Motor Mouth / Live-Action TV

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• This is Aaron Sorkin's preferred dialogue style, as seen throughout shows like The West Wing and The Newsroom.
• Brook, from The Amazing Race 17, at one point she talked through a boxing Roadblock.
• Fred on Angel has a tendency towards this, usually in combination with Techno Babble.
• In the season six finale of The Big Bang Theory, Raj FINALLY overcomes his selective mutism and is able to talk to the girls without alcohol. Penny, Bernadette, and Amy find themselves just wanting him to shut up while he goes on an on about his (lack of a) love life.
• Both Six (Jenna von Oy) and Blossom (Mayim Bialik) on Blossom could rev up their speech to extraordinary speeds — and on at least one occasion did so in perfect unison. This is a trait that Six apparently inherited from her mother Sharon (Gail Edwards). (A transcript of the latter link can be found here.)
• Willow, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer's earlier seasons, had a tendency toward going into what fanfics call "babble-mode".
• Some of the suspects' replies in Cluedo fell under this heading.
  Carol Thatcher (daughter of UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher): Would you murder someone with one of your golf clubs?
  Reverend Green: Good heavens, no! I mean, I am a man of the cloth, I wouldn't strike a man in anger, let alone with a golf club, good heavens! Actually, I think I had every reason to; I gave that man my word. I mean, he was a cabinet minister, I don't know if you have much experience of people in politics, but I would expect a cabinet minister to honour his word. He let me down. I would like to have struck him, but I certainly did not do the evil deed.
  Bob Holness: I wonder how long his sermons last on a Sunday?
• Stephen Colbert from time to time, especially when reciting from the Bible. The actor has said that he learned to do it quickly because he thought church would go by faster that way.
• From his very first conversation in the "Pilot", Abed in Community is shown to have a habit of unloading a bit too much information unless someone stops him.
• On The Cosby Show, Vanessa's friend Cara is a master at this, leaving pretty much everyone she talks to utterly dumbfounded. Cliff referred to her as "Turbo Tongue", and responded to every outburst she made with the same non-comprehending, "Thank you." Rudy's friend Kenny even snarks at her about this when she offers to fix him lunch:
  "I hope you don't eat the way you talk."

• Spencer Reid of Criminal Minds repeatedly goes off into rambles on subjects such as the relative lack of factual inaccuracies in Star Trek, the written differences between two serial killers and, perhaps most memorably, a thirteen minute non-stop off-the-top-of-his-head profile of a serial killer in order to stop the guy from killing him and Hotch.
• CSI-verse:
  • CSI: Ronnie Lake, Sara's partner when she transferred to swing shift, had a habit of asking non-stop questions.
  • CSI: Miami: Happens to Callie when she accidentally inhales air-borne cocaine at a crime scene. She can't seem to stop herself from talking non-stop... to the point of revealing personal information instead of just answering "yes" or "no" during a lie-detector test.
  • CSI: NY: In "Creatures of the Night," the exterminator brought in to deal with a large number of rats in the ceiling of a bodega jabbers on and on about his technique, as well as describing in detail how the specific rat they're after would've choked on the bullet it ate. Mac keeps trying to get a word in edgewise and ultimately resorts to loudly interrupting the guy:
    Mac Taylor: The rat, Karl. What about the rat? Can we please just catch the rat?!"
• Having taken some "energy pills", Morwena in Doc Martin develops a bad case of this. The energy pills turned out to be methamphetamine.
• Doctor Who
  • David Tennant's incarnation of the Doctor (the Tenth) has a tendency to speak at a blurring pace when thinking or just generally excited which, combined with an equally prominent tendency for Expospeak and Technobabble, makes his speech nearly impenetrable to those without a pause button and/or a script; or are auditory-first.
    • This little moment from "42" is a great example. Just try to see if he takes a breath during any of it.
      "Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and continue iterating it until it yields 1 is a happy number, any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is both happy and prime. Now type it in!"
    • Rose lampshades it in "School Reunion":
      "With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at, like, ninety miles an hour, and you'd go, 'What?' and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"
    • Martha noticed too:
      "Trust me, just nod when he stops for breath."
  • The Fifth Doctor had a milder version of this trait, while the Fourth could be just as bad as any of his successors.
  • Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor also gets in on the action, so much so that fans couldn't believe it when The Powers That Be said new companion Jenna Coleman could out-motor mouth Smith. She could.
  • Amy has her moments, especially during the first "Meanwhile in the TARDIS" short, where, somewhat in shock from seeing the TARDIS interior, starts rattling off several questions, ranging from "What is a Police Box, did police come in boxes?" to "The bow tie, is it a cry for help?"
  • "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood": Son of Mine, after possessing the body of Jeremy Baines, speaks in sentences that run on without stopping if that makes sense to you he just keeps on talking.
    • The same episode also plays the trope for drama with the Doctor himself. He performs self-inflicted Laser-Guided Amnesia to hide from the Family of Blood by assuming the guise of a regular human schoolteacher named John Smith. At one point, exposure to Time Lord technology temporarily reawakens his true identity, and he begins rattling off a complicated explanation of the device...only to stop in a panic and gasp "Is that how he talks?", clearly terrified.
• Barry Allen, the titular character of The Flash (2014) is the Fastest Man Alive, and fittingly, once he gets started talking, it's often difficult to make him stop. This tendency was more pronounced in earlier series.

• Game of Thrones: Nothing too bad, as he always makes sense, but Tyrion does earn a reputation for never shutting up. He's physically incapable of remaining silent for too long and almost always feels the need to break silences and strike up a conversation.
• Corporal Ray Person of Generation Kill, due to an addiction to legal stimulants.
• Ghostwriter: Gaby is a very talkative girl. In one episode, after she's back from being sick and acts like her usual fast-talking self, everyone says, "She's fine."
• The whole cast of Gilmore Girls, especially Lorelai and Rory. The show's scripts were apparently twice the size of your standard television script due to this characteristic. Jared Padalecki once joked that the main requirement to work on that show was the ability to speak very fast.
• Rachel in Glee whenever she is feeling outraged about something. Taken up to Eleven Fifteen in Vitamin D when she was hooked on Sudafed.
  [rattled out in under 20 seconds, while hyper-ventilating] Thank you so much, it really is a pleasure. While the Boys chose a selection of songs that cast an eye inwards on the irresponsible life choices and sexual hunger of today's modern teens, we have chosen a selection of songs that speaks to the nation as a whole during these troubling times filled with economic uncertainty and unbridled socially - because if there is two things America needs right now, it is sunshine and optimism. Also angels... (Okay.)
  • Emma Pillsbury, of all people, manages to pull off a flawless rendition of the impossibly fast patter from (Not) Getting Married.
• On Hawaii Five-0 Dr. Max Bergman is prone to do this when something, usually work, sets him off. Masi Oka has proven on the gag reel that he is capable of improvising whole speeches for Max if he has or wants to.
• Brad's girlfriend Angela on Home Improvement in season 5.
• John Munch from Homicide: Life on the Street is prone to going on fast-paced rants that barely leave room for anyone to get a word in edgewise.
• How I Met Your Mother:
  • In the episode "Spoiler Alert", the entire gang is greatly annoyed by Ted's extremely talkative Girl of the Week. Ted himself didn't realize this until they point it out to him. Hilariously, the episode ends with a Flash Forward three years later of her being engaged to a deaf guy.
  • Though not normally prone to this trope, Barney sums up the entire romantic history of a seven season show in 52 seconds:
    Seven years ago when Marshall and Lily got engaged Ted saw Robin across a crowded room and I said "oh yeah you just know she likes it dirty," but Ted really liked her so we played "Haaave You me Ted?" They went to dinner, he walked her home, should have kissed her, didn't, lame. So he stole the Smurf penis, went back to her place, should have kissed her, didn't, lame. He threw three parties, they kissed on the roof but decided to be friends, lame. Then Ted wanted to take Robin to a wedding, she couldn't go, he went alone and met Victoria. Didn't kiss her either, lame. Not a great closer Ted. Then he finally kissed her, they started dating, she went to Germany. Ted kissed Robin, lost Victoria, Ted did a rain dance, got Robin. Ted and Robin broke up, Robin moved to Brazil came back with a Latin stud. Ted got jealous, got a tramp stamp, not really relevant to the story I just like mentioning it as much as possible. I hooked up with Robin, Ted and I stopped being friends, Ted got hit by a bus we made up...Robin and I started dating and I got fat her hair fell out. We broke up, Robin dated Don, I dated Nora. I cheated on her with Robin, I dumped Nora. Robin dated Kevin but not for long and then I met you and you took my Grandpa's watch, but I fell in love with you anyway and you let me fart in front of you and I asked you to marry me and you said yes so we came over here to meet little Marvin and that's everything. Also, I went on the Price Is Right and I won a dune buggy.
• Carly from iCarly tends to do this, especially when she's feeling hammy. The best example would be her long rant about why she kissed bad boy Griffin in "iDate a Bad Boy".
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Medhor talks a lot about Arondir's illicit relationship with Bronywn.
  Medhor: It's difficult enough keeping watch over them without having to keep one eye squarely on you. Or do you think me blind?
  Arondir: I think you talk too much. And you smell of rotten leaves.
• Recurring character Penny Parker in MacGyver (1985) frequently delivers a nonstop stream of consciousness monologue that does not allow anyone else to get a word in edgeways. Perhaps best demonstrated in "The Secret of Parker House" where Mac's opening voiceover is delivered over Penny's constant babble and ends with "Wait. I think she's getting to the point..."
• Hawkeye from M*A*S*H had a tendency to do this once in a while. Particularly in the last episode.
• Merlin from the BBC's Merlin is very prone to this, so much so that one of Arthur's earliest signature phrases is "Shut up, Merlin".
• Monk's upstairs neighbor Kevin Dorfman. He's this trope to such an extent that when he once had a sore throat he talked to Monk about how much it hurt to talk for over two hours. When Kevin is murdered and his funeral happens, it is shown that this is a family trait, and Natalie had to use photoshop to have a picture for the memorial where he wasn't talking.
  • In her narration for the Tie-In Novel "Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse", Natalie says that she starts talking faster when she gets nervous.
• A frequent gag on Monty Python's Flying Circus would involve a rambling TV host or guest speaking, undistracted, into camera as something loud and absurd happens right next to them. The motormouth in question was usually Eric Idle or Michael Palin.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Tom Servo can talk so fast at times he could give Radio a run for his money (if either of them had, respectively, feet or hands).
• MythBusters: Adam Savage is prone to this, especially in the 2009-2010 season.
• Abby, of NCIS. Perhaps it's her prodigious Caf-Pow intake.
• Martin Querly of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide is this. In fact, he gets so into talking that someone's able to put a cardboard cutout in front of him and he won't even notice.
  • This trait apparently runs in the family, since his sister is the same exact way.
• Peter Scolari's Michael Harris on Newhart.
• Invoked in the pilot episode of New Tricks when Sandra confronts a Dirty Cop by reciting one of his witness statements in motormouth fashion in order to fit it into the time he claimed to have spent getting it. Turns out he'd fit over forty minutes worth of words into less than twenty minutes of time.
• In the first Day in the Life episode of Night Court, lecherous DA Dan Fielding has a date after his shift (more accurately, the promise of nookie, in true Dan fashion) that's being threatened by a defendant who refuses to waive the reading of his charges. Turns out, word got out that a federal judge made a "general amnesty" order, which would set free all defendants not arraigned by midnight. Dan proceeds to spite this guy in grand fashion by rattling off the man's extensive list of charges, in a manner that would make an auctioneer envious, and finishes three pages in thirty seconds, stunning the judge and court. Dan actually had to yell "My God, man, gavel!" just to get their attention, and they finish the last case for the day with one second left before midnight.
• Odd Squad: Olympia, being a Genki Girl, is famous for her tendency to talk a lot, to such an extent that not even Oprah can shut her up. Instructor O even mentions in "First Day" that he's never seen her not talking. This is one difference that sets her apart as being an Expy of Otto from Season 1, as he doesn't talk nearly as much.
  • She even ends up weaponizing it in numerous episodes such as "License to Science" and "The Perfect Score", and more often than not, it works out in her favor.
  • Opal, another Genki Girl who is an Olympia Expy debuting in Season 3, can become one at times, such as in "Odd Beginnings".
• Kelly from The Office (US) is well known at Dunder-Mifflin for being one. When she's plotting revenge on Jim and Dwight, Pam figures out she's up to something because she says hello to Jim without talking his ears off for 15 minutes. There is also a hilarious scene where the office has a gambling pool going involving Kelly explaining Netflix to Ryan in a single breath for over two minutes.
• London on Open Heart. She says she speaks out loud to sort out her thoughts when she's thinking too hard.
• Our Miss Brooks: Walter Denton does this when nervous, or when trying to polish the apple. In the episode "Cafeteria Strike", he reads off a student's petition in this manner:
  Walter Denton: Whereas and to wit—
  Miss Brooks: That's pretty strong language, isn't it? A little on the pink side.
  Harriet Conklin: Listen, Miss Brooks.
  Walter Denton: When in the course of student's events, it becomes necessary to turn one's back on one's stomach, we the undersigned, exercising our constitutional right to peaceably assemble, and to form a committee to seek the redress of grievances, do hereby announce our firm intention of the Madison High School Cafeteria only to use the tables, chairs, water, napkins, and toothpicks provided therein. Until such a time that the duly appointed party or parties, namely Mr. Osgood Conklin, principal, or the Board of Education, responsible for the operational bog-down that has befallen this installation, do take such action that will improve the food, lower the prices and better the service in said cafeteria. It is also recommended the person, or persons, in whom this authority is vested, immediately see that the present chef in charge of preparing the food, and without any further frippery or fanfare, chuck him the heck off the premises. Well, Miss Brooks, what do you think of it?
  Miss Brooks: How much do you want for the picture rights?
• Pushing Daisies:
  • Ned is prone to babbling like this whenever he's nervous. And he is nervous a lot.
    Ned: I was bored and snooping really just bored and trying to entertain myself so it was more really ipso facto snooping like when you go into the bathroom and read all the magazines and go through the medicine cabinet and I found this!
  • Generally everybody speaks rapidly, including guest stars, and conversational replies and rejoinders have little if any gaps in-between speakers.
• Elliot in Scrubs occasionally communicates at "the speed of light", as J.D. puts it, mostly when she is angry about something. It's played for laughs, and other females are capable of understanding her, if not being able to talk just as fast. Sarah Chalke has said in interviews that speaking incomprehensibly rapidly was one of the first of the character's traits listed on the audition script.
• On Selfie Eliza tends to talk quicker than normal, on average, but just enough to be noticeable. When she really ramps it up, it's like there are no spaces between her words.
  Eliza: Yeah, I'm gonna try to bump into some celebrities maybe hit a gifting suite, kick it with guerreche, yadhop, bingedrink till I'm white girl wasted...
  Henry: That sounds...
  Eliza: Hop by this pop-up party, get my grind on, swing by In-N-Out, kiss a hamburger full-make up, no filter, David Guetta.
• The titular character in Sherlock has a tendency to do this when he goes into Sherlock Scan mode, spitting out his findings at incredibly high speed. Most notably in the "The Great Game", when Moriarty gives him ten seconds to prove his solution before he kills a child, immediately after solving a puzzle in Bullet Time in "A Scandal in Belgravia", in "The Hounds of Baskerville" to prove he's fine after encountering the hound, and again in "The Sign of Three" during that best man's speech. Which is hilariously sweet.

• Tyres on Spaced, presumably a symptom of his somewhat excessive speed habit, which has also left him with Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!.
• Stargate:
  • David Hewlett is known for how fast he can belt out pages and pages of dialogue, especially as Rodney in Stargate Atlantis.
  • Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson does the same thing in Stargate SG-1. As a result, the writers predicted the Atlantis season 5 two-parter with Michael Shanks as a guest star would have a much longer script than usual since Jackson and McKay would spend a lot of scenes together spouting Technobabble. According to the commentaries, they were right.
  • And then there's the time McKay gets high on Wraith enzyme.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  • Picard describes someone who does a variation on this:
  Picard: "He just kept talking in one long incredibly unbroken sentence moving from topic to topic so that no one had a chance to interrupt ... it was really quite hypnotic."
  • Data was also known to drone on, especially in earlier episodes, until Picard interrupted with "Thank you, Mr. Data." In the ST:TNG pinball game, if you gutter a ball without scoring during a Bonus Round, and you hear Data's voice, press both flipper buttons simultaneously, and you'll hear Picard's "Thank you, Mr. Data" and get an additional 10,000,000 points. Picard occasionally used this to his advantage, getting Data to chat up people he didn't want to deal with.
• Talk About specifically encouraged all contestants to do this, as they had only 20 seconds to cover as many key words of a specific subject as possible for scoring points.
• The Twilight Zone (1959): In "A Kind of a Stopwatch", everything that comes out Patrick Thomas McNulty mouth is a never-ending plethora of trivial ideas and banal observations, peppered with "You think about that, now." As such, no one can stand to be around him and most of them tell him as much to his face.
• Miley Cyrus as Missi in Two and a Half Men, and on occasion on Hannah Montana (especially the "Say What" catchphrases). The Series Finale features the ultimate "Say What" in the cold open.
• The Witcher (2019): Jaskier just never stops talking.
  Jaskier: What are we looking for again?
  Geralt: Blessed silence.
• Sir Humphrey Appleby of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister has a tendency to turn into one of these whenever he starts on one of his brain-mangling, tongue-twisting speeches.
• Lisa Ruddy on You Can't Do That on Television. Christine refers to her a "'Motor-Mouth' Lisa Ruddy" in sketches.

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