Godzilla in popular culture
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As an enduring and iconic symbol of post-World War II Japanese cinematic history, Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, has been referenced and parodied numerous times in popular culture. Godzilla and other atomic monsters have appeared in a variety of mediums, including cartoons, film, literature, television, and video games.
- In the cartoon Rugrats, there is a fictional dinosaur called Reptar with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on his back, which intentionally causes him to resemble and spoof Godzilla. He also has enemies: Dactar, a pterodactyl that is based on Rodan, and Thorg, a purple gorilla that Reptar beats in the episode, "Toy Palace". He is based on King Kong.
- In Batman: The Brave And The Bold, when a T-Rex statue was about to fall on a person, you can hear Godzilla's roar.
- In the video game Destroy All Humans! 2, the level boss for Takoshima (Tokyo) is a giant lizard named Kojira, parody of Gojira.
- In an episode of the popular animated TV series The Simpsons called "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", the plane the Simpson family is in gets attacked by Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra and Rodan. In an earlier episode called Marge in Chains, when Kent Brockman starts talking about the Osaka Flu, a picture of Godzilla's head with a hot water bottle on and a thermometer in his mouth can be seen.
- The upcoming comedy film Giant Monsters Attack Japan! will parody (and pay heavy tribute to) the Godzilla series.
- The band Blue Oyster Cult has a song called Godzilla (which is, predictably, about Godzilla).
- Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, the movie for the children's cartoon TV series, "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" had a cameo from Godzilla, as well as Rodan, Anguirus, Gamera, King Ghidorah and Gigan. Another one of "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" episodes called "Giant Billy and Mandy All-out Attack" is a parody of Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. And during the episode there was a monster called Mechagorillasaur which is a parody of Mechani-Kong, Cragera which is a parody of Gamera, and Kittyra which is a parody of King Ghidorah. Godzilla was yellow that time, Anguirus had fire, Gigan was shorter and different, and Rodan had no wings.
- In the popular anime Pokemon, the creature Tyranitar is most likely based upon Godzilla. This could be intentional as many Pokemon have an uncanny resemblence to Kaiju, such as: Feraligator loooks quite a bit like Zilla, Rhyperior bares a slight resemblence to Anguirus, and Nidoking is an obvious reference to Baragon.
- Godzilla's roar is uttered in the Camp Lazlo Episode "Creepy Crawly Campy" when Raj's new bug, Elebug, becomes a giant insect that resembles Kamacuras and also done Godzilla's roar.
- Plenty of cheap dinosaur toys that roar usually appear to have the same roar as Godzilla.
- Godzilla also has an appearance in a song 'Ultimate Showdown Of The Ultimate Destiny' by Lemon Demon.
- Godzilla made a minor appearence in Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School but only his foot is shown. He also has a daughter that wears a pink dress and bow tie.
- In Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, Daffy had a dream of himself singing to monsters and introduces Godzilla but called Smodzilla. Smodzilla eats Daffy at the end of the dream.
- In the Cartoon Network show Codename: Kids Next Door, in the episode Operation: C.A.K.E.D.-F.O.U.R., Numbuh 4's tube was called Tubezilla.
- In a episode from 'American Dad!', when Steve Smith was going to introduce an ugly girl, his friend, Toshi, shouted "Godzilla!"
- The Godzilla theme song was played in a Shinchan movie when a giant robot was about to crush a tank.
- In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Sheen wants to see a 12-inch monster parody of Godzilla, Bonzilla, in one episode.
- In a Family Guy episode, Halloween On Spooner Street, Stewie threatens three bullies into giving them his candy back. One of them throws a rock at Stewie, causing him to fall over. During the fall, he accidentally fires a rocket and miles away, at a city where Godzilla is fighting the army, the rocket kills him, causing the monster to explode into blood.
- South Park aired a heavily parody of the Godzilla series called "Mecha-Streisand".
- In the South Park episode, "Whale Whores", Stan and his gang made a giant model of Godzilla to scare the Japanese away.
- In the popular movie, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Beavis and Butt-Head have a Godzilla-based dream. Butt-Head kidnapped a woman, making him based on King Kong, and Beavis breathes fire at the army, making him based on Godzilla. The two fight over who wants a 'go' with the woman and the dream ends.
- In the Fairly odd parents musical special "Schools out!", before the mayor makes his speech Godzilla could be seen destroying Dimmsdale. He is based on the appearance in the 1950s.
- In the videogame "Ed, Edd'n Eddy: The Misedventures", there is a mini-game called "The Revenge of Edzilla". The monster "Edzilla" was also in Ed Edd n Eddy TV series, in the episode called "The Day the Ed Stood Still", where Ed is dressed up as a monster, then goes on a rampage, and terrorizes the kids. It does not actually show itself until the middle of the episode.
- In the final battle of the film Species 2. When Micheal Mansen's character throws the hay fork into the back of the alien, the alien lets out a Godzilla roar.
- Godzilla can be found in many top rated TV shows. He can be seen behind George Costanza in his office of the NY Yankees in the show Seinfeld. He is also seen In the Taylor living room in Home Improvement, as well as in the living room of the show Roseanne.
- Godzilla received The MTV Lifetime Achievement award in 1996. He is the only non "real" person to receive this award.
- In the episode of My Life As a Teenage Robot where Jenny falls apart, A blue version of Godzilla is destroying Tokyo.
- The Kaiju is a monster that appeared the first episode of Total Drama Action, Monster Cash as part of a challenge themed around monster films. It was revealed to be an animatronic at the end of the episode
- In Teen Titans Trouble in Tokyo a monster that resembled and looked like a Godzilla/Gorgo wrecked powerlines then fought the Teen Titans causing alot of damage based upon Godzillas destruction and the army.
- In many episodes of Phineas and Ferb, a Godzilla-like creature has made many appearances.
- In Wizard101 there are cards that are called Firezilla and Stromzilla
- On the electricity episode of "Bill Nye the Science Guy" a large plug-in is shown. Bill describes it as Godzilla's hairdryer and Godzilla is shown attacking Tokyo in black & white.
- In the popular 1980's sit-com ALF, there are many references to Godzilla. In season two, Alf enters the Tanner families' living room and changes the channel on the TV, stating "its "Godzilla Week" on Channel 6!". He exclames "They're showing Godzilla vs The Thing, Godzilla vs King Kong, and Godzilla vs The Smog Monster!". After watching for a few seconds, he sees one of the monsters (ironically not even from a Godzilla movie at all) roaring at the screen and quickly flees from the room screeming. In season three, Kate uses Godzilla's attack on Tokyo in the original film to explain how an earthquake works to Alf. The same year, Alf refers to a pregnant Kate as "Crabzilla" in reference to her recent moodiness. In season four, when Kate asks Alf to leave the room (something Alf is asked to do a lot in the show), the alien retorts, "You didn't say "Godzilla-Says!". When Kate gives him "the look", Alf reconsiders and says, "But perhaps I...didn't hear!", and beats a haisty retreat to the kitchen.
- A red Godzilla robot appeared in Samurai Pizza Cats.
- In the sequel Austin Powers in Goldmember. There is a scene where Austin and Foxy Cleopatra are chasing Goldmember through a parade in Tokyo. Besides a suit of the Pokemon Charmander but the car Austin and Foxy are driving runs through a parade float with a Kaiju that looks similar to Godzilla as the theme from the 1954 film plays in the background as people scream "GODZILLA!!!".
- In the Show, 30 Rock, there is a restaurant that has "special hour" were two men dress as Godzilla and Mechagodzilla (dressed like Kiryu however) start fighting, and eventually the people dressed up get tired and pass out.
- The Big Time Rush episode Big Time Song Writers features a scene where Gustavo breaks out of cement while Godzilla's roar is heard multiple times.
- In Drawn Together, Godzilla is parodied heavily, making an appearance of accusing Ling-Ling for a Pocket Monster.
- In Detective Conan (A.K.A. Case Closed) there is a famous kaiju show with "Gomera" which parodies Godzilla quite often.
Gallery
Kojira in Destroy All Humans 2
Reptar from Rugrats
A model of Godzilla in South Park Episode 192 "Whale Whores"
Godzilla in Robot Chicken Episode 42 "Squaw Bury Shortcake"
2 Godzillas in Robot Chicken Episode 24 "Celebrity Rocket"
A person in a Godzilla Costume gets interviewed.
An American poster for Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) can be seen in the background.
Dr. Monsters begins to daydream of playing jump rope with Gamera and Godzilla.
Godzilla makes an appearance in footage from Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964).
Godzilla can be spotted amongst the classmates during the exchange.
Ataru goes to the arcade, where he plays a game. The objective is to fight Godzilla; however, the nuclear saurian isn't the only target, as Mothra, King Kong, Ghidorah, an Xilien Ship and Rodan also appear to be featured.
The scene in question takes place in a movie theater, complete with unmistakable near-sillhouettes of Godzilla and Anguirus on the big screen.
Ataru's mother sees herself inside her home, as Godzilla, Gamera and Alien Baltan all hang around outside.
Mendo daydreams of flying over Godzilla, whose escape is prevented by the same magnetic fields that were used to keep Rodan from wandering too far away from Monsterland in Destroy All Monsters (1968).
Djinni is busying viewing TV at Manor McDuck, where he is clearly seen watching Godzilla blast Anguirus with his heat ray.
The famous Godzilla action figure that decorated the background of the living room set for much of the show's run (October 18th, 1988 through May 21th, 1997) can be found in the top left hand corner of the accopmanying still.
Jesse Katsopolis returns from a date with Becky. After attempting with futility to inflate Michelle's new toy (a blow-up Godzilla doll) he unsuccessfully attempts to schedule another date.
In this early episode of the movie-mocking program Mystery Science Theater 3000, Dr. Forrestor sends Joel, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot the 1973 Toho film Godzilla vs. Megalon. Joel and the bots have a fun time picking apart the special effects and the movie's English-dubbed dialogue. Two skits performed by the characters directly mock the film, including a comedic "translation" of Jet Jaguar's theme song.
Mystery Science Theater 3000's second season came to a close with Joel and his robot companions riffing on Toho's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966). This episode features a neat jazz ditty performed by Joel in an attempt to explain to the bots just who Godzilla is and how he came to be. Another segment has Tom and Crow making fun of Mothra's twin fairies until Mothra shows up. Mothra is voiced by future series host Mike Nelson.
A two-second clip of Godzilla's tail slide from "Episode 212, Godzilla vs. Megalon" was shown in the show's introductory sequence from "Episode 317, Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent" until "Episode 512, Mitchell".
Decorating the walls are posters for Toho's "Godzilla on Monster Island" (aka Godzilla vs. Gigan [1972]) and "Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster" (aka Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla [1974]). Kaiju fans will also note that "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster" (aka Ebirah, Horror of the Deep [1966]) and Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) were both featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in early 1991.
In a pre-opening credits parody of Masterpiece Theater, series regular Yakko introduces a series of destructive events culminating in the appearance of Godzilla, who, after delivering his distinctive roar, proceeds to inundate the screen in a wall of flame.
Critic Jay Sherman shows clips from films that the Oscars overlooked, which includes a movie about a deaf Godzilla.
When Mr. Steinbrenner enters George's office and hears the ticking of an alarm clock, he calls in the bomb squad because he thinks an explosive device is planted underneath George's desk. The bomb squad sends in a vehicle equipped with a camera to investigate. The vehicle moves up close to the Godzilla figurine behind George's desk.
Prior to the premiere of the American Godzilla movie, CBS' Saturday morning show hosted a segment that featured the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. A teaser trailer of the new movie and general Godzilla trivia were featured as Mike and the robots cracked wise with anchorman Russ Mitchell.
During Springfield's bi-monthly sci-fi convention, Godzilla can be seen signing autographs.
Thurgood uses his hands to produce amazingly realistic shadow puppets of Godzilla emitting flames, destroying a building, and even roaring. In another shot, Godzilla fights a rabbit head, much in the style of a kaiju movie.
As the Simpson family departs from Tokyo via airplane, a sudden attack by four famous kaiju prompts routine assurances by an unfazed pilot. Upon their escape, the scene reveals Gamera, Rodan, Mothra, and Godzilla roaring into the sky.
During the musical number "Merry Christmas After All", Olive, Santa, and the reindeer deliver presents across the globe. When they visit Tokyo, "Ultraman" and "Godzilla" make a brief cameo appearance, dancing to the tune of the music.
When Gon and Killua enter their hotel room on the 200th floor of Heavens Arena, Godzilla can be seen fighting Mothra on the television screen.
Anchor Steve Carell weighs in on the occurring fascination with Asian culture in the United States, in particular focusing on the surge in Japanese toys being sold in America. Carell, however, provides a grim reminder to his story saying "it's only been 50 years since this happened" as footage from Godzilla (1954) plays.
At one point an image of Fry Bender & Leela is displayed with Godzilla, and Bender exclaims on an operatic signing voice "Oh no! It's Godzilla!", to which the Real bender in the audience replies "That's funny..I don't remember fighting Godzilla".
When Sonic is being chased by Dr. Eggman's robot "Weasel" the two pass by a movie scene with a monster clearly resembling Godzilla. "Weasel" uses a flamethrower on the Godzilla look-alike as it passes by, leaving the monster comically burnt up.
Jon Stewart, relating a piece ABC News did on how easy it was to smuggle in uranium, begins to talk about the last time ABC got their hands on radioactive material, showing a giant Barbara Walters attacking a city. Stewart then mentions that next time "Godzilla might not be there to defend us", before looking at the photo to say that she's being turned around so "Mothra can look up her skirt".
The main characters are trying to gather Jenny's body parts, which have been scattered around the globe (she's a robot, mind you). When they arrive in Japan, they witness a blatant parody of the King of the Monsters, complete with signature roar. They remove a part of Jenny's body from the bottom of his foot, which calms the erstwhile savage beast as he returns to sea.
This episode, directed by Shusuke Kaneko, starts off with two children clashing two action figures together, namely Gamera from Gamera 3: Incomplete Struggle (1999) and Godzilla from Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) (both of which were also directed by Kaneko) yelling at each other "Godzilla is stronger" "No, Gamera is stronger" until their playing is interrupted by the onslaught of classic Ultraman monster, Antlar.
In the prologue for this episode, two minor characters (Kurusu and Serizawa) square off in the school hallway wearing costumes. Kurusu is wearing a Godzilla costume, and a Type 66 Maser Cannon, Gaos, and Viras also make very brief appearances.
Godzilla appears to chastise the sold-out Ling Ling about losing his culture.
This rather risqué scene features an unusual encounter between Godzilla, his wife, and Mechagodzilla. The finer details here shall remain unmentioned, although clarification will be offered in regards to the fact that they are looking at Mechagodzilla's chest drill.
Introducing a new segment, "Stephen Makes It Simple", show host Stephen Colbert attempts to dissect the differences between big and little governments. To demonstrate this, Colbert picks metaphors for the two subjects: Godzilla as big government and Lassie as small government.
During the scene in Tokyo where Hiro attempts to reverse time, an out-of-focus Godzilla toy can be spotted among other collectibles.
n episode 33 of Death Note, the character Near has a habit of playing with toys, despite his age. In this scene, as he comes to the conclusion that Teru Mikami may be directly connected to Kira, a small toy in Godzilla's likeness is shown twice, as well as a paper cutout of Tokyo Tower (not shown here) and stacks of CDs, which could represent buildings in a city.
A parody of the movie Training Day, featuring Godzilla teaching a young Godzilla Junior the ropes out on the streets of Japan. Includes a confrontation with the Great Mazinger.
Utilizing the same Godzilla prop seen in the "King of the Monsters" sketch, Robot Chicken reveals their idea of a Japanese version of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. When the iconic trolley enters the "Kingdom", a feral Godzilla takes the hapless vehicle into his grasp. This act of recklessness is shortly followed by several cultural parodies.
This mock commercial focuses on Finland and briefly features Godzilla from the first movie in the Millennium series.
Dexter is at a crime scene (which is a comic shop) explaining how a murder occurred, while in the background, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Godzilla action figure is visible. It is likely a Bandai's large scale 1991 figure, or possibly an Horizon Godzilla figure. Whichever one it is, it is clearly customized with a green coating.
When our cute protagonist Kyoko Mogami sprains her ankle, she sprawls on the grass to take the weight off, and when she moves her leg wrong, she sees Godzilla through the pain.
While bringing up the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. Day (unlike many other major holidays) has no mascot, Stephen brings up the two most popular mascots: Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, before introducing his own creation: The Veteran's Day Godzilla (which is an image of the 1994 incarnation of the monster in uniform).
In this episode, a rivalry between Mikeru and Nagato forms involving cosplay. When it gets to the point where Mikeru resorts to donning a frog suit, we see in the background that Nagato has dressed up as Godzilla. We know it's Nagato, of course, because of a strategically-placed, free-floating label.
A professor tries to teaches his students that dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than reptiles and attempts to illustrate his point by replacing the roars of several clips of dinosaurs (including the Jurassic Park T-Rex and Godzilla) with the chirps of birds.
Tracy Jordan's quote-unquote "son", Donald, has begun a new business venture. A themed restaurant that features brawls between "unlicensed" versions of Japanese monsters, the unfortunately-named "Staples" restaurant features a debut battle between Godzila and Mechagodzila (note the spelling).
As Mike and Frank search through Joe's old stuff for items of interest, Mike notes that he's located "an old Godzilla" but laments that "he's missing his hand."
In one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments, a variety of movie spoofs can be seen during the couch gag. If you look really closely at the bottom of the screen during the zoom out, a DVD of The People vs. Godzilla is visible.
At the risk of vanishing, Ataru (dressed as a girl) and Lum both appear onstage to perform puppetry with their hands. Their first rendering consists of Lum wiggling her fingers and Ataru holding out his hands to the side of hers, making it appear as though there were a three-headed dragon present. Of course, Ghidorah pops in to "say hello" (as a means to add to the visual).
A stuffed, winged three-headed dragon is plainly visible in a claw machine; a subtle nod to King Ghidorah.
Courage must deliver a package to a giant roach (who is holding Muriel), and enters a condemned building where creepy stuff awaits behind each door. King Ghidorah is actually the least creepy thing he encounters.
Tricephalous (who resembles an incarnation of Ghidorah) and Megataur attack Super Hero City. Controlled by Mole Man, they proceed to do battle with Silver Surfer, Falcon, Wolverine, Storm, and Thor.
The episode begins with an Asian woman singing a rendition of Kipp Hamilton's "The Words Get Stuck in my Throat", before the party is trashed by a very Gaira-esque monster. Later, the Green Humungonaut battles a Red Humungonaut, and to further the Gaira comparison, the green one comes out of the water and is shown to have scales in close up shots.
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's gorilla detector bears a resemblance to Mechani-Kong's head from King Kong Escapes (1967)
Princess Kurama, the princess of the crow goblins (which are known as Tengu), needs to find a mate to save her species. Her crow minions submit data for every male in the universe into a super computer, and it quickly flashes through all the potential mates. One such candidate happens to be Nebula Space Hunters M's very own Gigan! (Who knew he was single?)
Pucca, Garu and friends find an extremely long sushi conveyor belt. They ride it and find themselves taken to Tokyo, where Godzilla and a modified Gigan (Showa era) are seen battling in the background. This scene replays several times throughout the episode, whenever the layout of Tokyo is shown.
Ascot summons a caterpillar-like monster to destroy the Magic Knights. The monster looks and sounds exactly like Mothra Larva. When it absorbs the Magic Knights' magic powers, it looks very similar to Battra's larval stage and sounds exactly like Battra and/or Rodan. It's final transformation appears to be reminiscent of Battra's Imago stage, and he sounds a lot like the Heisei King Ghidorah as well.
Show host Stephen Colbert talks about the labels Barack Obama has been accused of, such as a "secret Muslim", a "domestic terrorist" before confessing that "for awhile I thought he might be Mothra" while the famous kaiju is shown from her debut film.
When Kenan Thompson's character DeAndre Cole veers off onto yet another musical tangent on his fictional talk show "What's Up With That?", he introduces Mothra, who dances furiously to chants of "Don't get too close to the porchlight."
A homeless man treats the Simpson family to three tales of Americana. The first features Homer as Paul Bunyan; however, the story is altered to include new scenes, such as Paul Bunyan's battle with Rodan. Lisa points out that this never happened in the original story, and goes on to ramble about all the inconsistencies in Paul Bunyan's size, to which the homeless man simply replies, “Who’s telling this story, you or me?”
Rodan makes an appearance in Dragon Ball, in the episode Mystery of the Dark World.
While waiting for his father to return from his Horror hunting, a young Kouga Saejima walks over to a nearby toy store and looks at all of the toys on display, one of which is Rodan.
During the show's "Threat Down", Stephen Colbert talks about the dangers of robots and the Japanese's fascination with them, saying that they have apparently "learned nothing from Mechagodzilla" while a shot of Kiryu is displayed.
In this episode, Kong breaks open the wall of his next door neighbor, Mechagodzilla, who is eating cereal.
Windmills become Markalite Cannons in Nagasaki; King Caesar awakens in Okinawa (you can even see Miyarabi singing in the foreground); and even Gamera makes a cameo appearance in this episode of Nurse Witch Kumogi.
Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich are given a chance to create another movie, or rather a "remake of a remake". The result: Baby Zilla's performing an ice skating number. Later, they congratulate themselves on making "another giant piece of crap."
In an episode of The Awful Truth regarding race relations shows a scene from Godzilla vs Megalon (1973) in order to present a visual metaphor.
A spoof on Godzilla, King of the Monsters, this episode features a plethora of subtle and not-so-subtle nods to the original classic; the most famous being the hilariously deadpan "Yes, I see..." cutaways with a Raymond Burr parody.
A dragon is terrorizing a medieval town, and the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) are called in by the king to deal with the situation. The Warners suggest consulting the war room, and the cartoon cuts to a high tech facility where several people are sitting round a large, circular table. A Japanese general and scientist (whose voices are out of sync) are present, along with Doctor Strangelove and Perry Mason (the television lawyer made famous by Raymond Burr, who appeared in the Americanized version of Godzilla (1954), known as Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)). The intended parody of the original Godzilla film is evident.
After the whole city is sprayed with a special Juice from Lum's home planet, they begin to act out various roles. Kamen Rider, Hulk, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon appear at random times. Frankenstein can be seen holding Baragon over his head during the big pan scene, and not to far away, a mutating Matango is visible. Ebirah and Mothra can also be spotted in the background.
Lisa is in danger of failing PE, so she joins a children's hockey league. Lisa fears that if she ever receives an "F", it could blemish her record forever as she fantasizes that in the future, the Presidency of the United States is immediately revoked during her inauguration when a reporter exposes her 2nd grade "F" in PE. The official sentences Lisa to "A Lifetime of Horror on Monster Island", reassuring her that it is only a name. Cut to her and other hapless humans fleeing in terror from Gamera, Rodan, and Mothra, as someone matter-of-factly states, "It's not really an island, its a peninsula".
Throughout the series, various beast fighters and super fighters boast the roars of several kaiju, including Gabara, Anguirus, Gamera, Kamacuras, and Ebirah. In episode thirteen, one beast fighter named Kuragenyara appears identical to Dogora.
Main character Sheldon wears a tee shirt that features silhouettes of all the major Toho kaiju. He wears it throughout the last half of the episode, when he and Raj are arguing about the dark matter experiment.
On this episode of Mythbusters, Kari, Tory, and Scottie try to pop a house full of popcorn based on the myth of heating kernels with a laser. During Tory's talk with laser researcher Karel Urbanek, three clips featuring lasers are shown, the last one being the Markalite Cannon vs. the Mysterian Dome scene from The Mysterians (1957). It should be noted that these clips were shown in black-and-white format for comical reasons.