So the TVTropes article on Lampshading features a panal of the cartoon they took the term “lampshade” from. They used to have a link to the full cartoon- but it didn’t work. Now they don’t even pretend to link to it. It’s driving me crazy- what is the full cartoon, and what gets lampshaded (in the literal and figurative senses)?
Er… I don’t get the joke in it.
EDIT: Oh. He’s lampshading the implausible story in the previous panel. Ha.
So TV Tropes came up with the term “lampshade” first, for whatever improbable reason, and the cartoon was referring to TVT?
TVTropes claims it’s the term used by Mutant Enemy, which is Joss Whedon’s production company. A reference to Joss is more likely than a reference to TVT.