Sandbox / Uncertain Audience Wick Check

Here a wick check will be performed for Uncertain Audience.

Why?: This Audience Reaction is suspected of suffering from misuse for works with a certain audience that just doesn't include the tropers who write them.

Wicks checked: 50/50

Potholes will be bolded. Comments are in bolded green.

Results:

• Correct use (work is uncertain of its demographic) : 35/50 or 70%
• Work is certain of its demographic: 4/50 or 8%
• Complaining: 0/50 or 0%
• Other misuse: 4/50 or 8%
• ZCE and unclear: 4/50 or 8%
• Unclassifiable: 3/50 or 6%

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Correct use (work is uncertain of its demographic) (35/50)

• YMMV.The Three Musketeers 2011: The film can be difficult to rate objectively as an adaptation, because it clearly tries to be as faithful to the novel as possible in some elements and just as crazy and embellished in others. This ultimately played against the movie, as gimmicks like the airships and cool weapons repelled purist fans of the novel and period film enthusiasts, while conventional action flick fans were likely uninterested due to the film being an adaptation of a swashbuckling novel (which wouldn't probably cater to a wide audience either). The fact that an infamous pop-corn director like Paul W.S. Anderson was in charge of the film didn't help either.
• YMMV.Heathers: [under the 2018 show]] In theory, the show was meant to appeal to the younger, teen generation, but it does so by playing straight ideas that most of them don't have, which would instead appeal to much older, much more conservative viewers, who are unlikely to be interested in a show about high school.
  Sarah Z: It seems like neither of these groups (Social Justice Warriors and more Conservative groups) actually like the adaptation and both are convinced it was created to pander to the other.
• YMMV.Pixels: Meshing the low-brow comedy of Adam Sandler and relying on 80s games and/or references is not a combination with a wide appeal—gamers wouldn't like the low-effort jokes or appreciate how they are stereotyped as losers and archetypal basement dwellers, fans of 80s games specifically would generally be far too old to have any interest in the film's style of story, and fans of the low brow Adam Sandler style brand of humor would be alienated by not getting the references to the various 80s games from before their time. Additionally, the script dismissing modern video games and highlighting arcade games from The '80s as the pinnacle would earn the ire of gamers who would have believed the film was about celebrating where video games got its start, not showcasing that time was when video games were at their most meaningful. The only people who will totally accept the latter are those who really never got past the days when arcade games were high-score based novelties, especially when out of all examples used for "meaningless modern games" was The Last of Us which has been acclaimed as a masterpiece by critics and players for its cinematic storytelling and presentation. One wonders if they were obligated by Sony to use that game without Sony knowing the scene's purpose was, took any popular game available for the Playstation for random Product Placement, or whoever was behind production really wanted to showcase this particular game that set a standard still did not compare to what Space Invaders brings out.
• Trend Killer: Titan A.E. (2000) is often blamed for putting the era where more mature, artistic animation dominated much of the medium throughout the late 1980s to the 1990s to its coffin. Its inability to be defined as either a film for kids or a film for mature audiences, along with rampant Executive Meddling by Fox over budget and time constraints, cost them $100 million according to its supervisor, Chris Meledandri.
• YMMV.Milk Money: Critics at the time of the film's release noted that it tried to marry elements of a Coming of Age Story, a sex comedy, a romance and a thriller without being particularly adept at any of them, with Roger Ebert even pointing the problem out in his 1994 review, which posits the confused tone as a conversation between two studio executives pitching the film.^note Gene Siskel would outright accuse the film of being made by executives who had an "affinity for hookers". Released in a time (1994) when Coming of Age Story works like The Sandlot, The Pagemaster and the remake of The Little Rascals all rode to box-office success, it weaves in elements about a Hooker with a Heart of Gold who is running from the mob and takes refuge in a Meet Cute scenario with the protagnist and his father. Too dark to be a family-friendly film (one of the scenes has V openly soliciting for clients to make enough money to get a hotel room for the night), and too much Glurge to qualify as a comedy-thriller fusion (the third act is motivated by the three boys having to rescue V from her mob boss, who is holding her at gunpoint, by initiating a fire alarm at a school dance).
• YMMV.Hello Neighbor: [under the show]] From what's been released so far, the show has kid protagonists and a lot of childish humor, but also has explicit deaths that are shown in graphic detail in the director's cuts, making it uncertain who the intended audience is, though the creators have stated that it's not meant for kids. It might possibly be going for a Stephen King-esque vibe though.
• WebVideo.Mothers Basement: First one needs a bit more context about its SAO's target audiences, but most examples in this entry is used correctly.
  • In regards to Sword Art Online, Geoff argues that while it is, in tone and substance, essentially a Saturday morning cartoon, it doesn't seem fully aware of that, and tries to delve into darker subject matter for no other reason than edginess, singling out a trend in the story to incorporate sexual assault whenever it needs something dark to happen and it is never handled well.
  • In regards to Time Paradox Ghost Writer and The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, he argues that a likely reason why these manga were both cancelled early on is because they both tackle themes that are too mature for a magazine primarily aimed at middle- and high-school-aged boys:
    • The former focuses on publishing manga in the very same magazine it ran in as a plot point, but it also involves a lot of discussion and themes regarding failed professional expectations, issues in the manga industry, Grey-and-Gray Morality in its main plot premise, the trials creatives go through to live off their work, etc. While these are pertinent and interesting themes, they still seem too ambitious for the manga's primary audience, which are likely to not have any experience or interest on these topics.
    • The same can be said about latter, with a dark fantasy story building up to a twisty meta-fiction narrative through slow burn, and Geoff further states that even the manga's way of handling fanservice was too mature for its audience, eschewing gratuitous nudity and Stripperiffic designs for the allure of Grimm's fully clothed but very voluptous body; there's also the Amazonian Beauty Debonaire Diamond, who's introduced right after her.
• YMMV.Waterparks: [under Audience Alienating Premise] On the regular critical reception front, Awsten was hoping the album would be more than just a modest success...which was probably impacted by how it was marketed. Unlike Hopeless Records with FANDOM, 300 was very reluctant to promote it outside of in-person events and much of the press was with scene focused news outlets Parx had previous history with (and random podcasts). This lead to the album having an Uncertain Audience, as it was marketed to the groups most likely to either enjoy it no matter what or to be alienated by it.
• YMMV.Gossip Girl 2021: The show in some ways suffers from trying to do two things at once. It both wants to capture the energy of the original and do hard-hitting topical social commentary, but it doesn't quite manage it. Fans who want to see spoiled rich teenagers shamelessly engaging in bad behavior don't really get their fix, but the social commentary is written in a serious way that clashes with the high-melodrama tone of the other plotlines (see Kate's earnest line about how Gossip Girl "would never shame a woman for exercising her right to choose"), which makes it come off as shallow, tacked-on, and/or unintentionally funny, putting off viewers who would enjoy an issue-based show.
• YMMV.A Total War Saga Troy: The game's initial approach caused it to suffer heavily during its early years from the presence to two conflicting expectations over what it should be. One major faction wanted it to depict the actual battles of the iconic, yet relatively undepicted, Mycenaean Greek war era in a way that would make them feel as if they were actually there, while the other faction wanted it to be a showcase of the miracles and monsters of Classical Mythology in all their splendor. As it ultimately turned out, the initial approach failed to please either side, with the history enthusiasts being turned off by the presence of 'mythical' units that were never present in the real life battles of the Mycenaean Greek era, the mythology enthusiasts being turned off by how they'd wanted the real mythical monsters instead of the poor man's imitations present in the original campaign, and the people who were actually on board with the initial 'truth behind the myth' approach being turned off by the fact that there were still mythic heroes and godly powers present in the gameplay. Ultimately, the game finally found a proper audience after the launch of the Mythos DLC that rebranded the initial vanilla campaign as "Behind the Myth" mode while also including a "Historical" mode that removed the mythical units and heavily altered the mechanics behind the hero units and godly powers, and a "Mythological" mode that remodeled all the mythical units into the actual mythical monsters they were supposed to represent while also adding in several additional fantastical beasts that hadn't been present in the initial campaign.
• YMMV.No Good Nick: The best way to describe the show is being a cross between a Nickelodeon tween sitcom and Burn Notice, and so any given episode is blending family and school drama with overt criminal acts. The writing and acting makes a noble effort to make it work, but the core premise is just a hard sell.
• YMMV.Dm C Devil May Cry: A big contributor to the game's divisive reception (more so in terms of plot, tone and characterization than gameplay). DmC has a notably Darker and Edgier tone and attempts to deal with some heavier topics than the original continuity; while the latter games do have some serious and dramatic moments, they tend to be more campy and whimsical. Ninja Theory were specifically instructed to make a "different" Devil May Cry game, but the end result is that DmC bears little resemblance to the rest of the franchise and either doesn't use any of the classic characters or radically changes them. Many fans of the original games weren't onboard because it was In Name Only, while the Devil May Cry title may have been off-putting to potential players who were into what DmC has to offer, resulting in DmC underselling in some markets. After Capcom released Devil May Cry 5, it's common to hear players say stuff about DmC like "It's not a bad game per se, just not a good Devil May Cry game".
• YMMV.Ozark: The first season of the series struggled significantly to decide what it wanted to be and who it is aiming at. It was attempting a lot of (oftentimes Cringe) Black Comedy, and playing up Jason Bateman's comedic associations. It was clearly trying to get Breaking Bad audiences, with dark tones and a violent cartel in the background^note Up to the point it was derisively called "discount Breaking Bad" by detractors. It also experimented with a lot of themes and characters, undecided yet how to utilise both Langmores and Snells, the latter of whom got a straight-up Hillbilly Horrors portray. The end result was a very eclectic series that seemed to be a different kind of show with each episode. It wasn't until season two that Ozark found its footing and thus finally decided what audience it wanted to target.
• YMMV.Mars Needs Moms: A likely factor in the movie's critical and commercial failure. The film's central premise of "Martians are so bad at parenting they need to kidnap human mothers to teach them" is pretty wacky and whimsical-sounding, ideal for a kids' film. However, the revelation that the Martians kill the mothers they abduct to extract their parenting skills - which is presented in a serious manner - along with Martian society being a blatantly sexist totalitarian dystopia, is all quite dark for a movie aimed at children. The end result is that the story is both too silly for older audiences but too disturbing for little kids.
• YMMV.Star Trek Picard: Picard fluctuated between trying to tell an independent story with Picard with a new cast that has a more cynical take on the franchise while also pulling in a scattering of returning characters with a wealth of backstory behind them. Fans were interested in a The Next Generation follow-up, but adding graphic violence and harsh language that the franchise previously danced around didn't help much. A darker story was previously divisive about Deep Space Nine but the show avoided discussing the events of DS9 that contributed to this shift for Starfleet, and Picard himself, to avoid Continuity Lockout. Mixing so many themes and characters from different parts of the franchise never settled quite right, so those who would be open to a cynical Deconstructive take were left with nothing concrete to stand on. This persisted through season 1 and 2, while season 3 focusing more on TNG appeal by Putting the Band Back Together was seen as a stabilizing event for the show.
• YMMV.Drop Dead Fred:
  • [under Audience Alienating Premise] The failure came from the studio not knowing how to market this, resulting in it resembling either a kid's film with inappropriately adult themes, or an "adult" comedy with no grip on how juvenile it is, not helped by how its intended goal seems like an acquired taste even in concept, though takers would be found eventually.
  • Probably the biggest reasoning for why it was so panned on release is not knowing who the film is meant for: is it a wacky fantasy comedy about an imaginary friend that just so happens to involve dead-straight themes of abusive parents and ex-lovers? Or an adult-oriented Black Comedy that just so happens to take its juvenile slapstick and Toilet Humor at face value? While its atonality has ironically gained the film some praise in more recent years, it's evidently quite limited due to its lack of tonal and moral balance.
• YMMV.Dissidia Final Fantasy 2015: Hand-in-hand with Audience-Alienating Premise. Most Final Fantasy fans weren't interested in a pure fighting game that had very little customization (beyond aesthetics, anyway) and single-player content, and the need to grind in versus battles to be able to even unlock the story mode content was seen as a drag. For fans of fighters, they were turned away by the focus on 3v3 gameplay and unfamiliar gameplay mechanics not often found in fighters that were critical to being good (Bravery, EX Skills, summons); some even opined that Dissidia NT played more like a MOBA than a fighting game. Finally, the team-based gameplay meant that battle expected all six players that had been randomly matched up to A) have an even skill level to keep it fair, B) work together well as a team, and C) have a strong internet connection. The last one in particular was a very sore point, as online matches could lag to the point they were unplayable. One reviewer summed up all these problems thusly:
  "The fighting game community was alienated by the team-based gameplay, the Dissidia fans were alienated by the unfamiliar gameplay style, and anyone without a solid Internet connection couldn't enjoy the game at all." Seems correct — the game tried to appeal to multiple demographics that didn't overlap.
• YMMV.Nintendo: This is one of the most common theories as to why the Wii U failed. The system was intended to aim towards both casual audiences and more hardcore gamers, however the latter group was turned off by the Wii branding and lesser hardware compared to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, while casual audiences were confused by the odd marketing and the gimmick, on top of being turned off by the high price. It didn't help that Nintendo placed a ton of focus on the gamepad in the marketing, as well as the non-indicative name, which led to many seeing it as an add-on for the pre-existing Wii or an upgrade in the same vein as the Game Boy Advance SP or the Nintendo DSi as opposed to a brand new console altogether. As a result, the Wii U ended up appealing to nobody (outside of Nintendo fans) and failed to gain traction. Seems legit, as the system tried to appeal to two markets and failed to get both.
• YMMV.Resident Evil 2022: Critics and viewers weren't sure whether the series wanted to be a high school drama with horror elements or a full on Zombie Apocalypse story, as the plot keeps jumping between two separate plotlines. Needless to say, people who were there for the zombies and monsters quickly got bored of the high school drama while people who were there for the high school plot weren't really interested in the zombie After the End story. Even existing fans of the franchise didn't have it any better, as the high-school drama bits aren't something common in the series and the actual zombie bits are so In Name Only that it's hard to appreciate. All of this led to a rather tepid reception upon release. Seems legit, the series tried to appeal to two vastly different demographics and failed to appeal to either.
• YMMV.Viva Pinata: Most teens and adults were turned off as it looked too kiddy, while many kids were turned off because the micromanagement was too complicated. Thus while it got moderate success and even an animated series, it failed Microsoft's intent of the game becoming their equivalent to Pokémon. Seems to have been appealing to both and wasn't quite as succesful as they hoped. So this is valid.
• YMMV.Right Now Kapow: Likely why it never gained any traction (along with being shown on a niche network). The show was marketed for kids but a lot of the sketches had very mature humor that was more aimed at teens and adults and wouldn't be out of place on shows like Mad TV or Saturday Night Live. To say the least, the show couldn't break even when it came to it's audience since the advertising and tone did a poor job on who it was trying to target. Aimed at kids but had mature humor mainly for adults. Inconsistent tone caused the show to flounder when it came to marketing. Valid example.
• YMMV.Mulan 2020: Since it was marketed heavily to both Western and Chinese audiences, the film did its best to cater to both, with mixed results. Both bullet points explain in detail how appealing to both audiences resulted in a middling reception.
  • In the West, many fans were expecting the live-action adaptation to be at least somewhat faithful to the original animated film like the other Disney live-action adaptations. However, the live-action film removes most of the elements that made the animated film so popular, such as the iconic musical numbers and Mushu's comedic performance, while at the same time making significant changes to the story. These changes have been heavily criticized by fans of the animated film, who didn't like even having Mythology Gag moments such as inserting the song lyrics as quotes.
  • In China, the movie arguably fared even worse, with many criticising the questionable creative liberties with Chinese culture, the disappointing fight scenes, and the plot being essentially a western-influenced narrative with Chinese elements (some of which were seen as extremely dated) clumsily crammed in. To many Chinese audiences, the film didn't offer anything that differentiates itself from the countless locally made Wuxia films and Mulan adaptations. To make matters worse, because of the controversy surrounding the film in the West, Chinese authorities banned media coverage of the film and even delisted the film as a search term on several major Chinese social media sites.
• YMMV.The Land Before Time: At the time, the film got some criticisms for being too dark and tragic for children but also too cutesy for older viewers (the People magazine review even said "unclear audience"). The $84 million Box Office gross proves there was indeed an audience for it. While the reaction really apply anymore, it does use the Uncertain Audience correctly when referring to how the public reacted it then
• Funny.Todd In The Shadows Trainwreckords 2022: He also points out that while he may not like "Bad Blood", its music video at least had celebrity cameos that would be appealing to Taylor Swift's young audience. Meanwhile, Katy had to settle for Molly Shannon, the supporting cast of GLOW, and, most derisively to Todd, Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski ("probably here to sell you some insurance").^note At the time of the music video, Gronk was still on a semi-upward trajectory with the New England Patriots, and renowned as the greatest tight end in the history of the game. Five years later, he had been traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (and nearly to the Bucs' rivals, the even more embattled Detroit Lions), had faced criticism for constantly voicing his political opinions and downplaying the dangers of CTE, and was starring in a bizarre series of ads where he was too stupid to fraudulently claim Army insurance benefits, so suffice to say his star had fallen.

  Todd: Can't imagine a lot of Katy Perry fans lighting up for Gronk.
  Caption: Helpful guide for Katy Perry fans: This is Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski. He is a famous football player. Todd discusses Katy having Gronk in the video confusing her own fans and likely the other way around too for Gronk fans.

• YMMV.Alice In Wonderland: While it has since been Vindicated by History and is now considered a classic, it quite heavily fell victim to this reaction when it was first released into theaters in 1951. Fans of the original novel heavily criticized the Americanized themes, the character designs being so much more cartoonish-looking compared to John Tenniel's original illustrations in the aforementioned original novel, and how the film incorporated multiple elements from the novel's sequel Through the Looking-Glass. And at the same time, many viewers who weren't hardcore fans of the original novel and thus wouldn't have minded these deviations were turned off by the unlikeable characters and lack of a proper story with a traditional narrative. Consensus has changed now, but was mixed then
• YMMV.Artemis Fowl: [Concerning the film] Many critics have been left baffled as to who exactly Disney was trying to market the film to. Fans of the book series were angry at the numerous changes the film made, and non-book fans weren't interested in what seemed to be another generic Disney action movie based on a franchise they weren't familiar with.
• YMMV.Dead Space 3: A major contributing factor to the game tanking in sales is that it doesn’t know who its trying to appeal to. It tries to appeal to fans with its Continuity Porn and expanding the series mythos and appeal to casual audiences with the near complete removal of horror in favor of more action, co-op, and weapon customization. The result is fans hating the game for its story and removing what made the franchise so beloved while new audiences were put off by the Continuity Lock-Out and it being another generic action third person shooter in a sea of countless others.
• Girl-Show Ghetto: Unlike the cartoon and comic, the Jem and the Holograms (2015) film fell into the ghetto. Compare the other times Hasbro properties have received live action film adaptations: Transformers (2007) received a budget of $150 million. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra received $175 million. Even Battleship received a $220 million budget. The one adaptation based on a girl-oriented franchise? $5 million. While the cartoon broke out of the ghetto, the movie fell straight into it - barely making $2 million worldwide, though part of this may be due to the Uncertain Audience. Fans of the series loathe it for being all-but In Name Only while the target demographic likely doesn't know what Jem is. Valid use as it points out how the movie trying to appeal to fans and non-fans caused it to flounder at the box office
• Shallow Parody: Star Warped presents itself as a pair of superfans' collection of rare Star Wars-related paraphernalia, which ultimately serves as an excuse to lampoon various other media properties and then-contemporary public figures with a thin Star Wars veneer. When it's not doing that, it's mostly just mocking fans of the movies as obsessive, socially maladjusted nerds... which begs the question of who exactly the game was intended for. Pothole uses Uncertain Audience to point out how something mocking fans of Star Wars while also being something affectionately parodying Star Wars will cause confusion. Valid
• YMMV.Eternals: Some reviewers have noted that the movie tonally clashes and suffers in its pacing because it's trying to be slower and more pensive than most other Marvel movies, while still playing most of the traditional Marvel tropes (snarky comedic dialogue, big CGI fights) completely straight. Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter suggested that the divisive nature of Jack Kirby's work on The Eternals and the film's tone, which is similar to equally divisive works Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, lead to the odd feeling and harsher reviews.
• WebVideo.Screen Rant Pitch Meetings:
  • When the Producer tells the Screenwriter that the fans of the books might not be happy to the changes he's made to Artemis Fowl, the Screenwriter responds by saying that they aren’t making the movie for them. When the Producer asks him who they are making the movie for, he dodges the question.
  • The Screenwriter decides to include "fully exposed duck boobs" twice at the beginning of Howard the Duck. The Producer asks if this movie with a talking duck is for kids, and the Screenwriter says he can't say; he's going to be all over the place with it. Later, when the Screenwriter describes a romantic scene between Beverly and Howard in bed, the Producer, appalled, asks who this movie's for.
• YMMV.Shantae: The series is missing a clear target demographic and embodies What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? and What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids? at the same time, with creator Matt Bozon stating in regards to the first game that it's "too sexy to be a kid's brand, and too girly for a male gamer brand". As a whole, the franchise mixes a cute art style and simple, lighthearted stories with generous doses of dark and sardonic humor, jokes that would go over a child's head, and a bevy of sexy character designs. The best comparison for the game's tone might be Betty Boop: broadly speaking, it's all-ages friendly, but there's enough present aimed at older audiences that would make you pause at giving the games to a child. Later games would avert this by going from E10+ to a Teen rating.
• YMMV.The New Universe: Much of the reason the line underperformed was that it was hard to figure out who it was for. It sat at an odd midpoint between standard superheroics and overtly deconstructive stories like Watchmen, which left it too hoity-toity for fans of the former and too silly for fans of the latter, and it didn't have the name recognition to draw in Marvel's usual readers.
• YMMV.Big Mouth: It's unclear whether the show is aimed more at teenagers going through puberty or adults reminiscing about their puberty. The show is rated TV-MA and features explicit nudity, heavy sexual subject matter, and other details that make it inappropriate for younger audiences. On the contrary, many episodes take an anvilicious educational approach to subjects like sex education and personal identity that seem more like messages to help children still undergoing puberty (though adults may still appreciate them). The scenes featuring children's genitals provoke criticism regardless of the demographic - the sexual humor may be too inappropriate for 12-year-old viewers, but adults watching a show with a focus on child sexuality is often berated as creepy. This is lampshaded a handful of times throughout the show, almost always in a Hypocritical Humor fashion.
• YMMV.Family Guy S 8 E 18 Quagmires Dad: A huge criticism of the episode is that, without prior knowledge of McFarlane's stance on trans issues, the episode does not make clear who the target of the jokes are. Is the audience supposed to think Ida is the butt of the jokes or are the Griffins supposed to the antagonists and therefore they are the butt of the jokes? The episode highly implies the former but the irreverent humor and transphobic jokes throughout make it difficult to discern. The episode tries to say it's on Ida's side and show her sympathy with the Griffin's being in the wrong/antagonists. But the constant transphobic jokes within will alienate many trans viewers. So it's unclear who Seth was truly appealing. Valid

Work is certain of its demographic (4/50)

• YMMV.Power Rangers 2017: The film touts itself as a reimagining of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but trailers made it look very similar to other Darker and Edgier superhero movies at the time, which either alienated established fans or made them approach the film very cautiously. Though the first three-quarters of the film were as Darker and Edgier as the promotional material indicated, the film rather suddenly shifted to a significantly cheesier tone, more akin to the original series, by the time the characters actually suited up and went into battle — giving the impression that it didn't quite know what kind of film it wanted to be, and alienating viewers even further. This division is largely believed to have played a part in the movie's underperformance. Film still seems to be specifically angling for Power Rangers fans. Misuse.
• YMMV.The Emoji Movie: Summed up best in this review:
  "With its bright colors and cute characters, The Emoji Movie clearly was made, presumably by adults, for young kids, even though it's about technology in a way that a person has to be at least a pre-teen in order to appreciate. It's a movie that's too bland for adults, too cutesy and juvenile for teens and pre-teens, and too confusing for kids. In other words, it's a movie for no one, except all of the companies that signed on to have their mobile applications and games blatantly promoted without a lick of shame on the part of the filmmakers." Film is explictly targeted towards kids. Misuse
• YMMV.Glenn Martin DDS: It's a family sitcom with some simplistic, kid-friendly designs, but the actual jokes are far too vulgar (or even violent) for children, with occasional bouts of gore not unlike shows such as South Park or Moral Orel. The confusing marketing campaign did nothing to alleviate this, and neither did poor scheduling that led to the mature Nick@Nite series airing directly after SpongeBob, resulting in a lot of angry parents whose children stumbled upon it. Despite the vulgar humor, it states quite clearly in the entry that it's a family sitcom. It knows what it's audience is: the whole family.
• YMMV.A Day Without A Mexican: Many viewers were unaware that this was a Black Comedy until they were told. They believed that it was dead-serious speculative fiction. '''[[green:Well if the creators stated it to be a Black Comedy, then the movie knows its audience.

Complaining in general (0/50)

Other misuse (4/50)

• YMMV.Heart Of Dragon: The movie isn't really clear if it wants to be a heartfelt drama, a slapstick comedy, or an asskicking martial arts film. It tries to be all three at once, but its ultimately too silly for a drama, too dramatic for a comedy, and action doesn't really drive the plot of the movie if it's aiming to be an action film. Doesn't mention any specific audience being targeted.
• YMMV.Chappie As pointed out by Nathan Rabin in his review, the film seemingly can't make up its mind on whether it should be a violent, R-rated crime drama or a family film starring a quirky, child-like robot. The result is a film that's too violent for anyone under 17 and too stupid for anyone over 17. Doesn't mention any specific audience
• YMMV.Cartoon Network City: The humor varies from being family-friendly to characters suddenly swearing or making adult jokes, especially when characters calling each other unflattering names. Doesn't mention any specific audience
• BoxOfficeBomb.Numbers Through B: The Black Cauldron (1985) — Budget, $44 million ^note Disney claims it was $25 million. Box office, $21,288,692. Disney's adaptation of The Chronicles of Prydain became the most expensive animated film at the time due to its protracted production spanning nearly twelve years. It faced an Uncertain Audience due to its whimsical moments clashing with frightening content (which earned it the first "PG" rating for a Disney animated film) and was trampled that year by, of all things, Entry doesn't mention anything audience

ZCEs and uncertain/unclear context (4/50)

• YMMV.Titeuf: The early albums, especially. See below for details. "See below" ZCE.
• YMMV.Spore: A Lighter and Softer athmosphere compared to early builds was chosen for the final game to better appeal to kids, however the writers of the [adult swim] show Robot Chicken were hired to create official adventures in a Crossover marketing campaign. Unclear. The presence of Robot Chicken crossover material does not necessarily mean the game isn't still targeted at kids, but this example might still be valid.
• YMMV.Theodore Rex: A notorious example of such, so much so that its inconsistent tone leads to a glaring case of Uncertain Audience, further alienating viewers with its inane plot and the poorly-designed animatronic puppets. Unsurprisingly, it failed spectacularly with test audiences and wound up being released direct-to-video. Doesn't expand upon the inconsistent tone of why it's an Uncertain Audience
• YMMV.Dick: Somewhat ironically considering that the film is a period piece (a 1999 film set in the early 1970s), but the Historical In-Joke that the protagonists were the Watergate informant "Deep Throat" clearly dates the movie as being made before W. Mark Felt admitted he was the true identity of "Deep Throat" in 2005. I have no idea what this entry is even trying to say.

Unclassifiable (3/50)

• Trivia.High Guardian Spice: Per Daftpina, this was why the show wound up being TV-MA. The team was told to “age up” the show, likely because of Crunchyroll’s main demographic being Anime fans more used to such content. This despite most concept art pointing towards a more child-friendly series, contributing to the Uncertain Audience problem the show developed.
• SpiritualSuccessor.Live Action Films N To Z: Nine Lives is one to the bizarre Chevy Chase movie Oh! Heavenly Dog in being talking animal comedies suffering from Uncertain Audience involving a human dying and becoming a pet.
• Horrible.Webcomics: Sonichu is a legendarily poor webcomic dating back to 2004, with an incredibly Uncertain Audience beyond the creator. The hand-drawn artwork is inconsistent and poorly drawn, even in its open attempts at plagiarism.

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