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The 100 Greatest TV Catchphrases

TheOldMole Nov 30 2006 03:53 PM

According to the TVLand channel: -"Aaay" (Fonzie, "Happy Days") -"And that's the way it is" (Walter Cronkite, "CBS Evening News") -"Ask not what your country can do for you ..." (John F. Kennedy) -"Baby, you're the greatest" (Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, "The Honeymooners") -"Bam!" (Emeril Lagasse, "Emeril Live") -"Book 'em, Danno" (Steve McGarrett, "Hawaii Five-O") -"Come on down!" (Johnny Olson, "The Price is Right") -"Danger, Will Robinson" (Robot, "Lost in Space") -"De plane! De plane!" (Tattoo, "Fantasy Island") -"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal") -"Do you believe in miracles?" (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics) -"D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons") -"Don't make me angry ..." (David Banner, "The Incredible Hulk") -"Dyn-o-mite" (J.J., "Good Times") -"Elizabeth, I'm coming!" (Fred Sanford, "Sanford and Son") -"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver ..." (Eddie Haskell, "Leave it to Beaver") -"God'll get you for that" (Maude, "Maude") -"Good grief" (Charlie Brown, "Peanuts" specials) -"Good night, and good luck" (Edward R. Murrow, "See It Now") -"Good night, John Boy" ("The Waltons") -"Have you no sense of decency?" (Joseph Welch to Sen. McCarthy) -"Heh heh" (Beavis and Butt-head, "Beavis and Butthead") -"Here it is, your moment of Zen" (Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show") -"Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show") -"Hey now!" (Hank Kingsley, "The Larry Sanders Show") -"Hey hey hey!" (Dwayne Nelson, "What's Happening!!") -"Hey hey hey!" (Fat Albert, "Fat Albert") -"Holy (whatever), Batman!" (Robin, "Batman") -"Holy crap!" (Frank Barone, "Everybody Loves Raymond") -"Homey don't play that!" (Homey the Clown, "In Living Color") -"How sweet it is!" (Jackie Gleason, "The Jackie Gleason Show") -"How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, "Friends") -"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" (Alka Seltzer ad) -"I know nothing!" (Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes") -"I love it when a plan comes together" (Hannibal, "The A-Team") -"I want my MTV!" (MTV ad) -"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl ..." (Larry, "Newhart") -"I'm not a crook ..." (Richard Nixon) -"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (Vicks Formula 44 ad) -"I'm Rick James, b****!" (Dave Chappelle as Rick James, "Chappelle's Show") -"If it weren't for you meddling kids!" (Various villains, "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?") -"Is that your final answer?" (Regis Philbin, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire") -"It keeps going and going and going ..." (Energizer Batteries ad) -"It takes a licking ..." (Timex ad) -"Jane, you ignorant slut" (Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin, "Saturday Night Live") -"Just one more thing ..." (Columbo, "Columbo") -"Let's be careful out there" (Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues") -"Let's get ready to rumble!" (Michael Buffer, various sports events) -"Live long and prosper" (Spock, "Star Trek") -"Makin' whoopie" (Bob Eubanks, "The Newlywed Game") -"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! (Jan Brady, "The Brady Bunch") -"Mom always liked you best" (Tommy Smothers, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour") -"Never assume ..." (Felix Unger, "The Odd Couple") -"Nip it!" (Barney Fife, "The Andy Griffith Show") -"No soup for you!" (The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld") -"Norm!" ("Cheers") -"Now cut that out!" (Jack Benny, "The Jack Benny Program") -"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park") -"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch") -"One small step for man ..." (Neil Armstrong) -"Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" (Grey Poupon ad) -"Read my lips: No new taxes!" (George H.W. Bush) -"Resistance is futile" (Picard as Borg, "Star Trek: The Next Generation") -"Say good night, Gracie" (George Burns, "The Burns & Allen Show") -"Schwing!" (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, "Saturday Night Live") -"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" (Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle) -"Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids" (Trix cereal ad) -"Smile, you're on `Candid Camera"' ("Candid Camera") -"Sock it to me" ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In") -"Space, the final frontier ..." (Capt. Kirk, "Star Trek") -"Stifle!" (Archie Bunker, "All in the Family") -"Suit up!" (Barney Stinson, "How I Met Your Mother") -"Tastes great! Less filling!" (Miller Lite beer ad) -"Tell me what you don't like about yourself" (Dr. McNamara and Dr. Troy, "Nip/Tuck") -"That's hot" (Paris Hilton, "The Simple Life") -"The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" (Jim McKay, "ABC's Wide World of Sports") -"The tribe has spoken" (Jeff Probst, "Survivor") -"The truth is out there" (Fox Mulder, "The X-Files") -"This is the city ..." (Sgt. Joe Friday, "Dragnet") -"Time to make the donuts" ("Dunkin' Donuts" ad) -"Two thumbs up" (Siskel & Ebert, "Siskel & Ebert") -"Up your nose with a rubber hose" (Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter") -"We are two wild and crazy guys!" (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys, "Saturday Night Live") -"Welcome to the O.C., bitch" (Luke, "The O.C.") -"Well, isn't that special?" (Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, "Saturday Night Live") -"We've got a really big show!" (Ed Sullivan, "The Ed Sullivan Show") -"Whassup?" (Budweiser ad) -"What you see is what you get!" (Geraldine, "The Flip Wilson Show") -"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes") -"Where's the beef?" (Wendy's ad) -"Who loves you, baby?" (Kojak, "Kojak") -"Would you believe?" (Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart") -"Yabba dabba do!" (Fred Flintstone, "The Flintstones") -"Yada, yada, yada" ("Seinfeld") -"Yeah, that's the ticket" (Jon Lovitz as the pathological liar, "Saturday Night Live") -"You eeeediot!" (Ren, "Ren & Stimpy") -"You look mahvelous!" (Billy Crystal as Fernando, "Saturday Night Live") -"You rang?" (Lurch, "The Addams Family")

Willets Point Nov 30 2006 03:59 PM

I had a friend I worked with about 10 years ago who always said "Yadda, yadda, yadda." I just thought it was her endearing quirk, I had no I idea it was from a tv show.

Willets Point Nov 30 2006 04:02 PM

By the way, I think in order to be a catchphrase it should be something someone utters multiple times, not say just a famous quote from a president's inaugural address.

Frayed Knot Nov 30 2006 04:06 PM

"Sorry about that Chief" or "Missed it by that much" -- both, of course, from Maxwell Smart I would have liked to see them separate TV lines, from commercial lines, from lines that weren't intended for either but eventually got replayed on TV after the fact (political lines, etc.) "Yadda, yadda" wasn't invented by the Seinfeld show, it just gained increased popularity from it to the point where a lot of people now think it was.

soupcan Nov 30 2006 04:14 PM

'Sit on it Potsie' 'Kiss my grits!'

Edgy DC Nov 30 2006 04:17 PM

< curmudgeon >Standards of greatness are sliding.< /curmudgeon >

Willets Point Nov 30 2006 04:21 PM

"What do ya' think is in the burgers?" "Duh...I heard that!"

metsmarathon Nov 30 2006 04:39 PM

"Now we are so happy we do the dance of joy!"

soupcan Nov 30 2006 04:42 PM

'zat 'Ren & Stimpy'? Blast from the past.

metsmarathon Nov 30 2006 04:50 PM

]-"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch") is it a catch phrase if it's only said, like, once? i mean, really, how often did her nose cause her physical pain? ]-"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" (Alka Seltzer ad) makes it, but "plop plop fizz fizz" doesn't? what about my headache this big? including ads is dumb. especially when you don't do a good job including phrases from ads. ]-"Resistance is futile" (Picard as Borg, "Star Trek: The Next Generation") i don't think that its only picard who's said this, but rather that it is the catch phrase for the entire species, right? are the borg a species? a brand name? what? ]-"Space, the final frontier ..." (Capt. Kirk, "Star Trek") -"The truth is out there" (Fox Mulder, "The X-Files") i don't recall ever hearing, within the context of the show, either of these two phrases. maybe the truth is out there, i guess... can phrases from the opening credits really be considered catch phrases? and why not "a young loner on a dangerous crusade to champion the innocent... " ]-"Two thumbs up" (Siskel & Ebert, "Siskel & Ebert") really? you've got to be kidding me.

KC Nov 30 2006 04:56 PM

"watchit suckah" - Aunt Esther, Sanford and Son "this is the big one, I'm comin' to see ya Elizabeth" - Fred, Sanford and Son

MFS62 Nov 30 2006 06:40 PM

"pop pop, fizz fizz" (Oh, what a relief it is) Another Alka-Seltzer ad. Later

Iubitul Nov 30 2006 07:35 PM

"Beisbol has bin beddy beddy good to me"

iramets Dec 01 2006 05:40 AM

"Here come the judge, here come the judge" and "Sock it to me" (both from Laugh In) have to make any such list. Also "You can look THAT up in your Funk and Wagnall's" and Arte Johnson's "Verrrrrry interesting...but stupid." The show was basically a series of catchphrases.

Edgy DC Dec 01 2006 07:52 AM

They seem to be judged by their success in making their ways into popular jargon, which, if so, explains how phrases that got uttered officially once (then replayed), or were used in opening credits only, made it. One of the most caught-on catchphrases --- "Beam me up, Scotty" --- was never explictly used on the show that launched it. On the other hand, Friday gives us "This is the city..." but not "Just the facts, Ma'am"?

Willets Point Dec 01 2006 08:10 AM

Edgy DC wrote: On the other hand, Friday gives us "This is the city..." but not "Just the facts, Ma'am"? The facts, Edgy.

KC Dec 01 2006 08:16 AM

"But Wilbur" - Mr. Ed, of course, of course. "Ya know, Wally, I've been thinkin' ..." - Beaver, Leave it to Beaver

soupcan Dec 01 2006 09:04 AM

Edgy DC wrote: One of the most caught-on catchphrases --- "Beam me up, Scotty" --- was never explictly used on the show that launched it. Example of that phrase being utilized in society: At The Who / Pretenders show the other night, Chriisie Hynde was introducing her band's drummer and said that he has been "the most entertaining drummer out there since Keith Moon beamed up in 1978"

Edgy DC Dec 01 2006 09:23 AM

Does that mean Martin Chambers? I hope he's still in the lineup. He and Chrissie were the only ones on the dais when the Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chrissie thanked all the replacement members by name and said something that should be a catchphrase: "I know that The Pretenders have looked like a tribute band for the last 20 years. ... And we’re paying tribute to James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon, without whom we wouldn’t be here. And on the other hand, without us, they might have been here, but that’s the way it works in rock 'n' roll." But my favorite Chrissie Hynde should-be catchphrase comes from her addressing the non-vegetarian majority in her audience one time in Boston: All you hamburger-eating motherfuckers are gonna die!" Yeah, that'll get you back on the charts, sister. The tour should be re-named "The Tour of Half-Dead Bands."

iramets Dec 01 2006 09:26 AM

soupcan wrote: he has been "the most entertaining drummer out there since Keith Moon beamed up in 1978" "Och, Ceptain, he's too much booze in him to beam him up safely. Canna we let him dry out a wee bit first?"

MFS62 Dec 01 2006 09:32 AM

iramets wrote: ="soupcan"] he has been "the most entertaining drummer out there since Keith Moon beamed up in 1978" "Och, Ceptain, he's too much booze in him to beam him up safely. Canna we let him dry out a wee bit first?" Kirk: "But if you set him on fire, he might provide that extra power you're always bitchin' about, Scotty". Later