History Main / TheFreelanceShameSquad

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* In ''VideoGame/TheSims'', other Sims will instantly notice if a Sim has done something embarrassing, and depending on their personality may point and laugh.

** There's Nelson. Despite being only one boy, he's about as straight an example of this as there ever was. His entire function on the show most of the time is to appear out of nowhere and point and laugh whenever someone does something embarrassing ([[SignatureLaugh "Haw-haw!"]]). Even when there's no logical reason for him to be present (which is sometimes {{lampshade|Hanging}}d). And at one point, this gets [[LaserGuidedKarma reversed on him in an epic fashion]] when he makes the mistake of laughing at an extremely tall fellow who happened to drive a tiny car. The man makes him pull down his pants and waddle down Main Street as all of Springfield mocks him. In another episode, he "Haw-haw"'s ''himself'' in the mirror, then remarks that it made him feel really bad. "No wonder no one went to my birthday party."

** There's Nelson. Despite being only one boy, he's about as straight an example of this as there ever was. His entire function on the show most of the time is to appear out of nowhere and point and laugh whenever someone does something embarrassing ([[SignatureLaugh "Haw-haw!"]]). Even when there's no logical reason for him to be present (which is sometimes {{lampshade|Hanging}}d). And at one point, this gets [[LaserGuidedKarma reversed on him in an epic fashion]] when he makes the mistake of laughing at an extremely tall fellow who happened to drive a tiny car. The man makes him pull down his pants and waddle down Main Street as all of Springfield mocks him.

** PlayedForLaughs and {{Exaggerated}} when Bart already didn't want to go clothes shopping with his mom, but then Marge has to go and throw open his changing room door and leave it open on him, stripped to his tighty-whiteys. Predictably, everyone in the store points at Bart and guffaws at his embarrassment, one guy even yelling, "Look at that stupid kid!"

Thankfully, this is usually not TruthInTelevision, as in reality most onlookers will react with either confusion, curiosity or just plain apathy when seeing someone else's faux pas. However, ''fear'' of this trope certainly exists in the minds of young people everywhere. This trope shares a bunk with NoSympathy, and like that, it's a trope that [[PetPeeveTrope tends to really get on people's nerves]]. See also EmbarrassedByAChild, HumiliationConga, and InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube.

When embarrassing things happen to characters in a comedy, however, every stranger within a 500-foot radius will go out of their way to stop what they were doing, point out the thing in question, laugh loudly about it, and basically humiliate the character into feeling like a quivering little pile of crap. This is known as the Freelance Shame Squad, a group of otherwise unremarkable people who apparently missed the memo that life isn't like elementary school, and still act like [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic]] [[KidsAreCruel 5-year-olds]] upon witnessing a stranger's misfortune.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' had Johnny reading a bodybuilding magazine at a supermarket. A little girl yells that this man is looking at pictures of other brawny men, causing everyone in distance to look over and [[AcceptableTargets gasp in horror]].

** PlayedForLaughs and {{Exaggerated}} when Bart already didn't want to go clothes shopping with his mom, but then Marge has to go and throw open his changing room door and leave it open on him, stripped to his tighty-whities. Predictably, everyone in the store points at Bart and guffaws at his embarrassment, one guy even yelling, "Look at that stupid kid!"

* Subverted in ''Film/TradingPlaces'': when the Dukes take Valentine, the homeless man they're training to be a commodities trader, to a big business dinner with a client, the client asks Valentine his opinion on whether or not he should buy wheat futures. Literally ''every single person'' in the restaurant stops what they're doing and stares at Valentine. But he gives a picture-perfect answer and impresses the client.
** This may also have been a parody of some famous TV commercials for E. F. Hutton & Co., an American stock brokerage firm. The firm was best known for its commercials in the 1970s and 1980s based on the phrase, "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen" which usually involved a professional remarking at a dinner party or someplace that his broker was E.F. Hutton, which caused bystanders to stop all conversation to listen to him say what E.F. Hutton thought about an investment. An admittedly low-quality example of these commercials can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX7ZEotoFh0 here.]]

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* In ''Film/HomeAlone 2'', conflict between Kevin and the rest of his family starts because Buzz plays an immature prank on Kevin while he's doing his vocal solo in the school Christmas Pageant. Said prank involves using two prop candles to give Kevin bunny ears, pretend like he's using Kevin's head as a drum, etc., and the whole auditorium full of ''adults'' (except Kevin's parents) thinks it's ''hilarious''. Never mind the fact that essentially Buzz is ruining the Christmas Pageant just to act like a jackass behind Kevin. The Choir Director doesn't even seem to notice his antics, yet every single member of the audience does. Buzz is lucky he wasn't suspended.

* ''Series/TheHardTimesofRJBerger'' has two, the pilot episode with the basketball game after RJ tries to shoot a hoop, misses, and we see his jersey shorts fall down, nearly everyone laughs and then his jockstrap, and the school play episode, of where RJ tries to kiss Jenny, but the tape Miles put on his penis to lessen the humiliation of his erection straps off revealing RJ's large erected penis illuminating on the wall, some wolf whistle, but mostly just laugh, and this is the second time RJ did something in a school play to prompt droll laughter, the first time he soiled himself.

* ''Series/TheHard TimesofRJBerger'' has two, the pilot episode with the basketball game after RJ tries to shoot a hoop, misses, and we see his jersey shorts fall down, nearly everyone laughs and then his jockstrap, and the school play episode, of where RJ tries to kiss Jenny, but the tape Miles put on his penis to lessen the humiliation of his erection straps off revealing RJ's large erected penis illuminating on the wall, some wolf whistle, but mostly just laugh, and this is the second time RJ did something in a school play to prompt droll laughter, the first time he soiled himself.

* The TropeNamer comes from the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Film/{{Morozko}} Jack Frost]]'', where a large gaggle of villagers comes out of nowhere to mock the wicked stepsister every time something humiliating happens to her. Crow dubs this jolly band of assholes the Freelance Shame Squad.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' had Johnny reading a bodybuilding magazine at a supermarket. A little girl yells that [[MistakenForGay this man is looking at pictures of other brawny men]], causing everyone in distance to look over and [[AcceptableTargets gasp in horror]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' had Johnny reading a bodybuilding magazine at a supermarket. A little girl yells that this man is looking at pictures of other brawny men, causing everyone in distance to look over and [[AcceptableTargets gasp in horror]].

** There's Nelson. Despite being only one boy, he's about as straight an example of this as there ever was. His entire function on the show most of the time is to appear out of nowhere and point and laugh whenever someone does something embarrassing. Even when there's no logical reason for him to be present (which is sometimes {{lampshade|Hanging}}d). And at one point, this gets [[LaserGuidedKarma reversed on him in an epic fashion]] when he makes the mistake of laughing at an extremely tall fellow who happened to drive a tiny car. The man makes him pull down his pants and waddle down Main Street as all of Springfield mocks him.

* In the sequel to ''Film/{{HomeAlone}}'', conflict between Kevin and the rest of his family starts because Buzz plays an immature prank on Kevin while he's doing his vocal solo in the school Christmas Pageant. Said prank involves using two prop candles to give Kevin bunny ears, pretend like he's using Kevin's head as a drum, etc., and the whole auditorium full of ''adults'' (except Kevin's parents) thinks it's ''hilarious''. Never mind the fact that essentially Buzz is ruining the Christmas Pageant just to act like a jackass behind Kevin. The Choir Director doesn't even seem to notice his antics, yet every single member of the audience does. Buzz is lucky he wasn't suspended.

** There's Nelson. Despite being only one boy, he's about as straight an example of this as there ever was. His entire function on the show most of the time is to appear out of nowhere and point and laugh whenever someone does something embarrassing. Even when there's no logical reason for him to be present (which is sometimes {{lampshade|Hanging}}d). And at one point, this gets reversed on him in an epic fashion when he makes the mistake of laughing at an extremely tall fellow who happened to drive a tiny car. The man makes him pull down his pants and waddle down Main Street as all of Springfield mocks him. It's not so funny when it happens to ''you'', eh, Muntz?

** {{Subverted}} in "Homer Goes to College": Homer's Nuclear Physics 101 professor makes an atom based pun and everyone but Homer laughs. The professor then drops his notes and Homer laughs uproariously... while everyone else looks at him awkwardly.

** When Randy gets a DUI in "Bloody Mary", Mr. Garrison gives a lecture on drunk driving, in which he brings Randy into the classroom to give a half-hearted apology speech. Mr. Garrison then berates him quite thoroughly while he addresses the class as Stan hides his face in agonized embarrassment. Inverted since the rest of the class just stare dumbfounded.
** Cartman spearheads these on a frequent basis at the school. In "Bass To Mouth" it's revealed that he does this to such a level one student has actually committed suicide from the ridicule. The School Council orders (and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood at fail]], begs) Cartman not to let the same thing happen to another kid, which he interprets as embarrassing another kid and spearheading a Freelance Shame Squad onto ''her'' instead.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Pranks a Lot", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick make themselves invisible and prank everyone by pretending to be ghosts. When Mr. Krabs makes them visible again, he finds that they are [[InvisibleStreaker naked as well]]. (They took their clothes off because the spray they used stained clothes.) Krabs lets them go, and [=SpongeBob=] mentions that [[TemptingFate he'd die of embarassment if anyone saw him now]]. They exit Krabs' office to find a crowd of all the people they pranked, laughing and hooting at the "Live nude pranksters".

* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'': In "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS1E1NoService No Service]]", Mickey Mouse saves himself from this when he regains his clothes (and gets Donald's as well). Donald ends the episode being chased by one of those squads.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has these constantly as well, in one episode Timmy's Dad was humiliated by his lowly job that he was actually ''followed'' by the shame squad.

** In "Girls' Day Out", Star is sent to detention for setting the class hamster Marisol free, and Marco is shanghaied into rescuing the hamster. Marco promptly gets his arm stuck in a drain pipe, with Marisol just out of reach. Not only does his crush Jackie Lynn-Thomas see him like this, but he eventually attracts a horde of gawking students who all take pictures.

** Then there's the episode "Mikey's Pants", wherein Mikey rips his pants and his friends try to save him from being faced with [[SternTeacher Miss Finster's]] needle ''and'' TheFreelanceShameSquad, using various materials like newspaper, papier mache, an empty pickle barrel, and "space pants" from the former Soviet Union. Finally, however, Miss Finster catches Mikey with his ripped pants, which drives TJ, Vince, and Gus to [[HeroicSacrifice intentionally rip their own pants to share Mikey's shame]]. Ultimately {{Subverted|Trope}} when King Bob sees this and urges all the other kids to show respect for this brave act, rather than jeering at the boys' ripped pants.

* In ''Franchise/TheSims'', other Sims will instantly notice if a Sim has done something embarrassing, and depending on their personality may point and laugh.

* Happens in the first ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' game: when Larry buys a condom, the cashier will announce his choice to the (seemingly) empty store, and shoppers will pop out from everywhere and say "What a pervert!"