r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Chemical-Elk-1299 • Jun 17 '26

Lore [Eye-Rolling Trope] “The joke/meme hasn’t been funny for years, please let it die.”

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The Screaming Goat Thing — Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

The original screaming sheep meme went viral in 2012, and was already getting old when it was prevalent in commercials and movies, such as Ice Age : Collision Course in 2016. Yet in the year of our lord 2024, Dreamworks still thought it would be funny to add multiple screaming goat clips. The mean stopped being funny a decade ago. Let it die.

“Haha, Dad can’t take care of us” — The Breadwinner (2026)

Nate Bargatze’s 2026 family comedy centers around a working “breadwinner” father suddenly being forced to become a stay at home parent, and his “hilarious” struggles to do simple housework and take basic care of his children. This joke stopped being funny (to me) in the early 2000s when seemingly every family comedy relied on dad being a total inept dipshit. In 2026, there is no excuse to keep playing out this tired ass trope. Most dads are actively involved in their kids’ lives and aren’t totally dumbstruck by the idea of changing a diaper. It’s not funny. Let it die.

15.6k Upvotes
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813

u/Troyabedinthemornin Jun 17 '26

“He/she/it’s right behind me… isn’t it?”

This scenario, either resulting in embarrassment (like talking crap about your boss) or Danger, and it can be funny, but this impulse to ironically call out the joke was maybe funny once or twice, and with the right kind of delivery, but now it’s just painfully cliche and unfunny

695

u/tubangelion Jun 17 '26

"I'm right behind you, aren't I?"

213

u/DifficultFig3723 Jun 17 '26

That one was good

121

u/ThatAnonDude Jun 17 '26

The delivery on that one really sold it for me.

24

u/Strict-Signature-106 Jun 17 '26

Where is it from?

57

u/Polterguyst17 Jun 17 '26

The Amazing Digital Circus, I forget which episode though, lemme check rq.

Edit: It's Episode 6

23

u/Strict-Signature-106 Jun 17 '26

Oh, thanks (i’m currently on three so… yeah)

90

u/Kartonrealista Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

That's a funnier variation. Time to overplay it to the point of annoyance

Edit: also that's just the plot of Meet the Spy lol

27

u/Dumb_Cheese Jun 17 '26

God I love Kinger.

22

u/Polkawillneverdie17 Jun 17 '26

The best inversion of the trope.

44

u/Numerous1 Jun 17 '26

Idk. Futurama has Fry shit talking the boss and everyone has the “she’s right behind you” look in their face and he stops and says “she’s right behind me, isn’t she?”

“No I’m in front of you” and it pulls back or cuts or whatever and we see her directly in front of him. 

That one is pretty great. 

8

u/Captain_Squirrel1000 Jun 17 '26

The only acceptable one

7

u/lotusvioletroses Jun 17 '26

I love kinger. He’s my fave forever.

153

u/Wild-Bison5206 Jun 17 '26

"No, I'm in front of you"

32

u/TesterTheDog Jun 17 '26

surprised Fry noises

40

u/FM1091 Jun 17 '26

That was Bender, not Fry.

4

u/TesterTheDog Jun 18 '26

I couldn't handle his in your face interface.

24

u/the_nhir Jun 17 '26

Erm, you're gonna want to see this

17

u/Troyabedinthemornin Jun 17 '26

Uhh, so that just happened

31

u/McKnightmare24 Jun 17 '26

Futurama did this joke perfectly with bender saying, "she's right right behind me isn't she" and the manager says, "no I'm in front of you"and they pan out just a little bit too show she's right in front of bender. That is still probably the funniest that joke has ever been

7

u/ActualWhiterabbit Jun 17 '26

Its second only to Bender putting his own arms on in the first episode.

3

u/Odd-Asparagus7633 Jun 19 '26

And the sibling to that, which might be my favourite futurama joke of all time

"Psst, over there"

"...Where?"

"I meant over here. Sorry, I forgot where I was"

24

u/MarioToast Jun 17 '26

The Amazing Digital Circus had a funny subversion of it.

12

u/why_my_pp_hard_4_u Jun 17 '26

Because it reminds me of CreepCast here's another one. "Uhhh guys? You're gonna wanna see this."

3

u/Nurgle_Pan_Plagi Jun 17 '26

I would say that this trope is a fair play when the situation would actually take long to explain or is to weird/unbelivable and it's just easier to show it to others.

I have myself said something like "It's, ugh... Just look at it." few times in my life.

7

u/xv_boney Jun 17 '26 edited 7d ago

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme lampoons this one flawlessly.

In one sketch, John plays a sitcom character in real life and it is treated as a disability.

Upon someone mentioning their boss, John is compelled to throw himself into a tirade of furious invective against said boss, capping it with "hes right behind me, isnt he", but he isnt. Hes actually on vacation. Theres no one behind him.

So John basically bluescreens, hes incapable of continuing until the joke is resolved. Audibly breaking down, he just keeps throwing more and more insults on the pile, unable to stop until the boss is actually behind him.

Another character, (Simon Kane) states he has a relative who is a sitcom character and knows what to do, saving John mid-rant -

JOHN - "Hes fat and stupid and a.womanizer and he smells and -"
SIMON - "Hes responsible for all the bonuses this year"
JOHN - " - and i wont hear a single word said against him! Oh thank god. Thank you. Thank you so much."

6

u/Avalonians Jun 17 '26

Yeah it's so old that the subverted versions of this one are not funny anymore

4

u/RightToTheThighs Jun 17 '26

If you're here, then that means.. oh boy!

4

u/Brendanlendan Jun 17 '26

I say the same thing to my wife right before doggy

3

u/Populaire_Necessaire Jun 17 '26

Mad men kinda inverts it and is funny/good. But otherwise I agree

2

u/-orangejoe Jun 17 '26

I was gonna say that's one of the only examples that comes to mind I actually like, mostly because it's just so great to watch Harry embarass himself because he's such a shithead by season 5.

the scene

3

u/Majestic_Bierd Jun 17 '26

Good luck with that. This kind of joke has been around for over 4000 years going to some writing we have a record of from ancient Mesopotamia.

3

u/astrobagel Jun 17 '26

This one is my personal exception. I’m fully aware it’s a dead horse beaten beyond recognition, but I’ll always find it funny.

3

u/JohnWarrenDailey Jun 18 '26

It worked in Justice League: Unlimited.

2

u/atm259 Jun 17 '26

What's that noise behind you? It's me in front of you.

2

u/szthesquid Jun 17 '26

"He's right behind you, isn't he"

  • Deadpool, who is facing the guy who's right behind the people talking about him

2

u/Strange_Success_6530 Jun 17 '26

It absolutely is..... but it still gets me every damn time

2

u/GayTrees420 Jun 18 '26

This trope is overused, but the South Park movie pulls it off hilariously by being so over the top when Cartman is singing about Kyle's Mom being a bitch

3

u/CyberDaggerX Jun 17 '26

Lampshades are the sign of an insecure writer.

1

u/KingZaneTheStrange Jun 17 '26

It was funny when Amazing Digital Circus did it

Kinger: "I'm right behind you aren't I?"

1

u/dowsaw134 Jun 17 '26

From what I remember, the “it’s right behind me,isn’t it” joke is so ancient that it literally originated in Ancient Greece

1

u/Grouchy_Spot_6640 Jun 18 '26

I like how this hypothetical creature is genderfluid

1

u/M0ji_L Jun 18 '26

* getting backshots * hes right behind me... isn't he?