View Full Version : Top 10 TV Catch Phrases


Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:28 PM
Say What? "No soup for you!" Say Who? The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld." "Seinfeld" was eminently-quotable, but while junk like "yada yada yada" turns dated and stale, "no soup for you!" endures. Among the many individuals who thwarted Jerry et al during the series' nine seasons, the Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas) arbitrarily decided which customer in his establishment deserved his delicious concoction - and George was usually left out. These days, the phrase instantly connotes a martinet refusing access to something basic, which makes it universal. That the phrase comes with a corollary in amusement (soup Nazi?) makes it do double duty on the funny bone.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:28 PM
Say What? "De plane! De plane!" Say Who? Tattoo, "Fantasy Island." Tattoo (Herve Villechaize) was a little person, but his words were mighty. The sidekick to the godlike, smug Mr. Roarke helped his white-suited partner welcome a new group of visitors to their Fantasy Island each week. As their seaplane approached the remote island, Tattoo would scurry up a tower and ring the bell, alerting the locals that "da plane" was approaching. Side note: The phrase also became a punchline to a now-dated joke - "What M-n-M's does Tattoo prefer?" De plane, of course.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:29 PM
Say What? "Kiss my grits!" Say Who? Flo, "Alice." The seen-it-all waitress Flo on the hit ABC sitcom "Alice" had no problem telling Mel's Diner proprietor and cook, Mel, just where he could pucker up when his abrasive manner raised her ire. The catch phrase took off to such an extent that Flo got her own spin-off, which tanked after a season, and Flo was never heard from again. A case of success ruining a perfectly good thing

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:30 PM
Say What? "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" Say Who? Stan and Kyle, "South Park." So, there's this long-running animated show in which a child is brutally killed each week. And it's a joke! Okay, so put it that way and the fate of poor Kenny (who's barely a character; he can't even be understood through his tightly-pulled hoodie) makes "South Park" seem like the worst show ever. Instead, it may be the only show to birth a catch phrase from an existential inevitability: Kenny must die each week so that Stan and Kyle (and sometimes Cartman) can rage against the machine, announcing his death, then punctuating it with "you bastards!" And who hasn't wanted to say that after a long, hard week on the job?

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:31 PM
Say What? "Up your nose with a rubber hose" Say Who? Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter." Vinnie Barbarino: You were a poet and didn't know it. The travails of a Brooklyn schoolteacher and his underachieving students (aka "Sweathogs") may have been developed as a Gabe Kaplan vehicle, but another star stole the spotlight � a young teen heartthrob named John Travolta, who played the vain Barbarino. The sitcom was riddled with possible catch phrases ("Ooh! Ooh! Mr. Kot-ter!") but over time, nothing parallels the image of inserting a hollow cylindrical device into one's nasal passage. A class act.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:32 PM
Say What? "Good night, John Boy." Say Who? John Walton, Sr., "The Waltons." A large family being raised in rural Virginia during the Great Depression needs a leader - and in this case, it wasn't daddy, it was John Boy (Richard Thomas). As one of television's most wholesome family dramas, "The Waltons" featured the family doing good deeds for those less fortunate each week; then, to conclude the episode the camera focused on their darkened house (with just one window lit). Inside, the family said their "good nights," and at least one got directed at John Boy, the family's chronicler.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:32 PM
Word of Wisdom: "D'oh!" Say Who? Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons." In our speedy, multi-tasking culture, who has time for a whole catch phrase? So thank goodness for "The Simpsons," which after 20 years is still going strong - which has helped end our reliance on multiple words. How much more simple does it need to get than the frustrated yelp expressed by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), who can express everything from rage to sadness with three letters? In doing so, Homer has created not just some faddish, passing phrase. Nay, this is today's America, in which we can be let go from our jobs, lose our 401Ks or discover that trans fats are bad for us ... and all we have to say is "d'oh." The world understands. Now, that's a catch phrase.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:33 PM
Say What? "I love it when a plan comes together." Say Who? Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, "The A-Team." Nobody led a ragtag outfit of wrongly-accused Vietnam vets better than Hannibal (George Peppard) as they came up with crazy-plans-that-just-might-work week after week. That signature sign-off line, punctuated by Hannibal chomping on a cigar projected smarts, manliness and sly wiliness that helped the gang avoid arrest week after week. True, not every plan came together - but the point was the A-Team were always on their A-game.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:34 PM
Say What? "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Say Who? Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes." Sass - particularly the flavor demonstrated by African-American actors - has largely vanished from broadcast primetime. But in the 1970s and 1980s, shows like "Good Times," "227" and "Strokes" brought it to its razziest peak. And sass offered up by a young, diminutive named Gary Coleman took it to another level - it was from a child and seemed to suggest sweet, apple-cheeked Arnold might have a hidden thug life. It also turned into a lifelong burden for Coleman, who never outgrew the role (in more ways than one) and undoubtedly has been asked to say it multiple times every day of his life since the show ended.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:35 PM
Say What? "Is that your final answer?" Say Who? Regis Philbin, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Though it's likely that today more people have heard the accented question "who wants to be a millllllion-ayre" repeated by Anil Kapoor in "Slumdog Millionaire," Regis Philbin was the one who gave it a New York accent in the American version of the game show, which has over 100 versions around the world. Some countries have different takes on that "final answer" question (in Australia and New Zealand you're more likely to hear "lock it in?") but there's no question: This is the best-traveled TV catch phrase of all time. Money does make the world go 'round.

Brian Damage
05-11-2009, 10:35 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519817,00.html

comedyfreak
05-12-2009, 03:57 AM
How about Say what? "Sit On It" From Happy Days should have been on the top 10.

Schmoopie
05-12-2009, 04:09 AM
My ultimate favorite is "No Soup For You!" but then again, I'd pick anything from my beloved Seinfeld!

I had forgotten about "Up your nose with a rubber hose". I loved Vinnie Babarino!

tv star collector
05-12-2009, 09:49 AM
Would you believe not one catch phrase from Get Smart? How
could they have missed it by that much? Not even an apologetic
sorry about that!

TV-aholic
05-12-2009, 11:17 AM
Some of those missed...

"Book'em Danno" - Hawaii Five-0

"Nanu-Nanu" - Mork & Mindy

"Let's Be Careful out there" - Hill Street Blues

"Engage!" - Star Trek: TNG

"Make It So" - Star Trek: TNG

"Resistance is Futile" - Star Trek: TNG

"Suit-Up!" - How I Met Your Mother

"The Tribe has spoken" - Survivor

"Thank you vedy Much" - TAXI

"NORM!" - Cheers

"How You Doin' ?" - Friends

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" - The Brady Bunch

"That's what She Said" - The Office

"Save the cheerleader. Save the world" - HEROES

"I know Nothing... Nothing!" - Hogans Heroes

"Beam Me up Scotty" - Star Trek

"Pack you knives and go" - Top Chef

"And Now for something completely different." - Montey Python

Zoneboy
05-12-2009, 11:33 AM
Some of those missed..."The Tribe has spoken" - Survivor

No big loss there.


"Beam Me up Scotty" - Star Trek

Not including this one is understandable since that phrase was never said during the show's run.

http://www.filmsite.org/moments02.html

The multi-part sci-fi Star Trek TV and film series (first telecast as a one-hour TV show in 1966 and lasting until 1969 before syndication, and inspiring numerous feature films, beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)), popularized the common phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty." Contrary to popular belief, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) never uttered the line: “Beam me up, Scotty”. The actual command, "Kirk to Enterprise. Beam us up, Scotty" was voiced by Captain Kirk (voice of William Shatner) in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek animated TV series from 1973-75. The closest Kirk ever got to saying the exact line was "Scotty, beam me up!" in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), as he was transported onto the stolen Klingon Bird of Prey vessel parked in the late 20th century in Golden Gate Park (San Francisco).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_me_up,_Scotty

megamanj2004
05-12-2009, 12:11 PM
"Let's Be Careful Out There" - Hill Street Blues

"Just the facts!" - Dragnet

"Book 'em, Danno!" - Hawaii Five-O

"Looooooking Gooooooood!" - Chico and the Man

"You Big Dummy!" (or any variation of "DUMMY!") - Sanford and Son

"Stifle yourself!" - All in the Family

"Watch it, sucka!" - Sanford and Son

"Who loves ya?" - Kojak

"Dumb-@$*!" (or any variation of a "Foot in @$$-ism") - That '70s Show

"Llittle known fact...(insert caption)" - Cheers

Marvo301
05-12-2009, 06:59 PM
others not on the list:

God'll get you for that - Maude

Mom always liked you best - Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The truth is out there - X-Files

Just one more thing... - Columbo

Sock it to me - Laugh-In

Danger Will Robinson - Lost In Space

Baby, you're the greatest - The Honeymooners

You Rang? - The Addams Family

Here's Johnny - The Tonight Show

Smile, you're on Candid Camera - Candid Camera

Yabba dabba doo! - The Flintstones

Live long and prosper - Star Trek

Now cut that out! - The Jack Benny Program

Dyn-o-mite - Good Times

JT
05-12-2009, 07:14 PM
Say What? "Kiss my grits!" Say Who? Flo, "Alice." The seen-it-all waitress Flo on the hit ABC sitcom "Alice" had no problem telling Mel's Diner proprietor and cook, Mel, just where he could pucker up when his abrasive manner raised her ire. The catch phrase took off to such an extent that Flo got her own spin-off, which tanked after a season, and Flo was never heard from again. A case of success ruining a perfectly good thing
I flove that picture! That's vintage Flo.

Rosslover
05-16-2009, 11:51 PM
there are three

How YOU doin? FRIENDS
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/mrsmattalbie/joeyforever.jpg

Just Jack Will and Grace
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/mrsmattalbie/justjack2.jpg

and Burn!!!!! Kelso on That 70's Show
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/mrsmattalbie/kelso.jpg

TMC
09-02-2015, 12:33 AM
http://www.dailydot.com/lol/90s-tv-catchphrases-ranked-shadiness/

Full House’s “You got it, dude” is No. 1.

bmasters9
09-02-2015, 04:22 AM
Some of those missed...

"Book'em Danno" - Hawaii Five-0

"Nanu-Nanu" - Mork & Mindy

"Let's Be Careful out there" - Hill Street Blues

"Engage!" - Star Trek: TNG

"Make It So" - Star Trek: TNG

"Resistance is Futile" - Star Trek: TNG

"Suit-Up!" - How I Met Your Mother

"The Tribe has spoken" - Survivor

"Thank you vedy Much" - TAXI

"NORM!" - Cheers

"How You Doin' ?" - Friends

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" - The Brady Bunch

"That's what She Said" - The Office

"Save the cheerleader. Save the world" - HEROES

"I know Nothing... Nothing!" - Hogans Heroes

"Beam Me up Scotty" - Star Trek

"Pack you knives and go" - Top Chef

"And Now for something completely different." - Montey Python

How about "When they met, it was murder!" (Max [Lionel Stander] from Hart to Hart)

Tubehead
09-02-2015, 06:00 AM
the incredible hulk don't make me angry you wouldn't like me when im angry
quantum leap sam always say oh boy after he leaps into some one els
hey Wilbur mister ed
full house hey dude
full house thats rude
happy days set on it
happy days heyy
sanford & son you fish eye old fool
Sanford and Son Watch it, sucka!" -
perfect stranger this is ridiculous
family matters did i do that? does any one got some cheese ?
i love lucy ricky always say i can't afford that!!
honeymooners bamb zoom to the moon alice.

bmasters9
09-02-2015, 07:03 AM
Another one: "Hi, I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl." (Newhart, 1982-90)

howilu
09-02-2015, 10:55 AM
I'll nominate one of the most famous game show phrases "Come on down!" from The Price is Right.