History Main / SubvertedPunchline

* In [[http://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2016/01/10http://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2016/01/10 this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Frazz}}'' comic, Frazz makes a reference to a song by Music/TheWho without saying the name of the band, hoping that Caulfield will ask the question of "Who?" as in "who wrote it?" He goes for proper grammar instead and asks "whom?"

* Sometimes used in ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace''. One SundayStrip spends a multiple panels carefully setting up the punchline "I wouldn't send a knight out on a dog like this", before Lancelot derails it by asking, if the dog has no nose, how does it smell?

* On ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', there is one scene which involves [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick annoying Squidward by playing "Small Plastic Disk That You Throw". Patrick comments that the name is [[OverlyLongName a bit too long]], and wishes it was easier to say. [=SpongeBob=] immediately comes up with "Small Plastic Disk That You ''Toss''", which Patrick praises him for. The expectation was "Frisbee".

* In ''Film/WaynesWorld2'', Wayne [[IgnoreTheDisability awkwardly avoids]] using anything that sounds like the word "eye" when talking to a character with a very noticeable glass eye, ending when he promises to "make sure to cross my Ts and dot my... lower-case Js."

[[AC: Advertising]]

[[AC: Comic Strip]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Bruce Wayne [=/=] {{Franchise/Batman}} is given a new device by Lucius Fox which allows his cellphone to emit sonar pulses to map a room.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: {{Radio}}]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WebOriginal]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', there is one scene which involves [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick annoying Squidward by playing "Small Plastic Disk That You Throw". Patrick comments that the name is [[OverlyLongName a bit too long]], and wishes it was easier to say. [=SpongeBob=] immediately comes up with "Small Plastic Disk That You ''Toss''", which Patrick praises him for.

* There's a series of commercials for Wonderful Pistachios showing someone doing what they normally do, only with nuts involved. The narrator then says that they "do it" ("it" being eating nuts) with some specific reference. ("Keyboard Cat does it purr-fectly." "Manny Pacquiao does it...with a knockout." "Lewis Black does it [[ShapedLikeItself like Lewis Black]].") One commercial shows Music/{{Psy}} dancing and singing "Gangnam Style" with the narrator saying "Psy does it...and we all go nuts."

* On ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', there is one scene which involves SpongeBob and Patrick annoying Squidward by playing "Small Plastic Disk That You Throw". Patrick comments that the name is [[{{OverlyLongName}} a bit too long]], and wishes it was easier to say. SpongeBob immediately comes up with "Small Plastic Disk That You ''Toss''", which Patrick praises him for.

** In ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'' Granny Weatherwax repeatedly attempts to tell a (fairly well known) joke about a man ordering an alligator sandwich, [[AntiHumour but never gets the punchline right]] (and it's never given in the book either, leaving the reader to figure out that a man who orders an alligator sandwich and wants it fast, tells the cook to be quick about it, etc. is telling them to [[spoiler:"make it snappy!"]]).

Compare SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion (which does something similar with obvious rhymes), SubvertedCatchPhrase (which relies on an established phrase) and StealthPun, (which is left unspoken so the audience can figure it out themselves rather than be subverted). Contrast ObligatoryJoke (which usually involves making IncrediblyLamePuns because the opportunity is just too good to pass up). Subtrope of BaitAndSwitch and AntiHumor (which is when you set up a punchline or a gag...and there just isn't one, or there's something serious or boring in its place).

Compare SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion (which does something similar with obvious rhymes), SubvertedCatchPhrase (which relies on an established phrase) and StealthPun, (which is left unspoken so the audience can figure it out themselves rather than be subverted). Subtrope of BaitAndSwitch and AntiHumor (which is when you set up a punchline or a gag...and there just isn't one, or there's something serious or boring in its place).

A gag where a character teases an obvious joke...and says something else. This might be because they're TheDitz or GiverOfLameNames, and the potential joke honestly didn't occur to them. It can also be used by a character with a bit more wit to inject some sarcasm into a simple pun or be used as part of a LastSecondWordSwap if the speaker wants to avoid a LamePunReaction. The gag can be split across two characters by having one ComicallyMissingThePoint of another's [[StealthPun implied joke]] (sometimes combined with AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering). To make sure the audience expects the looming joke, it is typically more heavily telegraphed than the StealthPun, with emphasis placed the relevant words to make sure that the audience gets it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Future Vision", Steven quips that [[MetaphorIsMyMiddleName his middle name is "Danger"]]. At first, it looks like Garnet's suffering from BluntMetaphorTrauma, but instead she playfully "corrects" and tweaks him on the nose:

* On an episode of ''Series/TheColbertReport'' Stephen mentioned a story about Burger King advertising Windows 7 and said that Apple needed its own fast food tie-in that would be [[McDonalds "big...for mac."]] He decides it should be Carl's Jr.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Arfenhouse}} Teh Movie Too'':

* The alternate commentary track featuring Mr. Plinkett that WebVideo/RedLetterMedia relased for ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' has a gag where Plinkett explains that the movie's producers were worried about placing the actor Creator/DeForestKelley in the woods... because his last name sorta sounds like "killer".

-->'''Butler''': This is Lord Bedside.
-->'''Lord Bedside''': How do you do. Welcome to Bedside House.
-->'''Butler''': I thought you were going to say "Manor", sir.
-->'''Lord Bedside''': Yes, so I was. Welcome to Manor House.

-->'''Newt Pippington Britishhooves:''' Ever since I lost my ''eye'', I've been craving nothing but ''candy!''
-->'''Twilight:''' Talk about holiday spirit!

* On ''WesternAniamation/TheSimpsons'' Channel 6's traffic reporter is Arnie Pie. His news report, done while reporting from a helicopter over the traffic, is called "Arnie in the Sky" (instead of "Pie in the Sky").

->"Never go for the punchline. There might be something funnier."

* In one stage show of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', they played this to the point of subverting the entire routine. The stage is set for the famous parrot sketch, the crowd is giddy with anticipation, John Cleese begins by declaring the parrot he purchased is dead...and the clerk simply looks at the dead parrot and gives Cleese a refund.

-->-- '''Creator/JerryStiller'''

* In ''Film/WaynesWorld2'', Wayne awkwardly avoids using anything that sounds like the word "eye" when talking to a character with a very noticeable glass eye, ending when he promises to "make sure to cross my Ts and dot my... lower-case Js."