catchphrases

Charlie Sheen Is Trying to Copyright His Catchphrases

Max Read · 04/05/11 08:20PM

America's favorite fighter jet Charlie Sheen, apparently realizing he is sitting on a hypothetical goldmine of branded paraphernalia, is attempting to trademark 22 of the phrases he's coined during his latest manic episode, including:

60 Years of Television's Most Memorable Catch Phrases in 146 Seconds

Bryan Ridgell · 11/15/10 03:00PM

From The Lone Ranger's cry of "Hi Ho Silver, Away!" in 1949 to new shows like The Big Bang Theory, television catch phrases are remembered, repeated, and absorbed into our culture. Watch the most memorable from dramas and sitcoms, inside!

Tonight's Oscars Will Be a Bit More 'Naughty'

Remy Stern · 03/07/10 04:10PM

"For the first time in 22 years, presenters at the Oscars won't be using the traditional, non-competitive phrase 'and the Oscar goes to...'" Producers have scrapped the "gentler approach" to go with the more direct "and the winner is..." [Wrap]

Clinton: "No Way, No How, No McCain"

Ryan Tate · 08/26/08 11:55PM

Every convention needs a good catchphrase! Bill Clinton had "A place called Hope" in 1992. Michael Dukakis floated on the wings of Ann Richards' "Poor George" speech in 1988. And John Kerry to this day wakes up every morning in a cold sweat, screaming "Help is on the way!" Come to think of it, maybe memorable catchphrases aren't all that predictive of success. But this year's Democratic Convention already has two in as many days. There's "yes we can," the Obama theme that already feels like an old standby, because he's been campaigning for president for 12 years. And now there's the new one Hillary Clinton coined tonight, "No way, no how, no McCain." That one impressed everyone because Clinton's "PUMAs" are getting cozy with John McCain. The Democrats need to stop coining memorable slogans every day, or they'll end up with a library of mindless partisan sayings and talking points, and might just win the election. Click the video icon to watch Clinton try and push her supporters back into the party fold.

Colbert's O'Reilly-Style Meltdown

Ryan Tate · 05/14/08 10:26AM

Given that Stephen Colbert's act on Comedy Central consists mainly of imitating Bill O'Reilly, it was pretty much inevitable that he would mock the Fox News shouting head's recently resurfaced Inside Edition meltdown. Colbert's recreation of the cuss out, set on his own supposed TV show in the 70s, is at least as funny as expected — Colbert nails O'Reilly's freakout down to the silent, jacket-throwing temper tantrum at the very end — and includes a clever twist involving NBC's Brian Williams. Watch as Colbert cements "do it live" as a catchphrase, after the jump.

Once Great Actor Reduced To Simple Catchphrase

Douglas Reinhardt · 04/17/08 03:45PM


While walking the press line at the screening of 88 Minutes, Al Pacino greeted each reporter — even the local Las Vegas affiliates — with the once funny, but now just sad "Hoo-ah!" line from Scent of a Woman. Pacino paused for a moment after being interviewed by a Las Vegas film critic and wondered if this was why he started to act all those years ago in New York City.

Fashion Supergay Abandons Winning Catchphrase

Ryan Tate · 03/11/08 08:28PM

Designer Christian Siriano won $100,000 and America's secretly gay heart on Bravo's Project Runway by being the sassiest bitch on the show (and, OK, with some genius design work). A competitor designed clothes suitable for a "tranny ice queen," he said, and everything else was a "hot mess," "tranny mess" or "fierce." Siriano believes his "distinctive attitude served as a form of personal branding," according to a new profile in the Advocate. That's hard to dispute, given that runway queen has already been parodied on Saturday Night Live. But it's possible to brand too effectively, as SNL's Amy Poehler demonstrated when she mocked the designer's repetitive language. Siriano has apparently responded by ditching his favorite catchphrase "fierce" and replacing it with "I'm gonna stab you," uttered eight times in front of the Advocate's writer vs. zero use of "fierce." Wise, but maybe Siriano should just drop the catchphrases altogether and focus on designing clothes. Here's SNL's imitation of the up-and-coming fashion maven: