Finding examples of this TV trope
2I recently was thinking of an example that I swear I’ve seen at least once (if not a few times) in Family Guy. Here is the setup:
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a character, often a woman (Lois in the case of Family Guy), goes on a long rant about something; for example, she may be upset with a man (Peter in the case of Family Guy) and is admonishing him over his behavior, or perhaps she is talking about a topic that she is interested in but the man is clearly not interested in.
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the second character (Peter in our example) seems to somewhat detach from the situation, perhaps mumbling “mmm hmm” or “uh huh” on occasion, and starts to perform some seemingly mundane series of tasks leading to a sinister suicide-like event (for instance, grabbing a chair, grabbing a rope, throwing the rope over a beam, tying it around his own neck…, or maybe slowly bringing a gun into frame while still engaged in the conversation).
The thing is, I can’t seem to find examples of this “character-is-so-bored-or-detached-that-they’d-rather-casually-commit-suicide-unnoticed-than-remain-engaged-in-the-conversation” moment in the series. I am almost certain it’s happened multiple times - between Lois and Peter, maybe between Lois and Stewie, and maybe even between Brian and Stewie. But I can’t seem to find them! Can anyone help with an episode name, description of the situation, and/or a clip?
Even examples from other shows would be welcome.
Thanks for trying to help!
-Shawn
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I was thinking TV Tropes would have it, but not seeing exactly this. Close is “Seen-It-All Suicide” but that’s after seeing something surprising, not boring. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeenItAllSuicide
You might look through this broader Suicide As Comedy category, as it has a ton of examples listed: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuicideAsComedy
@dave I spent an hour on TV Tropes before I posted this question. I couldn’t find any of the examples under Family Guy in Western Animation. Thanks for trying to help, though!
Bit preoccupied, so I can’t really help now.
Simpsons had this in the Simpsons Movie:
I know of clips in Family Guy, but they’re not so much as suicide happening, as much as the listener just starts ignoring the talker completely (such as Peter doing something while Meg talks about school).
@PlacidPenguin Interesting - not what I was thinking of, but similar. Fun!
@medz This is a variation on the trope I’m thinking of (as it employs a flashback). Now if I can only find a representative scene in Family Guy…
Airplane! is a good example for what you’re describing
Combo of Driven To Suicide and the above-mentioned Suicide As Comedy, but neither list Family Guy as doing what you’re describing
Edit: beaten by seconds!
@Moose So close. Thanks for checking/contributing.
@medz
They were both magnificent in that.
@medz This is the exact or is very close to the trope as I envisioned. I’m almost sure it happened in FG at least once!
This was definitely helpful as an example. Thank you!
@SirLouie yeah, I seem to recall Peter making a noose and tossing it over something while Lois was talking.
Just watched this week’s episode of Family Guy.
In order not to give away any spoilers, I’ll simply just say that the trope occurs in the episode.
@PlacidPenguin Came to say this, which was a direct lift from the movie Airplane, BTW.
/giphy Bobby Troup