Running gag
The running gag is a popular hallmark of comic and serious forms of entertainment. A running gag is an amusing situation or line that reappears throughout the work. They are often unintentional at first, but familiarity or popularity of such gags among viewers encourage their reappearance. Often, the humor in a running gag derives entirely from how often it is repeated.
Examples of running gags
- In the movie Airplane! there are many running gags. Perhaps the most well-known gag involves the character Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) responding to sentences containing the word "surely" with "Don't call me Shirley."
- In the animated series The Simpsons there are many running gags, especially noted in its opening sequence, which has a different message on a chalkboard, musical interlude on a saxophone, and segment involving a couch.
- In the television series South Park, the character Kenny McCormick dies in nearly every episode, followed by the character Stan Marsh shouting, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" and then Kyle Broflovski shouting, "You bastards!". Kenny reappears in each subsequent episode as if nothing happened, yet the children know that Kenny has died more than once.
- In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is a running gag about the "airspeed velocity" of an unladen swallow and that King Arthur confuses the numbers 3 and 5.
- On the line by Ross of the television series Friends: "We were on a break!" This referred to an argument Ross and Rachel had in the 3rd season, and was referenced all the way through the series into the series finale in season 10.
- In the Metal Gear video game series, the cardboard box is an item used by the main character, Solid Snake, in order to hide from enemies. His fondness for the trick developed into a running joke over the course of the series.
- Another example from Metal Gear is the joke character Johnny Sasaki, a cowardly guard with diarrhea who frequently ends up in embarassing situations, and can be tricked by the player in order to be released.
- In the television series The Fairly OddParents, Timmy Turner obtains many rare or illicit items through the use of magic. When he is asked where he obtained the object in question, he usually responds, "Uh, Internet?"
- In The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air a favorite running gag is Jazz getting thrown out of the house after offending one of the Banks. Once Jazz was in the driveway and offended Phil. So Phil threw him inside the kitchen door after Jazz made a remark about already being outside.
- In the webcomic 1/0, the running gag manifested itself as an actual character. It took the form of the word "gag," with arms and legs. Not only a running gag but also a pun, it would occasionally appear during a lull in the main action, running by and shouting meaningless training-related phrases, which were the limit of its intelligence.
- In the anime series Trigun the main character Vash's obsession with donuts is referred to often and used as a form of comic relief.
- In the television series Quantum Leap, Rear Admiral Albert "Al" Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) frequently confuses his third and fourth wives.
- In Animaniacs, Yakko, Wakko and Dot frequently run through sketches not starring them, chased by Ralph the Guard.
- On the show Whose Line Is It Anyway, anytime there is a particularly memorable line, or when someone makes a mistake or breaks character, the other performers pick up upon it, and use it as a running gag for the remainder of the epsiode. Also, items such as Drew Carey's weight, Colin Mochrie's and Clive Anderson's baldness, and Ryan Stile's wild shoes were often the brunt of running gags through the show's runs in the US and UK.