TV Land Lists 100 Greatest Catchphrases

[SlowwHand]

Nov 27, 5:29 PM EST

The Associated Press

Sometimes it takes only a word, or just a few, to become immortalized in television history.

The TV Land cable network has compiled a list of the 100 greatest catchphrases in TV, from the serious — Walter Cronkite's nightly signoff "And that's the way it is" — to the silly: "We are two wild and crazy guys!"

The network will air a countdown special, "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases," over five days starting Dec. 11.

"We have found that television is such a huge part of baby boomers' DNA that it makes sense that so much of America's pop culture jargon has come from TV," said Larry Jones, TV Land president.

The greatest number of moments, 26, come from the 1970s. TV Land identified nine moments from this decade. Ten are from commercials, and 28 from comedies, including six from "Saturday Night Live."

In alphabetical order, TV Land's list:

—"Aaay" (Fonzie, "Happy Days")

—"And that's the way it is" (Walter Cronkite, "CBS Evening News")

—"Ask not what your country can do for you ..." (John F. Kennedy)

—"Baby, you're the greatest" (Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, "The Honeymooners")

—"Bam!" (Emeril Lagasse, "Emeril Live")

—"Book 'em, Danno" (Steve McGarrett, "Hawaii Five-O")

—"Come on down!" (Johnny Olson, "The Price is Right")

—"Danger, Will Robinson" (Robot, "Lost in Space")

—"De plane! De plane!" (Tattoo, "Fantasy Island")

—"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")

—"Do you believe in miracles?" (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics)

—"D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons")

—"Don't make me angry ..." (David Banner, "The Incredible Hulk")

—"Dyn-o-mite" (J.J., "Good Times")

—"Elizabeth, I'm coming!" (Fred Sanford, "Sanford and Son")

—"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver ..." (Eddie Haskell, "Leave it to Beaver")

—"God'll get you for that" (Maude, "Maude")

—"Good grief" (Charlie Brown, "Peanuts" specials)

—"Good night, and good luck" (Edward R. Murrow, "See It Now")

—"Good night, John Boy" ("The Waltons")

—"Have you no sense of decency?" (Joseph Welch to Sen. McCarthy)

—"Heh heh" (Beavis and Butt-head, "Beavis and Butthead")

—"Here it is, your moment of Zen" (Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show")

—"Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show")

—"Hey now!" (Hank Kingsley, "The Larry Sanders Show")

—"Hey hey hey!" (Dwayne Nelson, "What's Happening!!")

—"Hey hey hey!" (Fat Albert, "Fat Albert")

—"Holy (whatever), Batman!" (Robin, "Batman")

—"Holy crap!" (Frank Barone, "Everybody Loves Raymond")

—"Homey don't play that!" (Homey the Clown, "In Living Color")

—"How sweet it is!" (Jackie Gleason, "The Jackie Gleason Show")

—"How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, "Friends")

—"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" (Alka Seltzer ad)

—"I know nothing!" (Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes")

—"I love it when a plan comes together" (Hannibal, "The A-Team")

—"I want my MTV!" (MTV ad)

—"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl ..." (Larry, "Newhart")

—"I'm not a crook ..." (Richard Nixon)

—"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (Vicks Formula 44 ad)

—"I'm Rick James, *****!" (Dave Chappelle as Rick James, "Chappelle's Show")

—"Is that your final answer?" (Regis Philbin, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire")

—"It keeps going and going and going ..." (Energizer Batteries ad)

—"It takes a licking ..." (Timex ad)

—"Jane, you ignorant slut" (Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin, "Saturday Night Live")

—"Just one more thing ..." (Columbo, "Columbo")

—"Let's be careful out there" (Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues")

—"Let's get ready to rumble!" (Michael Buffer, various sports events)

—"Live long and prosper" (Spock, "Star Trek")

—"Makin' whoopie" (Bob Eubanks, "The Newlywed Game")

—"Mom always liked you best" (Tommy Smothers, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour")

—"Never assume ..." (Felix Unger, "The Odd Couple")

—"Nip it!" (Barney Fife, "The Andy Griffith Show")

—"No soup for you!" (The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld")

—"Norm!" ("Cheers")

—"Now cut that out!" (Jack Benny, "The Jack Benny Program")

—"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park")

—"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch")

—"One small step for man ..." (Neil Armstrong)

—"Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" (Grey Poupon ad)

—"Read my lips: No new taxes!" (George H.W. Bush)

—"Resistance is futile" (Picard as Borg, "Star Trek: The Next Generation")

—"Say good night, Gracie" (George Burns, "The Burns & Allen Show")

—"Schwing!" (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, "Saturday Night Live")

—"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" (Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle)

—"Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids" (Trix cereal ad)

—"Smile, you're on `Candid Camera'" ("Candid Camera")

—"Sock it to me" ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In")

—"Space, the final frontier ..." (Capt. Kirk, "Star Trek")

—"Stifle!" (Archie Bunker, "All in the Family")

—"Suit up!" (Barney Stinson, "How I Met Your Mother")

—"Tastes great! Less filling!" (Miller Lite beer ad)

—"Tell me what you don't like about yourself" (Dr. McNamara and Dr. Troy, "Nip/Tuck")

—"That's hot" (Paris Hilton, "The Simple Life")

—"The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" (Jim McKay, "ABC's Wide World of Sports")

—"The tribe has spoken" (Jeff Probst, "Survivor")

—"The truth is out there" (Fox Mulder, "The X-Files")

—"This is the city ..." (Sgt. Joe Friday, "Dragnet")

—"Time to make the donuts" ("Dunkin' Donuts" ad)

—"Two thumbs up" (Siskel & Ebert, "Siskel & Ebert")

—"Up your nose with a rubber hose" (Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter")

—"We are two wild and crazy guys!" (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys, "Saturday Night Live")

—"Welcome to the O.C., *****" (Luke, "The O.C.")

—"Well, isn't that special?" (Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, "Saturday Night Live")

—"We've got a really big show!" (Ed Sullivan, "The Ed Sullivan Show")

—"Whassup?" (Budweiser ad)

—"What you see is what you get!" (Geraldine, "The Flip Wilson Show")

—"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes")

—"Where's the beef?" (Wendy's ad)

—"Who loves you, baby?" (Kojak, "Kojak")

—"Would you believe?" (Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart")

—"Yabba dabba do!" (Fred Flintstone, "The Flintstones")

—"Yada, yada, yada" ("Seinfeld")

—"Yeah, that's the ticket" (Jon Lovitz as the pathological liar, "Saturday Night Live")

—"You eeeediot!" (Ren, "Ren & Stimpy")

—"You look mahvelous!" (Billy Crystal as Fernando, "Saturday Night Live")

—"You rang?" (Lurch, "The Addams Family")

—"You're fired!" (Donald Trump, "The Apprentice")

—"You've got spunk ..." (Lou Grant, "The Mary Taylor Moore Show")

[MRT144]

tv land has made my top 100 list of things that can go to hell

[Winston]

—"Let's be careful out there" (Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues")

[Dis]

what a stupid list. Did they put any thought into it? Or perhaps I am misunderstanding the meaning of the word catchphrase.

Beam me up Scotty should be there. Not space... the final frontier.

I haven't looked at all the entries, but there better be something from Family Guy and Simpsons on there.

[Lord Avalon]

Homey the Clown

How about:

"You want me to get that?" - Benson, "Soap"

"I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not." - CC, "SNL"

"No one ever escapes from Stalag 13!" - Colonel Klink, "Hogan's Heroes"

"Fascinating." - Spock, "Star Trek"

"I'm a doctor, not a ..." - Bones McCoy, "Star Trek"

"I am Cornholio! I need TP for my bunghole." - Beavis, "B & Butthead"

"... but I'm feeling much better now." - Buddy Ryan, "Night Court"

Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart"
"Missed it by that much."
"Sorry about that, Chief."
"Don't tell me ...." (Is told.) "I asked you not to tell me that!"
"...and - loving it!"

[civman2000]

Bah, and I read "catastrophes" instead of "catchphrases" in the title.

[Asher]

"Hello, hockey fans."

[Lord Avalon]

SNL
"Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger." - Olympia Restaurant
"We come from France." Coneheads

And of course
"Live from New York. It's Saturday Night."

"But wait! There's more!" - various commercials

[Tuberski]

—"Welcome to the O.C., *****" (Luke, "The O.C.")

Never heard it

—"That's hot" (Paris Hilton, "The Simple Life")

Invalidates entire list

—"Suit up!" (Barney Stinson, "How I Met Your Mother")

huh?

—"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch")

Sad, everyone knows the Brady Bunch catchphrase is "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha"

—"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")

How is a name a catchphrase?

ACK!

[Dis]

I'll add my own contributions:

Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Sledgehammer.

giggity giggity giggity. Quagmire.

All Right- Quagmire

[-Jrabbit]

—"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")

I have never heard this, ever.

Including one-off political stuff like the Kennedy speech, the McCarthy hearings, and VP debates is totally lame.

I don't think newscasters and sportscasters should be included either.

For the record, Dis, the exact phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" does not appear in any Star Trek (classic) episode. (IIRC) But "Beam me up" should definitely be included.

Lord A has some good ideas for improvement of the list.

"Resistance is useless" from the Daleks on the original Dr. Who BBC series certainly deserves props over Star Trek TNG's "futile" version.

British TV that entered the US cultural mainstream -- notably Monty Python's Flying Circus -- is conspicuous by its absence.

[Lord Avalon]

Originally posted by Tuberski

—"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch")

Sad, everyone knows the Brady Bunch catchphrase is "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia"

Fixed

—"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")

How is a name a catchphrase?

ACK!

"Bond. James Bond." Although that's not from TV.

"Back, back, back!" - Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes"

"He ... could ... go ... all ... the ... way." - Howard Cosell, "MNF"

"He shoots, he scores!" - ?, NHL hockey

"The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." - Curt Gowdy?, ABC's Wide World of Sports

[Dis]

sad that he knows the correct spelling of Marcia. We have a die hard brady bunch fan amongst our ranks.

[-Jrabbit]

Nix on sportscasters and newscasters.

[Lord Avalon]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit

I don't think newscasters and sportscasters should be included either.

I guess I have to disagree there.

Lord A has some good ideas for improvement of the list.

Aw, shucks. I'm sure more will come to me, if I get some old synaptic connections to fire.

British TV that entered the US cultural mainstream -- notably Monty Python's Flying Circus -- is conspicuous by its absence.

Indeed.

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" - Cardinal ?, "MPFC"

"Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more." - (Eric Idle)