History Main / GagHaircut

* A ''{{Peanuts}}'' storyline had Peppermint Patty going to get her hair cut, but the barber thought Patty was a boy and cut it accordingly. Patty winds up wearing a big blond curly wig to hide it.

* Both KurtAngle and Molly Holly lost special gimmick matches, which meant they had to have their heads shaved completely bald. For weeks after the shaving, they both wore outrageous wigs in their matches and it would be a RunningGag for the wig to get ripped off during the match.

* Happens to Monica in the season 2 premiere of ''{{Friends}}''. She tries to get Phoebe to give her Demi Moore's hairstyle but Pheebs mixes her up with Dudley Moore. The end of the episode implies she's going to give Julie the "Roddy [=McDowall=] cut" (instead of Andie [=MacDowell=]).

* A ''Peanuts'' storyline had Peppermint Patty going to get her hair cut, but the barber thought Patty was a boy and cut it accordingly. Patty winds up wearing a big blond curly wig to hide it.

* One episode of ''TheSimpsons'' had Lisa getting gum in her hair and finally going to the hairdresser after trying everything to get the gum out.

Essentially every person has a bad hair day, it happens. Unfortunately for these characters their bad hair days just happen to be a whole new level of bad. The character will find themselves in a situation where they need a haircut...only for the haircut to go horribly wrong. But typically the bad haircut will only last one episode and [[HairReboot it'll be back to normal by the next episode]]. Usually overlaps with TraumaticHaircut except while the haircut will be traumatic for the victim, it's always PlayedForLaughs, so it could be seen as a subversion of the Traumatic Haircut. The situation quite often involves getting gum in the hair. Variations can include bad dye jobs which may or may not result in actual hair getting cut to solve the problem, or [[HumiliatingWager losing a bet]] and ending up with a shaved head or otherwise intentionally bad haircut.

Essentially every person has a bad hair day, it happens. Unfortunately for these characters their bad hair days just happen to be a whole new level of bad. The character will find themselves in a situation where they need a haircut...only for the haircut to go horribly wrong. But typically the bad haircut will only last one episode and [[HairReboot it'll be back to normal by the next episode]]. Usually overlaps with TraumaticHaircut except while the haircut will be traumatic for the victim, it's always PlayedForLaughs, so it could be seen as a subversion of the Traumatic Haircut. The situation quite often involves getting gum in the hair. Variations can include bad dye jobs which may or may not result in actual hair getting cut to solve the problem.

* ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' cast a spell to make her hair fall out (hoping to get her aunts' attention) and they hired a specialist (played by Ru-Paul) to give her a purple version of Marge Simpson's hairdo. She then gave Salem the same hairdo at the end of the episode.

* The aptly titled ''{{Recess}}'' episode "Bad Hair Day" followed the gum plot with TJ's attempts to fix it and giving Mikey an awful haircut. They lied to say a famous band had the same cut. The fun starts when the other kids hear this and decide they want the haircut as well.

* ''PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'' plays with this trope for the better: Kazumi goes to get a haircut, but the stylist cuts off most of her hair. In a sense, this is an EstablishingCharacterMoment since, metaphorically, cutting off hair is a sign of a new start in life. Of course, most, including her friends, don't like this new look since her long hair was shown on the cover.

Essentially every person has a bad hair day, it happens. Unfortunately for these characters their bad hair days just happen to be a whole new level of bad. The character will find themselves in a situation where they need a haircut...only for the haircut to go horribly wrong. But typically the bad haircut will only last one episode and [[HairReboot it'll be back to normal by the next episode]]. Usually overlaps with TraumaticHaircut except while the haircut will be traumatic for the victim, it's always PlayedForLaughs, so it could be seen as a subversion of the Traumatic Haircut. The situation quite often involves getting gum in the hair. Variations can include bad dye jobs which may or may not result in actual hair getting cut to solve the problem.

!!Examples:

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]
* ''PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'' plays with this trope for the better: Kazumi goes to get a haircut, but the stylist cuts off most of her hair. In a sense, this is an EstablishingCharacterMoment since, metaphorically, cutting off hair is a sign of a new start in life. Of course, most, including her friends, don't like this new look since her long hair was shown on the cover.
* A version not PlayedForLaughs occurs in ''WanderingSon''. The thirteen or so year old protagonist wishes to get a pixie cut he saw on a female model, however due to the fact he's beginning puberty it turns out looking masculine instead of feminine. He eventually begins growing it out.

[[AC: Film]]
* In ''It Takes Two'', Amanda spits gum into Clarisse's hair so the next time we see Clarisse, she has a truly awful hairdo.
* ''The 10th Kingdom'' has Virgina get RapunzelHair from a spell and Wolf takes a magic axe to it, leaving her [[UnnecessaryMakeover with a very short hairstyle]]. One of the rare occasions where the haircut isn't fixed with a HairReboot.

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Live Action TV]]
* The {{CBBC}} series ''Mike and Angelo'' had Katie's hair ruined after an unusually large trumpet blew her into another room so Angelo's machine tried to fix it for her. She ended up looking like a man.
* Happens to Monica in the season 2 premiere of ''{{Friends}}''. She tries to get Phoebe to give her Demi Moore's hairstyle but Pheebs mixes her up with Dudley Moore. The end of the episode implies she's going to give Julie the "Roddy [=McDowall=] cut" (instead of Andie [=MacDowell=]).
* The five-minute short series ''Bus Life'' has Jess get gum in her hair and must be "operated on".
* Sonia in ''{{EastEnders}}'' was unlucky enough to fall asleep while her daughter was playing hairdresser.
* ''{{Seinfeld}}'' made a whole episode out of Jerry getting a bad haircut.
* Marshall in ''HowIMetYourMother'' got a two-fer when Lily's cousin gave him bleached blond highlights an hour before his wedding. He then ended up shaving those off to give himself an even worse haircut.
* An episode of ''LizzieMcGuire'' involved a prank war between Kate and Miranda and one of Miranda's pranks involved putting green hair dye in Kate's shampoo.
* ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' cast a spell to make her hair fall out (hoping to get her aunts' attention) and they hired a specialist (played by Ru-Paul) to give her a purple version of Marge Simpson's hairdo. She then gave Salem the same hairdo at the end of the episode.
* The 1950s B/W series ''I Married Joan'' has an episode where Joan goes to get her hair styled for a college reunion, and ends up with an awful new do called the "panda cut".

[[AC: Newspaper Comics]]

[[AC: Professional Wrestling]]
* Both KurtAngle and Molly Holly lost special gimmick matches, which meant they had to have their heads shaved completely bald. For weeks after the shaving, they both wore outrageous wigs in their matches and it would be a RunningGag for the wig to get ripped off during the match.
* Behind the scenes, DolphZiggler had to cut off his blond locks because he got gum in them.

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* In an episode of ''DextersLaboratory'', Dee Dee accidentally cuts one of her pigtails off and gets a serum from Dexter to grow them back. The hair ends up taking over the house.
* In ''6Teen'', Caitlyn ends up with a red mullet after "cheating" on her hairdresser.
* One episode of ''TheSimpsons'' had Lisa getting gum in her hair and finally going to the hairdresser after trying everything to get the gum out.
* ''{{Rugrats}}'': Chaz lets Chuckie cut his hair in hope of showing him it doesn't hurt. Chuckie goes a little overboard.
* ''Jeannie'' ({{Hanna-Barbera}}'s version) goes to a hairdresser and tells the guy too late to not cut her ponytail. She and Babu spend the rest of the episode trying to grow the hair back. It gets so long it runs down the street by itself and is mistaken for a fuzzy red serpent.
* Happens twice in ''SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'' where Harvey's imaginary friend Mort has fun messing up Sabrina's hair. He ends up shaving it all off and growing it back five seconds later.
** Secondly, two faeries persuade Gem to cut her hair into a mohawk, saying it's the latest trend in Canada.
* In the episode of ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' called "The Mane Event", Bubbles and Buttercup accidentally rip a chunk out of Blossom's hair and do a scary tidy-up job. Even the MonsterOfTheWeek finds it funny.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Hayley dyes her hair green at a Green Party rally. Stan cuts it off while she's asleep.

[[AC: Webcomics]]

* This has happened several times in Webcomic/StubbleTrouble, twice to Rosie when she was cooking.

* ''Kazumi Magica'' plays with this trope for the better: Kazumi goes to get a haircut, but the stylist cuts off most of her hair. In a sense, this is an Establishing Character Moment since, metaphorically, cutting off hair is a sign of a new start in life. Of course, most, including her friends, don't like this new look since her long hair was shown on the cover.

* In an episode of ''{{Arthur}}'' Francine and Muffy decide to cut all their hair off during a head lice scare. They have some fun by sneaking into the boys' bathroom and pretending to be boys.

* An offscreen variation happened in ''{{Charmed}}''. Actress RoseMcGowan dyed her hair red between seasons and the characters joked in the season premiere that a potion blew up on her and turned it red.

* Both Kurt Angle and Molly Holly lost special gimmick matches, which meant they had to have their heads shaved completely bald. For weeks after the shaving, they both wore outrageous wigs in their matches and it would be a RunningGag for the wig to get ripped off during the match.
* Behind the scenes, Dolph Ziggler had to cut off his blond locks because he got gum in them.

* In an episode of ''{{Arthur}}'' the girls decide to cut all their hair off during a head lice scare. They have some fun by sneaking into the boys' bathroom and pretending to be boys.

* In ''AmericanDad'', Hayley dyes her hair green at a Green Party rally. Stan cuts it off while she's asleep.

* In the comic OzyAndMillie there's a running gag about Ozy (an anthropomorphic fox) ending up losing all his hair due to diferent circumstances.

* A version not PlayedForLaughs occurs in ''WanderingSon''. The thirteen or so year old protagonist wishes to get a pixie cut he saw on a female model, however due to the fact he's beginning puberty in turns out looking masculine instead of feminine. He eventually begins growing it out.