Basic Trope: A Show Within a Show that has more mature content than the work itself.
- Straight: On an episode of "Alice and Bob: The Series", the titular characters mention wanting to see an R-rated thriller movie called "The Troper's Tale".
- Exaggerated: "Alice and Bob: The Series" is aimed at a preschool audience, and "The Troper's Tale" is given an NC-17 age rating. The audience also gets to see why it got that rating.
- Downplayed:
- "Alice and Bob: The Series" is a children's show, and the main characters want to watch a PG-13 movie.
- "Alice and Bob: The Series" is given a TV-14 rating, and the main characters want to watch an R-rated movie.
- Justified:
- The only thing young Alice and Bob know about "The Troper's Tale" is they aren't allowed to watch it.
- If an adult is the one watching something for mature audiences: Just because they're an adult in a kids' series doesn't mean everything they watch has to be appropriate for the target audience.
- Inverted: "The Troper's Tale" is rated TV-MA, and has a scene where the characters watch a children's movie.
- Subverted:
- "The Troper's Tale" is given its R-rating for no reason.
- Foreign show, their "R" rating is not our "R" rating.
- Double Subverted:
- Until later on, when it actually gets Darker and Edgier in some way.
- Their "R" rating would be our "NC-17" rating.
- Parodied: The movie they're watching is even called "Strictly For Adults".
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Any shows within the show are appropriate for the target audience of the real show, or there aren't any shows within the show.
- Enforced: Getting Crap Past the Radar, Parental Bonus, and/or Demographically Inappropriate Humor.
- Lampshaded: "You can't watch that, we're on a kids' show!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- Alice and Bob's parents don't allow them to watch the movie.
- Alice and Bob show no interest in the movie.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "I wonder why so many children's shows have "mature content" like that."
- Implied: How this trope is usually played, considering the actual mature content wouldn't be allowed to be shown onscreen. A specific example would be Alice and Bob walking out of a movie, commenting that it was very violent.
- Played for Laughs: Alice and Bob try to sneak into the movie theater using a Totem Pole Trench.
- Played for Drama: Alice and Bob watch the movie and quickly find that it was rated R for a good reason, and are disturbed by what they've seen.
- Played for Horror: Alice and Bob watch a gory slasher film.
Back to Family-Friendly "Mature" Content
