Basic Trope: Any form of calling out the badly executed aspect(s) (usually writing) in another show or the show the characters are in.
- Straight: Bob says a line that's grammatically a mess, and breaks character by asking the director to make sure the script is proofread next time.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob wants to know the name of every other person behind the scenes, so he can chew them all out.
- Every character has some of the most awful (or sometimes "misinterpreted") dialogue that is constantly called out.
- Downplayed: Bob notes a minor flub, and just shrugs, saying even their best writers have their off days.
- Justified:
- The writer talks to the characters, says he's the new guy, and asks them to point out any Series Continuity Errors in his script, just so he knows better next time.
- Bob is in a Show Within a Show, and there's Stylistic Suck going on.
- Bob accidentally received an outdated version of the script with awkward placeholder dialogue.
- Inverted: Bob says a beautiful, stirring monologue, and after wiping away a tear, he says their writer deserves 10 bucks.
- Subverted: Bob demands to know who wrote this, not because of any problems in the dialog, but because he's not familiar with some of the references he's told to say...
- Double Subverted: ... also the stage directions in the script suck.
- Parodied: Some of the lines are either absolutely comical, take Refuge in Audacity, have some of the most Homoerotic Subtext, or just plain strange to say.
- Zig Zagged: Bob calls the writers out for bad dialogue, but the writers respond by telling Bob that his character is not a good speaker In-Universe, which Bob counters by pointing out that the whole script is full of grammar and formating errors even outside his character's parts.
- Averted: No characters comment on the writing in anything.
- Enforced:
- The producer got fired from another show, and wants the writers of this one to slam that show every chance they get.
- The question fit with the general No Fourth Wall vibe of the show, so the producers decided to keep it instead of reworking the narration or dialogue that caused the question to be asked.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: The hero reads from the terrible script to distract the villain, and attacks/flees while the villain is busy calling the writers out.
- Defied: The writer keeps redoing any and all potentially awkward writing to actively avoid unintentional pitfalls they could be called out for.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
Who Writes This Crap?! There's still a lot of things that are unused!
