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Niche Network
- 206 statements
- 39 feature instances
- 18 referencing feature instances
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A simple Show Within a Show gag. With the sheer number of television stations available in this day and age, a channel that only has programming which relates to a single hobby or niche can be viable. Think "The Golf Channel" or "Soapnet" for real life examples of this. Naturally, these niche networks aren't all that appealing to people who aren't interested in the networks' subject matter. (Because of this, they are susceptible to Network Decay, if their original incarnation is not giving them high enough Ratings to keep up with the cost of staying on the air.) Some shows like to exaggerate how uninteresting these channels are to non-hobbyists. They do this by having a character turn to a channel that only runs programming about an unbelievably inane subject 24 hours a day. The gag works because the channel is boring in two different ways. Even if you somehow manage to find the boring subject matter intriguing, the channel is implied to be repetitive ("We're all X, all the time" or "X, 24 hours a day.). As if that wasn't enough boredom, some shows add to this gag by having an extremely bored sounding man narrate the channel's programming in a bland monotone. To put it simply, a show you're watching makes up a TV channel. If the gag works, you'll be asking yourself one question about that channel. "Who would watch that boring crap?" Compare The Magazine Rule and Severely Specialized Store. |
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Niche Network | fetched |
2023-11-05T19:00:27Z | |
Niche Network | parsed |
2023-11-05T19:00:27Z | |
Niche Network | processingComment |
Dropped link to Infomercial: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to NetworkDecay: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to Networks: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to PoliticalProgrammes: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Niche Network | isPartOf |
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Niche Network / int_1b5eec6e | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_1b5eec6e | comment |
Sheep in the Big City had "The Watching Paint Dry Channel." | |
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Sheep in the Big City | hasFeature |
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Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_1e511d6f | comment |
An episode of America's Funniest Home Videos had a segment that parodied niche channels. The channels featured were "Polka Planet", "The Fashion Channel", "Toilet TV", "The Belly Button Network", "The Chiropractor Channel", and "Tin Ear TV". | |
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America's Funniest Home Videos | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_261c8d3f | type |
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From The Simpsons: "Coming up next on The Clock Channel: 6:00." | |
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The Simpsons | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_2a162f17 | type |
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This was a running gag on 101 Dalmatians: The Series. Various channels on the pups' TV set included "The All-Dog Network", "The All-Cat Network", "The Gravy Channel", "The Poultry Channel", "Swine TV", "The All-Fashion Network", and various others. | |
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101 Dalmatians: The Series | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_2daf95c | type |
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In Before Sunrise, Jesse talks about his idea for a cable access show that works like this: 365 people from different cities around the world film 24 hours of their lives each, as they live it normally. Basically, each episode would be a day of life in a different city, completely unscripted and filled with completely normal activities. Great if the only thing you're looking for is to watch someone live an average life in a place you've never been to, but as Celine points out people might not want to pay to see "all the boring mundane shit", and Jesse himself admits that filming and collecting all the tapes would be very inconvenient. | |
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Before Sunrise | hasFeature |
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The House of Mouse short "Hickory Dickory Mickey" had "The Tick-Tock Channel". Sure enough, with Mickey trying to drown out the annoying tick-tock and an annoying clock, guess what the only thing is that the channel plays. | |
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House of Mouse | hasFeature |
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One Dilbert strip had a network that consisted entirely of videos of Ratbert slapping himself while singing Barry Manilow songs. And it was apparently not the stupidest channel that cable company had to offer. | |
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Dilbert (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_42c05590 | type |
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Rocko's Modern Life has a 24 hour bagpipe station featuring the "All Scottish Show". | |
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Rocko's Modern Life | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_44e0b783 | type |
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Garfield has this as a common gag. The gag also appeared many times in the 1990s animated adaptation, Garfield and Friends. Some examples include "The Potato Channel" (in which a man lists all the different ways to prepare potatoes), "The All Snail Racing Channel", and "The All Lasagna Channel." | |
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Garfield (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_46518682 | type |
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On the Sesame Street segment "Elmo's World", Elmo's TV tunes in to these kinds of channels to teach kids. | |
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Sesame Street | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_510974b4 | type |
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Johnny Test: "The Nutz Channel. We're all nuts, all the time." | |
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Johnny Test | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_54291151 | type |
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Niche Network / int_54291151 | comment |
The Littlest Pet Shop (2012) episode "To Paris with Zoe" has the TV in the pet shop stuck to the Bread Crust Channel, then the Insect Channel. The latter consists of unaltered footage from a camera left at a landfill. | |
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Littlest Pet Shop (2012) | hasFeature |
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The Martin/Molloy radio show did a fake ad for its fictitious pay TV network which included: | |
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Martin/Molloy (Radio) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_671d5c19 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_671d5c19 | comment |
In The Powerpuff Girls (1998) episode "Daylight Savings" the Professor gives the girls a curfew. The villains take advantage of this and when the Professor tries to watch TV, all the channels he switches to are discussing how Townsville is doomed. He finally finds one that is talking about something else: the time channel. On this channel, Sonny Dial presents the up to the minute time. This reminds the Professor he forgot to set the clocks back, so he can sends the girls back out to save the day. | |
Niche Network / int_671d5c19 | featureApplicability |
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The Powerpuff Girls (1998) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_75bd5686 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_75bd5686 | comment |
Shining Time Station had the kids introduced to television via Schemer, who showed them such channels as footage of babies crying. | |
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Shining Time Station | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_8bd2ee90 | type |
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Niche Network / int_8bd2ee90 | comment |
I Am Weasel: The Airplane Channel, which is pretty reasonable. (This was the gimmick of the real-life Discovery Wings channel before it became the Military Channel.) At the end of a Wright Brothers documentary, the brothers decide to toast with a root beer float, after which the channel inexplicably becomes the Root Beer Float Channel. The same episode also showed glimpses of the Cat Shaving Channel, and the Grandma Channel. The Root Bear Float Channel was where Chicken finally decided to cancel his cable subscription. |
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Niche Network / int_8bd2ee90 | featureApplicability |
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I Am Weasel | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_909ca4b1 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_909ca4b1 | comment |
In ReBoot, Mike the TV will sometimes force some bizarre channel upon somebody and is the only one who doesn't find that channel annoying. His favorite appears to be The Commercial Channel, which has no shows—it's entirely commercial time. | |
Niche Network / int_909ca4b1 | featureApplicability |
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ReBoot | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_92844ddb | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_92844ddb | comment |
The Dinosaurs episode "Fran Live" opens with the Sinclairs exploring their various new cable channels. One of the highlights is "The Hat Channel: 24 hours a day of hat news, hat features, and hat happenings." Robbie seems genuinely excited by the prospect of hat news. | |
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Dinosaurs | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_97abe183 | type |
Niche Network | |
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The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: Carl watches The Llama Channel, a channel with nothing but shows about llamas. | |
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The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_9888f901 | type |
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Daria featured the Pigskin Channel (a decade before the launch of NFL Network) and a fashion channel (which is very reasonable, there are many networks with strong emphasis on fashion). | |
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Daria | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_99f8c7fb | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_99f8c7fb | comment |
Though not TV networks, the 'guest newspapers' from which Have I Got News for You takes some of its fill-in-blanks headlines for the final round are basically this trope. And they're all real. | |
Niche Network / int_99f8c7fb | featureApplicability |
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Have I Got News for You | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_9a152d5d | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_9a152d5d | comment |
The same episode also showed glimpses of the Cat Shaving Channel, and the Grandma Channel. The Root Bear Float Channel was where Chicken finally decided to cancel his cable subscription. | |
Niche Network / int_9a152d5d | featureApplicability |
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Cow and Chicken | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_9d41fc3c | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_9d41fc3c | comment |
There are some Iranian satellite networks that only air one type of show, but a lot of the more well-rounded channels actually start with one video on loop for weeks before their official opening. Sometimes it's a 5 minute trailer of the channel with the date and time of the grand opening repeated all over again, sometimes it gets weird. Persian Toon played Despicable Me 2 over and over and over again for two weeks before it put its real schedule together. | |
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Despicable Me 2 | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_a3bd3918 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_a3bd3918 | comment |
BIGTOP BURGER has the Food Truck Radio station, "where we only play Weird Al!" | |
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BIGTOP BURGER (Web Animation) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_a8729c90 | type |
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Niche Network / int_a8729c90 | comment |
The Fairly OddParents! features "Teeth TV" "The Clown Channel", and "The Dungeon Channel". | |
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The Fairly OddParents! | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_b24f49ab | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_b24f49ab | comment |
In Back to the Future Part II, the video screens in (then)-Future Marty's house plays the Scenery Channel. Among the chatter that the future McFly's engage in around the breakfast table, the voice of Marty's son can be heard saying something about the Atrocity Channel. | |
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Back to the Future Part II | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_b7f04ccc | type |
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Niche Network / int_b7f04ccc | comment |
The Patrick Star Show: "The Lil' Patscals" starts with Patrick watching The Traffic Light Channel, which is just camera footage of a traffic light downtown. He doesn't like being interrupted from it. | |
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The Patrick Star Show | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_bb7d6a95 | type |
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Niche Network / int_bb7d6a95 | comment |
Duckman had "The Lets Talk In Pig Latin Network", "The All Potato Cakes Network", "The Mismatched Buddy Comedy Network", "The Roadkill Identification Network" and "The Skin Disease Network", all in the same episode. | |
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Duckman | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_c4a22754 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_c4a22754 | comment |
Spoofed in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series with the Card Games Network, because "a children's card game" is always Serious Business. | |
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Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series (Web Video) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_c720f71e | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_c720f71e | comment |
And of course, video hosting services like YouTube or Twitch TV enable the defictionalization of all the above plus a few that are even weirder, if you like that sort of thing. | |
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YouTube (Website) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_cf2d20a8 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_cf2d20a8 | comment |
Johnny Bravo: Johnny once caught a glimpse of the "Fish" Network. The channel's content consisted entirely of video recordings of fish swimming. "All fish, 24/7" Johnny also once had a bear named "Chronos, The Master of All Time," watch the "Tree Channel" to try and cure his insomnia. |
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Johnny Bravo | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_dad248df | type |
Niche Network | |
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Siblings has "The Pointless Channel". | |
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Siblings (Web Animation) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_edbc9738 | type |
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Spoofed in Transmetropolitan, where one of the channels Spider gets is the "lonely male virgin channel". The one show we hear about is essentially an X-rated version of Charlie's Angels. | |
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Transmetropolitan (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_f3a97649 | type |
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Niche Network / int_f3a97649 | comment |
The Jim Henson Hour has many such channels (which Kermit picks programming from), including "The Fashion Doll Channel", "The Guest Star Channel", "The Time Channel" ("all the time all the time!"), "The All-Dog Network", and a channel devoted to talking garbage. | |
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The Jim Henson Hour | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_f5799bd9 | type |
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Niche Network / int_f5799bd9 | comment |
The Critic occasionally went to this well with MJNN, The Michael Jackson News Network ("With bureaus in London, Bangkok, and Disneyland") and The Dryer Channel, which was able to outdraw Jay's show in the ratings. Regarding the latter: "People watch this?" "They don't just watch — they send it money." | |
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The Critic | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_f87c42c | type |
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Niche Network / int_f87c42c | comment |
Saved by the Bell: The New Class: In one episode, Screech had "The Werewolf Channel," "The Worst Movies Ever Made Channel," and "The Hot Babe Channel." | |
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Saved by the Bell: The New Class | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_f9addebf | type |
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You Can't Do That on Television: Lance complains that the program is taking a very long time to come back from commercial, only for his son to tell him that he is watching the all-ad network. It turns out the program he thought he had been watching was actually an ad for a toilet bowl cleaner. | |
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You Can't Do That on Television | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_fac5f5c8 | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_fac5f5c8 | comment |
Gremlins 2: The New Batch has the Clamp Cable Network, which has various unusual channels on the air, including the Archery Channel and the Safety Network (naturally, injured people are witnessed staggering out of that channel's studio during the Gremlins' rampage in Clamp Center). | |
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Gremlins 2: The New Batch | hasFeature |
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Niche Network / int_fe16b92c | type |
Niche Network | |
Niche Network / int_fe16b92c | comment |
Exaggerated in Happy Heroes with a one-program channel. In Season 7 episode 41, Doctor H. likes a drama with his Celeb Crush Miss Peach so much that Mr. Lightbulb, who manages Planet Xing's television stations, decides to start a channel that only airs that one drama 24/7. Doctor H. continues to rewatch the drama at first, but then grows bored of it later on. | |
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Happy Heroes (Animation) | hasFeature |
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