Sitcom Cliches

[PyroChamber]

Another cliche' : The Hangout spot. Where the characters spend most of their time together ;

- Seinfeld had "Monks" diner

- Friends had the coffee shop

-Saved by the Bell " The Maxx "

- The Happy Days Gang " Al's"

- Whats Happening " The diner where Shirley works "

They usually have a waiter/owner/cook who pops up and says something sassy or wacky.

Rob's Place.

Not a sitcom, but Power Rangers had Ernie's Youth Center and Juice Bar.

 

[Mace Dolex]

^ and Three's Company had the Regal Beagle hangout.

 

[Dave McFly]

how about holiday themed episodes mainly xmas and halloween, I used to love the Home Improvement and Rosanne halloween eps.

 

[Mace Dolex]

- when a teenager is pressured by his/her friends to drink alcohol and later goes home drunk but tries to deny it to his/her parents with comical results.

- when a teenager is caught smoking and accidentally burns a hole on their new clothes, they try to play it off to their parents.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

This is a more recent one, by recent I mean pot-2000, but a lot of sitcoms seem to have an episode devoted to a homemade robot fighting competition.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

- The celebrity who appears as a guest-star every other week ('Will & Grace' was the worst offender in this catagory). Somehow suposedly ordinary people have famous Hollywood stars (who 90% of the time play themselves) come into their social circle, not one or two times, but over a hundred. For some reason said famous person was always willing to help out the characters on the show even though they were strangers, and the characters would always overreact and scream or faint like they had met Ghandi instead of a B-list star. And did anyone actually like these mugging, self-congratulatory appearances? Ugh, cringe worthy.

 

[PyroChamber]

-what about the one where the actor/singer star of the show will meet the actor/singer that looks just look them (the actor/singer playing as themself), and when they meet the character will say "people say that we look alike".

- the main character/s is a witness to a crime happening, they go to the police and the police tell them that they'll have to go into witness protection with the "wacky cop" watching out for them while the criminal involved in that crime find them and threatens to kill them and the wacky cop will (in one way or another) save the day.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

- In a show involving a high school teacher, the teacher is usually someone who use to be famous and fell on hard times.

- The entire school day evolves around one class, and out of that class only 4 students actually talk.

- Those same 4 students somehow figure out where the teacher lives and will hangout there.

- Out of those four 4, one of them is the coolest and most popular person in school; yet as the seasons go on they somehow get dumber.

- If at least one of the 4 is a female, she'll be the popular guy's girlfriend and will suddenly disappear after two seasons.

- And the teacher will have some sort of personal relationship with the Principal.

Sounds like The Steve Harvey Show.

 

[PyroChamber]

Sounds like The Steve Harvey Show.

It mainly is, but there have been other school's that have had those cliches; particularly 2 through 4.

Also, I'm kinda surprised to know other people here watched The Steve Harvey Show besides me.

 

[Mace Dolex]

- the main character/s is a witness to a crime happening, they go to the police and the police tell them that they'll have to go into witness protection with the "wacky cop" watching out for them while the criminal involved in that crime find them and threatens to kill them and the wacky cop will (in one way or another) save the day.

LOL! yeah typical of any episode of an 80's sitcom.

 

[The Sage]

Sounds like The Steve Harvey Show.

And maybe Hangin With Mr. Cooper.

 

[Mace Dolex]

- the episodes in which the child is always being bullied in school until that kid finds out that the bully isn't really mean spirited he/she just doesn't have parents or/and has been adopted resulting in the obligatory moral of the episode.

 

[Mace Dolex]

- the episodes in which a husband and wife decide to switch each others work/chore in a battle of the sexes.

 

[PyroChamber]

- the episodes in which the child is always being bullied in school until that kid finds out that the bully isn't really mean spirited he/she just doesn't have parents or/and has been adopted resulting in the obligatory moral of the episode.

And the bully is never seen or talked about again after that episode.

 

[James]

-The husband celebrating because the wife admits, for the first time ever, that she is wrong.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

It mainly is, but there have been other school's that have had those cliches; particularly 2 through 4.

Also, I'm kinda surprised to know other people here watched The Steve Harvey Show besides me.

lol,I still watch the Steve Harvey show.

And maybe Hangin With Mr. Cooper.

I was thinking that too.

One sitcom cliche that bothers me is when ever someone plays a video game you can obviously tell that they really aren't playing anything.You hear like stock sound of random bleeps and bloops from 80's arcade games as they mash buttons,and them someone turns the thing off with a remote control.

 

[Hellion]

Yep, that and " Past Clips " episodes.

The Golden Girls did clip shows right...they did "past clips" from previous episodes and orignal scenes as "past clips" that weren't from previous episodes...

...but yeah, my major cliche is clip shows...



...and can I add where a major event in the show/or entire episode(s) turns out to be a dream/nightmare.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

-The husband celebrating because the wife admits, for the first time ever, that she is wrong.

-The husband lies to his wife during important day (anniversary/birthday/valentine's) so he can have a night out with the guys at the bar. But he gets busted when his wife shows up at the bar looking for him (sometimes in her pajamas). She then mocks his loser friends saying something like "why don't all the little boys go home" and the husband goes home with his wife chagrined and humiliated.

 

[Mace Dolex]

And the bully is never seen or talked about again after that episode.

- ah or what about the episode that introduces an immigrant family moving next door (to appease other minorities) also never to be seen again.

 

[ShredderX]

Rob's Place.

Not a sitcom, but Power Rangers had Ernie's Youth Center and Juice Bar.

Thanks, couldn't remember the name.

 

[PyroChamber]

Thanks, couldn't remember the name.

No problem.

Let us not forget my personal favorite...

- The parents aren't home, a party ensues, the house gets trashed and fixed by the next scene, and the parents come home and find out about it because of something the characters forgot to fix.

 

[ShredderX]

How about the teen gets in trouble with the law, and is always escorted home by a police officer who always comes through the door and says " Is this your kid ?" And they almost always get off with a warning.

 

[Artistsean]

The pep pills episode of Saved by the Bell did have the fun lines "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so, so... I'm so scared." And "Theres no time, theres never any time. I don't have time to study. I'll never get into Stanford."

The " Very Special " episodes from 90's sitcoms,where at the end, the cast are gathered together to talk to the audience about the message of the episode.

The Fresh Prince did a joke about this one episode. They had done this for real but one episode about Will taking Poetry class for a girl they had it end with the cast gathered around reading a poem and end with Will looking at the camera and saying something like "If you want to read more go to a library" or something and then laughing and saying just kidding.

I'm sure its probably mentioned, but in old sitcoms they used to do a lot of episodes where the characters are locked in some place like a garage or a basement (basement was a big one) and can't get out the entire episode. There is also stuck on the ledge, or parents (family) going to elaborate lengths to teach the child a lesson. Spending lots of money, playing pranks or acting/pretending. The Cosby Show playing a drinking game, making Rudy drink "alchohol" to freak Vanessa out. Rearranging the entire house and pretending to be different people to show Theo what living on his own would be like. Home Improvement doing similar things, Rosanne playing expensive pranks on each other even though they were a poor family. Etc.
I said to my brother than I would hate living in the Cosby house because they always did that to their kids.

The flashback episodes are pushed by the studio who want more episodes from the show but want to spend less money and want it done faster. So they fill out the season with a flashback show because its cheaper. Thats what they said on the Simpsons commentary.

How about a character in the show, a main character, doing something so horrible to another person like lie about who they are or something, only to reveal the truth and (in real life) the person wouldn't forgive them and would be so upset they would never see them again but in the show they forgive them and all is ok by the end of the show. But usually the person, a girl friend, isn't seen again on the show.

And that reminds me of the girlfriend guest star episodes. Where the main character like Will on Fresh Prince or Zack on Saved by the Bell have new girlfriends every episode almost and go through some major story with them like Zack realizing not to judge her by her appearance and they make it seem like she will be around for a while, and then she is gone.
Or a character on a show getting a girlfriend but since she isn't part of the main cast, or in the opening credits, you can tell she or he wont return. It wasn't until Big Bang Theory where guest girlfriends ended up staying to become part of the main cast.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

How about the teen gets in trouble with the law, and is always escorted home by a police officer who always comes through the door and says " Is this your kid ?" And they almost always get off with a warning.

-A variation on this, is a kid wants something really bad, but can't afford it, so he shop-lifts and the guilt gives them nightmares until they confess to an authority figure, who expresses concern and understanding instead of disappointment. Kid and authority-figure return object together and shop-keeper is also way too understanding ("well gee, I got kids myself. Tell you what, if you want it so bad I'll give you a discount. (Or even worse "you can have it free of charge!")

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

-the special "daughter is having a period/son is starting to *********e, so let's have an awkward talk about our bodies with them" episode that seemed really popular in the 90's (Blossom, Roseanne...)