TV Tropes: Love 'em or Loathe 'em

[kiddo82]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

 With another on the squad being a Ranger SEAL veteran.

Everyone with a military background on TV was a combatant in an elite unit.  No one (with the exception of Frank Costanza) was a cook, engineer, interpreter, etc.  In a medical drama you may get a former medic but usually that's it.

[Mittengirl]

On comedies, the military service story is reversed- they all were cooks or in the motor pool or spent the entire war as a typist at Fort Dix.  

[Raja]

Just now, Mittengirl said:

On comedies, the military service story is reversed- they all were cooks or in the motor pool or spent the entire war as a typist at Fort Dix.  

Unfortunately McHale's Navy proved the exception to the rule

[vibeology]

13 hours ago, Raja said:

Has there ever been a cop on TV who didn't get into the career because either someone they loved was murdered and they are determined to solve it or every other member of their family is a cop.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine! Barely any of the characters have a cop in their family and no one has a tragic backstory. They are just good detectives who do a job they love and do that job well. They have families and outside interests. The fact that it's a comedy means the show was able to create characters without worrying about giving them tragic backstories. They are far and away my favourite TV cops ever.

[Raja]

7 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine! Barely any of the characters have a cop in their family and no one has a tragic backstory. They are just good detectives who do a job they love and do that job well. They have families and outside interests. The fact that it's a comedy means the show was able to create characters without worrying about giving them tragic backstories. They are far and away my favourite TV cops ever.

Looks like that wrong person being quoted issue popped back up again?

Along with the extended cop family, and the Ranger SEAL veteran there is the cop, or Deputy DA in the unit whose extended family belongs to an organized crime family

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, Raja said:

Looks like that wrong person being quoted issue popped back up again?

It happens when someone quotes from a reply, rather than the original post -- A posts something, B quotes it and replies, and C also quotes it and replies, but pulls the quote from B's post rather than A's, leading to it being attributed to B rather than A.

[kiddo82]

I'm sure this has been brought up before (probably by me) but I just saw something that reminded me of it. RAGE exercising.  It must be on page 1 of the writer's handbook.  Character going through some stuff?  Need a shorthand to demonstrate how frustrated and upset he or she is?  Nothing says that like rage boxing, rage running, rage swimming, rage batting cages, rage hot yoga, rage hopscotch, rage bocce ball, etc.  Bonus points if the character breaks down into uncontrollable sobs either alone (in the dark, natch) or when someone else enters the room and attempts to stop the character from RAGING.  And hey, exercise really is a great and usually safe way to deal with anxiety and aggression but it's such an overdone TV cliche at this point.  Or at least give us an activity outside the norm.  I kinda do want to watch someone rage yoga now that I think about it.

Edited November 28, 2019 by kiddo82

[Mabinogia]

5 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

rage hopscotch

OK, I need some TV writer somewhere to make this happen. Rage boxing is so cliche, want to challenge your writing staff, make them do a rage hopscotch scene!

[smittykins]

Rage Peloton, anyone?

[Wiendish Fitch]

Rage Hungry Hungry Hippos! Or Rage Uno!! Or Rage Clue!!!!

[Blergh]

On The Carol Burnett Show, Ed, Eunice and Mama seemed to play a good version of Rage Sorry- especially on Eunice's part!

[Trini]

18 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Rage Hungry Hungry Hippos! Or Rage Uno!! Or Rage Clue!!!!

Okay, but Rage Uno is totally possible, though!

[GHScorpiosRule]

8 hours ago, Blergh said:

On The Carol Burnett Show, Ed, Eunice and Mama seemed to play a good version of Rage Sorry- especially on Eunice's part!

And it was HILARIOUS!!! “SORRREEEEEEE!!!!!”

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[GHScorpiosRule]

Found the sketch! You can see Carol breaking character at the 13 minute mark!😂😂😂

[DoctorAtomic]

They just don't have sketches like that anymore.

[Raja]

If the female love interest is a musician her instrument will be a cello.

[DearEvette]

56 minutes ago, Raja said:

If the female love interest is a musician her instrument will be a cello.

Funny.  Cuz it's true.

[Dr.OO7]

EVERY time a character becomes a drug addict or an alcoholic, there's always someone in their social circle to pick up on it and quote some variation of "I know a drunk/junkie when I see one". This is of course because they or someone they know is an alcoholic or addict.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't know where the cello came from but I love it.

[Raja]

36 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't know where the cello came from but I love it.

For TV/movies it is the posture the cellist  takes to play it sends the wanted subliminal message. Compared to say a trumpet player whose hands are up like a boxer protecting his own head.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

For TV/movies it is the posture the cellist  takes to play it sends the wanted subliminal message. Compared to say a trumpet player whose hands are up like a boxer protecting his own head.

You know, I'm SO glad that never occurred to me when watching Uncle Charley play that instrument on My Three Sons. But then again, it DID seem a rather impractical instrument for someone who'd spent his whole adult life as a sea cook in the merchant marines. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Are the merchant marines actually a thing? 

[Blergh]

15 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Are the merchant marines actually a thing? 

That's a fairly good question.

It turns out that there's both an official US military branch called the United States Merchant Marine and it's a term for those who participate in civilian domestic and international cargo shipping operations.

Not sure which of these Uncle Charley was but since he dropped out so easily to take care of Casa Douglas, I tend to think he wound up being in the less formal definition. 

Is it a TV trope for elderly relatives to have served in the military or been at sea most of their lives before they settle with younger core families?

[Spartan Girl]

The Take takes down the Cool Girl Trope:

[Raja]

41 minutes ago, Blergh said:

That's a fairly good question.

It turns out that there's both an official US military branch called the United States Merchant Marine and it's a term for those who participate in civilian domestic and international cargo shipping operations.

Not sure which of these Uncle Charley was but since he dropped out so easily to take care of Casa Douglas, I tend to think he wound up being in the less formal definition. 

Is it a TV trope for elderly relatives to have served in the military or been at sea most of their lives before they settle with younger core families?

Given his age the German and/or Japanese armed forces were probably trying to sink Uncle Charlie's ship earlier in his life.

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought it was like the French foreign legion thing in Bugs Bunny. 

[auntlada]

5 hours ago, Blergh said:

Is it a TV trope for elderly relatives to have served in the military or been at sea most of their lives before they settle with younger core families?

It might be, but at one time, the military service was probably true for most of the viewers as well.

[ABay]

Synchronicity strikes again: The most recent episode of the Answer Me This podcast had a question about the merchant marine; a woman wanting to send something to a guy who is a merchant marine. The podcast is British but I imagine it's the same in the U.S.

One of my uncles was a merchant marine during WWII. I only met him once when I was very young so don't have any good stories.

[Wiendish Fitch]

5 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

The Take takes down the Cool Girl Trope:

Excellent video. I just hate the inherent smugness of the Cool Girl character: "Oh, I'm not like other girls!"

Yeah, well, you know what? You're right... no girl is like "other girls", because all girls are fucking different! You're not special just because you like beer, sex, and football! Anyone can like those things! Now wear your standard issue little white tank, eat your sloppy joe, and quit your yammering!

[Raja]

5 hours ago, auntlada said:

It might be, but at one time, the military service was probably true for most of the viewers as well.

At WWII peak levels maybe 40% of American males between 18 to 50 served in the armed forces. But of course the over 40 were Regular Army and Navy that came from a very small pre war armed forces

[auntlada]

9 hours ago, Raja said:

At WWII peak levels maybe 40% of American males between 18 to 50 served in the armed forces. But of course the over 40 were Regular Army and Navy that came from a very small pre war armed forces

But in the 70s, most families probably had someone who had served in the military in WWII, Korea, Vietnam or just in the military between wars, even if only in the National Guard or Reserves. They didn't necessarily serve overseas in battle, but there was probably someone.

[Spartan Girl]

16 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Excellent video. I just hate the inherent smugness of the Cool Girl character: "Oh, I'm not like other girls!"

Yeah, well, you know what? You're right... no girl is like "other girls", because all girls are fucking different! You're not special just because you like beer, sex, and football! Anyone can like those things! Now wear your standard issue little white tank, eat your sloppy joe, and quit your yammering!

Amen. And yeah, some girls like "guy things" and like eating whatever, just don't expect us all to look like supermodels!

The video also summed up why I hated how Robin was used for HIMYM. Ted was obsessed with the idea of her as his ideal girl even when it was plainly obvious that her personality didn't conform to his true fantasy ideal: a housewife. Which is another reason why I loathed the finale.

[DoctorAtomic]

We definitely do not say 'quit your yammering' nearly enough. 

And I was able to swype yammer twice on my phone. 

[DoctorAtomic]

'Silly song playing over dramatic scene'. It worked ONCE in Lost. Once.

[Bastet]

6 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

'Silly song playing over dramatic scene'.

I dislike more of those than I like, but I do like some.  My favorite is "Hokey Pokey" in the "Chinga" episode of The X-Files. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I'll give the X Files a pass because the show actually laid out groundbreaking production techniques for television; like having the actors light the scenes with their flashlights, etc.

[kiddo82]

On that note, when shows or movies use "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" ironically over a montage of things that are decidedly not wonderful.  We get it, the holidays are stressful and can be as sucky as they are fun but that doesn't mean you have to be unimaginative.  The poppy enthusiasm of Sleigh Ride or Jingle Bells or even I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, while not as on the nose, will at least add some variety.  The best use of It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is in the back to school Staples commercial.  Now that was an original concept and it's still funny.  I think they even still run the commercial every August.

[auntlada]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

'Silly song playing over dramatic scene'. It worked ONCE in Lost. Once.

What was it? I don't remember.

[DoctorAtomic]

They cold opened the second season with Desmond in the hatch playing a record and going through the routine and entering in the infamous numbers. It worked because no one was sure it was the same show, and no one knew what was in the hatch. Locke had only seen the light go on to end the prior season. And of course the numbers were such a big deal to the show up to that point.

Of course, the show collapsed under its own bullshit, but it might be one of the most perfectly executed scenes in television.

48 minutes ago, kiddo82 said:

On that note, when shows or movies use "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" ironically over a montage of things that are decidedly not wonderful.

I'll allow it.

[DoctorAtomic]

ALL passwords on tv are hackable because they're the dog's name.

[Bastet]

19 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

ALL passwords on tv are hackable because they're the dog's name.

Or conveniently written on a snow globe sitting next to the monitor.  In a super duper secret research facility.

Sorry, that will only make sense to X-Files fans, but it was possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen writers come up with for how a character figures out someone's password (to the surprise of no XF fan, it was a Chris Carter idea).

Edited December 16, 2019 by Bastet

[Bort]

Sadly, that stuff is true. Passwords are hackable because people use things that are in plain sight or easily knowable. i.e. their address, phone number, pet name, computer monitor model number, license plate, etc.

[Lugal]

Or the ever popular: "password"

[Chaos Theory]

4 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Sadly, that stuff is true. Passwords are hackable because people use things that are in plain sight or easily knowable. i.e. their address, phone number, pet name, computer monitor model number, license plate, etc.

15 minutes ago, Lugal said:

Or the ever popular: "password"

It was a running joke on Archer that the password for everything was “Guest” 

[Lugal]

19 hours ago, kariyaki said:

adly, that stuff is true. Passwords are hackable because people use things that are in plain sight or easily knowable. i.e. their address, phone number, pet name, computer monitor model number, license plate, etc.

xkcd summed it up best:

[andromeda331]

I always liked in one of the Person of Interest episodes Fusco's password for his computer at the police station he keeps in the desk because its so long (a bunch of letters and numbers) that he can't remember and its most likely issued by the department. It always felt so accurate. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Now they have the 'you can't use your last 20 passwords'. And none of my passwords are actual words. I can only remember 3. 

I end up putting in gibberish and just doing a new one over and over. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

Tip for the day: don't make the name of your lost and/or unrequited love your password. Some twerpy hacker inevitably will figure it out. 

[DoctorAtomic]

If you are being tailed, as I'm sure this happens frequently to the fine people here, you will make a reckless maneuver endangering countless lives, and be smug in your maneuver that you lost them - BUT WAIT! They appear ahead of you and all is lost.

[Dr.OO7]

I've come to realize that I love the "It's A Wonderful Plot" trope, as clichéd as it is. Particularly the twists that show how HAPPY everyone would have been had the person not been born/come to town, etc.

"Married With Children" did this perfectly--Al is so incensed at seeing how happy and fortunate his family would have been without him that he decides to live just to continue making their lives hell.