Schmuck Bait
A ludicrous tease for a show plot
Example
The show got me to start another episode at 1am because of that dumb schmuck bait
He knows all about schmuck bait
Related Slang
| Clickbait | Web content created to attract visitors |
| Jump the shark | To decrease in quality |
| Fandom | Community of fans |
| Gleek | Glee geek |
| Binge-watch | To view many episodes or movies in a row |
| Hate-watch | To watch something you love to hate |
| Show hole | Sadness after finishing a great show |
Baseball Slang Quiz: Can you bat 1.000?
Schmuck bait is a ridiculous tease about a possible plot development in a show. It is meant only to gain more viewers or get a viewer to keep binge-watching the show.
The term was coined in the early 2000s by cynical viewers and is mostly used by fanboys, fangirls, and some critics. Schmuck bait may appear in various forms. One type of schmuck bait is an actual advertisement for the show that proposes a crazy plot development like, "Will Pam leave Jim for the documentary cameraman?" Any real "Office" fan knows this would not make any sense.
Another type of schmuck bait is when the show writers end a season on a cliffhanger (a dramatic moment without an adequate resolution to the conflict) to get people to watch the next episode or season but then reveal that the plot development wasn't what it seemed to be. For example, a character may appear to have been shot as the camera only focuses on their face as the gun goes off but really a character behind him offscreen was shot. instances of baiting viewers
Schmuck bait is a variation of "Clickbait". Schmuck is a derogatory term that typically means "jerk" or "idiot." It may describe the creator of the bait for proposing something so stupid or the expectation that the viewer would be so dumb to believe the bait.