Flat Joy

"Jafar, Jafar, he's our man, if he can't do it..."^note GREAT!!!

Osaka: Go Team Sea Slug!
Chiyo & Kaorin: [unenthusiastic] Yay...

—Azumanga Daioh

When a character expresses a moment of joy in the most deadpan manner possible. Often by saying the word "yay" or "woo hoo" in a flat monotone or other tone of voice that does not exhibit joy.

Can frequently be used sarcastically, when the "joy" is invoked by something very much not joyful. In this circumstance, it is inevitably said by the Deadpan Snarker. Just as often, however, the character in question may actually be truly joyful, and simply isn't an emotional or expressive person, or is incapable of being loud. Deadpan or Flat is the character's normal tone of voice, even when expressing happiness. This trope also works for characters who are so overjoyed that they are absolutely floored and stunned and not able to express their happiness properly. Just pure flat awe.

Compare with And There Was Much Rejoicing. See also Flat "What" and Sarcasm Mode. Not to be confused with Petite Pride. Also see Dull Surprise and That Makes Me Feel Angry.

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Examples:

Advertising

• Ben Stein's schtick, as a spokesman for Clear Eyes eyedrops, was always him giving a flat, disinterested "Wow" after demonstrating the power of Clear Eyes.
• In the radio version of a 7Up ad, Brad Garret is used to show how 7Up can turn someone who is a curmudgeon on the outside (expressing Sarcastic Joy) to happy on the inside (where he's singing his own version of "Everyone Knows It's Windy").
• In commercial for Dairy Queen ice cream cakes, a couple argues over who gets to bring out the cake at a party that they are hosting to receive praise for doing so. After the woman sneaks out past the man into the next room announcing that she brought the cake, she is welcomed by cheers from all the partygoers. The man tries to salvage the situation by grabbing the forks and following her into the next room, announcing that he brought forks, only to be welcomed by a single stifled cheer from a male partygoer.

Anime & Manga

• Aggretsuko has Fenneko, who doesn't so much "laugh" as "say the word 'ha' repeatedly".
• In the anime version of Azumanga Daioh, Yukari-sensei sets up a dodgeball game with her, Tomo, and Yomi on one team, and Osaka, Chiyo and Kaorin on the other. Yukari enthusiastically introduces her team as "Team Yukari", prompting an insincere "Yay" from Tomo and Yomi. Osaka, meanwhile, introduces her team with equal enthusiasm as "Team Sea Slug", over the protests of her team-mates, who also end up pulling off this trope.
  Osaka: Go Team Sea Slug!
  Chiyo & Kaorin: [unenthusiastic] Yay...
• In BanG Dream!, this often happens with Tae, who is a perfectly sweet girl but quite a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander who very rarely expresses emotion beyond neutral pleasantness. In the game, one of her post-live reactions has her saying in a monotone "Yay, woo. Ummm...I'm super happy! Am I doing this right?", and Kasumi responding "You're still a bit stiff. You have to smile when you're happy, O-Tae!" And in another, after Arisa pulls a characteristic Tsundere move, Tae notes sympathetically that they both have trouble showing it when they're happy.
• Kiniro Mosaic: In episode nine of the second season of the anime adaptation, we learn that the Inokuma twins are going to the pool, running around the room with arms up chanting "Pool. Pool. The School Pool". in a synchronized deadpan. Though it's worth noting that they are genuinely keen, it's just that the pair like to speak in a cute monotone fairly often.
• In the beginning of the two-parter of Sailor Moon S on Usagi's birthday, she's all joy and smiles but the other girls seem distinctly flat and indifferent to the whole occasion. Turns out to be the girls trolling her both for a laugh and to keep her from figuring out the surprise birthday party at Rei's.
• The English dub of Super Gals played this joke with the person in the cat suit giving prizes.
  "Whoopde-freaking-meow"
• In Sword Art Online, this happens when Kirito, who's recently been inducted to the Knights of the Blood, is forced to partner with Kuradeel, whom he'd previously quarreled with and beaten in a duel, under the supervision of Godrey, the frontline commander. Neither Kirito nor Kuradeel are happy about it, and Kuradeel is plotting to murder Kirito and Godfrey.
  Godfrey: Awesome. Now, LET'S GO CLEAR A DUNGEON!
  Kirito & Kuradeel: Yaay...
• In the Beach Episode of Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Tomo and friends are all excited to arrive at the beach...except Misuzu, who has to be prodded to even give an unenthusiastic "whoo-hoo".
• YuYu Hakusho: At the start of Yusuke's first case involving Genkai, he and Kuwabara end up outside her shrine for separate reasons. After seeing the Old Master for the first time, Yusuke is less than enthused about the case. Meanwhile, Kuwabara wasn't interested in special training, just some advice on how to keep his own power under control. So when she has everyone present draw lots to see who gets to move on to the basic tests,^note She designed them as spiritual litmus paper; only those with sufficient spirit energy would change the paper to a passing color. Yusuke thinks to himself praying for a blank losing slip. What happens?
  Yusuke & Kuwabara: [deadpan] Well, lucky me. I won. [lame trumpet plays]
• This scene in Death Note:
  Misa: Let's all be friends together!
  L: yay, fun.

Comic Books

• Asterix:
  • In Asterix at the Olympic Games, after the Gaulish villagers have taken their place in the stands, they are as raucous and excited as a typical sporting crowd, cheering loudly for their champion, Asterix... until they realise he has been shut out of the top three in his race. Their behaviour contrasts sharply with the Greeks, especially the Spartans, whose reaction to seeing their athletes sweep the top three is as follows:
    Spartans: [completely stone-faced] Sparta.
  • A defining trait of the Corsicans in Asterix in Corsica, in line with the French stereotype.
    Vermicellix: [with a completely unmoving surly expression] Boneywasawarriorwayayix, I am beside myself with joy.
    Boneywasawarriorwayayix: [also with a completely unmoving surly expression] Vermicellix, the sight of you fills me with pleasure.
• In a one-page Richie Rich comic book gag, Richie tells his butler Cadbury a joke, which fails to elicit an emotional response from him, but later on as Cadbury goes for a walk, he lets out a single "haw".
• Iznogoud: In the animated episode "State Visit", the "enthusiastic crowd" assembled to acclaim the visiting sultan sound thoroughly bored as they say, "Hurray. Hurray. Long live Haroun el-Plassid. Hurray. Hurray. Long live Iznogoud". Similarly, the "ruthless crowd" watching the imprisoned Iznogoud on public display at the end of the episode are almost as listless as they say, "Boo. Boo. Get rid of Grand Vizier Iznogoud".

Comic Strips

• In one Peanuts comic, Charlie Brown rewards Snoopy with "The greatest reward a dog can receive from a human: A pat on the head". In the next panel, Snoopy rolls his eyes and thinks, "Thrillsville".
• An early Garfield comic had Jon Arbuckle making a really big deal out of what Garfield was going to get for dinner. When he finally revealed that it was "Liver!", Garfield put on a disgusted expression and thought, "Oh hooray, hop about, clap paws, squeal with glee".

Fan Works

• The Bolt Chronicles: In "The School," Penny is obviously very unimpressed with the school football game she attends, sardonically saying "...yay team..."
• Calvin & Hobbes: The Series:
  Hobbes: I said, oh joy. Wonder. Uncontrollable excitement.
• Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space.
  "I am flattered," said the Martian flatly.
• Ultra Fast Pony has a running gag where crowds are all voiced by a single, completely emotionless voice, rendering all their lines either flat joy or Dull Surprise. In "The Cheesen One", it gets lampshaded, as Rainbow Dash complains that her fans' cheers of adoration sound like garbage.
  Rainbow Dash: Okay, I saved it. Everyone cheer!
  Crowd: Yay.
  Rainbow Dash: What, seriously, is that it?
  Crowd: Yaaaaay.
  Rainbow Dash: Wow. We've gotten really lazy at doing the crowd noises.
  Crowd: [A Stock Scream. Loud, panicked screaming, at that.]
  Rainbow Dash: Now you're just using one that we've used before!
• Daphne Greengrass and the Preemptive Adulterer:
  Harry: Yay. Someone who doesn't even like me has been coerced into marrying me. Yay. I will have so much fun being aggressively ignored by you for the rest of the year. Whee.
• Lucy's Secret: In Lucy's dream, Edwin is described as stating in a "monotone" that he's "bursting with excitement and joy" (though he is sincere; he's just The Stoic like Lucy).
• How?:
  Harry: Wow, what a day! And now Potions. Yay.

Films — Animation

• Disney's Aladdin:
  • When "Prince Ali" arrives in the palace:
    Sultan: I'm delighted to meet you. This is my royal vizier, Jafar. He's delighted too.
    Jafar: [deadpan] Ecstatic.
  • When Al is fighting Jafar as a giant snake, Genie is cheering him on enthusiastically. When Jafar tells him to stay out of it, Genie then cheers flatly, at first.
    Genie: Jafar, Jafar, he's our man. If he can't do it — GREAT!
• The Lion King has Scar doing the sarcastic version.
  Simba: Hey, Uncle Scar, guess what.
  Scar: I despise guessing games.
  Simba: I'm gonna be king of Pride Rock.
  Scar: [deadpan] Oh, goody.
• Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf:
  • There's a crowd of Transylvanian peasants cheering like this. This is subject to some mocking by Dracula: "If I vant to be alone, I'll call you guys!"
  • Also a funny subversion when the peasants are struck by lightning, they do cheer appropriately, for once.
    Dracula: I liiiiike that!
  • They also cheer when something bad happens to Drac.
    Dracula: Pipe down!
• In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, one of the Koopa Troopas says a clearly unenthusiastic "Yeah..." upon hearing Bowser wanting to marry Peach, which conflicts with Bowser's manly image and the Koopas wanting to go to war with the Mushroom Kingdom.
• In Turning Red, no matter how excited Priya may get, she rarely expresses her enthusiasm with a smile.

Films — Live-Action

• The reaction to Arthur and Robin being re-united with Lancelot and Galahad in Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a very unenthusiastic, bored-sounding "yay". The reaction to having to eat Robin's minstrels to stave off starvation is a slightly less bored-sounding "yay".
  "And There Was Much Rejoicing."
• In Galaxy Quest, Alexander Dane's utterance of his signature line from the titular Show Within a Show when opening a new superstore has an obvious "please kill me now" subtext.
  Alexander Dane: [as his character Dr. Lazarus] By Grabthar's hammer... What a savings.
• In The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the prostitutes hope the Aggies don't win the Thanksgiving football game (and thus a trip to the Chicken Ranch) because they find the players' constantly shouting "Yee-haw" to be annoying. The Aggies win and the girls give out a flat "yee-haw".
• In Carry On Abroad, tour rep Stuart Farquhar pressures his assistant, Moira Plunkett, to liven up the Carnival Night party at the end of an awful package holiday. This is her response, lacking in any enthusiasm whatsoever:
  Mr. Farquhar: Moira, dear, a lot depends on the report they give when they get back. For goodness' sake, do something to brighten it up!
  Miss Plunkett: Whoopee.
• In Fletch, the title character responds to the arrival of a corrupt police chief with an utterly dry and deadpan "Thank God, the police".
• Reality Bites gives us Troy Dyer's somewhat non sequitur, very deadpan "I'm bursting with fruit flavor".

Literature

• Angela Nicely: In “Healthy Holiday!”, Angela simply states, “yahoo” because her mother had told her shouting gave her a headache.
• Albert's reaction to traveling on the Hogfather's sleigh in Hogfather: "Oh, what fun."
• During the hunt for Abaddon in Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea, Bill bemoans the disturbance the police investigation brings to his clientele:
  "Can you imagine the impression it will make?" he asked. "How would you react if a policeman knocked on your door and asked to speak with the family psychopath?"
  "I'd introduce myself," I said brightly, but my husband was in no mood for jokes.
  "Ha," he said bleakly.
• In the Left Behind book The Remnant, Nicolae Carpathia loyalists realize that their world leader is now a cruel heartless dictator who demands worship at every turn. Mentioned in the story is a mandatory parade held by Carpathia loyalists that turns out to be entirely mirthless, as they simply go through the motions of praising Carpathia.

Live-Action TV

• Game of Thrones: Eddison Tollet is so well-known for this behavior that he earns the nickname "Dolorous Edd".
  Edd: We'll live another day. Hurrah.
• Jamie from MythBusters is famous for this. In the Latex Perfection episode, their acting coach tells Adam to comment about being excited and joyful in a completely flat monotone.
• From the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, "The Prom":
  Buffy: I'm gonna give you all a nice, fun, normal evening if I have to kill every person on the face of the Earth to do it.
  Xander: Yay?
• Dollhouse: Laurence Dominic's reaction when he and Echo finally get what the guy in the Attic meant when he said that they have to "enjoy themselves".
  Mr. Dominic: Good Times.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Used as a Running Gag during the short "Junior Rodeo Daredevils".
  Joel: And the crowd goes wild.
  Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow in unison: [monotone] Yaaaaaaaaaaay.
• A common occurrence in Stargate Universe.
  • Whenever Dr. Rush, and sometimes, Eli Wallace, come up with a "solution" to a problem that ends up highlighting difficulties ahead, Dr. Volker will respond to the news with a very deadpan "Yaaaaaaay". Since Dr. Brody is no fan of Dr. Rush, he'll often join in with a bit more sarcasm.
  • In one of the last episodes, when they are forced by aggressive automated drones to refuel using a class-O supergiant star instead of the usual red dwarf, and are facing a future of being dogged by said drones, Dr. Rush points out that at least they have a full tank of gas. Volker, Brody, AND Colonel Young all responded with a rather joyless "Yay".
• George's surrogate in Arrested Development ignores affect: "Oh boy. Goodie".
• Lilith Sternin, Frasier's girlfriend and eventual wife on Cheers was famous for this. As she said in an early appearance, speaking perfect truth, "You'll never know how happy this makes me".
• In one episode of Scrubs, Ted reacts very deadpan to some good news. When asked about it, he says that he frowns so much it now hurts to smile. Later, when he gets even better news, he smiles, and his mouth erupts in pain.
• Michael Nesmith did this at least once on The Monkees.
  Michael: Wahoo.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: In "Deja Q", after Q reappears on the Enterprise with his powers restored:
  Q: I'm forgiven! My brothers and sisters of the Continuum have taken me back. I'M IMMORTAL AGAIN! OMNIPOTENT AGAIN!
  Riker: Swell.
• In an episode of M*A*S*H, Hawkeye and Trapper have this reaction when the rest of the unit cheers upon hearing the announcement that Douglas MacArthur is visiting the camp.
• Frasier: After Frasier and Roz lose at the SeaBee Awards, Roz calls her grandmother and lies that they won again. She holds up the phone and gestures to the others to get them to sell it. Niles and Bulldog reply by saying "Yay" in obviously bored tones.
• Odd Squad:
  • Subverted in "Oscar and the Oscarbots", where a happy Otto gives a small "yay" in response to Olive giving him permission to grab a donut from the Donut Room.
  • Otis is forced to endure a birthday party for one of Hopkins' coworkers in "A Job Well Undone". He definitely isn't happy about it, to the extent that he doesn't even try and participate in the conga line with Hopkins and his other coworkers.
  • Olympia has this response to her sandwich allergies acting up in "Agent Oksana's Kitchen Nightmares". After she sneezes on eighty sandwiches that she made for all the agents of Precinct 13579, her cheerful facade drops for a second.
  Olympia: So...gonna remake all these sandwiches! Yay.
• Temps de chien: Kim sarcastically says "Yay." when her husband Antoine tries to convince her and their son Félix how great it'll be to spend two months at Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

Music

• Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit": "A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido. Yeeeaah! ... Yay".
• This little gem from Another Side of Bob Dylan:
  Now they asked me to read a poem
  At the sorority sisters' ho-em.
  I got knocked down and my head was swimmin'
  I woke up with the Dean of Women!
  Yippee.

Radio

• Long-running DJ Rick Dees had, for many years, a sound bite he would use when appropriate of a group of people saying "Hey, that's... great," in a flat, uninterested tone.

Theatre

• The first lines of "Pulled" from The Addams Family, sung by Wednesday Addams: "I don't have a sunny disposition / I'm not known for being too amused / My demeanor's locked in one position / See my face — I'm enthused."
• The song "Ascot Gavotte" from My Fair Lady, in which the upper-class men and women sing about how excited they are to be at the racetrack... in a tone as stuffy and stilted as it can possibly get.

Video Games

• Crash Team Racing has an unintentional example with Penta Penguin, who was created so late into the game's development that he may sometimes say "Penguin yay one/two" in a deadpan placeholder voice. This is Downplayed in the Nitro-Fueled remake, where Penta still says the line but in a more jovial tone.
• Used as Foreshadowing in Death end re;Quest: Cecilia's underwhelming response to the team arriving at Odyssia serves as a hint that she has been there before, and doesn't find it impressive.
• When the gates first open at the start of the match in Heroes of the Storm, the heroes say something to start the game off, usually a whoo-hoo, a cheer, or some kind of battle-roar. Instead of that, Sylvanas gives out the flattest "yay" you will ever hear.
• Kid Icarus: Uprising:
  Pandora: You made it. Yay.
• Rochelle, from Left 4 Dead 2, especially concerning Ellis' and Coach's enthusiasm over Jimmy Gibbs Jr.
• Mass Effect 2 has a character named Niftu Cal, who is high as a kite and has delusions of grandeur and is convinced he can take on the Boss Fight alone. The player can either encourage him to take a nap, or give the least enthusiastic 'Charge!' humanly possible.
• The intro to Might and Magic IV has random peasants saying "yaaaay" in the manner of this trope, in a very obvious shout-out to the Trope Namer for And There Was Much Rejoicing (the line prompting the Flat Joy was "and there was much rejoicing").
• Namu Amida Butsu! -UTENA-: Kongōki Bosatsu "Ureshī" represents the offering of Joy in the Diamond Realm Mandala and is a skilled and hard-working entertainer, but despite all that, the guy himself is a staunch stoic.
• While most champions in Paladins have enthusiastic "woohoo" emotes, Seris is so aloof that her "woohoo" almost sounds sarcastic.
• Portal: "Wheeeee..".
• In the Puyo Puyo series, Sig has such a stoic demeanor that he will typically express joy in a deadpan manner. The official audio plays and novels give him a very flat, fake-sounding laugh that Amitie recognizes is genuine due to having been around him for so long. In Chapter 4 of Puyo Puyo Tetris, Sig cheers in his typical deadpan manner when he introduces a Puyo match between Amitie and Raffina, with the Unsound Effect saying "*Crowd-gone-wild cheer*".
• in Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Lawrence has this reaction when Nefarious orders him to reanimate a Z'Grute from cryosleep.
  Lawrence: Oh, goody. I get to reanimate something.
• Wizardry 8 takes this to its logical extreme with one of its male "Loner" voice sets. Every single line is read as though the character is perpetually bored or depressed (although balanced with some vicious Deadpan Snarking). Just imagine flat lines like: "Woo-hoo," on killing a high-level monster; "How exciting," on a level up; "I'm... very excited," on entering the Very Definitely Final Dungeon; and "I'm... filled with glee," on winning the game.

Web Animation

• Homestar Runner: Seen in the Strong Bad Email "fan club", when Strong Bad is trying to prove that adding the word "club" to the end of something usually makes it more exciting.
  Strong Bad: Turkey? Mrenh.
  [audience flatly groans]
  Strong Bad: Turkey club? mmmMMRENHhhhh!
  Audience: [slightly less flat] Yaaay.
• If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device:
  • The Emperor tends to express joy as flat, unemotional "Yey"s, partly because he doesn't have that much to be happy about, and partly because that's about as emotional as his Text-to-Speech Device can get.
  • It may run in the family as well, as Rogal Dorn is about as expressive when actually happy (though then again, he expresses every emotion with about the same intensity).
    "Yey. Bike."
  • Every time Vulkan comes back to life, his soldiers scream "Vulkan lives!". But by the fourth time, the novelty has pretty obviously worn off.
• In an Extra Credits episode, Daniel Floyd introduces Call of Juarez: The Cartel with a very flat "ta-dahhhh".

Webcomics

• El Goonish Shive:
  • When Elliot discovered that his inconvenient "girly powers only" time ended and he began to acquire cool magic.
  • Quite in character for Susan here.
• Early in Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name, between the title character and his stoic new partner:
  "...I'm really excited about this, actually."
  "ME TOO— wait. Are you being facetious?"

Web Videos

• The Angry Joe Show did a fun example of this during Joe's infamous Ride to Hell: Retribution review.
  Joe: Oh, and you're a biker, so of course you get to go to a strip club! Yay, titties.
• City Nerd: When acknowledging subscription milestones in videos Ray maintains his deadpan delivery and says thanks and how excited he is, while superimposing a confetti effect over the video.

Western Animation

• Mai was like this in Avatar: The Last Airbender. She later gets a Freudian Excuse for it in the Beach Episode.
• Bob's Burgers: Tina Belcher doesn't emote well, or much.
• Bounty Hamster: While Marion is usually very emotive, his growl is a near-emotionless "Grrr".
  Marion: Don't! CALL! ME! CUTE! Grrr. (cue Big Ball of Violence)
• Courage the Cowardly Dog: In the episode "Demon in the Mattress", when Eustace struggles to exorcise the demon out of Muriel with his failed attempt to read the printed incantation correctly, Courage waves a flag and responds with an unenthusiastic "Yay farmer".
• The heroine of Daria, quite often. Usually the sarcastic variety, but even when legitimately happy, the most one usually gets out of her is a slight, sly smile.
• Droopy could be considered the Trope Codifier, he did so often. It never seemed like he was being sarcastic; rather, this was as expressive as he was physically able to get. Occasionally, he might break character for the sake of humor, erupting in joy and doing over-the-top Wild Takes and back flips, only to very suddenly stop and look at the camera, and give his usual flat joy line "You know what? I'm happy". This tended to happen when at the end of the episode he received a large sum of money, or a kiss from a beautiful woman.
• Family Guy: A cut-away gag shows Prince on The Price is Right, reacting this way upon making a perfect bid in Contestant's Row.
• In Kim Possible, Dr. Drakken is disappointed by Shego's lack of response to his gloating over his plan:
  Drakken: A little sidekick enthusiasm wouldn't hurt, you know.
  Shego: [deadpan] Woo hoo. Extra hoo. Happy?
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Subverted in the episode "Sonic Rainboom": Fluttershy is sincere when she practices cheering for Rainbow Dash, but it comes out as this because she's so meek and soft-spoken: "Yay...".When Rainbow Dash pulls off the eponymous move and saves Rarity and the Wonderbolts' lives, Fluttershy breaks into cheering so ecstatic that her voice cracks.
  • Played straight in the episode "Look Before You Sleep". Rarity and Applejack, both of whom are not in good terms with one another at the time, express this when Twilight Sparkle announces their slumber party.
  • In the episode "Maud Pie", the titular character is pretty much this in stark contrast to her sister, Genki Girl Pinkie Pie.
• On Phineas and Ferb, the incredibly sarcastic Candace can sometimes fall into this trope.
  Phineas: Candace is on fire!
  Candace: Woo-hoo. [Beat] I'm not actually on fire, am I?
• The Real Ghost Busters: Egon's deadpan, monotone voice is prevalent, even when he is legitimately happy.
• The animated version of The Ricky Gervais Show employs this in the cartoon for Karl Pilkington's diary entry about learning the word "wewe",^note  a reference to Wewe Gombel, a female ghost with drooping breasts who kidnaps children according to Javanese and Sundanese mythology which Stephen Merchant pronounces "woo". When Steve reads Karl's comment that he could not imagine a situation where he would ever need the word "wewe", Karl is shown sitting at a table in a pub with a pint, looking around the room, then mouthing "wewe" (in time with Stephen's voice) with an expression of flat joy.
• Any crowd of people on Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, or any other Jay Ward production, always gave very unenthusiastic, half-hearted, deadpan "yay"s and equally unenthusiastic "boo"s. This was most notable in Tom Slick, where at least one yay and boo was expected per episode (cued by the narrator's mention of Tom Slick and Baron Otto Matic, respectively).
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Mermista is a Deadpan Snarker most of the time, and has a little trouble turning it off when she actually is happy. After winning a fight and getting her kingdom's magical protective barrier recharged by Adora, all she can manage is a flat "yay that was cool".
• The Simpsons:
  • A memorable mocking of then Vice President Al Gore played this up.
  • In "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment", we have Hardboiled Detective Rex Banner, whose seriousness creates this trope even when he is happy. He reacts exactly the same way to seeing a message that his services are needed to enforce prohibition in Springfield and another message that the family dog had puppies: a slight narrowing of the eyes. Then there's his attempt to laugh off the idea that the Beer Baron was real — or, rather, his attempt to laugh — which sounds like he has dry heaves.
    Rex Banner: Well, I'm sure you all know what laughter sounds like!
  • In "Bart on the Road", Lisa is spending her days goofing off with Homer while he is on the job at the power plant, but after Bart calls her and swears her to secrecy as he admits that he, Milhouse, Nelson, and Martin are stranded in Knoxville after he forged a driving licence and used it to hire a car that has since been demolished, she is left grappling with an ethical dilemma. A few days later, Homer sits Lisa on his chair and spins it around and around, and when it finally comes to a stop, Lisa's reaction is a monotone "Whee". This is enough to clue Homer into something being wrong.
• The Smurfs (1981): In the episode "The Golden Smurf Award", when Brainy nominates himself as the winner of the titular award in order to break a 98-way tie after his friend Clumsy was unable to cast a vote to break the tie, every Smurf groans, and Vanity flatly says, "I'm so happy for you".
• Steven Universe: "The Test" has Garnet do this while playing a complicated cooking-based board game called "Citchen Calamity".
  Garnet: I am now the owner of the golden can opener. (beat) Yesss.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987): Donatello and Raphael have this reaction while watching Michelangelo's magic show in "The Great Boldini." Though it becomes actual joy when they get to mock Michelangelo when he botches his Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat trick.
• Teen Titans: Raven would occasionally indulge in the Deadpan Snarker version of this trope:
  Cyborg: [under the effects of a computer virus] I know what we should do! Lets go get some waffles! Raven you like waffles, don't you?
  Raven: More than life itself.
• Tiny Toon Adventures had an episode where the students of Acme Looniversity face their rivals Perfecto Prep in a football game. Although the Acme cheerleaders (Babs, Fifi, and Shirley) are quite enthusiastic, all the Perfecto cheerleaders can manage is a halfhearted "Perfecto. Rah".
• In an episode from the 1975 Hanna-Barbera The Tom and Jerry Show, Robin Hood (here called Robin Ho Ho) tries to get his Merry Men to laugh, and they all respond with a mirthless "ha ha ha...ho ho ho...hee hee hee". This kind of laugh becomes the Running Gag of the whole episode right up to the end, when the Merry Men break out of this habit and have a truly joyous laugh at Robin Hood's expense.
• Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race: The Goths run on this trope. Even at their most joyful neither goes anything above deadpan and they even tell each other to calm down for being too exuberant even though their delivery is still completely flat.
• The Weekenders: Lor is a bad actor, so when she's given the line "After all these years I finally feel truly alive," this is how it turns out.

Real Life

• "Whoop-dee-damn-doo" - Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, upon hearing that he had been confirmed to that position.^note Thomas had just gone through a brutal confirmation hearing largely framed by sexual assault allegations made by a former clerk, Anita Hill. By the time he got confirmed, he didn't feel that the ordeal had been worth it.
• Upon learning he was accepted to Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook fame) could only manage a flat "Yay" at first, in stark contrast to his father's elation. The fact that he wasn't jumping for joy could have foreshadowed that he would drop out before graduation.
• BBC newsreader Simon McCoy became something of an Internet sensation after having this reaction to a particularly stupid piece of Silly Season filler that had been foisted upon him during a slow news day.

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Stinger time? Yay.

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