The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
Found it: Offscreen Teleportation.
Edited by MiinU I wouldn't mind failure so much, if I didn't fail so much.
Interesting, thanks. To me, this seems much more specific than that. Maybe with a smidge of "Screw this, I'm outta here"?
I think Stealth Hi/Bye might fit better. It can overlap with Offscreen Teleportation, but doesn't have to. More about the unexpectedness than the impossibility.
It seems related to the cartoon gag of leaving a cloud of dust behind after quickly zipping offscreen. Or leaving a hat, cigar, or set of glasses hanging in midair for a few moments. We don't actually seem to have a separate entry for that — I remember looking for it for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Closest I can think of is Speed Echoes, which could maybe be expanded to cover it. It seems to think an episode of The Simpsons is the origin for the gag, though, and it's a lot older than that.
Edited by Unsung
Hey folks.
It seems like this is common enough, but I can't find it here. Someone is either caught in a lie, is embarrassed, or for some other reason wants to leave quickly. You see them sitting in the chair first, cut to someone or something else, then cut back, but they're gone and the empty chair is spinning.
Here's an example from Arrested Development, s2e18.
https://youtu.be/9-PkutG_Q2Q?t=70
Thanks! j