You know what I’m talking about. A group of protagonists are being chased by a group of antagonists. They all wind up in a hallway with a row of doors on each side, and random characters come out of random doors and go into other random doors. There’s usually some wacky 60’s song playing at the time.
Off the top of my head I know I’ve seen it on South Park, Family Guy, and probably dozens of times on Scooby Doo. How many times has this scene been done? Has it been done in lave action? Who was the first to do it?
It’s slightly different in Feydeau, in that it’s usually in the second act where various characters are on the verge of being caught in a compromising situation that isn’t what it appears to be. As a result, the wife opens door #1 just as the husband has slammed door #2, which causes the maid to open door #3 just in time to catch a glimpse of the wife.
The big difference is that in the situation you cite from cartoons, there is little or no effort to keep it real - i.e. John Lennon and Ringo go out into the hallway and walk into a door, at which point various inanimate objects scurry from room to room, not always coming out of the door of the room that they went into. Scooby and Shaggy open door #1 and the mummy opens door #2. When the mummy crosses the hallway and opens door #1, Scooby and Shaggy peek out of door #3.
In Feydeau, you never come out a different door without some logical explanation. I’m just suggesting that this idea may have its roots in French farce.
ETA - Even earlier - Beaumarchais in Marriage of Figaro, where the Count is certain he has caught Rosina in flagrante with Cherubin…