TV Tropes: Love 'em or Loathe 'em

[janie jones]

nemeses

[Zella]

23 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

nemesises (is that right?  Nemesi?  Plural of nemesis)  to one another. 

22 hours ago, janie jones said:

nemeses

I have a degree in English, but the only reason I can remember that one is because of Mystery Men. 😉 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

This is perfectly acceptable. 

[Dr.OO7]

I can't stand that scenario of "Person is doing/about to do/has done something lousy, then sees themself in the mirror and feels sickened and ashamed by their actions." And add on a disgusted shake of the head to top it off.

It started out okay, but then it seemed like every show was trotting this one out.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 5/28/2020 at 2:09 AM, Camille said:

I can't stand that scenario of "Person is doing/about to do/has done something lousy, then sees themself in the mirror and feels sickened and ashamed by their actions." And add on a disgusted shake of the head to top it off.

Back in the day they would have THROWN SOMETHING INTO THE MIRROR and SMASHED it.

[SVNBob]

22 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Back in the day they would have THROWN SOMETHING INTO THE MIRROR and SMASHED it.

Or punched the mirror, breaking it and cutting their hand in the process.

[Luckylyn]

I remember when Will Horton on Days of Our Lives saw himself in the mirror and spit at his reflection. 

[supposebly]

I just watched the Cardassian Damar throw the sticky Kanar (some popular alcoholic drink on Cardassia) against the mirror in Start Trek DS-9. One or two episodes later, he gets off his ass and rebels. And also becomes a more interesting character in the process.

The mirror helps to find your better self, at least on TV.

[CoderLady]

@supposebly -- +1 for the insight, +1 for the DS9 reference!

[methodwriter85]

On 5/31/2020 at 10:51 AM, Luckylyn said:

I remember when Will Horton on Days of Our Lives saw himself in the mirror and spit at his reflection. 

Was that Chandler Will Horton or Elfin face Will Horton? Anyway, speaking of mirrors, I'm always terrified of looking into my rearview mirror when I'm driving down a road at night because I'm afraid I'm going to see a ghostly figure or a seyisl liwr hiding in my backseat.

[Luckylyn]

2 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Was that Chandler Will Horton or Elfin face Will Horton? Anyway, speaking of mirrors, I'm always terrified of looking into my rearview mirror when I'm driving down a road at night because I'm afraid I'm going to see a ghostly figure or a seyisl liwr hiding in my backseat.

It was Chandler before Will came out.

[DoctorAtomic]

'I don't WANT the MONEY!' Because no one in real life ever not just took the money.

[VCRTracking]

Every time I go into an elevator I look up hoping JUST ONCE to see a hatch and every time I'm disappointed!

[VCRTracking]

I love The Onion:

 

 

[natara]

My most hated trope in tv dramas and soaps:

Character A discovers that Character B has done something nefarious. Character A gives them an ultimatum to confess to the crime or else they will squeal. (Bonus points if Character A is dumb enough to confront the perpetrator late at night and/or in the middle of nowhere to accuse them of criminal activity.) Character B then predictably covers their tracks and frames Character A for the crime instead.

[Zella]

4 hours ago, natara said:

My most hated trope in tv dramas and soaps:

Character A discovers that Character B has done something nefarious. Character A gives them an ultimatum to confess to the crime or else they will squeal. (Bonus points if Character A is dumb enough to confront the perpetrator late at night and/or in the middle of nowhere to accuse them of criminal activity.) Character B then predictably covers their tracks and frames Character A for the crime instead.

I always roll my eyes so hard in a crime/mystery story where they do this confrontation (always late at night and alone), and the person asks if they've told anyone else. The answer is always "No--I'm the only one who knows," and then of course they die because they were too fucking stupid to realize that is an automatic death sentence in Murderville. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 6/2/2020 at 8:24 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

'I don't WANT the MONEY!' Because no one in real life ever not just took the money.

The A-team.  B.J. and the Bear, the Dukes of Hazzard, The Incredible Hulk.  All the 80's TV shows with the following dialogue:

"What do we owe you?"

"Just putting the bad guys away is payment enough."  Well, after a while, don't you need to eat or pay your bills?

 

[kiddo82]

Angel actually dealt with the consequences of the team getting (or not getting) paid in the first season or two, when the team mostly did supernatural PI work.  I mean, they were still able to move into that big ass hotel but at least they acknowledged they had bills and stuff. 

Edited July 20, 2020 by kiddo82

[Dr.OO7]

On 6/3/2020 at 2:02 PM, VCRTracking said:

I love The Onion:

 

 

That reminds me of their article "Romantic Comedy Behavior Gets Man Arrested In Real Life".

"I thought she was supposed to eventually get over her annoyance and come to realize and appreciate how devoted to her I am!"

[Llywela]

14 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

The A-team.  B.J. and the Bear, the Dukes of Hazzard, The Incredible Hulk.  All the 80's TV shows with the following dialogue:

"What do we owe you?"

"Just putting the bad guys away is payment enough."  Well, after a while, don't you need to eat or pay your bills?

 

I like how Leverage handled this one, from the team's perspective. "We operate from an alternate revenue stream" - i.e. we make money off the bad guys we take down and that's why we don't ask our clients to pay us.

Of course, the clients themselves were always, "It's not about the money, we just want them stopped," when in most cases, they absolutely desperately did need the money!

[Dr.OO7]

17 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

Just putting the bad guys away is payment enough."  Well, after a while, don't you need to eat or pay your bills?

Ah, yes, Friends Rent Control (which I think I mentioned earlier). People can not only mysteriously afford homes beyond their means, they can afford a million other luxuries too.

[Blergh]

Only on TV can bad guys be 'put away' without any chance of being released if the civilians who catch  don't appear to testify at any hearings or trials and have no impediments to go to the next town/adventure!

[Chaos Theory]

On 7/15/2020 at 12:43 PM, Susan Easey said:

fictional serial killers, unlike real serial killers, are Moriarty-wannabes. These Faux Moriarty characters don't just slit random women's throats/shoot them and leave their bodies in Big Bear Woods.

Well they kinda have to be especially if they are leads or the season long bad guy.   It would kinda suck if a serial killer was actually stupid.   Just like cops on tv are masters of every field.   They can shoot.  They can CSI.   They can even become spies for the NSA if need be.  

[DearEvette]

9 hours ago, Llywela said:

I like how Leverage handled this one, from the team's perspective. "We operate from an alternate revenue stream" - i.e. we make money off the bad guys we take down and that's why we don't ask our clients to pay us.

Of course, the clients themselves were always, "It's not about the money, we just want them stopped," when in most cases, they absolutely desperately did need the money!

That is another thing I loved about Leverage. Yes, they were 'good guys but they were also unrepentant thieves.  They were gonna take down the evil doers for their client to fulfill the spirit of justice, but part of that was also ripping them off for themselves. Hardison had no issues with hacking into a bank account and emptying it out and putting the money into his (and their) own account and Parker would lift a wallet without a blink of an eye. It was so refreshing!

 

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Well they kinda have to be especially if they are leads or the season long bad guy.   It would kinda suck if a serial killer was actually stupid.   Just like cops on tv are masters of every field.   They can shoot.  They can CSI.   They can even become spies for the NSA if need be.  

My number one pet peeve with serial killers on tv is that they are Moriarty smart who send notes and taunt the police.  And as much as I like Prodigal Son, I resisted watching it initially because I also hate the brilliant but deranged killer that the police absolutely need to solve cases because they are too dumb to do it, basically the Hannibal Lecter rip-off character. 

But I did read a book where a the police knew the identity of their killer, but could never find him  because he was not logical in his victims and they had no clue where he'd turn up next and he didn't do anything the profiler predicted.  Turns out he was not a 'serial killer' per se but just a spree killer who had no plan, just poor impulse control and was bumbling about killing people who just got in his way.

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Well they kinda have to be especially if they are leads or the season long bad guy.   It would kinda suck if a serial killer was actually stupid.   

Well until they get to the end of the season when the Big Bad suddenly starts making really stupid mistakes. 

Quote

Just like cops on tv are masters of every field.   They can shoot.  They can CSI.   They can even become spies for the NSA if need be.  

Yep, all while their in their mid to late 20s to early 30s. 

[Mabinogia]

10 hours ago, Camille said:

People can not only mysteriously afford homes beyond their means, they can afford a million other luxuries too.

I love when they have a character who is a single mother, barely making rent wearing $500 jeans. I get it's free advertising for the jean company but it is annoying AF. 

[Dr.OO7]

5 hours ago, Susan Easey said:

Being sex workers and exotic dancers apparently means your night of terror and ultimate murder at Hansen's hands is fine to reduce to fictional Must See TV

The Disposable Sex Worker trope. I don't like that one because it's all too close to real life--if you aren't an upper class lady, the cops could care less if you're murdered. Jack The Ripper was aware of this as far back as the late 1800's.

[juno]

6 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Well they kinda have to be especially if they are leads or the season long bad guy.   It would kinda suck if a serial killer was actually stupid.   Just like cops on tv are masters of every field.   They can shoot.  They can CSI.   They can even become spies for the NSA if need be.  

Or if they are a Firefighter with Chicago Fire where they can investigate fires, act as undercover agents, police, act as paramedics, fire instructors, handypersons and if needed run the operations. I believe there is many more because these are unusually special people.

[Dr.OO7]

2 hours ago, juno said:

Or if they are a Firefighter with Chicago Fire where they can investigate fires, act as undercover agents, police, act as paramedics, fire instructors, handypersons and if needed run the operations. I believe there is many more because these are unusually special people.

I don't know how it works elsewhere, but in New York, firefighters ARE paramedics, so that might not be entirely false. 

[Dr.OO7]

2 hours ago, Susan Easey said:

To use a common example, I believe that serious Ripperologists have noted that not only do most people care more about "Jack" than any of the women that he killed

That's disturbingly common with most serial killers. When I read Ann Rule's biography about Ted Bundy, I really appreciated the extensive time she put into developing his victims as much as possible. (Ironically, she actually did know Bundy far better, having been friends with him for years).

[Zella]

52 minutes ago, Camille said:

That's disturbingly common with most serial killers.

I follow a lot of true crime in general, and it's common with non serial killer homicides too. 

[Ambrosefolly]

20 hours ago, Zella said:

I follow a lot of true crime in general, and it's common with non serial killer homicides too. 

It is one of the reasons, no matter how "woke" Cold Case became, I enjoyed the show because it focused on the life of the victim rather than the killer.

[Shannon L.]

17 minutes ago, Susan Easey said:

 the old "let's go back in time and kill Hitler before he comes to power shtick."

*sarcasm mode on* Wow, what an original idea! *sarcasm mode off*

Why is it always Hitler? How come no one ever goes back in time to get rid of Stalin? Or Mao? Or Kim Il Sung? Or Pol Pot? Or Nicolae Ceausescu? Or Robert Mugabe? Or any other brutal dictator?

That one bores me, too, but in regards to the second part, I'd bet $100 that most people don't know who the latter four are and are only vaguely familiar with Stalin and Mao.  In Mao's case, I'd bet most people wouldn't get beyond "I've heard the name".

[Zella]

I also find the killing Hitler thing really tiresome. And my thing as someone with a history background is I suspect a dictator was going to spring up in Germany in the 1930s, regardless of whether or not Hitler was alive. 

In fact, I've always wondered if the absence of a Hitler would have led to someone like Heydrich being the Fuhrer. And personally as much as a piece of shit as Hitler was, I think Heydrich was worse because he was a hell of a lot smarter. That's probably the only way I'd find a Killing Hitler premise interesting. 

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

I also find the killing Hitler thing really tiresome. And my thing as someone with a history background is I suspect a dictator was going to spring up in Germany in the 1930s, regardless of whether or not Hitler was alive. 

In fact, I've always wondered if the absence of a Hitler would have led to someone like Heydrich being the Fuhrer. And personally as much as a piece of shit as Hitler was, I think Heydrich was worse because he was a hell of a lot smarter. That's probably the only way I'd find a Killing Hitler premise interesting. 

Heh, this almost exact scenario was perpetrated by 12 Monkeys (the tv show) in which they blew up Hitler, discovered that someone else had ended up taking power and nothing in history actually changed.

[Zella]

9 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Heh, this almost exact scenario was perpetrated by 12 Monkeys (the tv show) in which they blew up Hitler, discovered that someone else had ended up taking power and nothing in history actually changed.

I need to watch that! 

[Bort]

11 minutes ago, Zella said:

I need to watch that! 

Everybody should, 12 Monkeys was a damn good show. 

[Raja]

6 hours ago, Susan Easey said:

 the old "let's go back in time and kill Hitler before he comes to power shtick."

*sarcasm mode on* Wow, what an original idea! *sarcasm mode off*

Why is it always Hitler? How come no one ever goes back in time to get rid of Stalin? Or Mao? Or Kim Il Sung? Or Pol Pot? Or Nicolae Ceausescu? Or Robert Mugabe? Or any other brutal dictator?

Because WWII is the most destructive war humanity has known and we assign his goal of a Third Reich as the blame.  The racism and achieved genocide adds bonus points to his infamy as most evil ever 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 7/22/2020 at 10:48 PM, Susan Easey said:

Whilst not caring about what the victim is like in life is really horrible when it comes to children or sex workers/erotic dancers, JFK seems to exist in fiction only in order to be assassinated.

The Stephen King book /Hulu series kind of had a good twist on that. 

 

2 hours ago, Zella said:

I also find the killing Hitler thing really tiresome. And my thing as someone with a history background is I suspect a dictator was going to spring up in Germany in the 1930s, regardless of whether or not Hitler was alive. 

In fact, I've always wondered if the absence of a Hitler would have led to someone like Heydrich being the Fuhrer. And personally as much as a piece of shit as Hitler was, I think Heydrich was worse because he was a hell of a lot smarter. That's probably the only way I'd find a Killing Hitler premise interesting. 

There's where you develop the story. Who else rises up if he's out of the picture? Maybe the new guy is smart enough not to invade Russia. What happens then? 

If you really want to get rid of Hitler, you have to go back to the end of ww1. I don't know if you can do a show on treaty negotiations though. 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who loved Hitler on Preacher. 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[DoctorAtomic]

You might argue that without Stalin, Russia can't kick out the German invasion either. Which is again more the more interesting time wrinkle than just killing Hitler. 

[andromeda331]

11 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

The Stephen King book /Hulu series kind of had a good twist on that. 

 

There's where you develop the story. Who else rises up if he's out of the picture? Maybe the new guy is smart enough not to invade Russia. What happens then? 

If you really want to get rid of Hitler, you have to go back to the end of ww1. I don't know if you can do a show on treaty negotiations though. 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who loved Hitler on Preacher. 

 

Or go back to the WW1 moment when Hitler was injured and have him killed instead. 

[merylinkid]

15 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

You might argue that without Stalin, Russia can't kick out the German invasion either. Which is again more the more interesting time wrinkle than just killing Hitler. 

Or Germany doesn't get past the border because whoever took over in place of Stalin doesn't kill all the generals for "disloyalty" in the 30s.   Part of the reason Russia did so poorly in the war was because the lack of skilled leadership in the army.

There are so very many ways to explore this trope, that just don't get done.   Go back, attempt to kill Hitler, stopped because "you can't mess with the timeline."   blah, blah, blah........... 

[DoctorAtomic]

People typically aren't so well versed in history where you'd have to have someone on the show do a big info dump all the time. 

All they had to do was give Hitler the last pastry and we'd be fine. He was seated first anyway. (#Preacher)

[leighdear]

21 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

The Stephen King book /Hulu series kind of had a good twist on that.

 

I've read the book 4 times, watched the show twice.  One of my absolute faves. 

It's like a circular butterfly effect.  No matter how or when the alternate action takes place, the result is always going to be as bad or worse than the original result.  Kinda cool, but not cool.  *LOL*

[DoctorAtomic]

And someone having to die regardless was a good twist. 

All the 'stop JFK' is predicated that he would have been a great president. He was a typical cold war president. 

[DoctorAtomic]

JFK was gay?! 

[DoctorAtomic]

You will all be most pleased to know today at the market as I packed my bag, my baguette ended up standing straight up for the second time this summer!

[Raja]

On 7/28/2020 at 6:47 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

JFK was gay?! 

No but he would have blamed for Vietnam instead of LBJ. And like later with "only Nixon (with  anti communist credentials) could go to China " only a Southerner could pass through the Civil rights acts of the middle 60s 

[DoctorAtomic]

That's basically what I meant when I said 'typical cold war president'. I'd add LBJ's personal relationships as majority leader in the senate prior also contributed to the passage of the civil rights acts as well. 

Now, one may argue LBJ doesn't decline to run again and we bypass Nixon altogether. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 7/28/2020 at 10:45 AM, leighdear said:

It's like a circular butterfly effect.  No matter how or when the alternate action takes place, the result is always going to be as bad or worse than the original result.  Kinda cool, but not cool.  *LOL*

Star Trek quite often visited this.  The result was that there could never be a Utopia, and trying to create one was actually more destructive than when you started.

Then the Simpsons took this one step farther in a pretty clever episode.  Lisa wished for "World Peace" and her wish was granted!

So what would be wrong with world peace?  Once all humans got rid of the weapons that were no longer needed, the incompetent aliens, Kang and Kodos, were finally able to take over the planet!