Topic: Weirdly Specific Situational Gags that Keep Cropping Up in Films/TV Programmes

So, I’m not the world’s biggest film buff, but I feel I’ve seen enough movies/TV shows to have developed a pretty acute sense of déjà vu whenever the same comedic scene plays out across multiple unrelated films.

The more films I see, the more I’m convinced that 90% of Hollywood’s output is taken from the back of the same napkin, but as many of the gags rely on visual humour/situational comedy, they’re not as easy to recognise as, say, the same knock-knock joke being told a thousand times.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of weirdly specific scenarios/gags that keep occurring across multiple shows for no good reason.

One that springs to my mind is ‘Main character encounters seemingly cute and harmless animal which turns out to be ferocious’. It could be alien. It could just be a normal cat. In any case, the protagonist (usually a male American one) will be taken in by the animal’s dewy, saucer-like eyes and unthreatening demeanour. He will approach it, saying something approachable and friendly like,

“Hey there buddy! You okay there little guy?”

It will stare back pitiably, looking small and weak and harmless. The main character will then reach out to touch it, at which point it snaps, violently lashing out and cause the character to jump back in fear.

This scene occurs in…

…

…I don’t actually know. I can’t cite a single source. But I feel I’ve seen it a million times! Perhaps the fact it’s such a throwaway scene makes it easy to use across multiple media without people noticing. Please tell me I’m not crazy and that you recognise this scenario, too.

Anyway, what are some other examples of high specific situational comedy/gags that seem to keep cropping up everywhere?

Let’s crack the comedy code!

Ben Stiller and the little Benji breed dog in "There's Something About Mary"

@MontyCircus Haha, I’ve never seen that film, but I searched for the clip and sure enough… there is it!

EDIT:

Double whammy in this clip, although the “hey” line goes to the obviously-not-cute terror dog thing as opposed to the cute mini Marshmallow man.

Homer strangling Bart. It's incredibly iconic and funny, I'm just shocked it's stuck around for as long as it has with social norms changing over the years.

Alasia from America's Next Top Model cycle 14.

She was at the bottom two with Brenda.
When her name get called, she was crying and shaking her fist with very iconic expression and gesture.
She was survived and Brenda got eliminated.
And Angelea who got the first call for the best photo of the week felt relieved and proud to see Brenda get eliminated and Alasia stayed.

Yup yup, they’re TV/film tropes. Glad we’re all on the same page! But rather than broad, overarching tropes (muscular male protag saves the world and gets the girl, etc.) I’m looking for very specific, somewhat throwaway scenes that keep cropping up for comic effect without having much effect on the story.

Another example would be main character perfectly executes highly technical sequence, makes a wise crack about how easy it was, and then immediately faceplants/drops what they’re carrying/is hit with a projectile/etc. That one’s a classic.

@Maxz The older I've gotten, the more the tropes start to stand out. Kids are young, so the tropes are new to them.

Ever since the 00's, I've notice many comedic actors use the same improv tone for some bits comedies.

Ah yes, I also remember when I first discovered TVTropes :V

@kkslider5552000 Yup, knew this thread would attract TVTropes jokes.