An episode which departs dramatically from the show's general formula. Events are played out from the point of view of the family pet, or are presented completely out of order, or it's an A&E biography of one of the characters, etc. May feature a
Special Edition Title. Favored by
Mash in its later seasons.
The
Trope Namer is
Monty Python's Flying Circus, where sketches opened with the famous
Catchphrase, "And now for something completely different." A rather fitting trope namer, considering that something completely different happened in every episode and it had no general formula.
By definition, a
Back Door Pilot is a subtrope of Something Completely Different.
Some flavors of this:
...And genre pages for the broader examples:
And now for something completely different:
Two Irish puppets singing Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" in the style of Elvis.
Discussion 