running gag / said by James
We've convinced you to move here
What does "We've convinced you to move here" mean on Small Town Murder?
James's mock sales pitch as he closes the town's housing figures: he pretends the show has persuaded listeners to move there, then launches into the real estate report. From 2018 the line is usually sharpened with an exasperated 'damn it'.
- Kind
- running gag
- Usually said by
- James
- First heard
- Episode 97, 13 December 2018
The story behind the phrase
Where did "We've convinced you to move here" come from?
The earliest use in these transcripts is episode 97, at the end of the housing figures for a New Hampshire town. James says "if we've convinced you, damn it, that the only place for you to possibly be is Belmont" and goes straight into the real estate report. It sounds like an existing lead-in with an added flourish, but the transcripts don't show the plain version.
It is a mock sales pitch. After reading the dull or dismal figures, James pretends the show has talked listeners into moving to the town, which gives him a way into the house listings.
How is "We've convinced you to move here" used now?
It became the stock bridge into the real estate report, with the "damn it" kept and the pitch changed to suit each town. Examples include "get yourself in the middle of a dusty funnel" in episode 100, "to take it easy" in episode 347 and "you've done very well for yourself" in episode 743.
When was "We've convinced you to move here" first said?
It was first heard in episode 97, "Overwhelming Evidence Of Overkill", on 13 December 2018, at about 0:25:47.
"And if we've convinced you, damn it, that the only place for you to possibly be is Belmont New Hampshire, we have for you the Belmont New Hampshire real estate report."
Midway through the Belmont, New Hampshire housing figures, James turns the usual lead-in into 'if we've convinced you, damn it, that the only place for you to possibly be is Belmont' and goes into the real estate report. The plain lead-in had been running since 2017, so this is an established joke given a new emphatic flourish rather than a coinage.
Rate the phrase
Loading fans' ratings...