Actually, nobody is extra long-suffering than a TV fan whose sequence has been operating for a minimum of three or 4 seasons. It’s in all probability getting staler than final yr’s sweet corn, however so long as these promoting {dollars} preserve rolling in, they’re going to preserve making it. And what are you going to do, simply not watch a TV present?
Enter the operating gag, the crumbs thrown by the writers to the loyal followers who’ve been there since day one. Whether or not it’s out within the open or much more rewarding for hiding within the background, it’s somewhat dopamine hit that retains you simply buzzed sufficient to resolve towards discovering one thing extra fulfilling to do together with your time.
There’s an artwork to a operating joke, although. You’ll be able to’t simply preserve telling the identical joke again and again — it’s obtained to be the suitable joke, performed with simply the suitable frequency, and it’s obtained to be a contemporary new take each time. That’s why, when person Kevbot1000 requested r/AskReddit, “What’s a operating joke on a sequence that by no means stopped being humorous?,” not every thing made the reduce.