I Love Sushi

The Nickelodeon sitcom Drake and Josh staged a homage to I Love Lucy's famous chocolate factory routine in a 2006 episode called "I Love Sushi."  

I Love Lucy ("Job Switching," 1952)

Drake and Josh ("I Love Sushi," 2006)

As a child, I appreciated the pressure that Lucy and Ethel were under to wrap the chocolates before they sped past on the conveyor belt, but I still thought it must be fun for these ladies to stuff their mouths full of chocolate as a way to hide the pieces they couldn't wrap in time.  Others must have felt the same way as they now sell Lucy Chocolate Factory chocolates.

It is more gross than funny to see Drake and Josh with raw fish and seaweed hanging out of their engorged mouths.  It makes me cringe even more to watch the boys hide slimy cuts of fish by throwing them in the air and getting them to stick on the ceiling.  The selection of props can definitely change the character of a routine.   

In rare cases, a gag or routine is so inextricably tied to its originator that the only way that another comedian can repeat this business is to present it in the form of a homage.  No gag has inspired a greater number of homages than Buster Keaton's falling building gag, which was a subject that I discussed in a prior article.

I thank jayessell for identifying two more examples of animators using this gag.

 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ("Too Many Pinkies," 2012)

Aladdin (1992)

I have also come across two instances in which this gag was used by modern sitcoms. 

Arrested Development ("The One Where They Build a House," 2004)

The Middle ("The Name," 2013)