!") and then cuts back to Noble welcoming viewers back to the channel. These videos usually end with Noble giving his Signing Off Catchphrase, which then immediately cuts to an animation of the channel's mascot Lily saying "You crazy mutha-" which then cuts to the closing credits.
- Things VTubers Say: Typical TVS episodes start with False making a blurb-like statement about the first news topic he's going to cover, then changing to a more typical news program-type setup to start the actual discussion about the topic. Prior to the debut of his Live2D model, he would also make the "box" or "ball holding" hand gestures while saying the opening statement.
