Originally Posted by warrrreagl

It's a phrase used to describe the irresponsible mixing of two different kinds of comedy, which usually results in creating a confused audience. The explanation goes something like this:

Remember the old 60's TV show "Batman" with Adam West?
Remember "M*A*S*H?"
There are all kinds of different types of comedy, from satire, to slapstick, to parody, to farce, etc. And in order for each type of comedy to weave its magic over an audience, it must stay consistent.

So, imagine you're watching an episode of M*A*S*H (a comedy), and then suddenly Adam West's Batman character (also a comedy) walks into the operating room ready to perform surgery on somebody. As an audience member, how do you react to Batman? The Batman character is played as a cornball farce and there's no physical way to integrate that character into an episode of satirical M*A*S*H without destroying either M*A*S*H or Batman in some way. You might reduce Batman to some deranged psycho who's gotten loose at the 4077th and simply thinks he's Batman, or you might reduce the M*A*S*H episode into a weird dream of one of the patients. Either way, you're going to lose the integrity of both ingredients; either Batman can't stay that way, or M*A*S*H can't stay that way, or you won't be able to deal with it as an audience member.

To me, that's what happens in "The Breakfast Club" when Estevez blows out the library glass door with his scream. It's the wrong kind of comedy, and doesn't match the rest of the movie.

There'll be a quiz later.