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[minor muppetz]

Is there a trope for when somebody runs for something, and only gets a single-digit number of votes? Especially when it looks like we know who those votes are from, only for the one who ran to mention that he voted for himself, showing that one of the others didn't even vote for him.

I know of two examples, so there might not be enough examples (and I mean the part about the runner voting for himself and discovering one of his closest friends didn't vote). In an episode of Rocko's Modern Life, Rocko runs for dog catcher (or was it an actual political title?), but only gets two votes. We expect those two to be from Philbert and Heifer, and Philbert says that he voted for Rocko, and Rocko says that he voted for himself, meaning that Heifer didn't vote for Rocko. And in the Newhart episode "Candidate Larry", Larry runs for mayor, and at election time, there's only one person besides Larry, Darryl, and Darryl who is there. When Larry learns that only three people voted for him, he says "[the other guy there] voted for me, and I voted for me...." before realizing that one of the Darryl's didn't.

 

[minor muppetz]

Today I've been looking at the "Unintentionally Unsympathetic" and "Unintentionally Sympathetic" pages, and although these are just "your mileage may vary", there is a lot on these that I disagree with.

One thing that sticks out is how it says that on Family Guy, Brian Griffin is this, then it points out the irony that Quiagmire became Unintentionally Unsympahetic after he started hating Brian and gave him his "reason you suck speech". So Quaigmire was supposed to be sympathetic in his hate for Brian? I never saw his hate of the character as something that needed sympathy (though I do feel sympathetic for Brian being hated by Quaigmire despite trying hard, of course many of the things Brian does to make Quaigmire angrier are things he had no way of knowing).

 

[Drtooth]

It was supposed to be a big mea culpa on the part of the writers for turning Brian into their rant piece during the 00's when you know who was in charge of the US. of course, I feel both characters have become incredible butthats due to the writers lately (Brian scamming Quagmire, Quagmire becoming the victim in an episode about statutory rape when half of Quagmire's jokes is statutory rape).

 

[snichols1973]

Is there a trope for when somebody runs for something, and only gets a single-digit number of votes? Especially when it looks like we know who those votes are from, only for the one who ran to mention that he voted for himself, showing that one of the others didn't even vote for him.

I know of two examples, so there might not be enough examples (and I mean the part about the runner voting for himself and discovering one of his closest friends didn't vote). In an episode of Rocko's Modern Life, Rocko runs for dog catcher (or was it an actual political title?), but only gets two votes. We expect those two to be from Philbert and Heifer, and Philbert says that he voted for Rocko, and Rocko says that he voted for himself, meaning that Heifer didn't vote for Rocko. And in the Newhart episode "Candidate Larry", Larry runs for mayor, and at election time, there's only one person besides Larry, Darryl, and Darryl who is there. When Larry learns that only three people voted for him, he says "[the other guy there] voted for me, and I voted for me...." before realizing that one of the Darryl's didn't.

Another notable example is the subplot of "Lisa's Substitute" (with Dustin Hoffman pseudonymously credited as "Sam Etic"), where Bart runs against Martin Prince for class president: almost none of the class bothers to vote (even Bart forgets to cast his own ballot), and Martin wins by two votes (one for himself). Even the recount backfires when Ms. Krabappel sarcastically reiterates the final tally:

Bart: "I demand a recount!"
Ms. Krabappel: "One for Martin, two for Martin. Would you like another recount?"
Bart: "No."
Ms. Krabappel: "Well, I just want to make sure; one for Martin, two for Martin."

 

[snichols1973]

Is there some sort of trope where someone wins the contest, only to have most of (or all) the prize money being used to pay off the damages? For example, someone wins a prize, which just happens to be the right amount to reimburse someone whose property was damaged as a result of the competition, leaving the "winner" with only a few dollars (before or after taxes) or nothing, if not an IOU...

In "Double Cross Country Race", Popeye is competing in an auto race against Count Noah-Count, who happens to cheat as badly as (if not worse than) Dick Dastardly, and Popeye manages to achieve a last-minute victory, thanks to the help of his trusty can of spinach.

Unfortunately, Popeye ends up receiving a ton of traffic tickets for running over a motorcycle cop (among other charges), speeding, etc., and even though Noah-Count loses the race, he still manages to have a bit of an off-screen last laugh, since he manages to walk away unscathed, while Popeye gets stuck with the mountain of traffic tickets and the expense of the fines seems to be so costly that the winner receives nothing.

 

[Drtooth]

Is there some sort of trope where someone wins the contest, only to have most of (or all) the prize money being used to pay off the damages? For example, someone wins a prize, which just happens to be the right amount to reimburse someone whose property was damaged as a result of the competition, leaving the "winner" with only a few dollars (before or after taxes) or nothing, if not an IOU...

I'd say that's "Status Quo is God." But yeah, there should be one specificall towards the ever cliche winning something only to lose it on some technicality. Taxes, lottery number backwards or upside down or invalid somehow, paying for damages... clearly we can't have a show where someone wins the lottery and keeps it. Even Earl had to spend his to cross people off his list.

 

[mr3urious]

I'd say that's "Status Quo is God." But yeah, there should be one specificall towards the ever cliche winning something only to lose it on some technicality. Taxes, lottery number backwards or upside down or invalid somehow, paying for damages... clearly we can't have a show where someone wins the lottery and keeps it. Even Earl had to spend his to cross people off his list.

On Married... With Children, Al mentions the "Bundy Curse", where if he gets hit with a stroke of good luck, there will eventually be an equal stroke of bad luck to cancel it out as soon as he admits to being lucky.

 

[Drtooth]

My absolute favorite one happened in Ned's Newt. Ned is selling newspapers, and Newton does what he does causing Ned to go from the most in-demand paperboy to media conglomerate CEO. How does he lose money in this one? Simple. Because he went from conglomerate to monopoly, with all the companies that they bought there wasn't enough money to pay off their corporate debt.

So all those "lost on technicality" and "insane tax collector" endings can stick it. Ned's Newt dropped some horrifying truths in a kid's show.

 

[minor muppetz]

Is there some sort of trope where someone wins the contest, only to have most of (or all) the prize money being used to pay off the damages? For example, someone wins a prize, which just happens to be the right amount to reimburse someone whose property was damaged as a result of the competition, leaving the "winner" with only a few dollars (before or after taxes) or nothing, if not an IOU...

Or if there were one where somebody enters a contest that just happens to reward as much money as the protagonist needs and they enter because of that. One example is in the Red Green movie Duct Tape Forever, where the main characters are involved in a lawsuit and have only ten days to pay or else lose their lodge, and they learn of a duct tape contest where that amount of money just happens to be the third place prize.

Another example would be an episode of TailSpin where Baloo inherits a mansion, where all of its previous owners were killed. The murderers are found and arrested in the end, but Baloo is then informed that the place is behind in taxes, but mansion itself happens to be worth just a dollar less than Baloo owes, so he agrees to have it demolished and pay the dollar.

 

[snichols1973]

Is there a trope for when somebody runs for something, and only gets a single-digit number of votes? Especially when it looks like we know who those votes are from, only for the one who ran to mention that he voted for himself, showing that one of the others didn't even vote for him.

I know of two examples, so there might not be enough examples (and I mean the part about the runner voting for himself and discovering one of his closest friends didn't vote). In an episode of Rocko's Modern Life, Rocko runs for dog catcher (or was it an actual political title?), but only gets two votes. We expect those two to be from Philbert and Heifer, and Philbert says that he voted for Rocko, and Rocko says that he voted for himself, meaning that Heifer didn't vote for Rocko. And in the Newhart episode "Candidate Larry", Larry runs for mayor, and at election time, there's only one person besides Larry, Darryl, and Darryl who is there. When Larry learns that only three people voted for him, he says "[the other guy there] voted for me, and I voted for me...." before realizing that one of the Darryl's didn't.

Decided By One Vote - TV Tropes