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The running gag is an amusing joke or reference that appears repeatedly throughout a work or series of works.

Running gags can begin with an instance of unintentional humor that is repeated in variations as the joke grows familiar and audiences anticipate reappearances of the gag. Often, the humor in a running gag derives entirely from how often it is repeated, the (in)appropriateness of the situation in which the gag occurs, or setting up the audience to expect an occurrence of the joke and then substituting something else (bait and switch). Running Gags are found mostly in sitcoms, but are also appear in other media, such as video games & movies.

See also

• Gimmick
• Inside joke