10 Hilarious TV Running Gags That Lasted An Insanely Long Time
6. My Leg! - Spongebob Squarepants
Leave it to Spongebob to make a running joke out of a throwaway piece of audio. This is one you'd probably only notice if you watched every episode many times, but luckily, that applies to a lot of obsessive fans.
Nearly every time there's some sort of pandemonium, you can always hear a background character screaming "My leg!" During each instance, it's the same exact audio clip. This first happens in the boating school episode in Season 1 and it keeps popping up everywhere, even in situations where it barely makes sense. At one point, the dude is thrown out of the Krusty Krab and he yells "my leg" before he even lands. What, was the act of being lifted off the ground enough to injure him? Another time, it's played when all that's happening is that Spongebob is getting the sand out of his towel. Did a few grains of sand break his leg, or what? Oh, and the guy's name is Fred, if you were wondering.
It was mainly concentrated towards the early episodes, but Fred's leg comment made a return in recent years beginning in Season 6. "My leg" was even used in the most recent film, Sponge Out of Water, meaning from the first appearance to the most recent, the show has been using this same piece of audio for 16 years.