View source for Something That Begins With Boring

{{trope}}
Whenever characters play "I Spy" or similar guessing games, it means two things:
# Inevitably, they're really bored.
# Frequently, they're in an environment where there's only one thing around to guess, making the game trivial.

{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In an episode of ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (anime)|Transformers: Car Robots]]'', the Car Robot brothers play this while they are stranded underwater.
* In the English dub of episode 30 of ''[[Shaman King]]'', Rio and Horohoro play I Spy whist Lyserg leads the gang through the desert.
{{quote|'''Rio''': Now it is my turn, I spy something brown.
'''Horohoro''': Is it... a rock?
'''Rio''': Hey you guessed it! And on the first try!
'''Horohoro''': My go! I spy something orange.
'''Rio''': Is it by any chance a rock?
'''Horohoro''': Hey! How did you know dude?
'''Rio''': Okay, I spy something red.
'''Horohoro''': Let me guess, a rock?
'''Len''': Enough! We get it! The scenery doesn't change much.
'''Horohoro''': The scenery doesn't change EVER! }}

== [[Comic Books]] ==
* It shows up in ''[[Cerebus]]'', but the earth-pig born has no patience for it.
{{quote|'''Lord Julius''': I spy with my little eye, something that is purple.
'''Cerebus''': Extensive bruising about your head and shoulders if you try to keep playing idiot games. }}

== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Twice in [https://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.pratchett/msg/41ae6cd24e046a71?hl=en& this] chapter of ''[[The Tale of Westala and Villtin]]''.

== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** The wizards in ''[[Lords and Ladies]]'', during their carriage ride to Lancre. But the Sto Plains aren't known for their scenery: S for sky, C for cabbages, and O for... oook?
** In ''[[Wyrd Sisters]]'', Nanny Ogg does it as well with the ghost of Lancre's previous king while she is locked in a torture chamber.
* Q, Ben, Radar, and Lacy play metaphysical eye spy on the road trip in ''[[Paper Towns]]''. They're definitely bored, but the "metaphysical" part stops it from being trivial.
* ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]: Cheese Lover's Yearbook'' contains an extremely rainy caravan holiday, during which the duo spend all of one day playing I Spy... according to Gromit's typewritten notes, "R for rain featured regularly." (The next day is apparently even duller, since the entry for that day gives a precise count of the number of flowers on the caravan's wallpaper.)

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* [[Monty Python|Cleese and Chapman]] do it in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJSey8HRUhU this] bit of ''How to Irritate People'', about 30 seconds in.
* While in hiding aboard a freighter on their way to Mars on ''[[Babylon 5]]'', Marcus takes an increasingly frustrated Franklin through B for "boxes", M for "more boxes", and E for "even more boxes". Franklin is heard to mutter, "'And that's when I shot him, Your Honour'."
* ''[[Blackadder]] Goes Forth'' has a scene like this:
{{quote|'''Blackadder''': I spy with my bored little eye something beginning with 'T'.
'''Baldrick''': Breakfast! My breakfast always begins with tea.
...
'''George''': I spy with my litle eye something beginning with 'R'.
'''Baldrick''': Army!
'''Blackadder''': For God's sake, Baldrick! 'army' starts with an 'A'. He's looking for	something that starts with an 'R'. RRRrrrrr!
'''Baldrick''': Motorbike!
...
'''Blackadder''': What begins with 'come here' and ends with 'ow'?
'''Baldrick''': I don't know.
'''Blackadder''': Come here. ''(punches him)''
'''Baldrick''': Ow! }}
* The episode of ''[[The Goodies]]'' where they're sealed inside a block of concrete.
* In the ''[[Top Gear]]'' Polar Special, Jeremy and James do this while driving through the ice.
{{quote|'''James:''' I spy with my little eye something beginning with...'S'.
'''Jeremy:''' Snow.
'''James:''' Yes.
'''Jeremy:''' I spy with my little eye something beginning with...'S'.
'''James:''' Sky.
'''Jeremy:''' Yes.
'''James:''' I spy with my little eye...
'''Jeremy:''' If it's something beginning with 'S', I'm going to kill you. }}
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S24/E04 Dragonfire|Dragonfire]]", Mel and Ace play this when bored, in an ice cavern. The word of course is "ice".
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'':
** In a variation, Spike and [[The Ditz|Harmony]] play twenty questions. First question: is it bigger than a breadbox? Second question: is it smaller than a breadbox? {{spoiler|It was a sodding breadbox.}}
** Also this gem, when Resident Badass and Resident Nerd were trapped in a empty room:
{{quote|'''Andrew:''' I spy with my little eye something that begins with a T.
'''Spike:''' Tapestry.
'''Andrew:''' Hey, good one. How did you?
'''Spike:''' Tapestry's the only thing in the whole bloody room. }}
* ''[[Outnumbered]]'' does this in an episode where the family's stuck in the airport; Sue is stupendously bored with the game (she's playing with her 6-year-old daughter Karen, who's coming up with things like 'time') and fails to guess what might start with 'm', whereupon Karen turns and points at a Middle Eastern man shouting "MUSLIM!" at the top of her voice.
* ''[[Spitting Image]]'' - A pair of Soviet generals watches a parade of tanks going by in Red Square:
{{quote|'''General #1:''' I spy with my little eye something that begins with "t".
'''General #2:''' Tank?
'''General #1:''' Yes. (after a pause) I spy with my little eye something that begins with "a".
'''General #2:''' Another tank?
'''General #1:''' Yes. (a bit later) I spy with my little eye something that begins with "y".
'''General #2:''' Yet another tank? }}
* ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'': "The Train Journey". Just one of the many ways in which Hancock and Sid try to alleviate the boredom, alienating their fellow passengers in the process.
* In ''[[Frasier]]'', Frasier and Niles play while at a basketball game with their father, who is especially annoyed by the "with my little eye" part.
* As a variation of this, in the ''[[Father Ted]]'' episode "Hell", Ted and Dougal are playing hide-and-seek... Dougal stupidly "hides" by concealing just his face behind a curtain leaving the rest of his body plainly visible. When it's Dougal's turn to be "On", Ted finally concedes the fact that there just aren't many good hiding places in a caravan and hides himself in the very same way!
* [[Only Fools and Horses]]: Del and Rodney do this when stuck in a lift; they come up with "Walls".
* Rik on ''[[The Young Ones]]'' tried to get the other lads to play Botticelli, a guessing game, but Mike is the only one willing to even try to guess a famous person's name; when it was Rik's turn to guess, Mike ''made up'' his famous person rather than use a real one.

== [[Film]] ==
* [[Those Two Guys|Those Two Moose]] in ''[[Brother Bear]]'' do this while they're riding the mammoth herd:
{{quote|'''Rutt''': Wanna play "I Spy?"
'''Tuke''': Okay. I spy something... green.
'''Rutt''': Tree? Okay, my turn. I spy something... tall.
'''Tuke''': Tree. I spy something... with bark--
'''Rutt''': Tree. Okay, I spy something, uh... a vertical log--
'''Tuke''': Tree. Okay, I spy some--
'''Rutt''': Tree. Okay, my turn--
'''Tuke''': Tree.
'''Rutt''': Hey, I didn't spy anything!
'''Tuke''': It counts!
'''Rutt''': Oh, okay. Tree.
'''Tuke''': Ugh, let's play something else. }}
* In ''[[Balto]]'', the characters are walking through a vast snow field, and one of them says, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with S."
* Dory attempts to play this with Marlin in ''[[Finding Nemo]].'' He's... less than enthusiastic about it. Especially since he's the only thing around to "spy," as they're swimming through blankly open ocean. And, of course, Dory's short-term memory loss doesn't help anything.
* On ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]'', Stanley tries to play a similar game with the thugs who kidnapped him. While blindfolded.
{{quote|'''Stanley''': I'm thinking of something orange! Something orange... Give up? It's an orange!}}
* Toyed with in ''[[Bill and Ted (film)|Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey]]'', where the main characters fall into what is effectively a bottomless pit. And play 20 Questions:
{{quote|'''Bill''': Are you a mineral?
'''Ted''': Yeah.
'''Bill''': ... Ted? Are you a tank?
'''Ted''': Yeah! }}
* ''[[Ocean's Eleven]]'' also had the 20 questions version with the Mormon twins.
{{quote|'''Turk:''' ''continuing an obnoxious conversation about whether he's thought of something yet'' Ok, just ask your questions.
'''Virgil:''' Are you a man?
'''Turk:''' Yes, nineteen.
'''Virgil:''' Are you alive?
'''Turk:''' Yes, eighteen.
'''Virgil:''' Evel Knievel.
'''Turk:'''...shit. }}
* A deleted scene from ''[[Stardust (film)|Stardust]]'' has the royal ghosts playing during a ride. "Something beginning with R" is all too often [[Our Ghosts Are Different|"ribcage."]]
{{quote|"Then it wouldn't be called I Spy, would it? It'd be, I Can Randomly Think of Something."}}
* In ''[[Spice World]]'', Ginger tries to play "I spy with my bionic eye" while waiting for their friend's baby to be delivered. "Something beginning with H" is- what else- "hospital."
* Averted in ''[[Jeepers Creepers]]'', in which the siblings' vanity-plate-decryption highway game actually becomes relevant to the plot when they try it on the menacing vehicles.  {{spoiler|No, it's not "Beating You"...}}

== [[Radio]] ==
* ''You'll Have Had Your Tea: The Doings Of Hamish And Dougal'', when they're [[Rule of Funny|trapped on a broken escalator]]. With a double [[Brick Joke]].
{{quote|'''Hamish''': I spy with my little eye, something beginning with "P".
'''Dougal''': Hamish, take your head out from between your knees.
'''Hamish''': Give up? It was "panty-hose". I ''did'' get dressed in a hurry! }}

== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Second Sight]]'' has this in its "Conspiracy" level, where you catch two NSE security guards playing this game.
{{quote|'''Guard 1''': Elevator?
'''Guard 2''': No.
'''Guard 1''': Exit?
'''Guard 2''': You can't see that from here.
'''Guard 1''': Okay, uh...Energy Field?
'''Guard 2''': That would be EF, not just E.
'''Guard 1''': Extinguisher?
'''Guard 2''': No.
'''Guard 1''': Surely we could pick somewhere better to play?
'''Guard 2''': Keep guessing!
'''Guard 1''': Okay, um...Eeeeeediot.
'''Guard 2''': Now there's no need for that. }}
* In ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' (not the original one, but the new one) if you talk to the princess enough you play I Spy with her. She's not impressed.
{{quote|'''The Prince''': S.
'''Elika''': ''Are we still playing that?
'''The Prince''': S...
'''Elika''': Fine, I give up.
'''The Prince''': Soulless Follower of [[Big Bad|Ahriman]]. 
'''Elika''': ...how is it that nobody has killed you yet? }}
* ''[[Operation Flashpoint]]'':
{{quote|'''Soldier #1''': I spy with my little eye something beginning with... G.
'''Soldier #2''': Gun.
'''Soldier #1''': Er, no, it's not "gun".
'''Soldier #2''': It's "gun", isn't it? I saw you looking at it. Geez, you even cheat at I Spy.
'''Soldier #1''': It's not "gun", it's "jeep".
'''Soldier #2''': "Jeep" doesn't start with G, you meathead! }}
* In ''[[Dragon Age]]'':
** This priceless exchange is a variant:
{{quote|'''[[Deadpan Snarker|Alistair]]''': You know, you never did tell me how you passed the time in that cage for so long. 
'''[[The Comically Serious|Sten]]''': No, I didn't. 
'''Alistair''': So... what did you do in there? 
'''Sten''': A training exercise. I would observe an object and then try to think of all the words in your language which began with the same letter as its name. 
'''Alistair''': That... wait. Just wait. You're joking again, aren't you? 
'''Sten''': No. 
'''Alistair''': You are not telling me that you played, "I Spy," against yourself for twenty days. 
'''Sten''': There are a lot of things in Lothering that begin with "G". }}
** A more straight example also occurs:
{{quote|'''Alistair''': Hmmm... I spy with my little eye, something that begins with... "G."
'''Sten''': Is it a Grey Warden? Is it, in fact, you?
'''Ailstair''': Oooh. You're really good at this.
'''Sten''': (Sigh)  }}

== [[Web Original]] ==
* The ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'' episode "On The Run", although they don't make the joke (and we don't find out what the something began with).
* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]''.
{{quote|'''Grif:''' I spy something beginning with--
'''Simmons:''' (frustrated) Dirt!
'''Grif:''' Damn! How did you guess?
'''Simmons:''' Well, you said rock last time. And those are the only things out here. Rocks and dirt.
'''Grif:''' Yeah. This canyon sucks. }}
* ''[[The Very Secret Diaries]]'' had [[The Lord of the Rings|Sauron]], who was ''very'' bored, [http://www.ealasaid.com/misc/vsd/sauron.html playing] "I spy with my big-huge-nasty-flaming eye."
* ''[[Weebl and Bob]]'':
{{quote|'''Weebl:''' I spy with my sexy eye.... somethings begin with 's'.
'''Bob:''' Is it 'sign'?
'''Weebl:''' ''[thinking] Arse Fez!''
'''Weebl:''' Err... no. no it isn't.
'''Bob:''' Yes it is!
'''Weebl:''' How you know?
'''Bob:''' 'Sign' only word you can spell.
'''Weebl:''' I can spell 'beefs' too.
'''Bob:''' But you can't see any beefs.
'''Weebl:''' I hate being beef blind.  }}
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series]]'' in the Season 2 episode "Sore." Although, strictly speaking, Yami isn't bored, and he's having an [[Inner Monologue]] rather than speaking to anyone.
{{quote|'''Yami:''' I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}EavsMiFfCy8 "Gay clown."]}}
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' parody ''One Ring To Rule Them All 2'', the hobbits are tied up in Mt. Doom and slowly lowered into the inferno below.
{{quote|'''Samwise''': "I spy with my little hobbit eyes something that is hot."
'''Frodo''' ''(annoyed)'': "Is it lava?" }}
* In ''[[The Guild]]'', on the way to a conventation, Zaboo tries to start up a game of "I Spy", but the others, namely Tinkerballa, puts an end to it.

== [[Web Comics]] ==
* As [http://www.bitemecomic.com/?p=543 this page] of ''[[Bite Me]]'' illustrates, sometimes the game is trivial no matter ''how'' hard you try for advanced technique.
* ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0185.html here].
* [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2236.html These] [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2761.html strips] of ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704034159/http://www.rcsitravel.net/archive/2008/05/02 This] strip of ''Code Name: Hunter''; after their boat explodes, Max and Ruby are floating on a piece of wood, along with an unconscious sailor, Roberts.
{{quote|'''Ruby''': Hmm... I spy with me little eye, something that begins with 'wa'.
'''Max''': It wouldn't be 'water', would it?
'''Ruby''': Now, chief, just because ''you'' don't want to play doesn't mean you should spoil it for the rest of us. Right, Roberts? }}
* Subverted in ''[[Cwen's Quest]]'' when this is used to deliver a [https://web.archive.org/web/20090411111228/http://www.drunkduck.com/Cwens_Quest/index.php?p=543912 load of snark]; the characters are still bored at the time, though.
* In ''Intragalactic'', two security-mercenaries play strip-I-Spy on a bank of ''monochrome'' security monitors. "Something gray?"
* In [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php?view=archive&chapter=45367&mpe=1&fromwhich=1&direction=f this] Victorian bonus strip for ''[[Narbonic]]'', two alien guards play I Spy while guarding the heroes' spaceship.
* In [http://footloosecomic.com/footloose/pages.php?page=347 this]{{Dead link}} ''[[Footloose (webcomic)|Footloose]]'' strip, Iordain attempts to relieve the boredom of a carriage ride.
* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'': one of Arachne's prisoners tries to play when in a yoke and facing a plain wall.
* The members of Dead Cell in ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'' give this game a go while awaiting rescue. Unfortunately they're in a very dark, rather deep, featureless holding cell.
* Pete/R2 tries this in [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0693.html this] ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' strip.
* ''[[General Protection Fault]]'' [http://www.gpf-comics.com/archive/2003/12/02 here].
* ''[[Spacetrawler]]'', [http://spacetrawler.com/2012/05/20/spacetrawler-229/#comments as Gurf, Pierrot, and Martina are flying towards the G.O.B.]:
{{quote|'''Gurf:''' I spy, with my little eye, something small white and tinkly.
'''Pierrot:''' ''[not remotely amused]'' A star.
'''Gurf:''' Nope! That one's a ''planet''.
'''Pierrot:''' Joy. }}

== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Family Guy]]'' in the episode ''Untitled Griffin Family History'':
{{quote|'''Nate Griffin:''' Hey, Quagdingo, wanna play a game?
'''Quagdingo:''' ''NO''.
'''Nate Griffin:''' I spy something beige.
'''Quagdingo:''' ''WOOD''.
'''Nate Griffin:''' Yeaahhhh!  }}
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'':
{{quote|'''Milhouse''': I spy with my little eye, something that begins with D.
'''Nelson''': Dingus! ''(whacks Milhouse on the head, knocking him out)''
'''Homer''': God bless you, Nelson Muntz.
'''Nelson''': I'm no hero. I just like hitting people on the head. }}
* On ''[[American Dad]]'' Steve wants to play a game, but Stan doesn't want to have very much fun. So they play I Spy. It is indeed not very much fun.

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[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
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