History Main / IfItWasFunnyTheFirstTime

* ''Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse'': The appearances by the salesman are usually the same basic set-up (the doorbell rings, Pee-Wee answers, the Salesman starts his sales pitch, Pee-Wee screams and slams the door on him). Sometimes there might be a variation (like when Roger the monster answered the door instead and the salesman screamed along with him), and at times the gag was used as a punchline or set-up to another gag (like when Pee-Wee's wish for the day was for somebody to come over and it was the salesman, or when right after Pee-Wee slammed the door on him Captain Carl showed up and rang the doorbell, making Pee-Wee immediately think it was the salesman again), but usually it'll be the same basic scene.

A SisterTrope to RunningGag, this is about a gag that gets used in the vast majority of a work's installments. Distinct from a RunningGag in that the humor isn't dependent on the repetition -- it's a standalone joke which just happens to be re-used. Can overlap with a CatchPhrase or a {{Tagline}}. Depending on the author, the joke may even leap from one series to the next, or even one medium to the next. In rare cases, it'll seem as though the author was contractually obligated to lump the joke in.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Apparently, lots of people on [=YouTube=] seem to think that posting a funny line from a video in the comments section makes the line just as funny if not funnier.
[[/folder]]

Note that in order to qualify, it really has to be the same joke used in exactly the same way and funny (or not) for the same reason each time. If (for instance), a character speaks a certain line, [[DarkReprise then repeats that line later in a different context]] [[BookEnds which makes it funny]], that is not an example of this trope.

Like a conventional RunningGag, the success of this methodology depends on whether the joke was funny in the first place. Unlike the RunningGag, however, the joke must be able to stand on its own in each use ''in addition'' to after multiple other uses. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This isn't a bad thing]], if the author can keep the joke from going into OverusedRunningGag range or getting too tedious.

The three people in the [object] introduce themselves, and explain why they're in the [object].\\

** Also extant in Sunday strips is the [[OverlyLongGag ridiculously long build-up]] to an IncrediblyLamePun, followed by [[TheStraightMan Rat]] (and once, [[OnlySaneMan Goat]]) [[NoFourthWall complaining to the author, usually in person]].

* Apparently, lots of people on [=YouTube=] seem to think that posting a funny line in a video in the comments section makes the line just as funny if not funnier.

[[folder: Anime ]]

* Anime/{{Pokemon}}. 97% of the episodes feature Team Rocket introducing themselves by way of reciting their motto and being 'blasted off' at the end of the episode. The other 3% feature variations of the same jokes. It was discarded during the "Best Wishes" season, but made a comeback as of Kalos.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* "Already this is a better Superman/superhero movie than ''Film/ManOfSteel''" has become this for a lot of internet critics. Maybe funny the first time if you hated the movie, otherwise...

** His most recurring RunningGag is actually him saying, [[Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}} "Zuul, motherfucker, zuul!"]].

[[folder: Western Animation ]]