Is This Thing Still On?: Difference between revisions
Replaced redirects, added example
m (update links) |
(Replaced redirects, added example) |
||
| (18 intermediate revisions by 11 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Is that camera still running?!"'' (gunfire)
|'''Kane''', ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' }}
A character is making an announcement on TV/the radio/a PA system/what-have-you. Either at the beginning or, more commonly, after the end, the character will be heard making some tangential offhand or vulgar remark, realize what he or she has just done, and ponder:
Line 6 ⟶ 7:
"Oh God, is this thing still on?"
Compare [[Did I Just Say That Out Loud?]], [[Oh God, Did She Just Hear That?]] A spontaneous and usually
Time to go find that page... Wait. [[Self-Demonstrating Article|Is this still on?]]
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* In the [[Show Within a Show]] for ''[[Lucky Star]]'', after the two hosts for Lucky Channel went off on a rampage, the "executive producer" is heard talking about how he had his doubts about them from the very beginning, before an underling informs him that the cameras are rolling, and he frantically orders someone to shut them off.
* Moral from [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Never rant about your evil plan in the audio room. Just don't.
Line 18:
* A variation in ''[[Karin]]'': [[Hot Mom|Usui's mother]] is being molested by her boss in a supermarket, and he accidentally pushes her into the intercom, turning it on. They both get fired, resulting in her becoming very depressed and [[Emotion Eater|attracting the title character]].
* In [[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]] Kamjin is reporting via audio-visual radio to his new commander Breetai when his aide arrives and claims the prize of their bet about their ability to ram more of Breetai's ships than the number of their ramming ships by defolding not far enough. Breetai was not amused.
== Comic Books ==
* A variant is used in ''[[ROM Spaceknight]]'' when Rom manages to free himself from a female Dire Wraith scientist's restraints, gets to a friendly human who is similarly restrained and orders the trapped villain to free him. She does so, but also quietly turns on an intercom and plays up being trapped and threatened by the alien for the benefit of the lab complex's security forces. By the time Rom realizes what she is doing, it's too late and security is charging to the room.
* In an early issue of "Threeboot" ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'', Cos went into a rant to Sun Boy about how the team was falling apart, without realising he had an open comchannel. This didn't help.
* ''[[The Far Side]]'' has a comic of a pair of airline pilots talking. One of them is horrified, screaming that the fuel light is on, and that they're all going to die. "Oh, wait. My mistake. That's the intercom light."▼
* In one of the strips for ''[[Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!|Brewster Rockit Space Guy]]'', the title character has to give a speech about the R.U. Sirius to the crew, but can't seem to figure out what he says. The inept Engineer Cliff Clewless attempts to feed him on what to say via a bug, but the plan quickly unravels when, shortly after having Brewster give the greeting, Cliff ends up being distracted by a female member passing by in his vicinity, tries to give a pickup line along the lines of "You must be a parking ticket, because you've got "fine" written all over you", and subsequently being peppersprayed, all of which Brewster ended up parroting, causing either Brewster to realize that it was still on or him parroting Cliff's response. Lieutenant Pamela Mae Snap later tells Agent X that the speech in question, despite the obvious fact that Brewster ended up actually parroting what he should say via a bug, was actually one of Brewster's better speeches, implying that the previous ones usually turned out far worse.▼
* In ''[[FoxTrot]]'', Roger is singing "Love Machine" in the shower, and Jason, who was programming the voice answering machine, included Roger singing "Love Machine" as part of the message as one of his pranks. A few weeks later, in the final panel, has Roger confronting Jason on this fact, and Jason reminds Roger that Roger [[Hoist by His Own Petard|was the one who bought the model that had a cord that reached all the way upstairs.]]▼
* In ''[[Doonesbury]]'', Mark has a "guest" named Chase Talbot on his radio show. Mark keeps dropping hints about their being a couple, and they argue about it during the commercial break before realizing the mike was still on.▼
== Fan Works ==
* In the ''[[
* ''[[The Vinyl Scratch Tapes]]'': It takes them until part three to figure out when they aren't on the air.
* ''[[Yet
{{quote|"What? The microphone is still on? This is why I hate technology... erm oh wait, they can still hear me. Um. YES! So welcome everyone to the Chunin exams! How do I turn this damn thing off again?"}}
* In the ''[[Calvin at Camp]]'' episode "[[Legends of the Hidden Temple|Legends of the Hidden Campus]]," Eddy is caught on tape admitting that the game is completely rigged. Luckily for him, no one seems to notice or care.
* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9051968/1/Harry-Potter-Unexpected-Animagus Harry Potter: Unexpected Animagus]'', Triwizard commentators Fred and George Weasley let slip to fellow broadcaster Hermione Granger that Harry is in love with her. Immediately afterwards, Fred turns around in his seat and spots the shocked expressions on the faces of Remus Lupin and Snuffles the Dog (aka Sirius Black). Fred then asks if they're still live. Remus and the dog nod in unison. Fred curses and laments that Harry is going to to kill them.
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 2'', with Tour Guide Barbie at the end. Undoubtedly one of the best parts of the movie.▼
▲* ''[[Toy Story]] 2'', with Tour Guide Barbie at the end. Undoubtedly one of the best parts of the movie.
* Darla Dimple in ''[[Cats Don't Dance]]''. She tells off Danny the cat, because she's angry he's upstaged her at her big premiere. Unaware that in her frantic attempts to sabotage him from doing so, she accidentally turned on one of the boom mics. So her boss and all of Hollywood hears her scream, "I should've drowned you all when I ''[[Power Echoes|FLOODED THE STAGE!!!]]''"
* Subverted in ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' -- "What? I'm on right now?... I don't believe you." Ron Burgundy in fact cheerfully and obliviously subverts this two more times in the movie, being compelled to say anything that's written on the
▲* Subverted in ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' -- "What? I'm on right now?... I don't believe you." Ron Burgundy in fact cheerfully and obliviously subverts this two more times in the movie, being compelled to say anything that's written on the teleprompter -- something which takes a much darker (though still hilarious) turn when a mean-spirited prank causes him to drop the F-Bomb on live television.
* A time reverse case in ''[[Head of State]]'' when Mays make a bad comment regarding school shooting to the camera, thinks it wasn't on yet, but it was revealed that it was on all the time and is still recording. Lewis then use the tape to attack Mays' presidential campaign.
* How Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) finally destroys his political career in the classic 1949 movie ''[[All the King's Men|All the Kings Men]]''.
Line 55 ⟶ 43:
* In a deleted scene from ''[[Young Frankenstein]]''.
* Subverted in ''[[Escape From L.A.]]'': Snake Plissken has covertly swapped an [[EMP]] control device with a similar-looking but useless playback device. The fascist President, in the middle of a nationally broadcast speech, orders Snake's death so they can find the real one. When reminded that the camera is on, he actually tells the cameramen to '''film the execution'''.
* In ''Bringing Down the House'' Steve Martin "infiltrates" the bad guys' club in a very bad "wigger" disguise, complete with his own boombox. After sitting down with the bad guy, he is ordered to turn off the
* In the [["Weird Al"
* Occurs toward the end of the classic ''[[A Face in the Crowd]]'' from 1957. Antihero "Lonesome" Rhodes spends the bulk of the film riding his television-friendly image to fame and power, cynically hiding his true nature behind an aw-shucks facade. {{spoiler|At the conclusion of one broadcast, Rhodes is sitting on stage with his fellow performers, apparently engaging in casual chitchat. As the show's theme music dominates the soundtrack, the home viewers can't hear what Rhodes is really saying: he's expressing his venomous contempt for his audience. Marcia Jeffries, a disillusioned former lover and business partner, commandeers the studio's control room and switches the audio so Rhodes's words are broadcast to the world. Rhodes is thereby ruined.}}
* In ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'', Nesmith explains a plan to defeat Sarris while Sarris is still listening and watching on the big screen, thanks to the crew's mistaking the "cut the comm link" across-the-throat gesture for a "we're dead" gesture. And not actually knowing where the hold button is, anyway.
* ''[[Airplane!]]''
Line 72 ⟶ 60:
* Happens in ''[[Mister Roberts]]'' when Morton leaves the mike to the ship's PA switched on when screaming at Roberts. This lets the crew know the truth about Roberts strange behaviour and that Morton is really the one to blame.
* ''[[Horrible Bosses]]'': Harken's confession is broadcast to and recorded {{spoiler|'for quality control purposes' by the navigation-system operator}}.
== Jokes ==
Line 78 ⟶ 65:
** Told as a joke in ''[[Good Will Hunting]]''.
** In an extended version he says, "After we finish our coffee let's screw the stewardess." Upon hearing that, the stewardess storms to the cockpit in fury, only to be stopped by an elderly passenger who says: "Why such a hurry? They've yet to finish their coffee first."
== Literature ==
Line 84 ⟶ 70:
* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'': In the eighth book Count Olaf began laughing maniacally until his girlfriend informed him the intercom was still on.
* ''A Colder War'', a [[Cthulhu Mythos]] short story by [[Charles Stross]]. [[The End of the World as We Know It]] (World War Three with [[Eldritch Abomination]] weapons) comes about because Ronald Reagan makes his "bombing in five minutes" joke (see "[[Real Life]]") before a live mike.
== Live-Action TV ==
Line 91 ⟶ 76:
** Played with in a later episode: Mike decides to find out whether the communications system works both ways and tries calling the Mads... who, not even knowing they're on in the first place, are caught engaging in some very suspect [[Ambiguously Gay]] pastimes.
{{quote|'''Dr. Forrester:''' ''(looks suspiciously toward console)'' ...Oh my God. ''Switch on the game, Frank! Switch on the game!'' ''(Frank hurriedly finds a football game on TV; the Mads sit back down on the couch as far away from each other as possible)''}}
* Somewhat on one episode of ''[[Babylon 5]]''; Marcus sings, "I Am the Very Model of a Model Major General" near the
* Occurs frequently on Aaron Sorkin's shows, especially ''[[Sports Night]]''.
* And subverted in ''[[The West Wing]]'', when Bartlet makes an insulting comment about his election opponent while the mic was still open just after a radio interview. Panic sets in amongst the staff and it seems they get away lucky when the opposition's response is totally inept. CJ is the only one to realize, at the end, that the president had to have done it deliberately.
Line 109 ⟶ 94:
'''Colin Mochrie:''' I'm so horny I can't think straight!
'''Brad Sherwood:''' Did you see the jugs on the girl in row 4? }}
* Used [[Running Gag|frequently]] on ''[[Reno 911!]]'' whenever the officers make announcements.
* A regular feature of ''[[Frasier]]'', which justifies the trope by having the title character repeatedly broadcast embarrassing or insulting comments on his radio show (in one instance actually having sex on the radio), unaware that he is on the air. Notable uses include:
** "The Adventures of Bad Boy and Dirty Girl":
Line 140 ⟶ 125:
** In "Mr. Monk and The End Part 1", Stottlemeyer and a squad of policemen were staking out at a train station for Kazarinski to capture him alive and find out what product he poisoned Monk with, as well as which poison he used. Disher arrives at the control tower after their odd lack of a response, and finds the tower staff murdered with blood everywhere. Unfortunately, Kazarinski left something else besides dead bodies at the tower, as he also left the mic on, causing the staff and passengers to hear Randy attempting to report to Stottlemeyer.
* On an episode of ''[[Frontline]]'', Mike starts insulting one of Elliot's songs after his microphone has been cut off at the end of the show. Unfortunately, he forgets that the camera is still on him during the end credits and that there's a sign language interpreter next to him. His comments are translated accurately and reported in the following day's newspaper.
* On ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'', Hot Lips had a scorching case of prickly heat and woke up Col. Potter in the middle of the night to authorize some rash cream for the next supply shipment. Unfortunately, the Colonel had had trouble sleeping and had taken a powerful sleeping pill. As a result, he was in a daze at the communications desk and began rambling about Margaret's condition while accidentally tripping the camp PA.
* In ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia|Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', Frank goes on a monologue about how people can do whatever [[I Love the Dead|sick and twisted thing]] they want to his corpse when he's dead. At the time, he's mic'd and backstage at a children's beauty pageant that he's hosting.
* In an episode of ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'', Justin reports to Rudy, the head of the Monster Hunter Council that three level 6 monsters (his vampire girlfriend and her parents) have been detected on Waverly Place and Rudy says he'll send over their best available monster hunters. After the conversation ends, Rudy says "That kid'll be a bone necklace inside of an hour", prompting an appropriately frightened look from Justin. Rudy notices this and begins backpedaling, saying that he meant a different bone necklace.
{{quote|'''Rudy:''' How do I turn this thing off?!}}
* In the ending credit ''[[Roseanne]]'' episode, '''The Parenting Trap''', Roseanne is discussing with Neil Conrad on a family way of explaining about erections on an [[Breaking the Fourth Wall| ABC show]]. Conrad was trying to explain how the censors would interfere. This leaves Rosanne to explain to Conrad that it was "too late" for the protest. Cue this [https://youtu.be/K0oDbfvy-l0 moment].
== Music ==
* In the last chorus of ''Steve Earle'' by [[Sugarland]], the line "The others wanted your whole heart, but I just want your sleeve..." degenerates into a rapid-fire stream of speech-- "...and the shirt that goes with it 'cause it smells like you and you know I like to sleep in that, and a vacation house, at the beach, and a really small wedding, only 'bout three hundred people, did I tell you that I've got kids?..."
* The Cuban Boys' "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia", a cover of Roger Miller's "[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Whistle Stop]]", ends with a reenactment of the supposed Uncle Don incident.
== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* ''[[The Far Side]]'' has a comic of a pair of airline pilots talking. One of them is horrified, screaming that the fuel light is on, and that they're all going to die. "Oh, wait. My mistake. That's the intercom light."
▲* In one of the strips for ''[[Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!|Brewster Rockit Space Guy]]'', the title character has to give a speech about the R.U. Sirius to the crew, but can't seem to figure out what he says. The inept Engineer Cliff Clewless attempts to feed him on what to say via a bug, but the plan quickly unravels when, shortly after having Brewster give the greeting, Cliff ends up being distracted by a female member passing by in his vicinity, tries to give a pickup line along the lines of "You must be a parking ticket, because you've got "fine" written all over you", and subsequently being peppersprayed, all of which Brewster ended up parroting, causing either Brewster to realize that it was still on or him parroting Cliff's response. Lieutenant Pamela Mae Snap later tells Agent X that the speech in question, despite the obvious fact that Brewster ended up actually parroting what he should say via a bug, was actually one of Brewster's better speeches, implying that the previous ones usually turned out far worse.
▲* In ''[[FoxTrot]]'', Roger is singing "Love Machine" in the shower, and Jason, who was programming the voice answering machine, included Roger singing "Love Machine" as part of the message as one of his pranks. A few weeks later, in the final panel, has Roger confronting Jason on this fact, and Jason reminds Roger that Roger [[Hoist by His Own Petard|was the one who bought the model that had a cord that reached all the way upstairs.]]
▲* In ''[[Doonesbury]]'', Mark has a "guest" named Chase Talbot on his radio show. Mark keeps dropping hints about their being a couple, and they argue about it during the commercial break before realizing the mike was still on.
== Radio ==
* The famous [[Urban Legend]] has it some children's radio presenter in the '30s finished up his show, then said "That oughtta hold the little bastards!" on an open mic. He was allegedly fired immediately. The slip is supposedly uttered by Uncle Don, but [http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/radio/uncledon.asp his career says otherwise].
* A 1969 NBC radio news capsule ended with the anchor recapping the headline, followed by somebody in the background uttering the word "bullshit".
▲== Music ==
▲* In the last chorus of ''Steve Earle'' by [[Sugarland]], the line "The others wanted your whole heart, but I just want your sleeve..." degenerates into a rapid-fire stream of speech-- "...and the shirt that goes with it 'cause it smells like you and you know I like to sleep in that, and a vacation house, at the beach, and a really small wedding, only 'bout three hundred people, did I tell you that I've got kids?..." -- until Jennifer Nettles finally stops to ask, "Is this thing on?"
== Tabletop Games ==
* The old airline joke was used as the basis of a ''[[Warhammer
{{quote|A squad of Sisters of Battle were all being inserted by dropship.
The male pilot comes on the radio and says, "We are just entering the atmosphere now and will be landing at base alpha zero zero in half an hour."
Line 163 ⟶ 153:
The new lieutenant, horrified at the detail spewing from the speakers about various uses for the butt of the co-pilot's las-pistol, runs down the aisle to switch off the intercom, trips over a boltgun, and lands flat on her face.
A new recruit sitting opposite turns and says, "Whoa! Calm down Ma'am! He's gotta take that shit first!" }}
== Theater ==
* In ''Follies'', Max and Stella Deems say that their radio career ended this way.
== Video Games ==
Line 183 ⟶ 171:
* In ''[[The Movies]]'', on the radio announcement two years before the depression event hits early in the game.
{{quote|'''Radio Announcer:''' ... Including this news reporter, who's set to make a fortune and kiss goodbye to all you hardworking suckers out there. Wait, is this thing still on?}}
* Both of the UNN reporters in ''[[
* Used in one of Eggman's PA announcements in ''[[Sonic Colors]]'':
{{quote|"Please beware of the spikes on the Asteroid Coaster -- they are sharp.... ''Really, we have to warn people about '''spikes?''' Like they won't notice the spikes, I mean come on -- the cars are '''nothing but spikes!''' Unbelievable! Wh -- uh -- my what is still on?''"}}
* During ''[[World of Warcraft]]''{{'}}s Operation Gnomeregan event, the [[Mad Scientist]] who's taken over the gnomes' underground city uses a "Brag-Bot" to taunt the heroes. First he launches into his rant, stops to make sure that the mike is on, and then starts over. Later, while gloating how his trump card will vaporize everyone, he wishes aloud that he could see his arch-rival's face before realizing that the mike is ''still'' on.
* In ''[[Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee]]'', the Vortaak leader finishes his speech, pauses for about two seconds, and realizes the camera is still rolling.
{{quote|"That is all. ([[Beat]]) ...Am I still on? Oh. Well. We now return you to... whatever it was you were doing. Idiots."}}
* In ''[[Subnautica]]'' you receive a radio message from Alterra HQ letting you know that they can't get a rescue ship out to you and that they've sent plans for a ship you can build to the computer in the ''Aurora''{{'}}s captain's quarters... in between ordering a ham and cheese from an office sandwich run, all of which is ''also'' sent as part of the message.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Concerned]]'': "Welcome to City 17, also known as HELL! HELL! [http://www.hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2005-05-03 YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE! YOU'RE ALL DEAD! HAHAHAHAHA!"]
* ''[[
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', with quarantined "[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2012-05-17 zombie]".
* Inverted in ''[[Megatokyo]]'': "is this thing already on?" happened to [http://megatokyo.com/strip/68 work well for Kimiko].
* In ''Swords'' a god [https://swordscomic.com/swords/XC/ makes this mistake].
== Web Original ==
Line 202 ⟶ 191:
{{quote|'''Controllers''': "We heard that, 479'er."
'''479'er''': "Yup. That's cause I transmitted it." }}
* [[De Rez]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20151014200452/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/de-rez/41-Searching-for-Gordon-Freeman "Searching For Gordon Freeman"]: While having a private discussion about the fact that the cameraman doesn't know how to edit, Dave decides they can work with it, doing everything in one take, as long as there are no screw-ups. Then, "Is that on?"
== Western Animation ==
Line 218 ⟶ 206:
'''Smithers:''' Sir, you have to let go of the button.
'''Burns:''' Oh, [[Curse Cut Short|son of a bi]]-- }}
** Let's not forget the episode with Gabbo and "all the kids in Springfield are SOBs" (a line inspired by a [[Truth in Television|real life kids' entertainer]] who got caught in his own
{{quote|'''Kent Brockman:''' Gabbo's kind of language has no place on or off TV. And that's My Two Cents. Heheh, that oughta hold the little SOBs. Heheh... ''(a prompt comes up with his picture while giddily saying this previous statement and a caption saying "Brockman in Trouble")''... WHAT THE?!}}
** In yet another episode, Homer is brought on stage to demonstrate a motion capture suit for animation. After hamming it up a bit, he goes off to the bathroom, complete with the CG dog doing likewise. "Urinal cake eroding...eroding...gone!"
Line 236 ⟶ 224:
'''Aide:''' Uh, Mayor, the mic is on. }}
** Another episode has a demon manipulate a Republican speaker into supporting the extended life support of Kenny even though he was stuck in a vegetative state, so every time he spoke the Republican would repeat what he just said. However, his tendency to speak in snarls had the Republican repeat that too, then he complained about how he wasn't supposed to say that, only for the Republican to repeat that he wasn't supposed to repeat that.
* An episode of ''[[Doug]]'' combined this with [[Engineered Public Confession]]; Roger, who framed Doug for stealing one of Vice-Principal Bone's yodeling trophies, goes into the office to taunt Doug, sits at Bone's desk and kicks his feet
* The [[Urban Legend]] mentioned in the Radio section is given a nod in the ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' song about the parts of the brain, by The Brain, naturally.
* In the ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]'' special regarding Francine starting a rock band that quickly becomes a celebrity band, the Principal, after doing the announcements, is muttering bitterly to himself about the band's choice of a band name ("You Stink!"), only to realize shortly thereafter realize that he left the mic on.
Line 242 ⟶ 230:
* In one episode of ''[[Combo Niños|Combo Ninos]]'', Diadoro makes unflattering comments about the audience just as his assistant has finished repairing the equipment and activating the microphone.
* The "beginning" variant shows up in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]''. After the theme of the "Jokers Wild" casino is revealed on live television (complete with revolving laughing Joker head) reporter Summer Gleeson is caught on camera muttering, "Just disgusting."
== Real Life ==
* This happens often enough that one mantra of politics is "Every microphone is live." But to get down to specifics...
* [[George W. Bush]]:
** Bush's much-mocked "get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit" aside to Tony Blair concerning the Middle East. The [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article688879.ece full transcript] is enlightening, and ends with a literal "Is this thing on?"
** Then there was the time when Bush had a press conference with some US troops in Iraq, a PR event advertised as the President's chance to have a "frank, spontaneous conversation" with the soldiers. Problem was, a news channel picked up a live feed of the conference room before the event showing a full-blown ''rehearsal'' with every question and cute one-liner laid out in advance.
Line 260 ⟶ 247:
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/peggy-noonan-mike-murphy_n_123647.html This incident] from the 2008 Republican National Convention, in which Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy (commentators one would normally expect to be sympathetic to Republicans) made dismissive comments about the party's prospects and selection of Sarah Palin as its Vice-Presidential candidate.
* Jesse Jackson was caught on mic whispering, "I wanna cut his nuts off," referring to Barack Obama. Made further hilarious by the jerking motion he made, as though motioning just how he would go about with the castration.
* [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090323/SPORTS/90323012 Three employees]{{Dead link}} were [https://web.archive.org/web/20110605231818/http://www.kcci.com/news/19010464/detail.html fired] from a Des Moines sports radio show when their [[Cluster F-Bomb|profanity-riddled]] argument over credentials in a high school sports league was aired behind a commercial break.
* While attending a course during his time posted to Egypt, then-Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham (later winner of TWO Victoria Crosses) once looked out into a briefing-theatre full of generals and muttered, "My oath -- what a galaxy of bloody talent!"... not realising he was standing next to a live microphone.
* When showing live coverage of a speech given by George W. Bush on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, CNN anchor Kyra Phillips [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7QhEeQF_o visited the bathroom, leaving her mic on]. Parts of a personal conversation between Phillips and a
* Similarly, several years ago during some sort of Hollywood celebrity event Joe Pantoliano left his mic on after he thought the interview was over and proceeded to take a long and luxurious leak in the men's room, an act which gives new meaning to his nickname Joey Pants.
* In July 2009 Michael Duvall, a California state assemblyman, was captured on tape describing to a
* There's an extra on the fourth season DVDs of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' that has a panel of the stars and writers answering questions. Toward the end, Neil Patrick Harris gets up and goes to the bathroom, but forgets to remove his mic. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* During the eighties and early nineties it was very common for US TV networks to transmit satellite feeds without any form of scrambling or encryption so anyone with a satellite dish and satellite TV tuner could view them. Because of this it was possible for people to watch (and record) satellite interviews as they were being conducted. For live broadcasts, the feed was usually setup far before the interview began and when the network cut to commercial or another segment of the program the satellite feed usually stayed on leading to many real-life instances of this trope. Several of them were collected in a documentary called ''Spin''
* News anchor Sue Simmons, displeased with some off-camera incident, unleashes a hilarious [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETnp8Tq3CFw bit of profanity.] She later apologized, but David Letterman still had a tremendous amount of fun at her expense.
* Pat Robertson [https://web.archive.org/web/20130824004908/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953778_1953776_1953758,00.html had a simliar blunder] when he tried to insult the caller he had just spoken to, thinking his mic was off. It wasn't.
* At the end of an interview, having thought that the broadcast had ceased, Mel Gibson added a little something to the end of his farewell to the interviewer [https://web.archive.org/web/20120304000756/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/1008066/mel-gibson-denies-abusing-reporter-on-live-tv he probably didn't intend to go to air].
* During a group photo with his sons, Prince Charles muttered "I can't stand that man," referring to a prominant newspaper's royal correspondent. Naturally, because the man ''was'' that newspaper's royal correspondent, he had to report this comment about himself in the press.
* Famous British football commentator Ron Atkinson said, referring to French player Marcel Desailly: "He is what is known in some schools as a lazy thick nigger." Although transmission in the UK had finished, his comment was broadcast to various countries in the Middle East. He had to resign from his job.
Line 278 ⟶ 265:
* CNN, covering the 2004 Democratic National Convention, cut to a live feed from producer Don Mischer's microphone, just in time to catch him upbraiding his staff for a mediocre balloon drop. [[Cluster F-Bomb]] with confetti!
* While being driven to his next appointment after a conversation with a local voter about immigration, UK Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]] [http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/04/28/gordon-brown-apologizes-for-calling-a-pensioner-a-bigoted-woman/ referred to her as "a bigoted woman"]. After the audio made the news, he took a trip to her house to personally apologize. In between, he also failed to realise there was a camera filming him in the radio studio where the news was broken to him on air.
* Back when Oliva Munn was part of ''[[Attack of the Show!]]'', She did interviews around E3 2010. On one night she did an informal E3 Stream with Co-host Kevin in their hotel room. During the stream Kevin made comments about Olivia's sex life, not amused she decided to cut to commercial break and reveals her [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|persona]] to Kevin. Fast forward about four minutes later and she's about to turn the stream back on, but there's a problem...she never turned it off
* Similarly, during the 1989 election campaign, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke referred to a pensioner who had just harrangued him during a meet-and-greet as a "silly old bugger". The muttered comment was recorded by a television crew accompanying the PM and quickly became front page news across the country.
* From Reader's Digest: an air traffic controller aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier didn't realize his mic was still on after talking to a pilot, saying "That guy [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome|sounds just like Elmer Fudd.]]" After a long, awkward silence the pilot radioed back: "Be vewy vewy quiet. We're hunting submawines."
Line 284 ⟶ 271:
* During the September 11th, 2001 attacks, broadcasters had far bigger things to concentrate on than FCC regulations, so most news broadcasts gave viewers an almost uninterrupted 8-hour stream of [[Cluster F-Bomb|Cluster F Bombs]] and pointed [[Precision F-Strike|Precision F Strikes]] from frightened civilians running by the cameras. This included lines such as, "This is all fucking crazy! This is the fucking end!"
* In 2009, Chilean senator Fernando Flores is about to finish an interview for the CNN Chile channel. His host makes some questions that he dislikes, then finishes the interview. Just before the transmision was about to finish, a pissed-off Flores rants about how the guy's questions were [[Precision F-Strike|"fucking dumb"]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqqD3b4ap78 among other things.] That part was caught on-tape and then uploaded to youtube...
* During the Apollo 16 lunar mission, while the astronauts were resting after a moonwalk, John Young told his colleague Charlie Duke how the potassium-laced orange juice they were given to drink was giving him gas, and how he intended never to eat another [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] orange again after the flight was over. Eventually Mission Control warned him that he had a "hot mike". It seems that his mike key was stuck in the "on"
* Shortly after the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 moved to the lunar module, the mike setting was switched to [[wikipedia:Voice-operated switch|VOX]] (voice-operated transmission) by accident. The Capcom first tried to hint that the mike was hot by responding to the astronauts' private conversation; despite the hint, [[Failed a Spot Check|the astronauts still failed to see that the mike setting was not on "Normal Voice".]] It eventually had to be pointed out directly by the Capcom, similar to [[Apollo 13|the movie]]. Even worse, later in the mission, Lovell accidentally made a comment that it would likely be the last mission for a long time; again, this was while the mike was on a VOX setting.
* At a city council meeting in 2010, [[Stargate City|Vancouver]] mayor Gregor Robertson landed himself in hot water when he was recorded [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDcmUQa0WM insulting his constituents as "hacks" of a rival local political party] because they opposed his rental housing development plan. Annoyingly, the media (and inevitable backlash against the reports) focused on a [[Windmill Political|supposed outrage over his use of profanity]] rather than the fact that he was [[Unfortunate Implications|belittling anyone who disagreed with him]] as a "hack" of a local political party. (The idea of a "hack" of any municipal political party sounds hilarious to this Vancouverite).
Line 302 ⟶ 289:
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:This Index Asked You a Question]]
| |||