Budget cuts

“	Ha ha. Looks like the budget has finally ran out. BFB is about to end forever.	”
	— Announcer to Taco, "SOS (Save Our Show)"

An example of a budget cut, where the contestants get sent to space.

Pencil, Pen, Leafy, Blocky and Spongy are puppets before the intro.

Budget cuts (also known as budget downsizes and budget slicings) are running gags used during Battle for Dream Island. These are used whenever a host (usually the Announcer) has a low budget in running the season and makes decisions that can vary from selling assets to canceling the whole show altogether in order to keep it running for much longer. There were 13 budget cuts, along with 1 fake budget cut, which took place starting on "Reveal Novum" (the budget cut on "Bowling, Now with Explosions!"), and ending with Leafy buying Dream Island in "Return of the Hang Glider".

Budget cuts weren't mentioned in the later seasons, until the Battle for BFB episode "SOS (Save Our Show)", where BFB was almost canceled due to budget cuts. BFB was saved when Flower pushed the $50,000 note that she got in the previous episode ("B.F.B. = Back From Beginning") into a laptop.

Budget cuts, the recommended character in "The Glistening" by FlykydFly, resembling Scissors, a TPOT failed debuter (and recommended character of course)

In the BFDIA episode "Intruder Alert", an opposite version of this gag was used where Firey Speaker Box tells Fries that the reason they made a fancy intro was due to budget surplus.

The Announcer saying things were "too expensive" (such as the Cake at Stake cake in Power of Three) could be considered a precursor to this gag.

Occurrences

1. "Bowling, Now with Explosions!": The beginning of the episode was made with puppets instead of being animated, and was said to be caused by budget cuts. This was later revealed to be an April Fool's joke.
2. "Reveal Novum": Budget cuts appeared twice in "Reveal Novum".
   • Enforcing a limit of one recommended character per recommender (this was somewhat removed in BFDIA and BFB as paid option, but in BFDI:TPOT it's currently zero per recommender).
   • The scoreboard being downgraded.
3. "Rescission": In Announcer's diary, it says in the June 29th, 2011 entry that "the payroll funding had been cut further."
4. "Gardening Hero": Budget cuts appeared four times in "Gardening Hero".
   • Being sent to space.
   • A black hole being sold.
   • Firey's spaceship being sold.
   • Being able to talk, paddle, breathe, and not explode in space, thus removing the logic of space. Apparently revoked in A Taste of Space.
5. "The Glistening": While it isn't an actual example of the running gag, a recommended character appeared in this episode called Budget cuts.
6. "Don't Pierce My Flesh": The TV screen that displays the votes being sold. Revoked in "Insectophobe's Nightmare 2".
7. "Insectophobe's Nightmare 2": The recovery centers being sold.
8. "Return of the Hang Glider": Budget cuts appeared twice in "Return of the Hang Glider".
   • The drumrolls when showing votes being sold.
   • Dream Island being sold. In reality, Dream Island was actually sold to Leafy.
9. "Respect to the Wicked": Balloony declaring a single grain of rice to be a Cake at Stake prize in "Respect to the Wicked", citing budget cuts being "especially harsh".
10. "Who Stole Donut's Diary?": Four mentioned that a prison for Firey could not be built in "Who Stole Donut's Diary?", citing a lack of budget.
11. "SOS (Save Our Show)": BFB being cancelled because of budget cuts, due to Announcer spending all of the show's budget.

Announcer
Interactions with	Everyone, Blocky, Bubble, Eraser, Firey, Flower, Leafy, Pencil
Other content	Announcer Crusher, Announcer Transportation Device, Budget cuts, Recovery center, Speaker Box (species), Variations of Announcer