10 Long TV Running Gags You Never Even Noticed

10. C.J.'s Goldfish Bowl Contains Episode-Specific Props - The West Wing

The West Wing boasts an especially creative and subtle running gag which endured from its first season through until its seventh and final one.

You might recall that in one of the show's first episodes Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) buys C.J. (Allison Janney) a goldfish for her office, but the series' prop master decided to go one further by ensuring that new episodes had a thematically appropriate new prop in the goldfish bowl.

For example, a Christmas episode had a Christmas tree in the bowl, a capital punishment episode had a fake dead fish floating in it, and when there are leaks at the White House there's plumbing pipe placed in the bowl.

There are almost 50 different versions of the gag throughout The West Wing, and yet it's just subtle enough that you couldn't be blamed for missing it.