History Main / ExplodingCloset

* Used twice in one episode of ''[=~Three's Company~=]'' when the gang goes on a trip to a cabin. Trying to find the bedroom, Jack opens a door which actually leads outside and is bombarded by a pile of firewood. Janet opens the closet and... you know the rest.

* In the comic ''Suske en Wiske'', the girl Wiske is GenreSavvy (or perhaps just knows the habits of the people she lives with): before opening a medicine cabinet, she places a basin before it and stands back, as the contents falls out of it.

* In the comic ''Suske en Wiske'', the girl Wiske is GenreSavvy (or perhaps just knows the habits of the people she lives with): before opening a medicine cabinet, she places a basin before it and stands back, as the contents falls out of it.

* Happens to {{House}} in "Clueless".

* A commercial for Rubbermaid food containers emphasizing how one could keep the containers organized showed an example of 'Not Organized' containers using an exploding cupboard full of Ziploc-esque containers.

* In the LooneyTunes short ''Fool Coverage'', insurance salesman Daffy Duck rigs up one of these to convince Porky Pig he needs a policy. Naturally, it backfires and Daffy's the one who ends up buried in junk.

* ''Zoboomafoo'' Whenever the Kratt Brothers want to go on an adventure, they open the closet and just shield themselves from the falling safari gear. Then they pick up what they need from whatever fell on the ground and leave.

Bonus points are awarded if a character who is oblivious of the closet's nature innocently opens it, only to be buried under a heap of cleaning tools.

* The "broom closet" Hoggle opens accidentally in the oubliette in ''{{Labyrinth}}'' is packed full of stuff. However, since opening the door from the other side revealed a passage, that closet obviously wasn't following the laws of physics.

* ''Game/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': Sam and Max take a little souvenir from every case they do, and keep it in the closet. Once they get to the future and try to open the closet, Sam has to slam it shut before he's crushed under all that stuff.

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* The "broom closet" Hoggle opens accidentally in the {{Oubliette}} in ''{{Labyrinth}}'' is packed full of stuff. However, since opening the door from the other side revealed a passage, that closet obviously wasn't following the laws of physics.

** It also utilizes ''literal'' exploding closets as various gags, as when one of the characters is trapped in a dark closet, the character lights a match only to find it is filled with explosives, with [[MadeOfExplodium predictable results]].

* Snoopy's doghouse, in [[http://comics.com/peanuts/1963-02-16/ this]] 1963 ''{{Peanuts}}'' strip.

* ''{{Sam and Max}}'' take a little souvenir from every case they do, and keep it in the closet. Once they get to the future and try to open the closet, Sam has to slam it shut before he's crushed under all that stuff!

* A RunningGag in ''{{Fibber McGee and Molly}}'', a {{radio}} show where [=McGee=] owns such a closet. Originally the TropeNamer. Virtually all ExplodingCloset references in media before 1980 or so are homages to Fibber [=McGee=]'s closet, making this a possibly unique case of [[UrExample ur-example]], [[TropeMaker trope maker]], [[TropeCodifier codifier]], and [[TropeNamer namer]] all in one.

* A RunningGag in ''{{Fibber McGee and Molly}}'', a {{radio}} show where [=McGee=] owns such a closet. Originally the TropeNamer. Virtually all ExplodingCloset references in media before 1980 or so are homages to Fibber [=McGee=]'s closet.

* Happen with the Wardrobe in ''EpicMovie''. Or so it shows in the commercial.

* Happen with the Wardrobe in ''EpicMovie''. [[OrSoIHeard Or so it shows in the commercial]].

* TheStateroomScene in ''ANightAtTheOpera'' ends with a variant of this. Margaret Dumont opens the door, and out tumbles an avalanche of ''people'' rather than stuff.

---> '''Calvin's Mom:''' Back to work, kiddo.
---> '''Calvin:''' YOU made THIS mess! YOU clean it up!

* Happened once in, of all places, ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", resulting in Kirk being buried in tribbles. [[JustifiedTrope Explained somewhat]] in the ''Deep Space Nine'' episode "Trial and Tribble-ations" when it is revealed that the tribbles are being thrown out onto him by people trying to identify which one is a bomb.
** Certainly embodies the spirit of the trope, but also justified in that the "closet" in question was a (formerly) grain-filled cargo bay.

* In an episode of ''{{Friends}}'', Ross and Monica are cleaning out their dead grandmother's apartment. Earlier on they had had a discussion about how their grandmother was always collecting packets of sugar. Ross pulls down a box from a high shelf, and out spill piles of sugar packets.

** Sam rigs Lewbert's cupboards to bury him with golf balls.
* Used twice in one episode of ''ThreesCompany'' when the gang goes on a trip to a cabin. Trying to find the bedroom, Jack opens a door which actually leads outside and is bombarded by a pile of firewood. Janet opens the closet and... you know the rest.

* A RunningGag in ''{{Fibber McGee and Molly}}'', a {{radio}} show where [=McGee=] owns such a closet. Originally the TropeNamer.
** Virtually all ExplodingCloset references in media before 1980 or so are homages to Fibber [=McGee=]'s closet.

* In the ''{{The Simpsons}}'' episode "Supercalifragilisticexpeali(Annoyed Grunt)cious", after Sharry and Bart and Lisa clean up the room by shoving everything in the closet, under the bed and under the rug, as soon as they close the door, everything spills back out, making the room messier than it started out.