Basic Trope: Implying the Fourth Wall, without the characters actually confirming they are aware they are fictional or talking to the audience.
- Straight: In the sitcom Alice's Apartment, Alice says, "This is just like a sitcom!" in reaction to a particularly absurd situation.
- Exaggerated: "If this were a show created by so-and-so (the creator), then THIS would be happening."
- Downplayed: Bob tells Alice "You've been watching too many soap operas." Alice's Apartment does have a bit of episodes that are similar to a soap opera, but most of the episodes are normal sitcom humor.
- Justified: Well, it is just like a sitcom if it is one, and Alice is observing that.
- Inverted: No Fourth Wall: Alice expresses her Medium Awareness, and also notes that her show is a lot like Real Life.
- Subverted:
- Alice says "This is just like... a book I read once!"
- Bob says "No, it's not."
- Double Subverted:
- "This is just like... a book I read once! It's like a sitcom as well!"
- Carol says "Yes it is, and if it was then This Is the Part Where..."
- Parodied: And then Bob says "And you sound just like a character saying something funny in one, too."
- Zig-Zagged: "Do I sound like a fictional character or something? Sometimes we end up sounding like characters in something. Maybe we are for all I know. Hello? Is there anybody out there?!, nope. Must be my imagination."
- Averted: Nobody compares their work to fiction or in any other way implies the Fourth Wall.
- Enforced: The creators want a funny line from a Genre Savvy character.
- Lampshaded: "You almost sounded like a fictional character there! And now so do I!"
- Invoked: Emperor Destruction makes something really weird for Real Life but common in fiction happen.
- Exploited:
- It gives ideas for Bob, a philosopher.
- Genre Savvy
- Defied: "Alice, This Is Reality. It's nothing like a sitcom."
- Discussed: "I'm not crazy, Bob. I know this is reality, I just like messing with you."
- Conversed: "Are these characters aware they are fictional or not?"
- Played for Laughs: Alice makes a Pun involving the title of the show. Everyone else is confused, then she admits it was funnier in her head.
- Played for Drama: After one too many quips from Alice, Bob genuinely starts to question whether the world he knows is all fiction.
If this were a Wiki Page, there would be a link to Leaning on the Fourth Wall.
