Sitcom Cliches

[Cagefighterkip]

doing a twist on "A Christmas Carol"

 

[Majik1387]

Doing a twist on any famous stories.

And the ever so dreadful family trip to Disney Land/World or something.

 

[Cagefighterkip]

...And the ever so dreadful family trip to Disney Land/World or something.

omg i hate those, its just freaking product placement! why not do the trip-episode, and do it like Family Vacation, like make one up!?

 

[Abaddon]

After Bill Cosby's hilarious Monopoly sit down with Theo, it should have never been done in a sitcom again.

[YT]nFY0HBkUm8o[/YT]

 

[Artistsean]

I am recently getting sick of the whole friends who don't act like friends thing. They do it on a lot of shows now, where the friends do nothing but act annoyed by one another and put each other down. The thing is that if they are friends they should accept some of the annoying traits and come to expect them. Like on Big Bang Theory, Lenard shouldn't be constantly acting annoyed at every single thing Sheldon does. Not only because they are friends who have lived together for years, but because he grew up with a mom exactly like Sheldon. So it would be nice to see Lenard shine some of it on, not act annoyed because Sheldon doesn't want to eat with a fork or something.

Anyway, the friends thing where they don't act like friends and constantly put one another down and hardly ever show them actually act like friends is one.

Another is people being friends with someone they shouldn't be friends with on a show. Like on That 70s Show, Donna and Jackie would never be friends with someone like FEZ because he is constantly hitting on them, harassing them, spying on them, stealing their underwear, trying to french them or more. They would just not be friends with him. Same with Kelso really, and same on How I Met Your Mother. They would not be friends with Barney. And on Family Guy, they really wouldn't be friends with Quagmire, but that is different because so many things happen on that show that wouldn't ever happen. But lots of shows do this too, where the characters all hang out and seemingly for lack of better friends or because they are too lazy to look past their area they are friends with some character who goes against their morals. Donna the feminist wouldn't be friends with a pervy guy like FEZ or a sexist guy like Kelso.

 

[ShredderX]

1. Studio audience or recorded reaction whenever someone kisses ( that annoying " Whooohuh and you occasonally hear someone say " u Go girl!"), or when a kid gets sad or tells somebodie " I hate you ! " and you hear a collective " Awwwww)

2. Everybody always eating Chinese Food or Pizza, unless it's a Thanksgiving Episode.

3. Pizza always looks cold with no toppings, and the sodas always look flat.

4. Characters waking up in bed together, with no recollection of how they got there or if they had sex or not.

 

[ShredderX]

And let's not forget the " Token " Black character who is always the sassy , chick, or the sarcastic hip dude.

 

[ShredderX]

pfft, Patricia Heaton was a bigger *****

Omigod, yes. Her and the mother from " Malcolm in the Middle " were constantly on the rag.

 

[ShredderX]

double post

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Flashback episodes.

"Remember when...?" *Flashes back to scene in episode 21*

 

[ShredderX]

Flashback episodes.

"Remember when...?" *Flashes back to scene in episode 21*

Yep, that and " Past Clips " episodes.

 

[Evelisse]

You shouldn't be able to be unemployed or work a few hours at a coffee shop, or be a struggling/out of work actor and afford most the huge modern apartments that are also in a great part of town.

 

[Dave McFly]

how about the music that swells up when a character learns an important lesson I saw this a lot on shows like Full House/Family Matters etc.

Oh how about when character from one show shows up on another show (Urkel showing up on Step by Step for example).

oh and that Cosby bit with him and Theo with the Monopoly money is one of my all time fave sitcom moments ever!

 

[ShredderX]

I did like it when the TGIF characters use to cross over ex.( Urkel showing up in Full House, Corey meeting Dana from Step By Step at Disney World in Boy meets World, Harriet working at the same building as Balki and Larry in Perfect Strangers, etc ) It was like a shared universe like Marvel/DC.

 

[The Question]

I am recently getting sick of the whole friends who don't act like friends thing. They do it on a lot of shows now, where the friends do nothing but act annoyed by one another and put each other down. The thing is that if they are friends they should accept some of the annoying traits and come to expect them. Like on Big Bang Theory, Lenard shouldn't be constantly acting annoyed at every single thing Sheldon does. Not only because they are friends who have lived together for years, but because he grew up with a mom exactly like Sheldon. So it would be nice to see Lenard shine some of it on, not act annoyed because Sheldon doesn't want to eat with a fork or something.

Anyway, the friends thing where they don't act like friends and constantly put one another down and hardly ever show them actually act like friends is one.

Another is people being friends with someone they shouldn't be friends with on a show. Like on That 70s Show, Donna and Jackie would never be friends with someone like FEZ because he is constantly hitting on them, harassing them, spying on them, stealing their underwear, trying to french them or more. They would just not be friends with him. Same with Kelso really, and same on How I Met Your Mother. They would not be friends with Barney. And on Family Guy, they really wouldn't be friends with Quagmire, but that is different because so many things happen on that show that wouldn't ever happen. But lots of shows do this too, where the characters all hang out and seemingly for lack of better friends or because they are too lazy to look past their area they are friends with some character who goes against their morals. Donna the feminist wouldn't be friends with a pervy guy like FEZ or a sexist guy like Kelso.

I disagree with both of these points. People are more complicated than that. And sometimes people cut their friends a lot of slack for behavior they wouldn't tolerate in others. It happens all the time.

 

[PyroChamber]

And let's not forget the " Token " Black character who is always the sassy , chick, or the sarcastic hip dude.

And on black shows, there's always the "goofy white guy".

Also, let's not forget the Disney Channel cliches for their live action shows.

- The main character is usually a teenage girl, it's usually a boy if the show is about two siblings.
- They only have two friends, one of the same sex and one of the opposite sex.
- One friend will completely go along with everything she says, while the other friend doesn't go along with everything and can actually think for themselves.
- The main character and their friends are the most unpopular kids in school for unexplained reasons, even if it's a big school.
- The antagonist is always the most popular girl/guy in school.
- Near the end of the series, the friend of the opposite sex will develop feeling for the main character; and the main character will have the same feelings.
- The main character has an annoying sibling.
- The parents of the main character are as follows: the mother has all the common sense and is the go-to person for everything, while the dad is a clueless idiot who has no idea what's going on in his house.
- Half of the time the cast will look older than they're suppose to be (They really expected me to believe that Ren Stevens, throughout the entire series, was in the 8th GRADE?)
- An annoying little kid, usually a neighbor, is introduced later in the show.
- Sometimes the main character will get talked about because of the clothes they wear, even though they're wearing clothes that the popular kids might wear.

 

[Lily Adler]

A surprise pregnancy and the inevitable baby shenanigans that follows.

 

[Mace Dolex]

how about the music that swells up when a character learns an important lesson I saw this a lot on shows like Full House/Family Matters etc.

Oh god I just hated that crap and Full House was the worst offender of having a sappy weepy moment with the music and the audience going "awww", or when DJ has her first kiss with a boy the audience all whooping and hollering.

My favorite cliche would have to be the "special episode syndrome" and lots of sitcoms from the 80's seem to have them an abundance probably Diff'rent Strokes had the most of them:

- creepy bicycle shop owner is a pedophile
- Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No!" against drugs
- Arnold and Sam learn about epileptic seizures from a friend
- Willis brings pot from school
- Kimberly and Arnold learn the dangers of hitchhiking
- Sam gets kidnapped

 

[PyroChamber]

My favorite cliche would have to be the "special episode syndrome" and lots of sitcoms from the 80's seem to have them an abundance probably Diff'rent Strokes had the most of them:

- creepy bicycle shop owner is a pedophile
- Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No!" against drugs
- Arnold and Sam learn about epileptic seizures from a friend
- Willis brings pot from school
- Kimberly and Arnold learn the dangers of hitchhiking
- Sam gets kidnapped

My favorite VSE (very special episode) was on Punky Brewster, when Punky's friend gets trapped in a refrigerator while playing hide and seek.

 

[Mace Dolex]

My favorite VSE (very special edisope) was on Punky Brewster, when Punky's friend gets trapped in a refrigerator while playing hide and seek.

The G.I.Joe cartoon from the 80's had a PSA on that one

 

[Mace Bloodstone]

Hate when a guy totally wusses out comically during a confrontation.

 

[Pink Ranger]

The G.I.Joe cartoon from the 80's had a PSA on that one

That is so unrealistic. If I hung around a children's playground dressed like that, the police would be on me in 5 minutes flat.

 

[Mace Dolex]

- when all friends live in the same apartment complex with the obligatory coffee hangout downstairs.
- the annoying kid next door neighbor who never seems to have a family of his/her own.
- the wacky sex crazed neighbor who hasn't contracted some sort of sexual disease yet.
- a group of 10 or more people live in a house with only one bathroom.
- the clueless father who has a hard time changing baby diapers.

 

[ShredderX]

Oh god I just hated that crap and Full House was the worst offender of having a sappy weepy moment with the music and the audience going "awww", or when DJ has her first kiss with a boy the audience all whooping and hollering.

My favorite cliche would have to be the "special episode syndrome" and lots of sitcoms from the 80's seem to have them an abundance probably Diff'rent Strokes had the most of them:

- creepy bicycle shop owner is a pedophile
- Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No!" against drugs
- Arnold and Sam learn about epileptic seizures from a friend
- Willis brings pot from school
- Kimberly and Arnold learn the dangers of hitchhiking
- Sam gets kidnapped

LOL, Yep the "very special episodes " very prominent in the 80's. I also remember Mr.Belvedere had one that dealt with Wesley's friend who had Aids.

 

[ShredderX]

The G.I.Joe cartoon from the 80's had a PSA on that one

Even though I was always a bigger Transformer fan, I did like the PSA from G.I. Joe. The kids were always planning of doing something stupid, and this military dude in full gear would come out of nowhere to stop them,LMAO !! ( Like that episode of Family Guy, where Chris and his friends were about to drink alcohol in the boys room, and Flint comes out of the stall to stop them). And let's not forget the famous line " Now we know !!! And knowing is half the battle ! G.I.JOOOOOOE !!!! " Me and my friends still yell that whenever somebody days " Now we know ", LOL