A routine in comedy involves an observer within earshot of an individual speaking on the phone to a party who cannot be heard. One side of an exchange is audible consisting of the phrase "you don't say" repeated a few times. When the call is terminated, the observer asks, "Who was it?" followed by the response, "They didn't say!"
Examples in various forms of entertainment include Abbott and Costello, Tex Avery's 1944 MGM cartoon Happy Go Nutty, the Spike Jones song "Chloe," The Addams Family episode "Lurch's Harpsichord," the Batman episode "The Unkindest Tut of All," a 1996 McDonald's commercial, and two Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes ("Bride of the Monster" and "The Giant Gila Monster").
Usage[]
- Omar engages in the gag with an alien speaking gibberish during the May 19, 1959 episode of Sam and Friends when he uses the dreamicator to communicate with outer space.[1]
- While showing Grover some of Sam the Robot's mechanical components on Sesame Street in Episode 0515, a playful Bob demonstrates how Sam's phone works. After he delivers the punchline, Grover takes to the camera and says he didn't understand that. Bob brushes it off, saying, "it's just a crazy joke."
- A Muppet Show promo for episode 221 features Fozzie Bear on the phone while Kermit the Frog teases the episode. After some clips are shown, the joke plays out to Kermit's distaste (in some markets, the punchline was rendered inaudible by an announcer). (YouTube)
- To demonstrate how post-production is used to portray a puppet answering the phone in "Secrets of the Muppets," an exchange between Jim Henson and Gonzo is shown in which several tape edits are used to cut between Gonzo's hand on and off the phone. Gonzo answers "You don't say" each time. Eventually, the cast — Leon, Bean Bunny, Vicki, Digit, Lindbergh, Beard, and Camilla — enter the frame for the obligatory query, and after Gonzo gives the traditional punchline, laugh as if they were in on the joke.