History Main / WannabeLine

The CoolestClubEver must have a line outside composed of people yearning to be found cool enough to enter; alas, they're NotOnTheList. This is the Wannabe Line. Its main purpose is to be there for characters to be whisked past (often dropping a PretenderDiss along the way), so we may know that they're cool / hot / important enough not to have to wait. Alternatively, they may be trapped there with everyone else, to remind us that, although we know they're cool, [[CoolLoser no one else does]], or that they are, in fact, [[LoserProtagonist losers]].

* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MissionHill'': frustrated at waiting in line for hours to get in the CoolestClubEver only to be turned away at the door, [[CoolLoser Andy]] has his revenge by setting up a fake club front in an abandoned building across the street and letting no one in at all, except for [[LimitedSocialCircle his friends]], who are all in on it. Pretty soon, the steep exclusivity factor draws a line that rivals the real club's, until he fakes a fire gutting the place and ruining him (just before anyone got '''too''' wise).

Banishment to the Wannabe Line is always adjudicated by a team of monstrous {{Bouncer}}s, whom the people in the Wannabe Line have to somehow convince to let them in, either via persuasion or bribery. A common occurrence is for a group to go to the club, only for just the cool/hot ones to be let in, while the others are barred. Sometimes the person let in can convince the bouncer to let in the others by telling them that "they're with me", but the characters barred may still be offended by the initial rebuff.

Banishment to the Wannabe Line is always adjudicated by a team of monstrous {{Bouncer}}s, whom the people in the Wannabe Line have to somehow convince to let them in, either via persuasion or bribery. A common occurrence is for a group to go to the club, only for only the cool/hot ones to be let in, while the others are barred. Sometimes the person let him can convince the bouncer to let the others in by telling them that "they're with me", but the characters barred may still be offended over it.

In RealLife, the Wannabe Line is usually for clubgoers who lacked the foresight to get there before the club reached capacity, and coolness or lack thereof doesn't enter the picture as often as TV Land would have us believe.

The CoolestClubEver must have a line outside composed of people yearning to be found cool enough to enter; alas, they're NotOnTheList. This is the Wannabe Line. Its main purpose is to be there for characters to be whisked past (often dropping a PretenderDiss along the way), so we may know that they're cool / hot / important enough not to have to wait. Alternatively, they may be trapped there with everyone else, to remind us that, although we know they're cool, [[CoolLoser no one else does]], or that they're are in fact [[LoserProtagonist losers]].

The CoolestClubEver must have a line outside composed of people yearning to be found cool enough to enter; alas, they're NotOnTheList. This is the Wannabe Line. Its main purpose is to be there for characters to be whisked past, so we may know that they're cool / hot / important enough not to have to wait. Alternatively, they may be trapped there with everyone else, to remind us that, although we know they're cool, [[CoolLoser no one else does]], or that they're are in fact [[LoserProtagonist losers]].

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16757559530.99109100 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

* ''Series/DarkAngel'': "Gill Girl", Max has to get inside a strip club to rescue someone inside, and has to pretend to be a working girl to do, but there are actually quite a lot of girls waiting to be judged by {{Bouncer}} before they're allowed inside. But Max simply walks past the waiting girls while doing a SupermodelStrut and taking off her jackets, and the bouncer is so taken by her he let's her in without a word.

* ''Series/That70sShow'' had this as an A plot, where Eric, Donna, Hyde and Fez try to get into a Studio 54 knock off in Chicago. Donna as the designated hot girl gets in right away but the boys take longer. Fez gets in with his dance moves, Hyde with his anti-conformity speech, and Eric simply because he is Donna's boyfriend (the bouncer couldn't believe she was dating him, and thought they were ''siblings'').
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'': In "Young People Have Phlegm Too", Charlie and Alan are having a middle-age crisis, and to prove they're not too old they go with Charlie's GirlOfTheWeek to CoolestClubEver. But while the {{Bouncer}} lets the pretty girls in, he blocks the two of them. Charlie even tries to bride the bouncer, but to no avail, and is about to kick them out when the GirlOfTheWeek comes back and tells the bouncer to let them in cause "they're with me".

The CoolestClubEver must have a line outside composed of people yearning to be found cool enough to enter; alas, they're NotOnTheList. This is the Wannabe Line. Its main purpose is to be there for our hero to be whisked past, so we may know that our hero is cool. Alternatively, our hero may be trapped there with everyone else, to remind us that, although we know they're cool, [[CoolLoser no one else does]]. In RealLife, the Wannabe Line is usually for clubgoers who lacked the foresight to get there before the club reached capacity, and coolness or lack thereof doesn't enter the picture as often as TV Land would have us believe.

Banishment to the Wannabe Line is always adjudicated by a team of monstrous {{Bouncer}}s.

Compare NoFameNoWealthNoService.

* In a ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' strip, Rat, Zebra, and Pig go to a nightclub and get in line.. Rat and Zebra got in; [[ButtMonkey Pig]], who'd recently visited a vet instead of a doctor and been given a cone to wear, was not so lucky.

%%* In ''Film/TheMask'', the [[CoolestClubEver Coco Bongo]] has one.

* A deleted scene in ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' features a long sequence in which the titular character elbows his way through multiple lines and into progressively smaller and more exclusive VIP sections before finally reaching rival Hansel to deliver a zinger.

* In the ''Series/HomeImprovement'' episode "Desperately Seeking Willow", Tim and Jill go to a club to search for Wilson's niece and the bouncer lets Jill in but not Tim because he's not cool enough. Tim then becomes obsessed with trying to get in. However, said club wasn't a CoolestClubEver, it was a fairly normal looking club.

* The Afterlife club on Omega in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' features a small line of would-be patrons. There is one patron heard constantly making threats/pleas to the bouncer to be let in whenever you walk past. Shepard, of course, goes right in.

* The entire point of the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "No Weenies Allowed", where Spongebob tries to prove himself "Tough enough" to enter the Salty Spitoon. On the plus side, the line's apparently either very short or very fast, because he gets to make half a dozen attempts to get past the bouncer.

* The Mysterioso in ''Literature/MoonOverSoho'' is an attempt at recreating the atmosphere of a Soho jazz club in TheSixties. With this in mind, The Management hire the toughest bouncers they can find, and basically tell them to let people in based on personal whim. At 11:45, the Wannabe Line is ''still'' going on forever. Peter (not wanting to panic the staff and clientele by saying "PC Grant, here on a case") gets through by namedropping his dad, the legendary trumpeter "Lord" Grant.

* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MissionHill'': frustrated at waiting in line for hours to get in the CoolestClubEver only to be turned away at the door, [[CoolLoser Andy]] has his revenge by setting up a fake club front in an abandoned building across the street and letting no one in at all, except for [[LimitedSocialCircle his friends]], who are all in on it. Pretty soon, the steep exclusivity factor draws a Wannabe Line that rivals the real club's, until he fakes a fire gutting the place and ruining him (just before anyone got TOO wise).

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s Vaccination Special, in which the "club" happens to be a Walgreens with COVID-19 vaccines, and the ones waiting in line are people in the lower vaccine priority groups.

* Penguin's club, The Iceberg Lounge, in the later ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has such a line. In "Joker's Millions", Barbara and Dick get in by Barbara mentioning her father as the Penguin is walking by. Bruce Wayne is seen in the Lounge later.

* Showed up in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' in the episode "No Tomorrow" with a twist: the {{Bouncer}} was only letting guys in, because there were so many women already inside that "people are going to think it's a lesbian bar." Ted and Barney immediately ditch their dates to get whisked past the line.
** Showed up earlier in the first season episode "OK Awesome", with three nerdy side characters stuck outside the club as Robin is able to whisk her friends right past them and step outside to make phone calls because she was on the VIP list (until the shift change for the bouncer means that the new guy doesn't recognize her so she gets stuck outside too).

* Subverted in ''Series/QueerAsFolk''. After Brian takes over Babylon, a rival club opens that steals business. He ends up getting renewed interest in the club by establishing a Wannabe Line and only letting attractive young men in. The club is actually completely empty and the ones let in are models Brian hired.

* In ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Tim and Jill go to a club to search for Wilson's niece and the bouncer lets Jill in but not Tim because he's not cool enough. Tim then becomes obsessed with trying to get in. However, said club wasn't a CoolestClubEver, it was a fairly normal looking club.

* ''Film/KnockedUp'' has something of a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the Wannabe Line. Allison and Debbie are trying to have fun for once at a nightclub and the bouncer refuses them entry. Debbie goes on a [[ClusterFBomb wicked]] rant about him not thinking they're "slutty" enough and how pathetic he is. He responds that he hates his job and finds them both immensely attractive, but states that they are still considered too old, and having a pregnant woman (Allison) in the club is preposterous.

* A deleted scene in ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' features a long sequence in which the titular character elbows his way through multiple Wannabe Lines and into progressively smaller and more exclusive VIP sections before finally reaching rival Hansel to deliver a zinger.

* ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' illustrates the benefits of Mafia life when Henry and Karen are whisked past the line to enter the club through the back entrance.

* In ''Film/LAStory'', Harris can only get a reservation to the new trendy restaurant by being approved by [[ThoseWackyNazis The Fourth Reich Bank.]]

* One appeared in ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine''. Rat and Zebra got in; [[ButtMonkey Pig]], who'd recently visited a vet instead of a doctor and been given a cone to wear, was not so lucky.

* In ''Film/TheMask'', the [[CoolestClubEver Coco Bongo]] has one.

* In ''Series/{{The Librarians|2014}}'', Jake and Ezekiel end up in one of these. Needing to get inside to save the world, Jake starts to do the usual tough-guy routine with the bouncer, but the confrontation morphs into a [[HiddenDepths conversation about British vs. American authors]], which distracts the bouncer enough for Ezekiel to * ''Series/TheNanny'': Fran and Valerie usually spend their nights off at one of those lines to see celebrities entering. One day, feeling Maxwell needed to get out more, Fran invited him along. Because Fran and Valerie didn't want to drive away potential boyfriends, they asked him to pretend he didn't know them. It backfired on them when ''he'' was let in.

slip inside.

* Played straight in the Hamburg night club mission of ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'', with Cait sneaking in by having a friendly patron distract the bouncer so she can climb in through a window.

* Half of the plot of ''Film/ANightAtTheRoxbury'' revolves around getting past the tremendous line in front of the eponymous club.

* In ''Film/TheMask'', the [[CoolestClubEver Coco Bongo]] has one.

* ''Film/KnockedUp'' has something of a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the Wannabe Line. Allison and Debbie are trying to have fun for once at a nightclub and the bouncer refuses them entry. Debbie goes on a [[ClusterFBomb wicked]] rant about him not thinking they're "slutty" enough and how pathetic he is. He responds that he hates his job and finds them both immensely attractive, but states that they are still considered too old, and having a pregnant woman (Allison) in the club is preposterous.

* The Mysterioso in ''Literature/MoonOverSoho'' is an attempt at recreating the atmosphere of a Soho jazz club in TheSixties. With this in mind, The Management hire the toughest bouncers they can find, and basically tell them to let people in based on personal whim. At 11:45, the Wannabe Line is ''still'' going on forever. Peter (not wanting to panic the staff and clientele by saying "PC Grant, here on a case") gets through by namedropping his dad, the legendary trumpeter "Lord" Grant.

* Subverted in ''Series/QueerAsFolk''. After Brian takes over Babylon, a rival club opens that steals business. He ends up getting renewed interest in the club by establishing a Wannabe Line and only letting attractive young men in. The club is actually completely empty and the ones let in are models Brian hired.

* In ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Tim and Jill go to a club to search for Wilson's niece and the bouncer lets Jill in but not Tim because he's not cool enough. Tim then becomes obsessed with trying to get in. However, said club wasn't a CoolestClubEver, it was a fairly normal looking club.
* ''Series/TheNanny'': Fran and Valerie usually spend their nights off at one of those lines to see celebrities entering. One day, feeling Maxwell needed to get out more, Fran invited him along. Because Fran and Valerie didn't want to drive away potential boyfriends, they asked him to pretend he didn't know them. It backfired on them when ''he'' was let in.
* In ''Series/{{The Librarians|2014}}'', Jake and Ezekiel end up in one of these. Needing to get inside to save the world, Jake starts to do the usual tough-guy routine with the bouncer, but the confrontation morphs into a [[HiddenDepths conversation about British vs. American authors]], which distracts the bouncer enough for Ezekiel to slip inside.

[[folder:Music Videos]]
* The music video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmxUMcqGGTw Whistle While I Work It]]" (feat. Chester See, Creator/{{Tobuscus}}, and Creator/WayneBrady) has a group of friends try to get into a club past the line using a flyer, despite the fact that they're a group of dudes without any girls with them. The doorman waves them off in annoyance, and they're forced to go to the back of the long line, with Chester See singing that he "[knows] somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows..." They manage to get in hours later, but one of them is not let in, as he's wearing flip-flops. The whole song is about a typical RealLife club-goer (expensive valet parking, long lines, overpriced drinks, dirty bathrooms, too loud to talk, too crowded to dance). Even someone like Wayne Brady ends up being barred from the VIP room despite being recognized.
* Cinderella's video for "Shake Me" [[{{Pun}} shakes up]] the CinderellaPlot by showing the wicked stepsisters gloating to the Cinderella character that they're seeing the band while she has to stay home. After they depart, the Cinderella character's poster of the band comes to life and transports her to their show, [[SheCleansUpNicely where she's wearing an 80s version of a]] LittleBlackDress and has a front row seat. Meanwhile, the stepsisters are stuck waiting outside since the show has sold out and they unsuccessfully try to woo the bouncer before they watch the Cinderella character ride off with the band in their limo.
[[/folder]]

* The Hive from ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' has a small line, but Jensen has other ways of getting in, including [[AirVentEscape through the vents]], [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer through the sewers]], and [[HeyYouHaymaker through the bouncer]].
* In front of the Paris dance club in ''VideoGame/KickBeat''. The canon male hero is turned away at the door after implausibly presenting himself as a "friend of the owner" and resorts to a diversion to get in, quickly resulting in a huge fight in the club. Later, the canonical heroine walks past the same line accompanied by admiring comments and is immediately beckoned in by the bouncers. Promptly subverted; the bouncers recognized her as "that troublemaker's partner" and club security is waiting in ambush inside.

* Penguin's club, The Iceberg Lounge, in the later ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has such a line. In "Joker's Millions", Barbara and Dick get in by Barbara mentioning her father as the Penguin is walking by. Bruce Wayne is seen in the Lounge later.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'': General Specific and his soldiers cannot get in the clubs his cousin enters. When Sheep got in, General Specific asked his cousin to held a party at his base to attract Sheep and told his cousin to tell the bouncers to let his friends in. [[ExactWords However, the bouncer was told to let "General Specific's friends" but wasn't told to let "General Specific" in]].
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s Vaccination Special, in which the "club" happens to be a Walgreens with COVID-19 vaccines, and the ones waiting in line are people in the lower vaccine priority groups.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision. Many clubs in RealLife maintain lines like this, whether they're full or not, just to create the ''impression'' that they're cool. And some people do, for various reasons (they're famous, they know the owner, they've paid for the privilege, etc.) get whisked past all that.
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clublinecover.jpg]]

* Music/{{Cinderella}}'s video for "Shake Me" [[{{Pun}} shakes up]] the CinderellaPlot by showing the wicked stepsisters gloating to the Cinderella character that they're seeing the band while she has to stay home. After they depart, the Cinderella character's poster of the band comes to life and transports her to their show, [[SheCleansUpNicely where she's wearing an 80s version of a]] LittleBlackDress and has a front row seat. Meanwhile, the stepsisters are stuck waiting outside since the show has sold out and they unsuccessfully try to woo the bouncer before they watch the Cinderella character ride off with the band in their limo.