History Main / DelegationRelay

** An episode has Mr. Burns order a subordinate that a package must absolutely be mailed today. A Delegation Relay ensues, ultimately ending at Homer, who promptly runs the package back to Mr. Burns's office, who angrily tells Homer that [[WhatAnIdiot his name is on the ''return'' address]].

[[quoteright:163:[[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/delegationrelay.png]]]]

* In ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' the song "Gee, Officer Krupke'' where the Jets are mocking the social system for it's handling of juvenile delinquency. The judge declares that it's a psychological problem and sends them to a psychologist who declares that they just need an honest job and sends them to a social worker who declares that they need a year in jail and sends them back to the judge.

* An Australian ad for a courier company had a boss yelling at his subordinate that "If this package isn't in [City X] by tomorrow, it's your job!" This order (and threat) is then echoes down the chain of command until it ends up with some poor dude in the mail room, who calls the courier company.

* Played for drama (and some BlackComedy) in ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' where crucial decisions keep getting kicked upstairs to the Prime Minister, partly because many of those involved in the VastBureaucracy are reluctant to make a decision, but also because [[RealityEnsues there are simply no laws or procedures to deal with a giant rampaging sea monster]], so the PM has to make all the decisions because the buck stops with him.

* ''Film/BugsyMalone''. "Get Babyface, get Babyface, get Babyface..." and so on down the line until they actually get to Babyface.

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* In one Franchise/ArchieComics story, Mr. Weatherbee asked Archie to deliver a message to a teacher. Archie delegated the duty to another student, who did likewise, until the chain went to Big Moose... who forgot to do it. Angry at what happened, Weatherbee demanded that Archie deliver another message to another teacher... who's in Africa. The story ends with Archie writing to Weatherbee in the jungle, saying that he should catch up to the teacher's safari in another week or so...

* ''Film/CarryOnHenry''. An envoy from the Vatican says that while the Pope is shocked at the idea, a royal divorce can be arranged... for a price. The papal envoy is asked how much of this money is being skimmed off for his own benefit, which he indignantly denies. As the DelegationRelay brings this message to King Henry the Eighth, each person doubles the price so he can skim half the bribe for himself.

** The teaser of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'''s LowerDeckEpisode is one long shot in which we follow the progress of an order from Captain Janeway to the schlub who ends up carrying it out. The show takes the opportunity to throw in a neat little visual metaphor, too: the camera zooms in on Janeway's office on deck 1, where the order originates, and follows the DelegationRelay all the way to deck 15, literally the ship's lowest deck.

** In ''Discworld/{{Eric}}'', during the siege of Tsort, the invading squad unexpectedly discover a small child. The Captain tasks the Lieutenant with guarding the child, who instructs the Sergeant to keep an eye on the kid who tells the Corporal to look after the lad who tells the Private to watch the sprog. The private looks around to see whom he can pass the buck to, and realises that he's the ButtMonkey.
** In ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'': Captain Vimes tells Sergeant Colon to (force) open a gate. Colon tells Lance-Constable Carrot to open the gate. Carrot knocks gently to ask the people on the other side to open it.

The hero is in the midst of a mission, along with his FiveManBand and a bunch of {{Red Shirt}}s. He needs to accomplish some minor and relatively mundane task, which is nevertheless bothersome or unwelcome. So he delegates the job to TheLancer. "[[TheLancer Lancer]], dig a trench."

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

-->'''Skroob:''' (to Dark Helmet) They're getting all their air back! Do something!
-->'''Dark Helmet:''' (to Colonel Sandurz) Do something!
-->'''Sandurz:''' (over the PA) [[RuleOfThree DO SOMETHING!]]
* Charlie Chaplin's ''Film/TheGreatDictator'': A huge gun fails to fire properly, and the shell just drops out of the barrel. The general turns to the colonel and says: "Check the shell". The colonel turns to the captain and gives the same order. The captain gives the order to the lieutenant. The lieutenant delegates to the private (Chaplin). The private turns to his left... and finds out that there's nobody left to delegate to, so he has to do it himself.
* The Disney Movie ''Film/TheCatFromOuterSpace'' did this as a running gag several times with a set of Army officers led by Harry Morgan who were chasing the titular cat.
-->'''General Stilton''': *gives command*. Colonel!
-->'''Colonel''': Captain!
-->'''Captain''': Sergeant!
-->'''Sergeant''': Yes sir!

* In ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' Hamish's Dad gets shot with an arrow. That night, Hamish is handed a red hot poker with the instruction: "You do it. I'll hold him down." Hamish then looks at the poker, and hands another nameless scot the poker and tells him, "You do it. I'll hold him down." The nameless scot then does what he's told and HilarityEnsues.

* From the AfterTheEnd BMovie ''Battletruck'' (aka ''Warlords of the 21st Century'').
-->BigBad (to The Dragon): "Tell the men to [[UnusualEuphemism Inventory and Requisition]]."
-->TheDragon (to his mook): "Tell the men to Inventory and Requisition."
-->{{Mook}} (to everyone else): "[[TheTriple LOOT! LOOT!]]"
* The 1990's Czech comedy film ''Tank Battalion'' (adapted from the novel ''Republic of Whores'') opens with the commander ordering his underling to stand guard and threatening retribution if he doesn't wake him up for tomorrow's exercise. The underling does the same to his 2IC, going down the line until a private is told to stand guard. Naturally with his superiors bunking off the private does the same, and they all get in trouble with the political commissar for sleeping in.
* ''Film/CarryOnHenry''. An envoy from the Vatican says that while the Pope is shocked at the idea, a royal divorce can be arranged...for a price. The papal envoy is asked how much of this money is being skimmed off for his own benefit, which he indignantly denies. As the DelegationRelay brings this message to King Henry the Eighth, each person doubles the price so he can skim half the bribe for himself.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/CrossTimeEngineer''

-->Captain Grayder turned to Colonel Shelton. ‘His Excellency wishes to speak to that farmer.’ He pointed to the faraway figure.\\
‘That farmer,’said Shelton to Major Hame. ‘His Excellency wants him at once.’\\
‘Bring that farmer here,’ Hame ordered Lieutenant Deacon. ‘Quickly.’\\
‘Go get that farmer,’ Deacon told Sergeant Major Bid-worthy. ‘And hurry—His Excellency is waiting.’\\

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Franchise/StarTrek''

--->'''Mike:''' Someone at the door, Rik.
--->'''Rik:''' Someone at the door, Vyvyan.
--->'''Vyvyan:''' Someone at the door, Neil.
--->'''Neil:''' Someone at the door, Mike.
--->'''Mike:''' I know!
---> [another knock at the door]
--->'''Mike:''' (louder) There's someone at the door, Rik!
--->'''Rik:''' (louder) There's someone at the door, Vyvyan!
--->'''Vyvyan:''' (louder) There's someone at the door, Mike!
--->'''Neil:''' (louder) There's someone at the door, Neil?

--->'''Josh:''' [laughs at Toby]
--->'''Toby:''' What?
--->'''Josh:''' It's just ... you have to do the stamp thing.
--->'''Toby:''' Leo, I could use some help with the stamp thing.
--->'''Leo:''' No problem, get Josh to handle it.
--->'''Toby:''' Congratulations, you're picking the next stamp.
--->'''Josh:''' Wow, that happened ''fast.''

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

* A Truth in Television closed-circle variant, immortalized in ''{{ComicStrip/Dilbert}}'': An employee asking a question directed at higher-ups may find that the task of answering it is delegated back down... to the same employee.
** Another ''{{ComicStrip/Dilbert}}'' comic:
--->'''Boss:''' Write a memo on the problem with the Azak project.
--->'''Guy''' (thinking) What problem?
--->'''Guy to Guy 2:''' Write a memo on the problem with the Azak project.
--->'''Guy 2''' (thinking) What's the Azak project?
--->'''Guy 2 to Guy 3:''' Write a memo on the problem with the Azak project.
--->'''[[TheDitz Guy 3]]''' (thinking) What's a memo?
*** A third Dilbert example: The PointyHairedBoss gives Alice a task. Alice says she's too busy, so the boss tells her to delegate it to Dilbert. He tells the boss he's too busy, so the PHB tells him to delegate it to Wally. Wally says he's too busy (knowing him, though, he's probably just lying to avoid work), so the PHB tells him to delegate it to Asok. He's also too busy, and told to delegate it to Ted. Ted accepts but doesn't mention the fact that he's quitting the next day. The boss thinks, "I solved four problems today."
*** Yet another ''Dilbert'' example, Dilbert's company is out-sourcing their customer support jobs to Asia but the company they outsourced to outsourced it to a different country going on until it was eventually outsourced back to Dilbert's company who underbids everyone else and lies about hold times. The Boss's solution to this? Raise their prices.
* Happens in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' when Andy asks Peter to take the garbage. Peter says that Paige owes him a favour so that Andy should ask her. Paige says that Jason owes her a favour so Andy should ask him. Jason says that Peter owes him a favour so Andy should ask him. Andy asks Peter (again) who then willingly takes out the garbage.

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* An in-universe comic in WebAnimation/HomestarRunner, "Dullard" (a parody of ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''), has the boss hand off an assignment to Dullard, saying "I need this on my desk by five." Dullard proceeds to pass it off to a co-worker, who passes it off to a female co-worker, who passes it off to a comb-over co-worker, who passes it back to the boss, all with the same "I need this on my desk by five."

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[[folder: Web Original ]]

* The [[WebVideo/RoosterTeethShorts Rooster Teeth short]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncePIYlE7Hc Chain of Thought]], which also twists this trope by having the order be carried out by the guy who first ordered it.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* One episode of the ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' animated series had Magneto and Mystique turn on Apocalypse. In an example of the "for extra fun" variation, the incredibly powerful Apocalypse summons all his henchmen, then tells the reasonably powerful Mr Sinister to kill them. Sinister then delegates this task to Vertigo, whose only power is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin giving people vertigo.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

-->'''Marge:''' (to Homer) Did you close the gate?
-->'''Homer:''' Yes.
--> [Gate pictured open]
-->'''Homer:''' Oh, you mean tonight. Bart, close the gate!
-->'''Bart:''' Lisa, close the gate!
-->'''Lisa:''' Close the gate, Maggie.
--> [Maggie, being a baby, just lies there]
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''

--->'''Jack''':...You're in charge.
--->'''Raf''': In charge of who?

---> '''Megatron''': Starscream! ''What is happening''?\\
'''Starcream''': Soundwave! What is happening?!
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' has an interesting variant. In "Maiden Voyage," Sissi makes fun of Jeremie for his less-than-stellar performance in Phys. Ed. Jeremie asks Odd if he minds cracking a joke to get her off his back, but Odd, who has his mouth full, delegates the joke-telling to Aelita, who blows a good joke wide open.
-->'''Sissi''': Well sourpuss, having a hard time lifting your brain with those string bean arms?\\
'''Jeremie''': Odd, d'you mind?\\
'''Odd''': Aelita, I hate to talk with my mouth full. Would you mind taking over?\\
'''Aelita''': Sissi, your head is so full of helium, you can float to the top!

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* There's a joke about military officers discussing how much sex with their wives was work and how much was pleasure. The Colonel says it was 75% work, 25% pleasure. The Major said it was 50-50. The Sergeant said it was 25% work, 75% pleasure. The Private says it was 100% pleasure because if there was any work involved, he would have been ordered to do it.

** Also happens in reverse when someone (often a nurse) finds a problem he's not qualified to deal with and tells the lowest-ranking person who is. If that person puts it off too long, the nurse might go up the chain of command until he gets to someone with enough spare time to take care of it. After that, the person who ought to have done it generally gets an earful.

--->'''[[TheDitz Guy 3]]''' (thinking) What's a memo?.

** Not actually an instance of the trope, as the person initially told to do the task is the same person who ends up doing it.

* In Creator/MarkTwain's ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'', this is not actually played for laughs, but rather used as social satire to show how ridiculously overblown royal ceremonies were in Tudor England.

** Also occurs in ''Tik-Tok of Oz'', with the Army of Oogaboo.

*** This is actually sensible in any organization with specialists, military or civilian. Why does a physician in private practice hire people just to handle his billing? So he can see more patients, greatly increasing his practice's profitability. Keep your attorneys on tasks that require an attorney and pay a paralegal's wage to someone who can take over those tasks and a receptionist just to screen the calls and keep the schedule. Examples are ubiquitous.

[[folder:Theater]]

* In ''Theater/WestSideStory'' the song "Gee, Officer Krupke'' where the Jets are mocking the social system for it's handling of juvenile delinquency. The judge declares that it's a psychological problem and sends them to a psychologist who declares that they just need an honest job and sends them to a social worker who declares that they need a year in jail and sends them back to the judge.

* An in-universe comic in WebAnimation/HomestarRunner, "Dullard" (a parody of ''NewspaperComics/{{Dilbert}}''), has the boss hand off an assignment to Dullard, saying "I need this on my desk by five." Dullard proceeds to pass it off to a co-worker, who passes it off to a female co-worker, who passes it off to a comb-over co-worker, who passes it back to the boss, all with the same "I need this on my desk by five."

* ''Series/AshesToAshes'' uses this amongst a group, when faced with acquiring evidence from a chemical toilet. (Played with in that the ''last'' link in the chain, who's dating the guy in front of her, simply rolls her eyes and tells him to get on with it.)