< Catch Phrase

Catch Phrase/Live Action TV

Catch Phrases from Live Action TV. There are many. Many, many catch phrases. Hoo boy.

Due to the sizable nature of the page, and the fact that it will keep growing, please try to keep them in alphabetical order by series on this page so it doesn't delve into chaos.

If the phrase has become popular due to the audience repeating it, and not the characters in the show, it belongs in Memetic Mutation.

In late 2006, the TV Land cable network compiled a list of the 100 greatest TV Catch Phrases, and broadcast them in a special miniseries, "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases," over five days in December of that year. A link to the article can be found here.

Examples (Alphabetical by series)
  • Adam-12 "1-adam 12, 1 adam 12" (the car's call sign)
  • The Adventures of Lano and Woodley: "You stupid little skinny man!", "Aaaaaaw, YEAH!"
  • The Adventures of Pete and Pete:
    • "I am Artie! The strongest man...in the world!"
  • The Adventures of Superman: The phrase "Great Caesar's Ghost" was actually a common expression around the start of the 20th Century. Nowadays, it's exclusively associated with Perry White.
    • Lampshaded in one episode where a mobster that Perry White was testifying in court against hired an actor to appear before Perry as the Ghost of Caeser, claiming that Perry had summoned him all those times in the past. This was a ploy to force Perry to question his own sanity and sabotage his own testimony.
  • All in The Family:
    • "Meathead!"- Carroll O' Connor as Archie Bunker.
  • Allo Allo:
    • Edith: "RENÉ! What are you doing with zat [servant] girl in your arms?" Upon finding René in a compromising position.
    • René: "You stupid woman! Can you not see..." Response to the above, usually followed by a flimsy excuse, which Edith buys anyway.
      • Subverted in the final episode: "You stupid woman! Can you not see I am eloping?"
    • Madame Fanny La Fan: "Ze flashing knobs!" when the bedknobs flash, signaling an incoming transmission on the radio.
    • Roger Leclerc: "It is I, Leclerc." To René, who always sees through his Paper-Thin Disguise from a mile away.
    • Alberto Bertorelli: "What a mistake-a to make-a!"
    • Crabtree: "Good moaning!"
    • Michelle of the Resistance: "Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only vence." Once, she had to say it twice, due to being interrupted.
      • And on another occasion she had to whisper it from a stretcher as she had fallen off a drainpipe while trying to pass a message to Rene, who was taking a bath at the time.
  • The Amazing Race: In elimination legs, host Phil Keoghan tells the last team to arrive, "I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from The Amazing Race." Among fans, this is known as "being Philiminated."
  • American Gothic: "Someone's at the door..."
  • Andromeda:
    • Dylan: "Let's bring it" at the start of any battle plan. Also, "It's never easy".
    • Trance: "There is one perfect possible future."
  • The Andy Griffith Show Gomer: "Shazam!"
    • Goober: "Gol-lee!"
  • The Apprentice: Alan Sugar (Donald Trump in the American version) seems to relish the chance to say or shout, "You're fired!" to the eliminated contestant. In the final episode of each season, he selects the winner with, "You're hired!"
  • Are You Being Served:
    • Mr. Humphries: "I'm free!"
    • Mrs. Slocombe: "I think [states opinion], and I am unanimous in that."
    • Young Mr. Grace (usually while almost keeling over): "You've all done very well!"
      • And the response was always, "Thank you Mr. Grace."
    • They'll ride up with wear."
  • Arrested Development was riddled with these. Most of them initially belonged to one character, but others started using them, and they were used different contexts as time went on. GOB had "I've made a huge mistake." and "Oh, come on!" "Her?" was mostly used by Michael about Anne. "Marry me!" started as Maebe's favorite deflection when asked about her age.
  • Ashes to Ashes: Gene Hunt has said 'You are surrounded by Armed Bastards!' a grand total of twice in the whole series. And yet he says it so well, it's become a catch phrase.
    • It even has a Shout-Out in Ashes to Ashes when he says: 'Today my friend, you diary entry will read "Took a prozzie hostage and was shot by three Armed Bastards".'
      • And a second Shout-Out in Ashes to Ashes when Jackie Queen uses it.
      • And a third in the final episode when he asks his team: "Are you armed? BASTARDS?"
    • "Fire up the Quattro."
  • The A-Team
    • "I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal
    • Note: "I pity the fool" by Mr. T. is a line from the film Rocky III - Memetic Mutation was in effect even back then, bringing the phrase onto The A-Team
    • "Crazy fool!" -B.A. to Murdoch.
  • The Avengers: The colour Emma Peel episodes would always begin with Steed delivering the phrase "Mrs. Peel -- we're needed!" in an unusual or quirky way.
    • It was also used in the movie.
  • Babylon 5 Bester says "Be seeing you" as a Shout-Out to The Prisoner, but his hand gesture puts the circle on his forehead to represent the third eye of telepathy.
    • Other B5 catchphrases included
      • "What do you want?"
      • "Who are you?"
      • "Isil'zha veni" and its English translation: "In Valen's name"
      • "We live for the One, we die for the One."
  • The Batman TV show with Adam West had Robin, who, upon discovering something, would exclaim "Holy (insert phrase regarding surprise here), Batman!"
    • As well as the Riddler's "Riddle Me This!"
      • This has also become the catchphrase of the comic book Riddler.
    • Also, another comic book catchphrase that originated in the TV series is Penguin's "Nyej, nyej, nyej!" and "You damnable chyropters!" as well as Alfred's "Master Bruce..." and "Young Richard...".
    • Eartha Kitt's Catwoman also put a lot of emphasis on purring through her words, with the word "purloin" being one of her most commonly used. Example, "Now, our next move is to purrrrloin, and if possible, purrrrmanently purrrrge Batman, Batgirl and Robin the Boy Wonder."
  • "To the Batmobile!"
  • Battlestar Galactica: The "By your command" Cylon catchphrase on the old one, with occasional mythology gag in the new Battlestar Galactica.
    • Also, "So say we all".
  • Beakman's World: Includes "Zaloom!" (which is actually Beakman's actor's last name), "Bada-bing!", and, whenever someone mentions a mileage, "Of course...your mileage may vary."
  • Beetleborgs: Flabber (who is a cross between Elvis and Jay Leno) has these ones: "Flabberific" "Flabtastic" "Flabout" and various spell incantations.
  • The Big Bang Theory has "Bazinga!" as Sheldon's catchphrase whenever he makes a joke, or what he thinks counts as a joke anyway.
  • Bill Nye the Science Guy: "It's the (Scientific Experiment)...of Science!"
    • "Science rules!"
  • Bitchin' Kitchen: "Alla prossima!" "Mi!" and "Tsaketa!"
  • Blackadder, anyone? Baldrick's line "I have a cunning plan", immediately followed by some of the most breathtakingly idiotic schemes in existance, definitely makes the list.
    • Some variant of "a cunning plan" is uttered by Edmund, Baldrick, Percy, or George in nearly every espisode of all 4 series.
    • Lord Flashheart: Woof!
  • Black Hole High: Principal Durst: "There is nothing wrong with Blake Holsey High."
  • Blossom: Joey's "Whoooooa!", to the point where Joey Lawrence reprised it in a commercial in the Naughties.
  • Bones: Dr. Brennan says "I don't know what that means..." when she doesn't understand a pop culture reference.
  • Boston Legal: Denny Crane on "Denny Crane!"
  • Brainiac: Science Abuse: When Richard Hammond was a presenter, it occasionally opened dangerous segments with, "Stop! The experiment you're about to see is dangerous. Do not try this at home. No really...don't."
  • British presenter Bruce Forsyth has a number of such phrases, usually requiring audience participation (the second part):
    • "Nice to see you, to see you..." "Nice!" (his best known phrase, currently used on Strictly Come Dancing)
    • "You don't get anything for a pair..." "Not in this game!" (Play Your Cards Right)
    • "What do points make?" "Prizes!"
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Evil Willow, whether she be alternate universe Vampire Willow or Dark Willow post-hulking out, precedes murder and mayhem with two words you don't EVER want to hear: "Bored now".
    • Faith is five by five with that.
    • Buffy and several other characters were fond of the Buffy-Speak "(insert word) much?"
    • Giles taking off and cleaning his glasses with his handkerchief should probably count as a catchphrase.
  • Burn Notice: "I'll see what I can do."
    • "When you're a spy..."
  • Caiga Quien Caiga: "What a good question, Mario!"
  • Catchphrase: The Game Show has host Roy Walker's "Say what you see" and "It's good, but it's not right". This was lampshaded in one episode, where the phrase the contestants had to guess was in fact "Say what you see". They didn't get it.
  • Chapelles Show: "I'm Rick James, Bitch!" It bacame so annoying to Chappelle when fans would holler this out at his shows that he would walk off stage and probably contributed to his Creator Breakdown.
    • He has indicated to enthusiastic fans in the wild, "I'd appreciate you not calling me 'bitch' in front of my kids."
  • Chef: "Give me strength!" Everton would also append "sorta fing" onto the end of most sentences. When he didn't, other characters looked at him funny until he did. Sometimes, just to be safe, you'd hear "sorta fing sorta fing".
  • The Closer: Brenda Johnson (spoken with Southern accent): "Thank you. Thank you so much!"
  • Columbo
    • "Just one more thing..." - Peter Falk as Inspector Colombo.
    • This one was actually started by accident. During the filming of the pilot episode, Peter Falk missed his cue and exited the scene with one more line of dialogue to speak. He realized his mistake and came back to deliver it.
  • The Comedy Company: By the end of its run, most of the sketches consisted of nothing but characters spouting their catch phrases, especially Con the Fruiterer ("Good day gentleman and how are you today?", "Coupla days, bewdiful!").
  • Community: "Cool. CoolCoolCool."
    • Magnitude, the one man party, has "POP POP!"
  • Corner Gas: Oscar Leroy very frequently calls people Jackass. Lampshaded in the episode "The J Word":

Brent: Honestly, Dad, you gotta give that word a rest.
Oscar: What word?
Brent: Jackass. Davis is a jackass for getting locked in the trunk, yesterday the bread delivery guy was a jackass for wearing a digital watch, and apparently I'm a jackass just for sitting here. Everybody's a jackass.
Oscar: I know! That's why I use the word so often!

    • Oscar is also known for shouting, "Holy hell!" when he's surprised and/or annoyed.
  • Cougar Town: "PENNY CAAAAN!!!" and variations thereof.
    • Laurie's "Whut, whut!"
  • CSI: Miami: "YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" before the cut to the opening of each ep.
  • CSI New York:
    • Danny's "Boom!" whenever he finds a crucial bit of evidence or obtains a useful lab result. Eventually causes Lindsay to start saying it (hey, she becomes his wife), and his constant usage prompts Lindsay to ask him to stop for fear it will become their daughter Lucy's first word.
    • Adam's "What up!". He even lampshades himself about it in one episode.
  • Dads Army is memorable "Don't panic! Don't panic!" and "Stupid boy!"
    • There's also Frazer's "We're doomed, doomed!", and Jones' other catchphrase "They don't like it up 'em!"
  • The Daily Show: "Settle down!"
    • Also "Go ooooooon!"
    • "... or NAMBLA"
    • Jon Stewart recently mentioned that he wanted "Keep fucking that chicken" to be his catchphrase, but Ernie Anastos stole it.
    • "And now here it is, your moment of zen."
    • "Roll 2-12!"
  • Dead Like Me: "I'm Daisy; Daisy Adair."
  • Deadwood: "Cocksucker!" -- Mr Wu. One of the few English words he can actually say.
  • The Dead Zone: The TV series frequently features often-subtle yet profound use of the phrase, "There's Still Time."
  • Degrassi the Next Generation: Paige calls everyone "Hun." And Manny uses the term "cuckoo bananas" enough to spark Facebook Flare and Bumperstickers with her face and the phrase.
  • Dexter: "Tonight's the night."
  • Diff'rent Strokes's Arnold: "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?", though this is sometimes said to characters other than Willis.
    • And by characters other than Arnold.
    • In Avenue Q, Gary Coleman (the actor who portrayed Arnold, who is a character in The Musical) complains about people saying his Catch Phrase to him on the street, then uses it himself later.
    • There was a local ad which starred Gary Coleman in the '90s: "When people tell me [X Insurance or whatever] is great, I say to them, What Are You Talking About?"
    • Don't forget "WOOOORK?!"
  • Doctor Who has a number of these:
    • "Very interesting! Yess, very interesting! Or is it, young man? Hmmm?" -- pastiche of First Doctor Verbal Tic.
    • "Oh my word!" -- the Second Doctor, pretty much every time he is in trouble.
      • "When I say run, run", is also widely associated with him.
      • "I would like a hat like that" -- discarded Second Doctor catchphrase, but still remains in wide use in his first two serials.
      • "Creag an Tuire!" -- Second Doctor companion Jaime McCrimmon, before any reckless charge at Immune to Bullets Monster of the Week (the motto of the MacLaren clan, which has historically been the "parent clan" of the McCrimmons, meaning "Boar's Rock").
    • The Third Doctor, would say "Now you listen to me", usually to get the attention of either The Brig or the villain of the week.
    • "Would you like a jelly baby?" -- The Fourth Doctor
      • The Fourth Doctor also had "Hello-o-o" in his later years, and "Off you go". And variations on the following exchange:

Doctor: Shut up K9.
K9: Affirmative, Master!

    • "I can not allow that." -- the Fifth Doctor usually followed by the villain claiming that the Doctor can do nothing to stop him.
    • "Fantastic!" -- the Ninth Doctor
    • "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." -- the Tenth Doctor's somewhat less optimistic Catch Phrase, although this is used by other characters as well.
      • Notably parodied by the Eleventh Doctor -- when he says it, he's not apologizing for the disaster that's about to ensue, he's apologizing because he's about to bite Amy.
      • Another pessimistic catchphrase he seemed to use a lot was "There's nothing we can do."
      • About as often, "Don't. Just don't," usually when his Companion says something in an attempt to fit in with the current time period.
      • He also adopts the phrase "Allons-y!" and uses it repeatedly.
      • He also tends to say "Molto Bene" when a situation is, well, good.
      • "What? What?? WHAT?!?" -- Often with a falsetto on the final word. An expression of disbelief spoken by the Tenth Doctor in the Cliff Hangers leading to the second and third Christmas Episodes. And by Tenth and Fifth in a charity special. The first two "Whats" appear at the end of "The Poison Sky". The opening scene of the fourth Christmas Episode has it as well. He also says it when he gets a new companion against his will in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip.
        • On the other hand, if it ends on a Flat What, something has just gone very badly wrong indeed.
      • "Brilliant!"
      • "Well," accompanied by a head tilt, used to change the flow of a monologue.
      • Well...
        • The Fourth Doctor used the "well" a lot before. David Tennant is very much an Ascended Fanboy as are some of the writers, and it also may been quite calculated (because they are the same guy, there's some of every Doctor in every other Doctor.)
      • "Oh, yes!" Also used by Donna in the series 4 finale.
      • "Oh, you are/I am clever!"
      • "I never would."
      • "Come with me" when offering to rescue someone.
      • "I really should go", and variants. Subverted horrifically in "Forests of the Dead" when said by "Other" Dave.
      • Frankly, when you've got a character who talks as much as this guy does, it's inevitable that they're going to develop a number of catchphrases.
    • Eleven has "Come along, Pond!" Becomes "Come along, Ponds!" in "The Big Bang" and "Come along, Smith!" when he guests in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
      • The Eleventh Doctor seems to like his Trio of "No"'s with a "Big No" at the end.
      • "Bow Ties Are Cool." Also sometimes used to refer to other unlikely accessories such as the unfortunate (in two senses of the word) fez.
      • "Look at you" and "I'm/You're/She's fine" are said by multiple characters.
      • "Am I people?" and variants.
    • When anyone sees the inside of the TARDIS for the first time, they'll almost always say, "It's bigger on the inside." Mostly averted or subverted in the revival series.
    • Amy says "Shut up" a lot.
    • The Daleks have "Exterminate!" and "What is happening?", older Daleks have "I obey!" and the matching "You will obey the Daleks! Obey! Obey!"; the new Cybermen are very fond of "You are compatible", "You will be deleted" and "Delete! Delete! Delete!". Another phrase associated with the Cybermen of the 80s is "Excellent", delivered in a somewhat camp manner.
      • A former Dalek catchphrase was "My vision is impaired! I cannot see!" when their eyestalks get compromised. Which didn't do wonders for their air of menace. In the new series a Dalek with paint over its eyestalk melts it and announces (rather smugly, for a Dalek) "My vision is not impaired!"
    • The Master has the phrase "I am the Master", often followed by "and you will obey me" when he's trying to hypnotize someone.
    • In the new series, the Master developed a tendency to say "It's good, isn't it? Isn't it good?" Or sometimes, "It's funny, isn't it?" Mostly when he'd done something especially psychotic.
    • Harriet Jones always introducing herself while showing her ID, and stating her position "MP for Flydale North, Prime Minister and finally Former Prime Minister" This is always replied to with "Yes, I know who you are." or "Yes, we know who you are," and had a truly awesome payoff in "Journey's End".
    • Jack Harkness, on meeting anything, ever, will say the following:

Jack: Well, hello. And who are you??
Jack's Object of Interest: *blush, giggle* I'm X.
Jack: Nice to meet you, X!
The Doctor: Oh, stop it! (or some variation thereof)
Jack's Object of Interest: I don't mind. (or some variation thereof)

    • Pete Tyler has "Trust me on this". It comes from his ads, but he uses it at least twice in person.
    • Lady Cassandra uses "Moisturise me" so many times that it becomes a habit, saying it even when she gains her own limbs and, moreover, it becomes unneccessary.
    • River Song: "Spoilers!" Occurs again in "The Time of Angels" when the Doctor unintentionally blurts out a fact from her later life that he learned in "Silence in the Library".
      • Also, "Hello, Sweetie!"
    • There is a reason "RUN!" is the Doctor's first line in the revived series. Every single incarnation says variations on it all the time. And Donna even once explained to another character that there was a lot of running involved.
      • There's also "When I say run, run" and finishing a Badass Boast with telling the villain to "Basically, run." (They usually do.)
  • In The Sarah Jane Adventures, Clyde Langer has used the phrase "Clyde Langer, [occupation]" on numerous occasions (eg "Clyde Langer, secret agent", or "Clyde Langer, alien hunter").
  • Dollhouse: "Did I fall asleep?" whenever any of the Actives wakes up after being wiped and left a blank slate.
    • The proper response to this is, "For a little while." At this point, the Active will ask, "Shall I go now?", the response to which is "If you'd like". Failure to carry out the exchange in full after a wipe can have dire consequences.
      • Actually, the "If you'd like" can be replaced with anything affirmative, from "If you like" to "Oh God, yes."
    • In the episode "Gray Hour", the safecracker persona used by Echo has "Blue skies". It is later used by Sierra to inform the audience that she has been imprinted with the same persona.
    • "Lock and Load!"
    • "Would you like a treatment?"
  • Dragnet "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Often parodied over the years in other media.
    • The beginning of every episode started with Sgt.Friday saying "This is the city, Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm a cop." Later,beginning with 1967, it was changed to "I carry a badge".
    • Friday is also credited with the signature line "Just the Facts", although I read it wasn't actually ever said onscreen.
  • Drake and Josh: The show has a few including "Ah geez!" (Josh). In the earlier seasons though Josh would repeat words for emphasis... EMPHASIS!.
    • HUG ME BROTHAH!!!
  • Due South: Benton Fraser would often say 'Thank you kindly.', as well as: 'Oh dear.' Ray had the very succinct, 'Fraser!'
    • Also in the last season, when people would ask what a Mountie was doing in Chicago, Fraser would answer, 'I first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of my father and, for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I've remained, attached as liaison with the Canadian Consulate.' After which people would stare at him, for some reason.
  • Elvira's Movie Macabre: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark would end by telling her audience to have "Unpleasant dreams".
  • Everybody Loves Raymond: It seems as if Frank said "Holy crap!" at least once per episode.
  • Extras: Mocked with an appalling Show Within a Show When the Whistle Blows with Catch Phrase "Are you 'aving a laff?; Is he/she 'aving a laff?"
  • Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
    • "I'm Ty Pennington, and the renovation starts right now."
    • "Let's do it!"
    • "There's just one thing left to say. Welcome home *insert name* family, welcome home."
    • "Bus driver, MOVE THAT BUS!"
    • "Good morning *insert name* family! *insert names* come on out!"
  • The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin was Catchphrase Heaven, with almost every single character having their own stock phrase "Great!", "Super!", "I didn't get where I am today by..", "Bit of a cock up on the old....front"
    • When Chris, CJ's counterpart in The Remake Reggie Perrin, said "I didn't get where I am today by..." it got a huge laugh from the studio audience. Since this doesn't appear to be a catchphrase for Chris, its appearance may qualify as a Mythology Gag.
    • And, of course, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
  • What is the catch phrase of Family Feud? "Survey says..."
    • "Number one answer!"
  • Family Matters:
    • Character Steve Urkel is a case study in catch phrases, so much so that a talking doll was produced with most of them included. Phrases like "did I do thaaaaat?" or "I don't have to take this anymore, I'm going home!" were uttered almost every episode. Also, there's Urkel's trademark laugh/snort.
    • "Did I do that?"
    • "Look what you did."
    • "No sweat, my pet!"
    • cackle cackle, snort snort.
  • The Fast Show:
    • "I'll get me coat..." has also become a Catch Phrase for The Doctor Who Forum, the comment pages of The Register and on the Usenet group alt.fan.pratchett, where it's so common it's just "IGMC..."
      • They probably got it (and the "IGMC" abbreviation) from the comp.sys.sinclair newsgroup.
    • "Suits you, sir."
  • Father Ted: Father Jack is a catchphrase in an armchair: "DRINK! FECK! ARSE! GIRRRRRLS!!
  • Firefly: "Does that seem right to you?" --Jubal Early, about every other sentence.
    • Kaylee has "Shiny".
  • Flight of the Conchords:
    • Mel: "Oh hey guys!"
    • Murray: "Band meeting. Bret? ....... Jermaine?"
      • "And Murray: present."
  • Forever Knight Don Schanke: "Man oh man oh man"
  • The Fresh Beat Band:
    • "Wouldn't it be cool if..." Twist says before coming up with some ridiculously complicated scheme. Marina always responds "That would be cool." Then she or another character suggests another, simpler, way of doing the same thing. Twist says, "Well sure, if you want to do it the easy way."
  • Friends:
    • "Noooooo", Rachel
    • "I know!" Monica
    • And, the most famous "How YOU doin'?", Joey
    • "And could I BE more _____?"
    • Let's not forget "Oh... My.. God" by Janice
    • "We. Were on. A BREAK."
  • Fawlty Towers:
    • "He's from Barcelona." - Basil Fawlty, usually in reference to Manuel.
    • "Qué?" - Andrew Sachs as Manuel.
  • Fringe: In the first eight episodes, Peter Bishop has developed the catch phrase, "You're not going to believe this, but I think this might actually work."
    • Also Walter's "How wonderful!"
  • Full House: Seemingly every character had their own catch phrases. Joey's was "Cut. It. Out." Stephanie was always saying "How rude!" or "Pin a rose on your nose." D.J.'s line was "Oh Mylanta!" Uncle Jesse's was "Have mercyyyyy!" And then of course there's Michelle, the queen of catch phrases with gems like "You got it, dude!" and "You're in big trouble, mister!"
  • Fugitivos: "And you, WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON?"
  • Would you believe... Get Smart was a virtual cottage industry of catch phrases?
    • "Missed it by THAT much!"
    • "Sorry about that, Chief."
    • "This is KAOS! We don't (x) here!"
    • "I asked you not to tell me that!"
    • In the Latin American dub, Maxwell would try to shoehorn his "aunt from Acapulco" into every single conversation.
    • "Good work, 99!" became a catch phrase... in Australia, but not in any other regions.
    • And many more. Finding them all would mean facing every sort of danger imaginable!
    • "...and loving it!"
  • Ghostwriter: "Let's rewind."
  • Glee's Principal Figgins' "It's out of my hands, Will!" is definitely starting to qualify.
    • Sue's 'You think this is hard? Try Refuge in Audacity, that's hard!' and 'HORROR!', Will's 'From the top' under any and all circumstances, and Kurt's 'Mr Schue/Warblers, if I may?' do also.
    • Holly Holliday herself claims that "I thought you'd never ask" is her catch phrase.
  • The Golden Girls : Rose started her stories with "back in St.Olaf..." while Sophia was fond of "Picture it, Sicily..." (or sometimes "New York)". Dorothy had a habit of telling Sophia "Shady Pines,ma" when she was misbehaving. Stan's usual greeting also fits "Hi, it's me, Stan"
  • Good Eats: Alton Brown's exasperated "Oh bother!"
    • "Bake/broil/fry/toast/grill until golden brown and delicious."
    • "Your patience will be rewarded."
  • Good Times: J.J. Evans's classic DYN ... NO ... MITE!!!!
  • Gossip Girl: Two primary ones... Cyrus Rose's "Not enough!" and the infamous "... I'm Chuck Bass."
    • The latter was lampshaded by Blair in the season 2 premiere. "Give me one good reason why I should stay, and 'I'm Chuck Bass' doesn't count."
      • Although as of season 3 he's not Chuck Bass without Blair...
    • Gossip Girl herself has a couple of her own: "You know you love me" and the "XOXO" sign-off
  • Gran Hermano: "You are nominated/not nominated."
  • The Greatest American Hero: Ralph lets out an annoyed, "Damn!" every time he crash lands... which is nearly every time he tries to fly.
  • Grey's Anatomy: Seriously. Seriously? Seriously.
  • Happy Days, best known for Fonzie's thumbs-up "Ayyyyyy!," also popularized the term "nerd," and the insult "Sit on it!" When Chachi was introduced, ABC demanded that he have a catchphrase, so Scott Baio came up with "Wa wa wa" - which didn't catch on.
    • Richie's singing "I found my thrill.....", Ralph's "I still got it!", Al's "Yep...yepyepyepyepyep".
  • Hannah Montana has "Sweet niblets!"
    • TVtropeseditorsaywhat??
    • Ya think?
  • Hawaii Five-O concluded each episode with Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) saying, "Book 'em Danno!".
    • "Be there. Aloha."
  • Heroes: Hiro, when achieving some goal, would often yell, "YATTA!" And upon meeting Nathan Petrelli, would often throw his arms in the air and exclaim, "FLYING MAN!"
    • Lampshaded and poked fun of by the actors in one of the season one commentaries, though they talk more about how some characters seem to be saying different versions of the same line over and over. Sendhil Ramamurthy points out how Mohinder is always saying things like: "Someone killed my father, I must avenge my father's killer, who murdered my father?" etc. Zachary Quinto is then asked what Sylar's catchphrase is, and he replies: "Braaaaaaiiiiiiiins."
  • Highlander: When Duncan met another immortal, he would often say "I am Duncan MacLeod of the Clan Macleod."
    • And of course the catch phrase of all the immortals "There can be only one!"
    • Richie picked up the catchphrase "I'm sorry, Mac, I know he was your friend" because Mac lost so many friends.
  • Hill Street Blues: "Let's be careful out there"
    • Also: "Let's to it to them before they do it to us." (Later dropped after one of the other cops objected.)
  • The Hollywood Squares: "Circle / 'X' gets the square!"
  • Hogan's Heroes: Sgt. Schultz: "I know NUZZING!", Major Hochstetter's "What is this man doing here?", and of course, "Nobody escapes from Stalag 13!"
  • Holmes On Homes and spinoffs: "Make it Right!" Also, "Gut it" and "Tear it all down" are practically catchphrases on there as well.
  • Home Improvement's "More power!", "I don't think so, Tim," and of course Tim Allen's ever-present grunting.
    • "Hidey-ho, neighbor!"
  • The Honeymooners:
    • "One of these days, Alice, straight to the moon."
    • "Har Har hardy har har" "To the moon, Alice!"
    • "Baby, you're the greatest."
  • Horrible Histories:
    • "That's 100% accu-rat."
    • "We romans had a lot of crazy emperors, and one of the craziest was a bloke called Caligula."
    • "HELLO, I'M A SHOUTY MAN!"
    • "You're dead funny."
    • "Good day."
    • "BUT NOT FOR LONG!"
    • "[historical fact], [humorous anachronism], and [another historical fact], except not [aforementioned anachronism]"
  • House MD: House will often remark "Everybody lies" in how patients hamper the diagnosis by lying about their personal history, like drug use or extra-marital affairs. Most of the doctors in the hospital tend to utter "House was right" more often than they get to say they were right. There's also "It's not lupus," although that's more of a Running Gag.
    • When they're diagnosing the patient of the week one of them usually says "It fits".
    • "You can't always get what you want" pops up numerous times (usually in season openers and closers), both in dialogue and when they play the actual Rolling Stones song.
  • How I Met Your Mother: Barney has many, including "Suit up!", "It's gonna be legen - wait for it - dary!", and countless variations therein. As well as "What up?", often said as he offers a high-five for any ribald joke he makes. And, of course, "Awesome"- though technically that's a catch-word, according to Ted.
    • And let's not forget, "Haaaaave you met Ted?"
    • Nor "True story".
    • What about "This is going to my blog!"?
    • "When I'm being (sad/sick/whatever) I stop being (sad/sick/whatever) and be awesome instead."
    • "Daddy's home!".
    • "Challenge accepted!"
    • Everything in this video
    • Marshall has "Lawyered."
    • "But, umm..." seems to have become Robin's.
  • Hunter has "Works for me."
  • iCarly: Carly's soft and sweetly delivered "Please, for me?" definitely guarantees that Freddie won't resist her request.
    • Sam usually calls herself Mama to describe herself or whenever she feels competitive.
    • Recent episodes have Freddie showing a habit of saying random Spanish words, usually as alternatives for saying "goodbye" like "Pantalones!" or "Agua!"
      • He also tends to say 5, 4, 3, 2... even outside the show
    • Nevel has "You'll rue this day, YOU'LL RUE IT!"
    • Guppy, Gibby's little brother, has "Happy birthday!" - Gibby even asks if that's his catchphrase now.
  • I Love Lucy has "Lucy, I'm home" and "Waaah!".
    • Not to mention "Somebody's got a lotta 'splanin' to do!"
    • Or "I'm gonna teach (him/her) a lesson (he'll/she'll) never forget."
    • And what about Lucy's obligatory "Ewwwwwwwww...!" whenever something went wrong?
  • The Invisible Man has Darien Fawkes reacting to his frequently hostile circumstances with an "Aw, crap." that ranged from This Is Gonna Suck to full on Oh Crap.
    • The Official also had "Shut Up, Eberts!" to reign in his infomaniac right hand secretary. And it wasn't an episode until Bobby Hobbes threw in a "my friend!" to a line of dialog.
  • Interceptor: "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I liikkke it!"
  • The IT Crowd: "Hello, IT, have you tried turning it off and on again?"
  • It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Subverted in Season 2 when Frank starts saying "What's the Action" and Dennis questions him by saying, "What's that, your catchphrase?"
    • Also played straight with Mac always saying, "What's up, bitches?" whenever he enters a room.
  • Jackass
    • "I'm (speaker's name), and this is (stunt name)."
    • "Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass!"
  • Jeopardy!: Art Fleming of classic Jeopardy had phrases he used pretty much Once an Episode... if not more:
    • When the clue was revealed (yes, every time): "The answer is...!"
    • When it was time to cue to commercial, some variant of: "Please watch along with us! Thank you."
    • "Of course, Don Pardo is an expert at that." (Whenever the right question involved alcoholic drinks, such as in the "Potent Potables" category.)
    • Modern contestants must sometimes still be reminded "Your response must be phrased in the form of a question."
  • Jimmy MacDonald's Canada:
    • "Good evening, Canada. I'm Jimmy MacDonald, and I'm going to give it to you straight," would open every show.
    • The first commercial break would be preceded by "Now let's hear a word from our sponsor: Provincial Cigarettes. If you're Canadian, you've got to be Provincial."
    • Marg Margison's portion of the show ("A Woman's Advice") would end with "Let's build a great Canada. Back to you, Jimmy."
    • And finally, Jimmy would close with "Goodnight, Canada. Hug your children."
  • Judge Judy has a few. Her most popular one is "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!". Her other ones include "If something doesn't make sense, it's not true", "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining", "I'M SPEAKING!" (said when someone interrupts her), "(S)he's a nut!" and "That falls under the category of 'Too bad'."
  • Kaamelott: Percival has been told to answer "C'est pas faux" ("That's quite right") whenever someone says something he doesn't understand. He gets to use that phrase quite a lot.
  • From the long-running Kamen Rider franchise:
    • Shinji Kido: "Usha!" (roughly, "Alright!")
    • Souji Tendou: "Grandma said this..." and "Walking the path of heaven, ruling over all."
      • Tsurugi Kamishiro: "The man who replaces the gods with a sword's slash!" "I will stand on top of (whatever he's attempting at the moment)." and "My best friend KaGAmi!"
    • A signifigant portion of Den-O's cast:
    • Keisuke Nago: "Please return that life to god."
      • And, at first, the Aso family had "God has erred", referring to the Fangires.
      • Otoya Kurenai: "All people are music" and "There are only two things that annoy me, marriage and (relevant annoyance)".
      • Kengo Eritate: "Let's get shaking!"
      • Kivat-Bat the 3rd: "Kivatte ikuze!" ("Let's go Kiva!")
      • Kivat-Bat the 2nd: "Rejoice, it's extinction time."
      • As well as Tatsulot's "Tension Fortissimo!"
    • Tsukasa Kadoya: "I'm just a passing-through Kamen Rider - remember that!"
      • Also, for his Final Form Rides: "This might tickle a bit."
      • And Kaitou has one for the same: "It'll only hurt for a moment."
      • And Narutaki, to the point of Memetic Mutation: "Damn you, Decade!" or "Onore, Dickeido!"
    • Shotaro Hidari and Phillip: "Now, count up your crimes!" and "This clenches it!" The former comes from Shotaro's mentor Sokichi Narumi.
      • Shotaro alone: "Let's go, partner."
      • Phillip: "Beginning lookup", "How thrilling", and "We two are a single (detective/Kamen Rider/Kamen Singer)!"
      • Ryu Terui: "Despair awaits you at the finish line," "Let's break away!", and "Don't ask me questions" and, upon gaining his Super Mode, "X.Y seconds. That is the time til your despair."
      • Akiko Narumi: "I didn't hear about this!"
      • Shun Makura: "Makura des'!"
      • Katsumi Daido: "Now, enjoy your Hell!"
    • Gentaro Kisaragi: "Uchuu KITAAAAA~!!"[1], "Let's do this man-to-man!" and "I'm Gentaro Kisaragi, the man who will befriend everyone in this school!"
    • Quite a few characters even have physical "Catch Phrases" (Character Tics), such as Yusuke's thumbs up, Takumi's wrist flick, Kusaka adjusting his collar, Hibiki's salute, Tendo's skyward pointing, Tsukasa dusting his hands...
  • Kenan and Kel: Kel's famous exchange. "Who loves orange soda?" "Kel loves orange soda!" "Is it true?" "Mm-hmm. I do, I do, I do-oo!"
    • Aaaaaaaaaaaw, here it goes!
    • WHHHHYYYYYY?!
  • Kojak
    • "Who loves ya, baby?" - Telly Savalas as Kojak.
  • The Larry Sanders Show examples:
    • Larry ends each of his monologues with "No flipping!" as he mimes clicking on a remote, as a mock warning not to change the channel during the first commercial break.
    • Hank Kingsley uses his "Hey, now!" catch phrase during the Show Within a Show... and at pretty much all other times. He even gets fired from a Stunt Casting gig as a plumber on Caroline in The City because he insists on repeatedly ad-libbing his catch phrase.
  • Law and Order SVU's Elliot Stabler has "I Did What I Had to Do". His much-maligned wife lampshades this in "Clocks":

Elliot: I Did What I Had to Do!
Kathy: Well, that's refreshing.

Sportacus: "Someone's in trouble!"
Stephanie: "There's always a way!" (She even has a song that goes with it)
Robbie Rotten: "I meant to do that!"

  • The League of Gentlemen has quite a few (listed on the show's page). They manage to avoid becoming the main source of the humour, and are mostly used for announcing the character's presence.
    • "You're my wife now."
    • "Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here."
  • Leverage has mostly Mad Libs Catchphrase examples, but plays it straight with a few.
    • Hardison: "Age of the Geek, Baby."
    • Elliot: "Dammit, Hardison!"
    • Parker: "What? I'm a thief!"
    • Nate: "Let's go steal a ______" Miracle, school, hospital and movie have all been used. When dealing with his ex-wife, Nate's catchphrase is "I can explain!" which Word of God says he used a lot when they were married.
    • Also Eliot, whenever he's asked how he knows something, replies "I slept with a lot of ________" (referring to some relevant occupation)or occasionally "It's a very distinctive ________*" (weapon or fighting style usually.) Also uses "Damnit Hardison!" whenever Hardison screws up and "There is something wrong with you" whenever Parker is...being Parker.
  • Lexx's Kai: "The dead do not _____."
  • Lie to Me's Cal Lightman has this tendency to call women love. And Loker, on one occasion.
    • He also has a tendency to point at someone and say "Ya see that[2]? That's X", X being some emotion.
  • Life On Mars: Sam frequently says. 'We have no evidence!', mostly because the other coppers in the CID are willing to put someone away with flimsy and/or planted evidence. Gene does a Shout-Out to that in episode 2x01 when he says. '..We have no flippin' evidence, and I can't believe I just said that!'
  • Life With Elizabeth: Betty White's early sitcom featured, "Elizabeth, aren't you ashamed?"
    • "I shall leave you at this point, Elizabeth."
  • Little Britain has quite a few, including:
    • Vicky: "Yeah, but, no, but..."
    • Lou: "What a kerfuffle!"
    • Dafydd: "I'm the only gay in the village!"
  • Lois and Clark: In a Shout-Out to The Adventures of Superman, Perry's catchphrase became "Great Shades of Elvis!"
  • Look Around You: "Write that down in your copybook now." and "Look around you. Look around you. Just look around you. Do you know what we're looking for? Correct, the answer is..."
  • Lost: Hurley has said "dude" 328 times as throughout the series, with an average of 3.2 D.P.E (dudes per episode). Yes, the fans have counted.
    • John Locke: "Don't tell me what I can't do."
    • Sawyer: "Son of a bitch."
    • What?
    • Michael: "WAAAAAAAALT!"
    • Jack: "WE HAVE TO GO BACK!", which he only says in some form twice and in the same scene, but has since evolved to be his most well known saying (likely as it was the final sentence spoken at the end of the series' most famous cliffhanger). It is later revealed Locke first said this phrase to Jack.
    • Some fans joke about the amount of times characters say some variant of "why are you telling me this?" after being told a startling but seemingly irrelevant piece of information. Jack and Kate are the most common repeat offenders.
    • "Live together, die alone" is one of the more thematic catchphrases of the show and sometimes used as the quote that defines the series. It is first used by Jack at the beginning of the series to make the survivors work together ("if we can't live together, we're going to die alone"), and characters like Kate have repeated it. The season 2 finale is named "Live Together, Die Alone." Parodied in the season 3 finale, when Rose tells Jack that if he says the phrase she'll punch him in the face.
    • "What did one snowman say to the other snowman?" is a codephrase used by people in the Swan station to identify their replacement, the answer being "smells like carrots." "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" is a similar phrase used by several mysterious characters in season 5; its answer is "Ille qui nos omnes servabit" - "He who will save/protect us all.".
    • "Whatever happened, happened" is the show's motto regarding time travel: whatever happened in the past always happened and always involved the time travelling characters; they just don't remember the events because they hadn't happened to them yet. Outside of Lost, this idea is called Novikov's Self Consistency Principle.
    • The idea that a character has "work to do" is commonly stated by others; this "work" usually involves the island. Characters who have been said to have "work to do" include Jack, Locke, Michael, and Hurley. Upon completing his "work," Michael was told by Christian Shephard that he "can go now" and was promptly killed in the freighter explosion.
  • Lost in Space. Dr. Smith was fond of boasting "Have no fear, Smith is here!" Of course, given Smith's incompetence it was actually a warning that the stuff was about to hit the fan.
  • Mad Men:
    • Pete Campbell: "A thing like that."
  • Mad Money: Host Jim Cramer's "Boo-yah!" and "Are you ready, Skee-Daddy?"
  • Mama's Family:
    • Iola's "Knock, knock!"
    • Vint's "Thanks a lot, Mama!"
    • Mama's "I'll bet the neighbors are just lovin' this!"
  • The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Dobie's indolent beatnik pal Maynard G. Krebs would pop into a scene saying "You rang?" immediately after someone else referred to something dirty, dense, or otherwise undesirable. Co-opted decades later in Laverne and Shirley by Lenny and Squiggy, saying "Hello!" in unison.
  • Married... with Children had Al's occasional catchphrase, "Let's rock." When the show moved to Saturdays, they ran ads with him saying "Let's disco!"
    • "Awww, Peg!"
  • Martha Stewart closes every segment of her show with, "It's a good thing."
  • The Mighty Boosh has several, some of which date back to the radio incarnation:

Howard: "I can't die...I've got so much to give!" and "I'll come at you like a ??"
Naboo: "I'm going to have to turn my back on you." (rotates 360 degrees while music plays)
Tony Harrison: "This is an outrage!"
Bollo: "I got a bad feeling about this."

    • Vince Noir wants you to know that catchphrases are genius.
  • Merlin There are frequent loud whispers of "Merlinnnn" on the cuts between scenes.
    • Uther is fond of "Camelot will not fall to magic while I am king." and telling Arthur "When you are king, you will understand."
  • Mission: Impossible: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it..."
  • Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: "Won't you be my neighbor?"
  • Monk has 'here's what happened' (spoken just before The Summation), 'here's the thing', 'I don't know how he did it, but he did it', and 'he's the guy' (or, alternatively, for Red Herring characters 'he's not the guy').
    • Also "You'll thank me later."
    • Also, "It's a blessing - and a curse."
  • The Monkees had dozens of catchphrases and one-liners, many of them ad-libbed as inside jokes between the group. A few notable examples:
    • "Don’t do that!"
      • Peter Tork stated that this was popularized by a funny line Stan Freberg said on his guest appearance in the episode “Monkee vs. Machine.” Soon enough, everybody caught on to saying it.
    • "Isn’t that dumb?"
    • "Save the Texas Prairie Chicken!"
    • "You must be joking!"
    • "Love is the ultimate trip."
    • "Who WRITES that stuff???"
    • "I AM standing up."
    • Davy's high-pitched "Oooh!"
    • "Gosharooney!"
    • "Long-haired weirdos"
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus
    • "It's...." - Michael Palin as the "It's" man
    • "And now for something completely different." - John Cleese (although Eric Idle said the line first in the series)
    • "Spam, spam, spam, spam,...."
    • "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" - Michael Palin.
    • "Nudge nudge, know what I mean. Say no more." - Eric Idle in the "Nudge Nudge" sketch.
    • "Stop that! Stop that! This is getting too silly!" -- Graham Chapman as the Colonel.
  • Mork and Mindy:
    • "Nanu nanu" and "Shazbot".
    • "Mork calling Orson, Mork calling Orson, come in Orson..."
  • Canadian teen sitcom Mr. Young:
    • Echo, after making an Incredibly Lame Pun: "You guys always take all the good ones!"
    • Anyone: "Dang!" Dang: "You called?"
  • The Muppet Show:
    • "Wacka Wacka Wacka" - Fozzie Bear
    • "Do-hohohoho"- Statler & Waldorf after a sarcastic remark
    • "Kermie, Kermie, Kermie" - Miss Piggy
    • "Yaaaaay!" - Kermit the Frog
  • My Hero (TV): Parodied with Dr. Piers Crispin, who is constantly saying "I am always here" in a desperate attempt to establish it as his Catch Phrase. It never sticks.
  • My Name Is Earl: Joy uses "Oh snap!". (A phrase shared with That's So Raven.)
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000: "We've got Movie Sign!"
    • One introductory sketch featured Crow deciding out of the blue that his Catch Phrase would be, "You know you want me, baby!" And that he's been using this phrase for years, much to the delight of his fans. Crow then tries to help Mike choose a new Catch Phrase from the book of Catch Phrases, but Mike has really poor taste: "How about this one: 'We're all out of toner!'"
      • "Lawgiver!" for Bobo, "Boobies!" for Doctor Forrester, "Bite me! It's fun!" for Crow, "CROW!" for Mike and/or Joel. Also, in MS Tings, "Intense (x) action!", "SUUUURGE!", "Sleeep!".
    • For the first (cable) season, Larry would send each movie up with a cheerful "Enjoy!", and Dr. Forrester would cap off the episode by telling him to "File this". When Larry was replaced in the second season by TV's Frank, both lines were likewise replaced with Forrester's "Push the button, Frank". Frank himself had... that, uh, noise he made. Kind of a "Hyuck-a-goo!"
    • Also from the first season, once Forrester and Erhardt had finished showing their invention:

Forrester: Well, what do you think, [demeaning nickname for Joel]?
Joel: I think it's the most [long, rambling discription, usually including the word "evil" as well as some variation on "stupid" and a lot of adjectives] I've ever seen!
Forrester & Erhardt: Why, thank you! (They also had a tendency to lean into each other and the camera while saying this, and use falsetto on the word "thank".)

      • In "Earth vs. The Spider", which was basically a homage to season one, the exchange happens again; Forrester and Frank look somewhat embarrassed after their finishing line.
  • MythBusters: "Well there's your problem!"
    • Not to mention all the great throwaway lines that become catchphrases via repetition in the opening credits, like: "I reject your reality and substitute my own!", "Jamie want big boom!", and "I just had one of those what-the-hell-are-we-doing moments."
    • While the disclaimer changes now and then, the one that remains indelibly linked to the show is "Please, don't try this at home." "EVER!"
    • "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing."
    • "When in doubt... Lubricate." Or "When in doubt...C4."
    • Anyone order some exploding pants?
  • NCIS: Gibbs lets out a "You think?" go at least once an episode, usually directed at someone who has made a brilliant insight helpful in solving the case.
    • Gibbs also has a catch-gesture: giving other characters (most often Tony) Fa Dope Slap because they're standing around/saying something stupid/just for the hell of it.
      • He also likes to add "un-" in front of verbs. If someone tells him they have lost something or someone has disappeared, he usually says "unlose it" or "undisappear him" instead of "find it/him".
    • And Tony has a habit of saying "You see my dilemma" quite often.
      • And inherited the Dope Slap while Gibbs was incapacitated.
  • Noah's Arc: Alex: Whats the T! (Often followed by "gurl")
  • Nobuta wo Produce has several. One of the most iconic is used in almost every episode by Nobuta to try to up her confidence level: "Nobuta power, CHUU NYUU!", which comes with a Magic Girl-esque pose. Shuji has a couple too, the most common being "Bye Bye-cycle!" (accompanied by a mine of bicycle handles) and "Donichigetsu~ka~sui~mo~kin~doOOoOoOoo!" But Akira has by far the most out of all the characters, due to his habit of exclaiming certain phrases when surprised. "Kon kon!" is the most recognized of all these among fans(as with the previous characters, it comes with a signiture move; a hand barking like a fox) Also, theres "Akira SHOCK!", "Akira DOWN" and "Shuu~ji-kun!"
  • One Foot in the Grave: Victor's "I don't beli'eeeve it!" when something cruel and unexpected happens to him, which it does lots of times an episode.
  • Out of This World: Donna: "Evie Ethel Garland!"
  • Pee-wee's Playhouse:
    • "I know you are but what am I?"
    • "MMMM...."
  • Pinon Fijo: "Chu-chu-hua, chu-chu-hua, chu-chu-hua-hua-hua" from
  • Power Rangers: (Not including In the Name of the Moon or By the Power of Greyskull phrases, or attack/weapon names, which would make this section endless.)
    • Rita: "I have a headache!"
      • After Rita got purified by the Z-Wave and turned into the Mystic Mother, she retained the catchphrase.
    • Rangers Season 1: ""Morphenomenal"
    • Alpha Five: "Ay-yi-yi!" (For particularly stressful situations, four or even six yi-s might be needed.)
    • Alpha Six: "Yo, yo, yo!" (And then "Ay-yi-yi," once he becomes seen as The Scrappy, and so winds up damaged and repaired with speech circuits meant for Five.)
    • Zordon: "My worst fear(s) has (have) been realized!" (For such a powerful and ancient sage, he's got a lot of worst fears.) An occasional variant was "the thing that I fear the most has happened."
    • Zordon's also got "Report to the command center immediately" and "Observe the viewing globe."
    • Jason: (and later others) "Back to action!"
    • Nearly every Big Bad (or the minion whose job includes monster growth) has a unique monster-growth phrase. From the top:
      • Rita: "Magic wand, make my monster... grow!"
      • Rita and Zedd: "Make our monster grow!"
      • Klank, spinning to throw Orbus: "Around and around and away we go!"
      • Divatox: "Fire the torpedoes!"
      • Astronema: "Fire the Satellasers!"
      • Toxica: "Evil spirits of toil and strife, give this fallen Org new life!"
      • Lothor or minions: "Scroll of empowerment, descend!"
      • Mesogog or minions: "Activate/Engaging the Hydro-Regenerator."
      • Koragg, user of Harry Potter-ish spell words: "Uthra Mejor!/Uthe Mejor!" (Uthra's proper. Uthe tends to start any spell that applies to Koragg himself.)
      • Venjix: "Begin the download. Now." Other villains try, but they just can't say it the way he does.
        • Not that unlisted series don't employ the Make My Monster Grow phenomenon, just that the same thing isn't said every time.
    • Various: "Your brand of evil will never win!" (So another sort of evil might?)
    • Various: "That's how it's done/we do it, [color] Ranger style!"
    • Various: "Let's Ranger up!"
    • Time Force team, post monster-finishing: "Your time's up!"
    • SPD team, post monster-finishing: "You're going down!"
    • Mystic Force team, post monster-finishing: "Checkmate!" Sometimes with a finger-snap. (With gloves.)
    • Oddly enough, Tommy said something along the lines of 'With the Power Rangers, there's always possibilities' as a throwaway line that was then used once or twice more by his character, once almost a decade after he first said it. Halfway between a catchphrase and a callback.
    • Various:Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.
  • The Price Is Right has used "the actual retail price" ever since 1959. Prior to that, the big reveal phrase was "the actual retail value."
    • Also, "Come on down!" on the CBS show since 1972.
  • The Prisoner repeately uses the phrase "Be seeing you", with a characteristic hand gesture of making a circle around one eye, referencing the surveillance in The Village.
    • And there's the ultimate question "Why did you resign?"
    • That would be telling.
  • Press Your Luck: "Big bucks, no Whammies... STOP!"
  • Project Runway:
    • Host Tim Gunn has "Make it work," as a way to encourage the contestants. He'll also say, "I'm concerned," when a designer's work isn't going well.
    • Host Heidi Klum has a number of stock speeches she makes in each episode. She ends many with "...one of you will be out." Upon elimination, she bids the departer farewell with a kiss on the cheek and "Auf Wiedersehen." She does this with the designers and the models.
  • Psych:
    • "I've heard it both ways." "No you have not, Shawn!"
      • Lassie gets in on the act where he goes to question a suspect called "Paget", which Shawn says is pronounced Pah-zhay. Paget affirms what Shawn says, and Lassie steals the catchphrase.
        • To say nothing of a guest star in "The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode" pirating the line apropos of nothing.
    • "You know that's right."
    • *Gus walks into any given room* "Shawn!" Lampshaded in the Episode Commentary of 'Mr. Yin Presents'.

Andy Berman: One of the scenes, we knew had to be in this episode, was when Gus walks into the room and yells "Shawn!"

    • "We can't do this right now."
    • Gus's "You heard about Pluto? That's messed up."
    • "What!" (highpitched; mostly Gus)
    • "Wait for iiiiiiiiiit..."
    • Gus's "I hear that"
    • Shawn periodically adding the suffix "-ish" when describing something.
    • Gus's "You must be outta your damn mind."
    • "Gus, don't be [insert random strange phrase here]."
      • Exactly one half of an eleven pound Black Forest Ham.
      • This crevice on my arm.
      • A gooey chocolate chip cookie.
      • The American adaptation of the British Gus.
      • An old sponge with hair hanging off it.
      • A myopic Chihuahua.
      • A giant snapping turtle.
      • The only black lead on a major cable network (whoops, too late).
    • "I like it. I like it very much."
    • "Gus, can we go into the [something I don't want you to be doing/talking about] room and talk for a second?
    • It's fair to say that Shawn and Gus are the epitome of The Catchphrase Spouting Duo.
  • Punky Brewster: "Holy Macanoly!"
  • Pushing Daisies: Before the narrator lists the things that happened in the crime of the week, he says "The facts were these..."; when switching from the A to the B plot, he'll almost always say "At this very moment, in the town of Coueur d'Coueurs..."
    • Emerson Cod has "Oh HELL no!"
  • Quantum Leap: After assessing his situation after each leap, Sam will declare (in various inflections) "Oh, boy."
    • Averted in one episode, in which he says, "Oy vey, I'm the rabbi."
  • Queer as Folk: Brian: "Listen to me! Are you listening?", especially when he's talking to someone who's upset.
  • Reading Rainbow's "But you don't have to take my word for it..."
  • Red Dwarf: Someone saying "What a guy!" whenever Ace Rimmer, Arnold Rimmer's dashing action hero counterpart from another dimension shows up. And his own catchphrase: "Smoke me a kipper - I'll be back for breakfast".
    • Does that really have to be covered up? there were two episodes about that and with no mystery.
    • Smeg!
  • The Red Green Show ended each episode according to a set formula, with Red assuring the camera that "if my wife is watching, I'll be coming straight home after the meeting and...[changes every episode]", then adding "And to the rest of you, thanks for watching. On behalf of myself and Harold and the whole gang up here at Possum Lodge... keep your stick on the ice."
    • Also heard during the closing meeting is the Lodge motto: "Quando omni flunkus, moritati." Loose translation: "When all else fails, play dead."
      • Sit down.
    • Then there's Red's snappy advice, usually given just before whipping out the duct tape: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!" Also, each of his frequent pep talks to fellow middle-aged schlubs concluded thusly: "Remember, I'm pulling for you, 'cause we're all in this together."
      • In at least one episode, Harold gave the advice segment instead of Red, and inverted his closing catchphrase to "Remember, you're on your own, don't push it."
    • Don't forget the Man's Prayer: "I am a man... but I can change... if I have to... I guess."
  • Riget: Danskjävlar! (Danish devils!)
  • Robin Hood loves these.
    • The Sheriff has "A clue: no" (the name of an episode), as well as the sarcastic "Oh, la-de-dah-de-dah." Allan-A-Dale gets "I'm not trying to be funny, but...", and Little John has "We go to (insert place)" and "(Insert name or item) I like/do not like."
    • In the second season, the whole gang adopts "We Are Robin Hood", which also becomes an episode title.
    • Every single one of these was dropped in the third series, which featured more or less a completely new team of writers, with the exception of one use each for the Sheriff's 'la-de-dah-de-dah', Little John's 'we go to Nottingham' and one 'We Are Robin Hood!' in the finale.
  • Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In:
    • A six-note pattern preceding a code-word or punchline to an off-color joke, such as "do-doo-doo-da-do-doo ... smack!" or "... family jewels!" (sometimes extended to 18 notes by repeating the GGGDEC pattern two more times before the code-word). This same musical phrase had been used as a "signature" at the end of many pieces played by Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
    • "I didn't know that." (Dick Martin's occasional response to what happened on an episode)
    • "Easy for you to say!' (Dan Rowan's reply whenever Dick Martin tripped on his tongue during a joke)
    • "Ohhh, I'll drink to that." (Martin's response to something Rowan said that he liked.)
    • "I was wondering if you'd mind if I said something my aunt once said to me." A phrase that Dick Martin would always say to interrupt Dan Rowan's announcements on what would happen during their next show; this phrase was followed by a story about a bizarre situation that his aunt went through.
    • "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls! (a lesser-known set of reference books whose phonetically funny name helped both Laugh-In and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to poke fun at NBC censors)
    • "Go to your room."
    • "Uncle Al had to take a lot of medicine last night" (line by Uncle Al, the Kiddies' Pal, played by Alan Sues)
    • "You bet your sweet bippy!"
    • "Here come de judge!" (reprising comedian Pigmeat Markham and further popularized by guest stars Flip Wilson and especially Sammy Davis Jr.)
    • "Beautiful downtown Burbank" (various actors/characters, referring tongue-in-cheek to the Los Angeles suburb in which the NBC studios (and thus the program) were located; the same term was frequently used by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson).
    • "'Ello, 'ello! NBC, beautiful downtown Burbank" (the response to calls received by a switchboard operator played by Judy Carne). When the series was syndicated in 1983, the NBC logo and the network's name were edited out.
    • "And that's the truth." (Edith Ann, summarizing whatever she just said, and capping it with a juicy raspberry)
    • "One ringy-dingy...two ringy-dingies..." (Ernestine's mimicking of the rings while she was waiting for someone to pick up the receiver on the other end of the telephone lines)
    • "A gracious good afternoon. This is Miss Tomlin of the telephone company. Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?" Ernestine's greeting to people whom she would call
    • "I just wanna swing!" Gladys Ormphby's catchphrase
    • "Is that a chicken joke?" Jo Anne Worley's outraged cry, a takeoff on Polish jokes
    • "Here comes the big finish, folk!" (usually before the last of a series of a star's bad puns)
    • "Sock it to me!" experienced its greatest exposure on Laugh-In although the phrase had been featured in songs like Aretha Franklin's 1967 "Respect" and Mitch Ryder's 1966 "Sock It To Me, Baby!"
    • "Oh, that Henny Youngman"
    • "Marshall Mc Luhan...what're you doin'?" (Henry Gibson)
    • "I don't know. I've never been out with one!" (First introduced by guest star Marcel Marceau, this catch-all punchline would be uttered by any guest star. Goldie: "Are you of the opposite sex?" Tiny Tim: "I don't know, Miss Goldie, I've never been out with one.")
    • "Blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere."
    • "Now, that's a no-no!"
    • "Tune in next week when Henny Youngman's wife burns Jell-o!"
    • "If [so-and-so] married [what's-his-name], divorced him and married {etc.}" The purpose being to try to set up a tongue-twister, involving the last names of celebrities. Example: "If Rosemary Clooney married Regis Toomey, divorced him and married Mickey Rooney, divorced him and married Paul Muni, divorced him and re-married Regis Toomey, she'd be Rosemary Clooney Toomey Rooney Muni Toomey!" Sometimes, the punchline results would be take-offs of songs or plays or products: "If Kaye Ballard married former astronaut Wally Schirra, divorced him, married his brother, she'd be [singing "Que Sera, Sera"] Kaye Schirra Schirra."
    • "Morgul the Friendly Drelb" (a pink Abominable Snowman-like character that appeared in the first episode and bombed so badly that his name was used in various announcements by Gary Owens for the rest of the series (usually at the end of the opening cast list, right after Owens himself: "Yours truly, Gary Owens, and Morgul as the Friendly Drelb!") and credited as the author of a paperback collection of the show's sketches)
    • "That's the most beautiful thing I ever heard."
    • "Ring my chimes!"
    • "Want a Walnetto?", was a pick-up line Tyrone would try on Gladys, which always resulted in a purse drubbing.
    • "We have to stop meeting like this. My wife's getting suspicious." (or some other variant form of the phrase)
  • Royal Canadian Air Farce had a few of these, though without a doubt the best ones went to characters played by John Morgan before his untimely death. The two most famous are "Ach, get stuffed!" (as Jock McBile the left-handed, West Coast immigrant bagpipe technician) and "I'm Mike...from Canmore..." (as...well, yeah.) Roger Abbott's impersonation of Jean Chretien also deserves mention for his tendency to begin speeches with "Hello, pipples of Canada!" (Including a segment where the former PM, on vacation, wrote a postcard beginning with that exact phrase, spelling included.)
  • Sanford and Son: "You big dummy!" "It's the big one!" "You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm comin' to join you, honey!"
  • Entire seasons of Saturday Night Live are memorable solely for what Catch Phrases they developed and then beat into the ground. The State parodied this mercilessly with their sketch about "Louie, the guy who comes in and says his catch phrase over and over again." (Louie's catch phrase was "I wanna dip my balls in it!")
    • SNL itself parodied this with an animated sketch detailing "The life and death of a Catch Phrase".
  • e* John Belushi's catchphrase on SNL was "But nooooooo..." and Steve Martin's was "Excuuuuse me".
  • Scrubs: The Todd: "*insert event or statement* Five!"
    • J.D. says "Eeeeeagle!" when being spun in the air (which happens surprisingly often.)
    • Elliot's "Frick!". Often made into something like "double frick!", or, once, "Frick, fricky frickfrick!"
  • Seinfeld has more than a few; Elaine's "Get out!" George's indignant "We're living in a SOCIETY" and frightened "Lupus? Is it lupus?!" are among the more memorable ones for the main characters, but many come from incidental characters such as the Soup Nazi's "No soup for you!" and Babu Bhatt's "You are a very bad man".
    • "Hello, Newman."
    • "Gold, Jerry! Gold!"
    • "Giddy up!"
    • "That's a shame." - Jerry, when something bad happens to others.
    • "I'm kind of in the middle of something." - Jerry, when interrupted.
  • Sesame Street': "Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here, with a Sesame Street News Flash."
  • Shear Genius: The host says to each week's winner, "Congratulations, your work is sheer genius." To the loser he says, "I'm sorry, this was your final cut."
  • Sledge Hammer!: "Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Disaster ensues.
  • Slings and Arrows: Geoffrey seems to go through one of these every season, to explain why he won't be directing whichever Shakespeare play the Story Arc is focusing on. The first season, he's "not mentally equipped for the task at this time." The second season, it's "extraordinarily difficult to stage effectively." Also, there's this recurring dialogue snippet:

Geoffrey: Get me a coffee. Black.
Anna: Cream and sugar?
Geoffrey: Yeah. Black.

  • Soap: Doorbell rings, nobody moves. An awkward silence passes as all characters present wait for the door to be answered. Benson, the butler, after a few seconds, will ask "You want me to get that?", at which point Jessica responds with some variation of "If you don't mind, Benson."
  • Sonny With a Chance has several:
    • Are there, troper? Are there really?
    • Chad. Dylan. Cooper and also Chad being the number one actor of his generation.
      • Peace out, suckers!
    • "Fine!" "Good!" "Fine!" "Good!"
  • The Sopranos has "fuhgeddaboutit" often said by Tony and a few other characters. This is an Homage to the movie Donnie Brasco, where all the gangsters are perpetually using it, and Johnny Depp and Tim Blake Nelson get into a conversation about its exact meaning.
    • It has also been claimed that Tony says "You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me," in every episode. Which, incidentally, is a line from The Thing.
    • And of course...OH! They also like to say "there he is" where most people would just say hello.
  • Sordid Lives The Series: Sisay has a lot of them: "Sweet baby Jesus!" "I know it...I know it...I know it..." (when talking on the phone) "Woooooo!" (in reply to Noleta calling out likewise when she is at the front door)
    • There's also Juanita's "Is this WCNT, where country is still cool?"
  • The BBC Sketch Comedy Sorry I've Got No Head bases a lot of humour around catchphrases (many of them Mad Lib):
    • "Sorry, it's just that I've got no head."
      • "Of course I can't tell, because I haven't got a head, but it sure feels like good [task]."
    • "You're going to use your time machine to go into the future and see [something] so we can go to the [building] earlier!"
    • "A THOUSAND POUNDS! THAT'S ABSURD!"
      • "Nothing's free these days." "Except for those free [thing]."
    • "I think I picked [country] by mistake. Is that a problem?" "Not for me."
    • "Is there a bee in here?"
    • "Do you have trouble [everyday action]? [More specific rephrasing]? Well, that's because you're using a [random object] instead of [object normally used for task], you idiot!" (for example, "Do you have trouble mowing the lawn? No matter how hard you try, your lawn always ends up the same as it was before? Well, that's because you're using a horseshoe instead of a lawnmower, you idiot!")
    • "Remember [person]?"
      • "He would have loved that [singer]."
      • "So what happened to [aforementioned person]?"
  • Sports Center, especially during the Keith Olbermann-Dan Patrick era, was a virtual catch phrase factory.
    • Chris Berman with his "Backbackbackbackbackbackback..GONE!", and "HE. COULD. GO. ALL. THE. WAY!
  • Sports Night: Jeremy had "And I'm sensing that..."
  • Stargate Atlantis:
    • "Oh, crap...!" -Rodney McKay
      • Sheppard was fond of it as well. Once, when the situation that had prompted whoever used it this time to say it was explained, an Asgard said, in that deadpan voice, "Crap, indeed."
  • Stargate SG-1:
    • Teal'c's usual "Indeed". It was "I see" in the first few episodes before he switched. Eventually Lampshaded by Ronon, to which he responded, "Do I? I had not noticed."
    • Jack O'Neill has:
      • "Oh, for crying out loud!"
      • "...riiight."
      • "Yeah, sure, you betcha!" (eventually mimicked by Carter a few times, most notable as she goes through the Stargate with Thor to save the entire Asgard Race as O'Neill tells her to have fun)
      • And his immortal responses to any technical problem: "Ai-ai-ai-ai-ai" or "Don't tell me, I know this... magnets!"
      • Also, in response to any Captain Obvious moment: "Ya think?"
      • "It's "O'Neill," with two L's"
    • Sam Carter's catch phrase in early seasons was "Holy Hannah!" She dropped this eventually, though.
      • And then her dad became a recurring character, and he said it. Makes sense she'd pick it up from her father.
    • Jonas Quinn is a fast learner. He also started out the series with "It's my first time [insert event here]," but he eventually quit.
    • Cameron Mitchell has been accused of using "What?" as his catch phrase. He also has "That's what I'm talking about!"
    • Hammond's: "Open the iris." Also, "Godspeed," and when authorizing the team to go on a mission he says, "You have a go."
    • The unforgettable "Chevron seven, locked."
      • Sgt. Harriman (Walter) hangs a lantern on his own catch phrase in one episode where he's describing his duties to a journalist.

Sgt. Harriman: “Basically, when the ’Gate is dialing, I say ‘Chevron One, encoded; Chevron Two, encoded’ and so on, incrementally, until the seventh Chevron, which is a little different because that’s when the wormhole connects. When that happens, I like to change things up a little bit and just say ‘Chevron Seven, locked.’”

    • And from any Goa'uld-affiliated character: "Jaffa, kree!" ("Jaffa" refers to any member of the Jaffa race, or any subordinate in general. Officially, "Kree" is a call to attention, though in practice, it's been used to mean pretty much anything and everything. Some situations could be summed up as "yoo-hoo!" and "Hello?! Pay attention, and respond to the situation as I trained you!" - mostly after this revelation.)
      • "Kree" is used in so many different contexts that O'Neill, of course, eventually lampshades it by asking Daniel, "All right, just what the heck does 'Kree' mean?" It's also apparently the only Goa'uld he knows, as seen in his abysmal attempt to impersonate a snakehead:

O'Neill: "Jaffa, Kree!"
First Prime: [Rapid stream of Goa'uld]
O'Neill: "...You heard me, I said 'kree'!"

    • Also Daniel's "I have no idea."
    • The Ori have "Hallowed are the Ori."
    • I Die Free is practically the motto of the Jaffa rebellion.
  • The various Star Treks have a lot of these, having been around a while:
    • Each captain, starting with Picard, has his/her own favorite drink that s/he's constantly ordering from the replicator in any ready room scene: "Tea, Earl Grey, hot" for Picard, "Raktajino" for Sisko, and "Coffee, black" for Janeway.
      • Because of this, a magazine's interview with Patrick Stewart was captioned "Stop sending him tea-bags."
      • Played with in non-canon novel Ship of the Line where Picard muses to Riker that maybe he should order a "Hot grey tea earl," and give the computer a stroke.
    • Various Applied Phlebotinum commands, such as "Engage," "Energize," "Hailing frequencies open," "Raise shields," or "Warp factor [number]." Janeway adds "Compensate" when someone tells her that something's interfering with the Phlebotinum in question.
    • Taking place before the days of shields, Enterprise replaces "Raise shields" with "Polarize the hull plating."
    • Contrary to popular belief, no permutation of "Beam Me Up, Scotty" was a catch phrase. As the chief engineer, Scotty wasn't a frequent transporter operator - there's a guy whose job is apparently only that! - and Scotty was only asked to beam someone up on special occasions (something wrong with the transporter, etc.) For some reason, he can Never Live It Down. The actual usual transporter commands are "[Number] to beam up" (and sometimes "[number] to beam directly to sickbay") and "Energize."
    • "Bones" McCoy started a tradition of "I'm a doctor, not a..." phrases. Voyager's EMH ran with it. It's a rare chief medical officer who hasn't done it at least once.
      • McCoy's also known for "He's Dead, Jim," although variants of the phrase are far more common than that exact quote.
    • Let's not forget Spock's "Fascinating," followed by Data's "Intriguing" and Tuvok's "Impressive."
      • Lampshaded by McCoy in the episode "The Ultimate Computer":

McCoy: Please, Spock, do me a favor and don't say it's fascinating.
Spock: No. But it is ... interesting.

    • Also Spock's "Most illogical."
    • "We are the Borg. You Will Be Assimilated. Resistance Is Futile." It's actually pared down from a much longer 'greeting.' Expect to hear "Resistance is futile" at least once during any Borg encounter.
      • Also, "[noun] is irrelevant."
    • The Klingons frequently say "Q'apla" ("Victory.") Less frequently than you think (though not so rare as to become a beam-me-up case) is "It is a good day to die."
    • Any Ferengi Rule of Acquisition.
    • "Live long and prosper." -- various Vulcans.
    • "Get us out of here!" -- various captains. Usually answered with "Warp drive / Thrusters / Propulsion off-line."
    • Picard: "Make it so." and "Engage." Janeway: "Do it." All captains: "On screen!" (which is almost always stated in the exact same tone, regardless of the situation).
    • The Doctor, and any other Emergency Medical Hologram: "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."
    • A catch-gesture; 'The Picard Maneuver', that way Patrick Stewart tugs his tunic down when he stands up. An actual in-joke among the cast and crew.
    • "Engage" also comes with a particular gesture.
    • Quinto!Spock uses the Picard Maneuver in the reboot movie.
    • The original series had catch dialogue between Kirk and Scotty:

Kirk: I need X now/in Y number of minutes/hours!
Scotty: That's not long enough, Cap'n! (or "I'm givin' her all she's got, Cap'n!)
Kirk: Work faster!
(cue Scotty pulling a miracle out of... somewhere)

      • Lampshaded in the TNG episode "Relics", where Scotty remarks to Geordi LaForge that he always used to exaggerate the time needed to do things, so when he did them in less time, they would think him a miracle worker.
      • One of the movies contained the following dialogue

Kirk: How long until the Enterprise is repaired?
Scotty: Eight weeks, sir. Only, you don't have eight weeks, so I'll do it for you in two.
Kirk: Mr Scott, do you always multiply your repair estimates by a factor of four?
Scotty: Of course, captain. How else could I keep my reputation as a miracle worker?

    • Data's "It is possible, Sir." Which was even said in the same tone each time.
  • The State: Due to Executive Meddling, the show had to include a character with a catch phrase. Their answer was to deconstruct the trope with Louie, the Guy Who Says His Catchphrase Over and Over Again. His sketches were based around getting him to say "I wanna dip my balls in it!" as often as possible.
  • Steptoe and Son: "You dirty old man!" ~ Harold Steptoe, in nearly every episode.
    • Also Albert's plaintive bit of emotional blackmail: "'AAAAROLD!!!"
    • Although Steptoe was rather lacking in Catch Phrases compared to most other sitcoms of its time and place (1960s Britain), as it was aiming for a more Kitchen Sink approach to the sitcom and most real people don't tend to have a collection of stock phrases they repeat over and over.
  • Suite Life On Deck: Woody: "Daaang it"
  • Supernatural: It isn't exactly a catchphrase-based show but Dean has said both "I'm tired" and "How am I supposed to live with that?" far too many times for them not to be noted as catchphrases.
    • A slightly more adorable Catch Phrase is the ever-popular "Bitch"/"Jerk" call-and-refrain.
    • "Son of a bitch" is easily the most common phrase to come out of Dean's mouth other than "Crap" or "Sammy, bring me some pie".
      • Lampshaded in the episode Changing Channels when Dean yells "Son of a bitch!" and then waits for the "studio audience" to cheer the catchphrase.
    • Sam, when he's doing research, never fails to say, 'Every culture in the world has some kind of [insert something Dean doesn't believe in here] lore.' Cue killing it.
    • Bobby's "idjit".
  • Survivor: Host Jeff Probst's sendoff is "The tribe has spoken," said as he snuffs out the torch of the departing contestant. He also says, "Worth playing for?" after describing challenge prizes.
  • Survivorman: Les Stroud is fond of the mantra "I hate to kill any living thing, but in a survival situation, everything is fair game" whenever he dispatches and devours something cute and fuzzy. A mantra that is markedly absent whenever he scarfs down insects (usually still moving) or fish.
  • Take Me Out: "no lighty, no likey"
  • Taxi had "Dank you veddy much" ("Thank you very much") for Andy Kaufman's character Latka Gravas. The character and phrase - the whole mock language - originated in Kaufman's stage act when the persona was usually known as "Foreign Man".
  • That '70s Show has a few, though not every character has one.
    • Fez: "I have needs."
      • Also:

"Good day."
"But Fez..."
"I said 'Good day!'"

    • Red: "Dumbass!" and increasingly extreme threats to put his foot in someone's ass.
    • Kelso: "BURN!"
  • That's So Raven: "Oh snap!" (Shared with My Name Is Earl.)
  • 30 Rock: Liz Lemon has "Blerg!" and "Nerds!" And they even parody the catchphrase on the The Girly Show with Tracy Jordan with Liz's sketches for Jenna in which Jenna gives women relationship advice. The catchphrase is "That's a dealbreakuh!"
  • This Is Wonderland: Judge Malone gradually acquired "There must be something we can do to help this man/woman/child," as a Catch Phrase.
  • Before each commercial break on Today, the segment host will tell the audience what is coming up in the next segment, followed by "But, first, this is Today on NBC."
    • Weatherman Al Roker wants you to know that's what's going on around the country. "Now here's what's happening in your neck of the woods."
      • He's also fond of "How sweet it is" during the birthday segment.
  • The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson era had "Heeeere's Johnny" (of course later used in The Shining) and since it's in the Leno era now it has... "And now... Jaaaaaaaaaaay Leno!".
    • Also during the Johnny Carson era, Ed McMahon's "HiYooooooooo!"
    • And, when discussing some weather event:

Johnny: "It was so ______ today..."
Audience: "HOW ______ WAS IT???!!!"
Johnny: "It was so ______ that ______."

  • Top Chef: Padma Lakshmi has the sendoff, "Pack your knives and go."
  • Top Gear: Each of the presenters has a couple:

Clarkson: "Poweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!", "...in the World.", and "How hard can it be?"
May: "Oh, cock.", "As you'd expect, I've done this properly..."
Hammond: "That's not gone well!", "Don't like that."

Ronnie Corbett: So it's goodnight from me.
Ronnie Barker: And it's goodnight from him.
Both: Goodnight!

  • The Vicar of Dibley: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no... Yes." (Monty Python fans will associate this phrase with the "Nudge-Nudge, Wink-Wink" sketch.)
  • True Jackson, VP: "You said what now?!" "Not even!"
  • Victorious: Cat has, "What's THAT supposed to mean???" She hasn't used it as much in the later episodes of Season 1, though.
    • She uses "Kay Kay" all the time.
    • Sikowitz has "GOOD GHANDI!".
  • Videomatch: Marcello Tinelli's "GOOOOD NIGHT AMERICA!" Don't know if he still uses it in Showmatch, though.
  • "You are The Weakest Link." (Looks away) "Good-bye!"
  • The West Wing: Many characters had a habit of saying "You know, not for nothing, but ..." before making an emphatic point. This became an Aaron Sorkin trademark that popped up in later projects; you could tell Sorkin wrote Charlie Wilson's War when the phrase appeared in the closing scenes.
    • There's also Jed Bartlet's infamous "What's next?"
    • Leo: "Look at my face!"
    • CJ: "And that's a full lid".
    • Sam: "I'm just saying".
    • Josh: "Donnaaaaaa!!"
    • If we're going to mention Josh's Donna, there's Leo's "Margaret!" as well.
    • And Ainsley Hayes, "Are you going to eat that?" though that may be more of a Running Gag
  • Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego??: Greg and the remaining contestant always closed the show with: "Do it, Rockapella!"
    • Also, the Chief would frequently dismiss Greg with a simple, "Greg? Go away."
  • White Collar:

Neal: We have a problem.
Mozzie: You know, we really ought to copyright that.
[later]
Mozzie: We have a problem!
Neal: You're right, we really should copyright that.

    • Not sure if it could qualify as a straight-up catch phrase, but Neal and Peter do seem to say 'Look at you..." quite a bit.
      • Peter: Look at you, bringing me a case.
      • Neal: Look at you, improvising without me.
      • Peter: Look at you. You got a park built!
      • Neal: Look at us, saving America's youth from a life of crime.
      • Okay, yeah, it qualifies.
  • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?: "Is that your final answer?"
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway?: The US version had "The points don't matter."
    • When describing Questions Only, 90-Second Alphabet, or other simple games, "This is a great game to play when you're at a party with no chicks or booze."
    • The UK version had "This is me, Clive Anderson, saying good night. Good night."
  • Wipeout: The American version had John Henson, during the closing words of the episode, say "Good night, and Big Balls." When John Henson wasn't available in one episode, John Anderson was allowed to say it instead, leading to a very angry Henson saying "Hey, it's part of my contract!"
  • The Wire:
    • Jimmy McNulty: "What the fuck did I do?"
    • Bunk Moreland: "Happy now, bitch?" and "Givin' a fuck when it ain't your turn to give a fuck."
    • Stringer Bell: "It's just business."
    • Proposition Joe: "Got a proposition for you." Or, really, any time he ever uses the word "proposition" in a sentence.
    • Omar: "Oh indeed" along with "I surely do".
    • Sen. Clay Davis: "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit!" This also doubles as the actor's catchphrase, which he had used in other roles (such as 25th Hour).
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: "I have many skills."
  • "Yes Minister" Said by Sir Humphrey at least once every episide in the series of the same name, often as the episode's final line. Later it would become "Yes, Prime Minister".
Back to Catch Phrase
  1. ↑ Literally "Here comes SPAAAACE!!", but everyone has a different translation
  2. ↑ "That" being the look on that person's face
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