History Main / SmartBall

--> '''Baldrick:''' Well, my cousin Bert Baldrick, Mr. Gainsborough's butler's dogsbody, says that all portraits look the same nowadays since they're painted to a romantic ideal rather than as a true depiction of the idiosyncratic facial qualities of the person in question.
--> '''Blackadder''': Well, your cousin Bert obviously has a larger vocabulary than you, Baldrick.

-->'''Fargo''': Hey, I'm Sheriff Carter! I'm going to save the day with my everyman logic!

-->'''Phoenix''': '''Objection!''' W-Well, maybe he [[ItMakesSenseInContext brought a change of clothes with him]]!\\
'''Judge''': B-but... [[spoiler: No one could have predicted the lightning strike that shut down the bridge!]] Why would anyone have brought a change of clothes!?\\
'''Phoenix''': Nngh...! (Did the judge take smart pills during the last recess?)

-->'''[[ExtremeDoormat Chris]]:''' Dan has a very strange patchwork of knowledge. It's anybody's guess as to what he knows about any given topic. Watch. ''(louder)'' Hey, Dan, who sculpted Mount Rushmore?
-->'''Dan:''' Gutzon Borglum. Then his son finished it. Why?
-->'''Chris:''' And what state is it in?
-->'''Dan:''' I don't know! [[GlobalIgnorance Ecuador or something]]! What's with all the questions?!
-->'''Elise:''' So there is a savant half.

-->'''Mandy:''' Billy, that has got to be the dumbest idea... ''(Pause)'' Actually, Billy, that has got to be the ''smartest'' idea you've ever had.
-->'''Billy:''' I know, that's why I wanna do it.

-->'''Homer:''' In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!

-->'''Homer:''' You're selling what now?
-->'''Apu:''' I'm selling only the concept of karmic realignment.
-->'''Homer:''' You can't sell that! Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos! (slams the door in Apu's face)
-->'''Apu:''' ...he's got me there.

-->'''Homer:''' Hey, can't I get ''one'' right?

-->"Leaves of grass, my ass!"

-->'''Bart:''' I think we should look at her research before we condemn her entirely.
-->[''everyone stares'']
-->'''Bart:''' [[MandatoryLine I haven't said anything for a while]].

-->'''Amy:''' It all comes down to this one penalty kick. Can the young woman break the glass ceiling, and prove once and for all that a female can be just as good an athlete as a male?
-->'''Knuckles:''' You know, Amy, any time someone calls attention to the breaking of gender roles, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that this is an exception and not the status quo.
-->[''cue StunnedSilence'']
-->'''Knuckles:''' ...what? Just because I'm a meathead doesn't mean I'm not a feminist.

** In [[Recap/FriendsS5E4TheOneWherePhoebeHatesPBS "The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS"]], Joey proves his point in a philosophical discussion (although with a fellow {{Ditz}}) and above all knows that bees die after they sting you, something that vegetarian GranolaGirl Phoebe totally forgot about.

* ''Newhart'': Larry, Darryl, and Darryl frequently catch this.

** He also astoundingly knew what a pentimento was. When the others are shocked, he explains that [[NotThatKindOfDoctor his doctorate is actually in art history]].
** In "Near-Death Wish", Fry, who is normally BookDumb at best, correctly points out that ''Film/TheMatrix''-style [[LivingBattery human batteries]] would be horribly inefficient at best and scientifically impossible at worst, since it would take lots of energy just to keep the humans alive, and their bodies would produce almost no power, especially relative to their requirements. Of course, since ''Futurama'' goes with the RuleOfFunny and ItRunsOnNonsensoleum for its style of science, Leela notes that despite sounding like a completely implausible idea, it totally works, going so far as to shove two old people into their vehicle's battery compartment at one point. (The whole joke being, more or less, that as dumb as Fry is, [[TakeThat even he can see the problems]] with how ''The Matrix'' works.)
** In "Anthology of Interest I", Fry is able to successfully identify the standard duty of a Vice President ([[VicePresidentWho casting tiebreaker votes in the Senate]]) to allow for the joke where Al Gore adds that it also includes protecting the space-time continuum. "Read your Constitution!"

* Harley Quinn occasionally baffles friends and foe alike in the various Batman cartoons and comics with displays of intelligence. At which point they either remember or Harley reminds them that [[JustifiedTrope she holds a doctorate in psychology]]. DependingOnTheWriter, she is either naturally carefree or just likes ''playing'' the role of PerkyFemaleMinion.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer Simpson is a frequent culprit for this, as per RuleOfFunny.

** Bart can also be subject to this, such as in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E17SimpsonSafari Simpson Safari]]" :

* Subverted in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' when Patrick reacts to seeing snow for the first time with an eloquent burst of PurpleProse. When [=SpongeBob=] compliments him, [[TrickDialogue Patrick admits he was just reading the back of a candy bar wrapper.]]
** Played straight in the episode "Squidtastic Voyage". [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick end up trapped inside Squidward via a ShrinkRay incident and need to remove the clarinet reed stuck in Squidward's esophagus. Patrick eloquently describes how they can use Squidward's own gastrointestinal release (in this case a giant burp) to remove the reed and free the duo. Both [=SpongeBob=] and Sandy are left speechless by this and Sandy ultimately agrees to it.

* More than usually justified when applied to the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', who is often portrayed as a dumbass despite the fact that he is a college graduate and a former military test pilot. (You don't want your geniuses flying experimental aircraft if you can avoid it, but neither do you want dumb grunts to destroy them!) Additional frequent justification: you can't spend all your time around Reed Richards and not pick up at least a few bits and pieces. It's occasionally been said that the difference between a good FF writer and a bad one is that the former realizes Ben is the smart one. Ben Grimm is at least smart enough that he can sometimes work as a mild example of a GeniusBruiser. A better example would be Johnny Storm, who's even MORE of a dumbass and has no higher learning backstory (he got his powers in high school). Yet on one occasion he was able to sum up a chain reaction streaming from unlocking unstable molecules and think of a way to contain the problem. Again, sharing living space with the smartest man in the world helps.

Not to be confused with the video game [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Ball of the same name]].

'''Goku:''' ''The ship!!''

* In ''Film/{{Evolution}}'', the scientist heroes figure out that the life forms are weak to Selenium, but can't think of a ready source they can use. Then [[ThoseTwoGuys Deke and Danny]], the resident meatheads, pipe up that [[ProductPlacement Head & Shoulders]] contains Selenium Sulfide, going on to point out their shiny, flake-free hair. At least the writers had the decency to {{lampshade|Hanging}} it. "How can you know that? You two don't know ''anything''!" To which the idiots reply that they read it off the bottles. "It's right on the ingredients list..."