25 Snappy Pieces of Trivia About the Most Iconic Catchphrases in TV History

Did we do that? Yes. Yes, we did find the best batch of catchphrases on Earth
25 Snappy Pieces of Trivia About the Most Iconic Catchphrases in TV History

Ah, the catchphrase. That one singular line that wowed the audience enough to be used for years to come. We wonder if these shows just stumbled into that, or if they painstakingly tried lines until one stuck. 

Either way, we’ve heard these lines countless times, but we never thought to delve deeper into their stories — until now. 

So if you're dying to know about “No soup for you,” then you’ve come to the right place. Unless you act up. Then it’s, “No facts for you!”

Big Bang Theory

Bazinga! The line doesn't appear in the Big Bang Theory until Season 2's finale. It was originally the catchphrase of show writer Stephen Engel, who would say the word after pulling a prank on another writer. CRACKED.COM

Family Matters

Did I Do That? Before the audience went crazy for the iconic line, the writers tried to create other catchphrases for Urkel, including stealing I've fallen, and I can't get up. CRACKED.COM

Star Trek

Live Long And Prosper The phrase was created by Amok Time episode writer Theodore Sturgeon, but the hand gesture was created by Leonard Nimoy, inspired by his childhood experience at a Jewish temple. Nimroy explains it is the shape of the letter Shin in Hebrew, which can stand for God and peace. CRACKED.COM

Simple Life

That's Hot Paris Hilton reveals that her Simple Life catchphgrase was originally something her sister Nicky used to say a lot. Paris took it and trademarked it. CRACKED.COM

Seinfeld

No Soup For You The Soup Nazi was inspired by real-life owner of Soup Kitchen International, Ali Al Yeganeh, who was known for having strict rules around ordering. CRACKED.COM

Beavis and Butt-Head

Heh-Heh Creator Mike Judge says Beavis' iconic laugh came from a kid in his calculus class who would sit in the front, and always bite his lip and turn back and go 'heh heh. CRACKED.COM

Family Guy

Giggity Seth MacFarlane and stand-up friend Steve Marmel had a running Jerry Lewis impression that turned into just repeating the word giggity that made its way onto Family Guy. CRACKED.COM

Bugs Bunny

BUGS BUNNY the way he acts and talks The phrase What's up, Doc? and Bugs' iconic behavior were based on the 1934 romantic comedy It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable. CRACKED

SNL

MORE COWBELL! CHRISTOPHER WALKEN CRACKED.COM On The Tonight Show, Will Ferrell told Fallon that Christopher Walken told him, You know... You've ruined my life. People, during the curtain call, bring cowbells and ring them. The other day I went for an Italian food lunch, and the waiter asked if I wanted more cowbell. From Deer Hunter to Pulp Fiction, most people know him for that one perfect SNL sketch.

South Park

MR. MACKEY m'kay? Mr. Mackey is the school counselor at South Park Elementary, famous for his catchphrase M'kay, which he says at the end of most of his sentences. Turns out, he's based on Trey Parker's counselor, Mr. Lackey, who would really say, M'kay? CRACKED

MTV

MTV SIC TELEVISION MTV i want my MTV I WANT MY МАУРО! Ad guy George Lois came up with the phrase I Want My MTV to get young people off the couch and to call their cable companies to demand that MTV be added to their services. Не swiped a maple syrup tagline-I Want My Maypo. CRACKED

Looney Tunes

SYLVESTER THE CAT thufferin' thuccotash! Thufferin' thuccotash! was actually a way of saying suffering savior. Succotash, which is a corn and bean dish, was just a word put in to replace savior (probably to avoid blasphemy). CRACKED

Scooby-Doo

SHAGGY that high- pitched voice Casey Kasem was the voice of Shaggy in the 1969 Scooby-Doo cartoon, and a big influence on Shaggy's voice was another popular TV character from Our Miss Brooks, who spoke in a high squeaky voice and was always very breathy. CRACKED

Rick and Morty

RICK AND MORTY wubalubadubdub The nonsense phrase was inspired by the Three Stooges; it was supposed to be like that sound Curly makes that you can't quite describe. The final version ended up being so dumb, the writers hoped it wouldn't catch on. CRACKED

The Simpsons

HOMER SIMPSON d'oh The 1940s BBC radio comedy It's That Man Again was really popular for its catchphrases like Don't mind if I do, and D'oh!, which was used decades before Homer Simpson made it famous. CRACKED

Alf

CRACKED I KILL ME Not a caveman saying he'll kill himself, this is Alf being amused by his own joke. You know... Killing. Like a comedian on stage. We get it now, Alf. ALF

The Brady Bunch

CRACKED MARCIA, MARCIA, MARCIA! Poor Jan lived in the shadow of her popular older sister Marcia, so this lament isn't her summoning Candyman or Beetlejuice, she's basically saying, I'm sick of hearing about how great Marcia is! THE BRADY BUNCH

The Office

CRACKED THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID Without context, we'd all be asking well, what did she say? This is the punchline to a setup that changes constantly. You'd have to get the joke, then become a stenographer replaying the last line, hunting for the innuendo. THE OFFICE

The Carol Burnett Show

Tugs on her ear COOL CAROL BURNETT CRACKED.COM She tugged on her ear in her first TV appearance as a way to say hi to her grandma, and she just kept doing that for years.

Friends

CRACKED WE WERE ON A BREAK! Is this someone telling their boss that they weren't at their desk because they were out having a smoke? Nope. It's Ross Geller screaming to Rachel that kissing the copy girl was technically okay since he and Rachel were on a break from their relationship. FRIENDS

Mork & Mindy

CRACKED NANU, NANU Not an Apple product, this Orkan greeting is like Aloha, in that it can mean hello and goodbye. MORK AND MINDY

Sanford and Son

CRACKED I'M COMIN' TO YA, ELIZABETH When Fred Sanford is being overdramatic, he clutches his heart like he's having a heart attack, looks up to the sky and proclaims, I'm comin' to ya, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is his deceased wife, but without context, you'd think he's just ing her in the next room. SANFORD AND SON

Welcome Back Kotter

CRACKED UP YOUR NOSE WITH A RUBBER HOSE When John Travolta's character Vinnie Barbarino uses this sassy, sing-songy line, he kind of means Shove it, Up yours, and Whatever all rolled into one. WELCOME BACK KOTTER

Breaking Bad

Bitch COOL (FOR A BRIEF MOMENT IN 2013) AARON PAUL CRACKED.COM Aaron Paul's character said this so many times in Breaking Bad that it got associated with him-to the point that, in 2014, he put out an app called Yo, Bitch.

Happy Days

Ауууууу! TIMELESSLY COOL HENRY WINKLER CRACKED COM This was the catchphrase of his defining role, The Fonz, and Winkler got it from a sport he loved: horse riding.

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