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Title Pending - TV Tropes

  • ️Wed May 17 2023

Title Pending (Web Video)

Title Pending (yes, that's actually the title) is the YouTube comedy series by Cameron James and Bayden Falconbridge.

Citing Sugar Pine 7 as the main inspiration, it features two guys trying to make a YouTube show after giving the creative control to a mysterious sponsor called Arcanoth Industries and getting in the most awkward and bizarre situations.

Tropes Pending:

  • Actually Pretty Funny: Alyssa is visibly cringing while watching the duo's showreel, but when a cowboy from The Western segment suddenly appears in the modern Romance segment, Alyssa admits it has caught her off-guard and makes a good twist. Bayden clarifies it's actually Played for Drama and wasn't supposed to be funny.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: With Alyssa not being impressed with the two's movie showreel, Bayden prepares the ultimate ace in the sleeve. Crying on the floor until she funds it. It doesn't work and he gives up quickly.
  • Ancestral Name: Cameron's dad allegedly really was named Cameron James Senior.
  • As Himself: In addition to everyone being satiric versions of themselves, "Cameron James" and "Gordon" are treated as roles other people can potentially take.
  • Assassin Outclassin': In "The Killing At Bayden Manor" it turns out Jordon hasn't died because "not all of his blood was put into a bloodsack", so her returns to kill Billionaire Bayden for being a spree killer. Then outside of the Framing Device Cameron mentions this makes no sense, among other complains.
  • Bait-and-Switch: One of the segments in the movie pitch shows two cowboys about to have a Quick Draw. Then they hug each other instead.
  • Bad "Bad Acting": Bayden and Cameron come up with a movie script overnight, film it, and pitch to Alyssa as the biggest project ever. It's a messy Genre Mashup, includes the two breaking character, unintended footage, and fails to portray drama. In the end, despite praising it at some points, Alyssa settles on the movie being terrible AND offensive.
  • Bloody Horror: Parodied. In "The Killing At Bayden Manor" when Jordon is found strangled, Detective Cameron notes that there should have been blood everywhere. To repeat, he expected blood splatters from strangulation. Then he finds a literal medical bag of blood nearby and confirms by taste that it was the victim's.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Cameron is usually the rational one and takes things seriously, while Bayden is proactive and comes up with crazy ideas Cameron lampshades. During the signing of the contract the two's roles temporarily swap.
  • Brick Joke: In the first and second episodes Cameron brings up that they need to finish quickly because he has a Fortnite tournament to attend to later and comments how inconveniently timed the situations are.
  • The Bus Came Back: Jarrod returns in "We Don't Like Fishing" as "Cameron James Senior" and Bayden is convinced he's a bigger boss than Alyssa.
  • Butt-Monkey: In "Our New Movie" Alyssa forbids Bayden to sit in a sofa and asks to use the "guest chair". But Cameron can sit in a sofa because "it's fine". At the end of the episode Bayden gets his hair insulted and also takes the full blame for the showreel's failure, while Cameron is "perfect".
  • Camera Abuse: In the third episode Caleb kisses the camera when it gets too close.
  • Celebrity Resemblance:
    • One of the actor candidates mistakes Cameron James for James Cameron and is somehow convinced they're filming the next Avatar film. And has found its "leaked script" that is just the Bee Movie transcript.
    • Cameron is surprized he starred as Ken in the new Barbie (2023) without him knowing and claims people have already asked him for autographs.
  • Control Freak: If the "I OWN YOU" contract wasn't enough of a clue, the first thing Alyssa asks the two as part of the deal is to remove all their friends and find new people as a filming crew. Bayden agrees it may be difficult to make a friend to, for example, fight a bear.
  • Comical Coffee Cup: Instead of drinking from the can, Bayden pours the Monster energy drink into a coffee cup to appear more powerful.
  • Comically Missing the Point: Out of all crazy movie ideas, Alyssa tells that featuring Ghostbusters Goofy Print Underwear is going to cost too much for her liking. Then she changes her mind and says it's the most important part because it has the sex appeal.
  • Comically Wordy Contract: Alyssa brings with her the contract that is several hundred pages thick and has "I OWN YOU" at the front. The two sign it without getting a chance to read it.
  • Contrived Coincidence: In "The Killing At Bayden Manor", just as Detective Cameron wishes for some kind of footage, he stumbles upon a "security camera", which is a regular camera.
  • Cringe Comedy: The show relies on everyone having conversations that are intended to and do sound awkward when taken with any degree of seriousness.
  • Damned by Faint Praise:
    • Bayden says their friends are neither funny, talented, subordinate, good-looking, friendly, have his back or want him around. But they are good friends regardless.
    • Caelan tells that he likes the most about Title Pending is himself appearing (just now) and the show pretty much existing. Caleb likes Bayden sitting at the desk, Cameron's (whose name he can't remember) humor, but dislikes everything else.
  • Death of the Author: In-Universe, after watching the showreel Alyssa explains that because the film's structure is not coherent, she interprets it as a comedy film even if the two have intended to create a drama film, and mentions Death of the Author. Cameron is confused since he's not dead.
  • Deliberate VHS Quality: While Bayden is talking nonsense about Cameron's fishing rod qualities, a VHS elements are juxtapositioned while an infomercial music is playing.
  • Detect Evil: Caelan can "sense evil energy" from Gordon and crows.
  • Dissimile: Bayden tells Alyssa that their first movie script has "Action, Drama, Conflict, Beginning, Middle and End". Alyssa says it sounds suspiciously like Eternals.
  • The Ditz: A lot of comedy comes from Bayden having a very late realization that he's done something wrong.
    • Bayden spends a lot of time driving and doesn't believe the meeting place is at McDonald's before re-checking the email that says to meet at the building with a large yellow M sign.
    • Bayden is shocked that that his sister owns Arcanoth Industries, before being told that she's said so a week ago, and he knows her Twitch name is Arcanoth.
    • Cameron is absent in the third episode because of the doctor appointment. Bayden later can only remember him meeting a "Magic Man" or "Mister Man".
    • In "Our New Movie" Bayden is surprised to find out online that Berlin Wall has already been taken down.
    • Bayden puts Cameron's YouTube letsplay outro in the middle of the showreel as a supposed movie segment just because the file got into the folder.
    • Bayden claims that Oppenheimer they've just watched was actually Barbie (2023) and doesn't understand the error until the duo goes to see the other movie.
    • In "The Killing At Bayden Manor", Bayden's car breaks, so he calls "his guy". Who happens to be Alyssa. Who is sitting right next to him, Bayden thought making requests through her firm is more proper. Alyssa asks him to stop since it's not her work hours anyway.
  • Dramatic Unmask: At the end of "The Killing At Bayden Manor" a Malevolent Masked Men appears and kills the last suspects, and reveals himself to be Bayden Faking the Dead.
  • Enforced Method Acting: In-Universe.
    • Cameron gives some script to an actor candidate, starts acting hostile to him and chases him away. Despite the guy making it clear that's not what his paper says is supposed to happen, the two think he'd make a good actor and wonder when will he come back.
    • In the third episode Cameron reads from the script that Bayden is about to perform the theme song and is surprised when did they make one. Realizing it's actually an unrelated song, Cameron cuts the singing out.
  • Everything Except Most Things: Caleb says he'd fight a bear for Bayden, as long as it's neither black, brown nor white. Meaning none of them.
  • Everyone Has Standards: In the post-commentary Cameron is not amused with Bayden's "black and normal" joke even if Caleb who've brought the topic up found it hilarious.
  • False Reassurance: Alyssa tries to convince the two that having 20 escaped life-sentence convicts as the filming crew isn't bad. Bayden starts thinking this isn't a good idea, but Cameron makes him reconsider.
  • Film Noir: The showreel has a grayscale segment of Cameron's character monologuing about the city before putting on a Spider-Man mask and a The Cat in the Hat hat. Another segment shows a man in a coat heavily smoking, and the narration about "the trash in the city" switches to complaining about people not putting cigarettes into trash bins.
  • First-Person Smartass: The first and third episodes occasionally cut to Cameron sarcastically monologuing about how long it took for Bayden to realize what's happening, beside general post-production comments.
  • Fishing for Sole: For the duration of "We Don't Like Fishing", everyone catches various plushies, a shoe, Bayden's finishing rod, but no fish.
  • Found Footage Films: One of the showreel segments is Bayden's character investigating a serial kidnapping on a selfie camera before being chased by the supposed culprit. At the end the protagonist asks if it's behind him and Cameron's character indeed is.
  • Framing Device: In "The Killing At Bayden Manor" Bayden's car breaks, so he tells a "campfire Halloween story" about a different version of himself and Cameron to pass time before the repairs arrive.
  • Fun with Subtitles: When the guests are introduced in "The Killing At Bayden Manor", the camera at one point cuts to Ebahrim who was not present with the others. His on-screen description is "uh... okay... Who?"
  • Gaslighting: Over the course of the interview Jarrod Ferg somehow manages to convince the two that he is the better Cameron James, and Cameron James has to attend his own interview to be recast as Cameron James.
  • Halloween Episode: "The Killing At Bayden Manor" was published close to October 30 and involves a Halloween party. Since the gang doesn't get to the party, they tell a spooky story.
  • Hammy Herald: When Caelan walks to the car, Bayden announces Caelan as an Instagram artist as loud as he can.
  • Hopeless Auditionees: In the second episode Cameron and Bayden hold the interview for their show's future crew. It becomes quickly apparent that none of the candidates fit.
  • Hypocrite: In "The Killing At Bayden Manor" when Billionaire Bayden is revealed to be the culprit, he tells Detective Cameron to stop pointing a knife at him because it makes him "uncomfortable". While holding him at a sword point after killing people.
  • Informed Deformity: Alyssa says Bayden's hair is so bad, when he stands close to Cameron a viewer may get a seizure after looking at the two in contrast. Factually they're not too different from each other.
  • Insane Troll Logic:
    • Near the end of the first episode Alyssa and Cameron convince Bayden that other studios offering 50% money share is a worse deal than 10%, getting your house taken, and working with prison felons.
    • Bayden thinks hanging the WANTED posters with Cameron's face on it and a tiny "for filming" under it is good for getting potential actors. To Cameron's surprise, he's right.
    • In "Barbenheimer" episode, before driving to cinema, Bayden runs Euann over with a car. Then he argues to Cameron that because he didn't see it until it happened, it effectively didn't happen.
    • In "The Killing At Bayden Manor" Caelan tells he can't be the murderer because in that case Billionaire Bayden's body would have been Dragged Off to Hell. Jordon agrees.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: While Alyssa is being rude about it, the two admit that she's right that they've wasted the crew's time and resources on a movie trailer that eventually wasn't accepted, without telling her about it beforehand, when they could have made regular videos in that time like they were supposed to.
  • Jump Cut: The second episode starts with Cameron enjoying a walk before camera and the music cut to Bayden stopping near him in his car.
  • Left It In: The third episode starts with a remark that it may not be a proper episode and is more of a blog to celebrate the series' launch. Then the shenanigans happen.
  • Lights Off, Somebody Dies: "The Killing At Bayden Manor" features a short blackout after which Ebahrim is found dead.
  • Missing Steps Plan: Bayden's idea of a contract is that signing it quickly turns you into a big content creator with no idea what the contract says, allegedly because that's what happened to PewDiePie.
  • Mood Whiplash: In "Our New Movie" Bayden looks out the window, comments that he just saw someone get shot in the street, and resumes talking about the movie script.
  • Motive Rant: "The Killing At Bayden Manor"'s culprit expositions that Billionaire Bayden has invited a lot of people, but only 5 came and didn't have a good time. Then he was hiding in the bathroom and nobody checked on him in 3 hours except Detective Cameron, so he pretended to be dead then killed the other guests. Detective Cameron gets Disappointed by the Motive and fights him with a lightsaber.
  • Mysterious Backer: In the pilot Bayden pretty much gave the channel to Arcanoth Industries under the promises of money, despite knowing absolutely zero about them. The Arcanoth Industries turn out to be Bayden's sister Alyssa Goode, but the contract has every shady deal cliche in the book without any details revealed.
  • Mystery Episode: The Framing Device of "The Killing At Bayden Manor" mainly features a murder investigation.
  • Nested Story: In "Our New Movie" one segment of the showreel is Bayden and Cameron making a podcast about the movie's production, featuring that very episode within.
  • Never My Fault:
    • In the first episode whenever there's an issue, Bayden blames Cameron for doing everything wrong despite causing it in the first place.
    • In the third episode Bayden puts all responsibility for decisions in the show on Cameron, instead of Alyssa or himself. Later he tell the auditions were Alyssa's idea, and he was against it (he wasn't), and the cameraman (apparently Alyssa) outright gives him a middle finger.
    • In "Our New Movie" Alyssa and Cameron put the blame for the film showreel ending up poorly entirely on Bayden. As shown earlier in the episode, and within the showreel itself, it was Cameron's idea.
  • Non Sequitur: When Detective Cameron interviews Caelan's alibi, he tells that he was on the other side of the universe at the time, then starts giving a Subway order.
  • Obviously Evil: Alyssa is a Goth who is pretty clear that the contract is effectively "give me everything and receive little" and involves some parts that are effectively illegal. The two think it's a good deal anyway.
  • Overly Long Gag: When Bayden asks Caleb about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse they've just watched, he gets "what" multiple times. When he asks Caelan, he tells him to shut up, then says he can't actually remember and is going to re-watch it on his phone.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: The one actor candidate who got rejected returns with a different name and in a hoodie. The duo whisper and ask him to leave without hearing him out.
  • Plot-Driven Breakdown: At the beginning of "The Killing At Bayden Manor" the car just happens to break down for no particular reason to provoke the plot of the episode.
  • Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: In one of the segments of the showreel, Bayden playing Carl speaks in third person by including the narration, while Cameron speaks normally and comments on this. Shortly, Cameron drops The Stranger character and asks if Bayden understands how to read the script. Post-production Bayden feels the need to clarify to Cameron that he indeed misread the script and Alyssa is surprised that section isn't actually a part of the movie.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Cameron and Bayden dress pink for the Barbie (2023) premiere, the movie for the "real men".
  • Running Gag:
    • In the second episode the two have trouble pronouncing everyone's names, with more Punny Names ending up as Hilarious Outtakes.
    • In the "Barbenheimer" episode, Bayden hits Euann with a car, Cameron is afraid they'll be hit with a car, and Bayden the runs over a "small man" with a car.
    • Every time the camera focuses on one of the guests in "The Killing At Bayden Manor", they are given different Boss Subtitles.
  • Scare Chord: When Detective Cameron goes looking for Billionaire Bayden and finds him dead on a toilet, a chord is played.
  • Sexy Discretion Shot: One of the showreel parts has the cowboy lying in bed with Bayden's character, and the out-of-showreel switches to everyone watching shocked at the following scene.
  • Shaped Like Itself: According to Billionaire Bayden, "take a shit" is a code phrase for "taking a shit".
  • Shoddy Shindig: In Bayden's story, "Billionaire Bayden" hosts a party, but there are no drinks. When he offers pizza, he asks for money to actually buy it. When someone else offers to order pizza, he tells he can't "gank" delivery men anymore. None of the guests even like Bayden. It's also Caelan's house, not Bayden's. The fragment is appropriately named "Act 1: This Party Sucks".
  • Shout-Out:
    • Jarrod quotes the Vaporeon breeding copypasta after catching the plushie at the river.
    • When discussing cheating subplots, Cameron brings up Shrek and in post-edit admits to have no idea where this analogy was going.
    • Bayden catches Minecraft Steve (called Fortnite Steve) plushie while fishing. Then kills it and kisses it.
    • In "The Killing At Bayden Manor" Bayden tells Cameron to not touch the other back seat because it stinks and the ghost of Christmas past has been there.
    • In the mystery section of "The Killing At Bayden Manor", Jordon brings up that "there's an impostor among us". Detective Cameron says that according to investigation notes, that seems to be the case, and the camera shows that his notes is just one Impostor doodle.
    • Ebahrim gives his alibi while wearing a Jar Jar Binks mask. Detective Cameron asks to take it off.
    • One part of the investigation in the "The Killing At Bayden Manor" uses Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney soundtrack.
    • The climax of "The Killing At Bayden Manor" is a homage to the duel in Revenge of the Sith.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: One actor candidate tries to convince the two that he's already made it big on YouTube and hypes himself up, despite revealing that his channel only has 32 subscribers and got no videos in years. When the two just ask him to leave, he tries to show his great talent of putting a large rock in his mouth and just can't do it.
  • Spoiling Shout-Out: In "The Killing At Bayden Manor", Detective Cameron tells he can't be Detective Mole and neither were detectives in Knives Out. Ebahrim complains that he hasn't seen it.
  • Start to Corpse: In the story of "The Killing At Bayden Manor", Billionaire Bayden has been in the bathroom for hours before his corpse is discovered. That's actually one of his motives for murder.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Jarrod Ferg pretty much appears and disappears out of his chair when the camera cuts with the two wondering how does he do that.
  • Suspect Existence Failure: Just when Detective Cameron is about to accuse Jordon of poisoning Billionaire Bayden, he finds him strangled, meaning he's not the culprit.
  • Team Pet: Apparently Alyssa's cat counts as a crew member, because she needs someone blind and deaf to review the two's videos, becuase they are practically unwatchable to normal humans.
  • Ten Little Murder Victims: Over the course of "The Killing At Bayden Manor" the number of victims increases.
  • Throw It In: In-Universe. There are a few segments in the "Our EPIC Showreel for the execs" that turn out to be accidental and not part of the script, but ironically Alyssa likes them the best and demands to keep them.
  • Time Travel: One of the showreel segments involves The Stranger from the future asking Carl to go with him before something bad happens.
  • Title Drop: "Title Pending" is brought up at the end of the first episode as a placeholder name for the channel, allegedly previously called "The Story Of My Life", but Alyssa irons it in.
  • Trauma Button: In "We Don't Like Fishing" Cameron refuses to fish because of the "accident". Bayden has no idea what he refers to. This is brought up multiple times and finally elaborated that Cameron's dad got hit by a bus and he drowned in a lake while young Cameron tried to catch him with a rod, in the very same lake they're currently at, on 14th anniversary of it hapening. Turns out Bayden intentionally invited Cameron so it can be just like the old times, without considering how it feels.
  • Undignified Death: In "The Killing At Bayden Manor"'s story Alyssa died while still browsing social media. Detective Cameron is impressed.
  • Vulgar Humour: When Billionaire Bayden's corpse is found on a toilet, one of the guests suggests he shat himself to death. That happens to be the first thing Detective Cameron has checked.
  • We Named the Monkey "Jack": In "Our New Movie" Cameron talks to Alyssa while looking at the fish in her aquarium. She asks how did he know she calls her fish after herself.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: In Episode 1 Alyssa requests to replace the duo's friends with new actors and in Episode 2 they hold auditions. In Episode 3 Caelan, Gordon and Caleb bring it up how messed up it is without letting Bayden speak up.
  • With Friends Like These...: In the third episode Bayden invites childhood friends to a cinema, while listing a lot of their negative traits. When asked about the show, they comically think poorly about it and the creators.
  • With Us or Against Us: When Cameron brings up that jumping to sign the contract before even seeing it may not be the best idea, Bayden asks if he's against him then, without letting him finish. Cameron reluctantly agrees to follow along.
  • Written-In Absence: Cameron couldn't appear in the third episode, but provides narration.
  • Word Salad Philosophy: Jarrod Ferg's audition involves him asking the duo a lot of questions about existentialism and self-confidence that have nothing to do with acting.
  • Xtreme Kool Letterz: "The Killing At Bayden Manor" has "Act 3: The Killings Kontinue".