Lines

DMc has a poll up on what’s the worst “clam” (a non-joke that’s put into scripts as filler when the writers can’t think of an actual joke). “Did I Say That Out Loud?” is currently beating “I have a bad feeling about this”; I voted for DISTOL? and am strongly rooting for it to win. “I have a bad feeling about this” at least can be used just as a throwaway line; it’s a terrible cliche, but at least it doesn’t screw up a scene. DISTOL?, on the other hand, is only used as a punchline, even though it’s a) been overused and b) was never very funny even when it was new. It has the essential quality of a truly horrible clam: it isn’t funny, but is used in a spot where something funny is called for, because the writer didn’t have a joke for that spot.