History Main / ViewersAreMorons

* The tagline of the [[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Explain xkcd wiki]] is "Explain Webcomic/{{xkcd}}: It's 'cause you're dumb". (though it's a webcomic that [[ViewersAreGeniuses expects the reader to understand jokes rooted in very niche programming or science subjects]])

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' , a line in [[https://youtu.be/jHpn8JFO1ZM Glomgold's theme song takeover]] has him say "Okay, we ran out of budget, but kids 6-10 will love it" in defense of the StylisticSuck.

Of course, all that means is that the bar for entertainment is raised even higher, and that viewers will get annoyed more and more easily if things like {{Infodump}} happen a few times too many. Additionally, the caveat about this being what ''executives'' believe about viewers was, at least at one point, not particularly untrue. In the era of the "Big Three" networks (Creator/{{NBC}}, Creator/{{ABC}}, and Creator/{{CBS}}), before [=VCRs=] and the like, shows really ''were'' '''designed''' to be simple and supposedly "unobjectionable" narratives, for fear of making that one third of the entire TV viewing audience tune out and tune in to one of the competitors. This is why television quickly gained the nicknames Boob Tube and Idiot Box from intellectuals who found television pandering and simple.

* ''WebVideo/StuartAshen'' takes offense at the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation Vita}}'s "Welcome Park" tutorial program, which has the voiceover of a children's show. He doesn't even give it 10 seconds before he [[PrecisionFStrike rudely cuts it off]].

* {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1860 this]] ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal''.

* ScriptWank: The creator explicitly spells out a work's message because they don't trust the audience to pick up on the subtext, goes hand in hand with...

** NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Expecting the audience to be surprised by a [[WalkingSpoiler twist involving a character]] who is voiced by an actor known for such roles.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The heroes are handsome/beautiful while the villains are ugly, because viewers will never figure out who to root for if either are reversed.

* NarratingTheObvious: The narrator states the obvious.

** ObviousJudas: Expecting the audience to be surprised when an ObviouslyEvil character turns out to be a villain.

** CardCarryingVillain: Believing that the audience can't tell if a character is evil unless they explicitly [[EvilGloating boast]] about how evil they are and/or refer to themselves as evil.

** CardCarryingVillain: Believing that the audience can't tell if a character is evil unless they openly take pride in how evil they are and/or refer to themselves as evil.

** Antony affably taunts Brutus for giving a speech "too cerebral for that kind of audience". ManipulativeBastard Antony instead delivers (offscreen) the other famous [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar Shakespearean speech]] full of energy, [[BastardlySpeech demagoguery]] and dramatic effect that [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge infuriates the masses against Caesar's assassins]].