The Third and Final chapter in the trilogy that made you cringe...Typical episodes
Most cartoons include an episode in which one or more characters:
• Sees what it would be like if they were never born (some of them can be similar to It's a Wonderful Life).
• Fall in love.
• Shrink.
• Travel in time.
• Main characters are regressed into children or babies, or a young immature character at their care is progressed into an adult (usually resulting in a role swapping situation).
• Switch minds with someone/something else along with their voices.
• Transform into an animal or monster, and usually attacked or hunted by their allies.
• Are hypnotized into switching sides, usually by the villain.
• Are handcuffed or otherwise semi-permanently attached to another character, either hero or villain, but almost always someone they have not been getting along with previous to the cuffing
• Fall into a depression where they may question the validity or purpose of their struggle, or even their very existence (More common in Japanese animation).
• Impersonate the opposite gender or another character.
• Travel to an alternate universe where all the heroes are evil and the villains good, or where the bad guys have taken over.
• Get amnesia (often leading the character thinking they are friends with, or working for, one of their enemies).
• Meet a famous singer/actor, fictional or not.
• Go into outer space, often the moon.
• Celebrate and learn about Christmas.
• Get very scared of something.
• One team member leaves the team and returns by the end of the episode.
• Save the planet from an asteroid or some other large extraterrestrial object.
• Go through a very special episode with a moral/social message.
• Remind the others of all the adventures they lived through, bringing out flashbacks of older episodes (this is called a clip show).
• Get trapped inside a comic book, television show, or a video game, and must survive against numerous parodies and/or homages of and to pop or nerd culture with varying levels of accuracy.
• Meet a rival that bears a close resemblance to the Hero(es). (Doppelganger)
• Have a big argument with each other which threatens their friendship/teamwork but will make up at the end.
• Do the same things which already happened from an episode of another show.
• Attend wrestling matches with somebody stronger.
• Get a job in order to pay for something.
• Run away from home.
• Share similarities with or look like characters from other shows.
• Will meet and team up with characters from another show (this is called a crossover).
• Go on a dangerous assignment with one having to remain behind for some reason (injury, sickness, he's really stupid or not liked), but at the end of the episode he is the one who will end up saving everybody.
• Meet a dangerous enemy from their past whom they thought was defeated.
• Character A saves the life of Character B and then Character B becomes a servant to Character A, which usually annoys Character A. In the end Character B usually ends up saving the life of Character A, thereby repaying the debt.
• Mention other characters even though they're not in the episodes.
• Speak to the viewers.
• Come down with a cold.
• Celebrate Opposite Day.
• Fake a sickness. Usually to get out of a responsibility, such as school.
• The episode will be a spoof, remake or pastiche of a classic movie.
• Use phrases from other TV shows, cartoons or movies.
• Cartoon episodes very often have titles that are puns/spoofs on famous movie titles or expressions.
The City
• Action cartoons typically take place in a city that constantly falls victim to bizarre catastrophes that sends the helpless citizenry into panic. No matter how many alien invasions or cataclysms happen, the people will never be desensitized. Nor will they ever move out, revolt, or take steps to make the city safer.
• News of these events also tends to stick within city-borders as these apocalyptic events fail to draw any national attention.
• Large portions of the city are often destroyed and rebuilt rapidly and the good guys are never blamed for the amount of destruction they cause. This was the subject of parody in the film The Incredibles and The Powerpuff Girls Movie, where the superheroes are actually blamed. Underdog played this up. Whenever someone pointed out the damage he had caused, Underdog replied "I am a hero who never fails. I cannot be bothered with these details."
• Metropolitan police forces that are regularly confronted by superhuman or otherwise exceptional criminals never upgrade their equipment in response, and must rely entirely on one or two masked super-powered vigilantes to defend the city.
• Even in shows where the heroes are less mobile than the villains (i.e. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, where the heroes are teenagers and the villains are based on the moon), the villains always target the heroes' home city and not a place halfway across the world.
Characters
• A close friend of the hero is of African descent (Kim Possible, The Batman, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Dexter's Laboratory, The Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom, etc.).
• Any robot built will always have a human-like mind and personality, despite the intentions of the builder (unless it is a robot soldier used by villains).
• Robots always produce much more machinery and gadgets than their body can possibly contain.
• Usually, in Genndy Tartakovsky action cartoons, a character will let out an excessive scream after a large battle or in anguish. (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack)
• Evil twins always have some distinguishing feature, i.e. bushier eyebrows, different voice, paler skin, that lets them be easily distinguishable from their good twin. Most of the time, only the audience notices this. Even characters who may notice this feature fail to do so when inevitably faced with choosing which twin is good. ("Futurama")
• In shows where there is a group of 3 lead characters, it is almost always 2 boys and one girl. The leader of the group is often an inexperienced boy, but has great potential skill and develops a crush on the female of the group. The second boy is usually either a goof-off or a shady type that outshadows the hero in terms of skill (if this type is applied, the female often develops a crush on him). The female is usually the smartest or (often ignored) voice of reason, though is usually the weakest. (Naruto)
Weapons
• A firearm is very seldom used in modern cartoons. With very few exceptions, even the police and military are equipped with laser weapons that are rarely capable of killing anyone, despite the damage they may do to inanimate objects. Conversely, weapons that are capable of killing, particularly lasers and explosives, often do little damage to the surrounding area, especially if the characters are inside a room. This is rarer than the former situation, though.
• The ability of someone to actually hit their target with a weapon is inversely proportional to their lethality. Thus, handguns will never hit anything regardless of which side is wielding them, lasers only rarely hit anyone and usually only during a 'dramatic moment', while harmless weapons (such as cannons that launch rotten fruits) are surprisingly effective at neutralizing an adversary.
• Sharp weapons never cut or kill anyone. Except maybe on the cheek, finger, or hair. If someone is stabbed, the screen fades to black or the action is outscreen. If a girl's hair is cut, she will get excessively angry. This was made fun of in Spaceballs, when Princess Vespa voices her disdain for guns, then when a guard singes her hair with a laser beam only seconds later, she powerfully shoots up the rest of the guards.
• Characters trying to escape being crushed under a long, thin falling object, such as a bookcase, will invariably run parallel to the length of the bookcase instead of laterally. Often, they will appear to have gotten out from under it and stop to display relief, and be crushed anyway. Occasionally, they are crushed just before they escape.
• Needle syringes are not allowed to be shown on screen. They're often replaced with a futuristic syringe that doesn't require a needle. An exception to this is when a character that is afraid of shots is required to go the doctor or hospital, which will result in a nurse holding up a syringe with a needle of excessive length.
• Gases, serums, tranquilizers and all other chemicals immediately take effect when administered.
This is a list of clichés related to sports
• Bring our "A" game
• Take it one game at a time
• I'm just happy to be here
• Backs against the wall (especially before any elimination games)
• Swing and a miss
• He shoots — he scores!
• There's no "I" in "team"
• A commanding six–shot lead (in reporting golf results)
• He must be as sick as a parrot (UK - Football/soccer)
• It's a game of two halves
• Overcoming adversity
• They just wanted it more
• Second best all over the park
• It ain't over til it's over (originated by Yogi Berra)
• We're gonna have to play the kind of football we know we are capable of playing.
• Leave it all on the floor
• Credit to the opposition
• Giving 110%
Advertising clichés and phrases
• For all your ____-ing needs.
• And much, much more!
• Not sold in any store!
• How much would you expect to pay?
• But wait! Order now and you also get ___!
• But wait, there's more! (This phrase has actually been trademarked by Ron Popeil, the owner of Ronco.)
• There has to be a better way!
• Don't waste your time on ___ (the blank being a similar but supposedly less efficient product)
• Actual results may vary. (Used to avoid lawsuits when people don't achieve the results seen on the advertisement)
• How many times has this happened to you? (Frequently in ads related to travel)
• You might/will not believe this, but I was once just like you. (Frequently used in weight loss ads and by motivational speakers)
• Don't be fooled by imitators/competitors.
• For a limited time only
• Our best just got better.
• New and improved! (However this appears to be self-contradictory: if something is improved, it cannot be new)
• Terms and conditions apply (said very rapidly or printed very small).
• Save $__ (when spending is involved- which is always the case!).
• Only $__9.99 (no matter how expensive something is, it is always only that much).
• Just __ easy payments of $__9.99!
• Free* (an asterisk implies that it isn't really free and the accompanying text is very small and hard to find).
• That's right!
• Talk to your doctor about ___ (may also be “Ask your doctor if ____ is right for you”)
• How do we do it? Volume!
• Prices marked TOO LOW to advertise! (Usually seen in ads for automobiles.)
• Void where prohibited. (Usually because of special laws or employee problems.)
• Some Assembly Required
• Fun to play with, not to eat
• Each sold separately.
• Batteries not included. (This phrase and the 3 above it are commonly heard in children's toy commercials.)
• Part of a complete/good/balanced breakfast (almost always heard in ads for children's breakfast cereal)
• As seen on TV! (Alternatively, “Similar to those seen on TV” for imitations.)
• You can't afford not to buy this!
• Makes a great gift!
• More than just [product category]!
• The secret is ___. (Used to describe something that is unique to a particular product.)
• Better than the leading brand.
• Don't delay, call now!
• We're practically giving them away!
• None genuine unless it bears the signature of ___ (common in 19th century quack medicine)
• You've tried the rest, now try the best!
• Many will enter, few will win.
• A great deal will be made that the product is being sold under a certain amount (such as “Under $1000!”) when the stated price said it is just under that amount: “and it's yours for only $999!”
• Four out of five ___ agree product X is the best! (where ___ is somebody who is expected to be an expert in the field: doctors, dentists, mothers, etc.; parodied in the Trident gum commercials, which really had four out of five dentists agree that it helps clean teeth, in which one such expert accidentally falls on the "No" button)
• Act now and get a free _____ with your purchase!
• When you call, ask your operator about ___.
• The sale must end this weekend! (However the advert is repeated for several weeks running.)
• The announcer for a drug commercial would say the side effects and dangers of the drug in a manner so fast it is almost overlooked.
Often imitated, never duplicated. Tales from the Wikipedia Trash Can simply rules!
