TV Tropes: Love 'em or Loathe 'em

[Trini]

I'm sure it's been mentioned already; but I just saw another instance of the "every hotel room in Paris has a unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower" trope.

[CoderLady]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

I'm sure it's been mentioned already; but I just saw another instance of the "every hotel room in Paris has a unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower" trope.

True Lies last night, right? I noticed that even when they changed locations the Eiffel Tower was always in the background. Every road and street in Paris must be circular, with the tower in the center of everything.

Edited March 3, 2023 by CoderLady

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, CoderLady said:

True Lies last night, right? I noticed that even when they changed locations the Eiffel Tower was always in the background. Every road and street in Paris must be circular, with the tower in the center of everything.

Ah well, kind of have to give that to them. Do you know how many Americans wouldn't be able to id Paris (with or without the Eiffel Tower now that I think about it...) ;)

[DrSpaceman73]

If you're scheduled for a home visit for adoption, the social worker will show up unexpectedly when the house and kids are dirtiest. 

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

If you're scheduled for a home visit for adoption, the social worker will show up unexpectedly when the house and kids are dirtiest. 

And you'll fly into a tizzy, tripping all over yourself in an attempt to excuse the situation, instead of knowing the social worker sees actual negligent (not to mention abuse) on the regular so will recognize a frazzled moment in a normal day when they see one.

[Kel Varnsen]

911 Lone Star reminded me of one of my most hated ones. Cops are looking for someone or something and find a clue that will give them the exact location of what they want. And instead of using a phone or radio so the nearest cop can get there quickly, it is always the main character busting down a door to make the rescue, find the bomb or whatever.

 

[Gharlane]

On 6/11/2021 at 11:33 PM, Zella said:

One of the worst feuds I've ever had with a coworker was over a comfy chair.

The original crappy chair I had broke one day. I ended up covered in bruises from it collapsing on me. So, they bring me another chair. I had no clue where it came from, but it was comfortable. Actually the most comfortable one I've ever sat in.

Then one of my coworkers claimed it was his chair that was taken from him for me (it was a dysfunctional family-run business, and his aunt and uncle ran the company, so I could see this happening). I thought that was a pretty crappy thing to do to him, so I apologized and told him he could take his chair back. I'd just swap whatever chair they gave him as a replacement for his old one.

He claimed he didn't want it back, but he still wanted to bitch about his chair being taken. Every time he saw me. He was like the martyr of the chair. Jesus on the cross didn't suffer as much as he did having that chair taken from him, apparently. It wasn't like he was trying to be funny. He was legitimately that mad about the chair.

I finally got tired of it and told him one day that sitting my ass in that incredible chair and knowing that his ass didn't get to sit in it was the highlight of my day, every day. I thought he was going to burst into tears over it, then he gave me the silent treatment for a week, but he also shut up about the fucking chair. 

I assume after I left that he grabbed it, but if someone else stole it and prevented him from doing so, that would make me happy. 

I feel like if this were a TV show, we'd have had a tropey episode where we bonded with each other and became friends, but that never happened. 

That was epic!

Did he have a red stapler?

[Zella]

24 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

That was epic!

Did he have a red stapler?

Not to my knowledge. LOL 

[andromeda331]

I've only seen this on two shows Monk and Frasier. It's a Bachelor Auction Randy from Monk and Frasier get bid on and won by a beautiful woman who then staddle them with their kid to watch for the day in Randy's case and the whole evening in Frasier's case. Randy's told the boy wanted to be a cop which is why she bid on him. Of course the kid doesn't want to be a kid. Frasier doesn't know until she shows up at his apartment with her mother who's a model and supposely has a last minute gig. First, who leaves their kid with a complete stranger? The women know nothing about them and neither Randy nor Frasier had any idea they were about to be saddled with a kid. Randy never says anything. Frasier listens to the daughter saying horrible things about her mother which he believes and tells the mother. Who goes off on Frasier for not realizing her daughter was lying. We're suppose to think Frasier's an idiot for believing her and that he blew it with another model.  But all he knows about the woman is she bid on him and then dumped her kid on him without telling him. Is it hard to believe the kid's stories after that? That's a crappy thing to do.  

[Anduin]

On screen, cars can really floor it in an emergency. In real life, drivers have to be careful and be aware of their surroundings. Today I saw a police car with its lights on, having to go slow over some speed humps. However, I once saw a fire truck drive on the wrong side of the road for a stretch.

[Mabinogia]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Frasier listens to the daughter saying horrible things about her mother which he believes and tells the mother. Who goes off on Frasier for not realizing her daughter was lying. We're suppose to think Frasier's an idiot for believing her and that he blew it with another model.  But all he knows about the woman is she bid on him and then dumped her kid on him without telling him. Is it hard to believe the kid's stories after that? That's a crappy thing to do.  

Yeah, the daughter might have been heavily exaggerating, but she also has a mother who dumped her on a guy who did not agree to watch a child because he was expecting a date with a model. That is not a good idea, just because he has a radio show and is "famous"? I mean, yikes!

The whole idea of a bachelor/bachelorette auction is icky to me. I know it is supposedly all in good fun, but I'd almost rather go on a blind date than have to go out with someone because they bought me or I bought them. 

[Bethany]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

Yeah, the daughter might have been heavily exaggerating, but she also has a mother who dumped her on a guy who did not agree to watch a child because he was expecting a date with a model. That is not a good idea, just because he has a radio show and is "famous"? I mean, yikes!

This is easily one of my favourite Frasier episodes (lots of great lines) but that said - totally agree with you and @andromeda331!  Frasier was not the one in the wrong here!  

[Bethany]

If the characters on a show end up in a foreign country they will always encounter someone who "speaks English, little"  but who then can manage to give them all the information they require and understand everything they say.  In my book that is not someone who "speaks English, little".

[Kel Varnsen]

20 hours ago, Anduin said:

On screen, cars can really floor it in an emergency. In real life, drivers have to be careful and be aware of their surroundings. Today I saw a police car with its lights on, having to go slow over some speed humps. However, I once saw a fire truck drive on the wrong side of the road for a stretch.

TV cars are also apparently ridiculously over powered. Because every cat, even the most basic family minivan can make the tires squeal when someone drives away. Anti-lock brakes also don't exist since every call will also skid to a stop when someone tries to stop.

[Anduin]

43 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

TV cars are also apparently ridiculously over powered. Because every cat, even the most basic family minivan can make the tires squeal when someone drives away. Anti-lock brakes also don't exist since every call will also skid to a stop when someone tries to stop.

And every driver is up to the task, as well. Up to and including drifting in a minivan.

[Shannon L.]

11 hours ago, Anduin said:

And every driver is up to the task, as well.

Just like everyone seems to know how to drive a motorcycle.  Riding a horse well enough to gallop through city streets seems to be a pretty common skill, too.

[merylinkid]

I can make my Ford Focus squeal tires when I accelerate off the line at a red light.  It can be done.  

My personal favorite is Piranha with Tiffany.  They are seen racing through the streets and you can see the guy moving his arm like he is working a stick shift.  Then they do a close up and its an AUTOMATIC transmission.   

[Grrarrggh]

14 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

TV cars are also apparently ridiculously over powered. Because every cat, even the most basic family minivan can make the tires squeal when someone drives away. Anti-lock brakes also don't exist since every call will also skid to a stop when someone tries to stop.

I think pretty much everything on TV is overpowered. Their guns also cause people to be actually thrown backwards when they get shot. 

[Bastet]

Actors are better about this today, but my "favorite" thing about TV car chases in the '70s and '80s is how one can violently yank the steering wheel to and fro up to 90 degrees in each direction yet the car will keep going in a nearly straight line.

[Annber03]

My favorite aspect of driving scenes is looking out the back window at the scenery behind them, and you can see curved roads that the characters supposedly just drove on, yet the driver made no turn of the wheel at any point. Or the scenery doesn't seem to quite match where the characters are supposed to be driving. 

And then, of course, the fact that the background scenery is so obviously a green screen, there's no effort whatsoever to try and make it look natural :p. 

[ABay]

4 hours ago, Bastet said:

Actors are better about this today, but my "favorite" thing about TV car chases in the '70s and '80s is how one can violently yank the steering wheel to and fro up to 90 degrees in each direction yet the car will keep going in a nearly straight line.

It doesn't seem too outlandish to me; I learned to drive on a car without power steering. Like trying to park a battleship.

Edited March 13, 2023 by ABay

[Spartan Girl]

I really hate the “parent takes the fall for kid’s crime” especially if it ends with the guilty child/teen watching helplessly. Instead of just, you know, TELLING THE TRUTH. 

This really annoyed me in an SVU episode “Vanity’s Bonfire” where a teenage girl killed her father’s mistress because she was harassing her terminally ill mother, and the mother winds up taking the fall (after failing to frame the scumbag dad). Even worse was that even when found the truth, she covered it up, agreeing to help the girl get counseling. I mean…I just can’t. No amount of therapy could it should make you feel better for your mom going to jail for you while dying of cancer. It would have been better to just tell the truth; the girls’ mental state and age and the fact that the mistress was a psycho bitch that pretty much got what she deserved would have at least gotten her a good plea deal!

There’s no way in hell I’d ever let my parents go to jail for something I did.

[DoctorAtomic]

Clever title though.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 3/12/2023 at 8:44 AM, Shannon L. said:

Just like everyone seems to know how to drive a motorcycle.  Riding a horse well enough to gallop through city streets seems to be a pretty common skill, too.

Or fly any aircraft, from a helicopter to an alien spaceship.

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Or fly any aircraft, from a helicopter to an alien spaceship.

Ironically Airplane of all movies brought that up when asking Ted to fly the plane after both pilots get food poisoning. He points out he flew in the war but that was a different kind of plane, his ex-girlfriend says he can't fly the plane when she sees him in the pilot seat and his old commander who's suppose to help him land the plane asks if he's ever flown a multi-engine plane before. When Ted says no the commander's says "Shit! This is a Goddamn waste of time. He can't fly that plane."

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Ted: "It's a totally different kind of flying altogether!"

Flight crew: "It's a totally different kind of flying."

[Danielg342]

On 3/12/2023 at 1:39 PM, Grrarrggh said:

I think pretty much everything on TV is overpowered. Their guns also cause people to be actually thrown backwards when they get shot. 

Depends on who gets shot, I find. Most people get thrown back, but if you're the hero or some other kind of badass, you might grimace a bit but after that you're back at it, shooting at your opponent like it's nothing.

What really gets me about TV guns are how accurate the shooters are. Just about everyone- especially those important to the resolution of the plot- are deadeye accurate marksmen who can shoot their target precisely where they need to shoot them. Especially when doing all kinds of athletic hijinks like shooting from behind their back that should lower their accuracy immensely.

[paulvdb]

On the other hand, multiple bad guys can fire their automatic weapons at the hero and not a single bullet will hit him.

[Raja]

4 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

What really gets me about TV guns are how accurate the shooters are. Just about everyone- especially those important to the resolution of the plot- are deadeye accurate marksmen who can shoot their target precisely where they need to shoot them. Especially when doing all kinds of athletic hijinks like shooting from behind their back that should lower their accuracy immensely.

I just saw that yesterday, one of those John Wick inspired scenes when an undercover agent trying to maintain his cover shoots a series of  regular agents in the legs and arms to fight his way out of capture.

[DoctorAtomic]

Clone Wars was great about Storm Troopers missing all the time. In the finale, or near finale, Rex had his helmet on, and ripped it off, "I can see anything in this!"

[Danielg342]

I can understand, on a level, why Hollywood organizes their marksmen the way they do. Obviously, you want your heroes to look effective, and an easy way to build dramatic tension is to have that "video game sequence" where the enemies get progressively harder for the hero to take out (for more tension, add some redshirts).

The problem is that Hollywood tends to take this unbelievable levels, with characters you'd think shouldn't be sharpshooters being able to shoot with precision and supposedly well-trained, elite soldiers forgetting all of their training at the worst moment. The Stormtroopers are the poster boys for Hollywood's poor treatment of marksmanship and deservedly so- they were built up so much only to let us down in epic fashion.

How do we solve this problem? I'd like to see heroic characters get a bit more creative in finding ways to counteract superior marksmanship. One way is to always stay in motion and making great use of hiding spots- it's not perfect, but it would frustrate even the best snipers. Muhammad Ali wasn't wrong in saying "you can't hit what your eyes can't see".

[Grrarrggh]

13 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I can understand, on a level, why Hollywood organizes their marksmen the way they do. Obviously, you want your heroes to look effective, and an easy way to build dramatic tension is to have that "video game sequence" where the enemies get progressively harder for the hero to take out (for more tension, add some redshirts).

The problem is that Hollywood tends to take this unbelievable levels, with characters you'd think shouldn't be sharpshooters being able to shoot with precision and supposedly well-trained, elite soldiers forgetting all of their training at the worst moment. The Stormtroopers are the poster boys for Hollywood's poor treatment of marksmanship and deservedly so- they were built up so much only to let us down in epic fashion.

How do we solve this problem? I'd like to see heroic characters get a bit more creative in finding ways to counteract superior marksmanship. One way is to always stay in motion and making great use of hiding spots- it's not perfect, but it would frustrate even the best snipers. Muhammad Ali wasn't wrong in saying "you can't hit what your eyes can't see".

I think I'll clear my bad-shooters-shooting-way-too-well palate by watching Wanted again. That was just the right side of "not supposed to be believable" to work when it comes to this trope. Plus, James McAvoy looks damn good.

[Anduin]

More a kind of internet urban legend, but I think it's still relevant. An American military unit was deployed to an allied country. They took their mascot, a big cat, which subsequently got loose. But notice, it's always a puma or panther. The Americas have bobcats, jaguars*, leopards*, and mountain lions. You never hear about them, do you?

On the other hand, can you imagine local headlines if they dare bring a mountain lion? Americans bringing their own cougars? Are our own not good enough? And if they get loose, cougar on the prowl!

*I know that panthers are just dark jaguars or leopards, let's not get *too* pedantic.

[janie jones]

I'm sorry, but I am going to be pedantic, because it answers your question. As you noted, a panther and a jaguar are the same thing. Pumas and mountain lions are also the same thing. Bobcats are not particularly big and scary, and neither really are lynxes, although I don't think they're present in the US enough be a military mascot. Leopards are not from North America, so that's why they wouldn't be an American military mascot.

So the only choices are the panther/jaguar, the cougar/puma/mountain lion, which are both scary, but also present in the trope, as you mentioned; and the bobcat, which is only slightly larger than a large housecat and not really something you're going to lock up your children over if it's on the loose.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:24 PM, Danielg342 said:

I can understand, on a level, why Hollywood organizes their marksmen the way they do. Obviously, you want your heroes to look effective, and an easy way to build dramatic tension is to have that "video game sequence" where the enemies get progressively harder for the hero to take out (for more tension, add some redshirts).

The problem is that Hollywood tends to take this unbelievable levels, with characters you'd think shouldn't be sharpshooters being able to shoot with precision and supposedly well-trained, elite soldiers forgetting all of their training at the worst moment. The Stormtroopers are the poster boys for Hollywood's poor treatment of marksmanship and deservedly so- they were built up so much only to let us down in epic fashion.

How do we solve this problem? I'd like to see heroic characters get a bit more creative in finding ways to counteract superior marksmanship. One way is to always stay in motion and making great use of hiding spots- it's not perfect, but it would frustrate even the best snipers. Muhammad Ali wasn't wrong in saying "you can't hit what your eyes can't see".

Jack Bauer did have the hoodie of invisibility and the impenetrable man purse. Isn't that all a good guy needs to be safe from bullets? 

[Danielg342]

49 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Jack Bauer did have the hoodie if invisibility and the impenetrable man purse. Isn't that all a good guy needs to be safe from bullets? 

Well, Jack Bauer is also not human. I mean, he never needs sleep or food and he never has to do what bears do in the woods...

[Haleth]

15 hours ago, janie jones said:

only slightly larger than a large housecat and not really something you're going to lock up your children over if it's on the loose.

I know some pretty scary house cats! 🤣

13 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Well, Jack Bauer is also not human. I mean, he never needs sleep or food and he never has to do what bears do in the woods...

And he even overcame death and continued his mission.  No biggie.

[Gharlane]

 

On 9/22/2022 at 12:24 PM, DearEvette said:

Yeah, that trope is what in romancelandia is call the 'The Grand Mis' (short for grand misunderstanding).  it is a stupid conflict because one simple conversation would clear everything up.  It doesn't work especially if that is what you are hanging your entire plot on.

That is why I hated Three's Company.

[Shannon L.]

The Grand Misunderstanding is my most hated trope.  I can live with most tropes, but this one drives me crazy. I'm constantly muttering/talking/yelling "tell them/him/her" at the tv.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Gharlane said:

 

That is why I hated Three's Company.

I don't think Three's Company works in a Grand Misunderstood premise because the grand premise is that Mr. Roper would not accept that a straight man would live in that situation without getting "benefits" on occasion no matter what Jack said. Being the 70s coming out was just becoming accepted 

[DoctorAtomic]

There was a lot of Jack overhearing someone talking in the kitchen and jumping to the wrong conclusion on Three's Company though. The premise of the show was Jack being gay to live with the girls, but the trope was mined deeply on the show otherwise. Also going to the Regal Beagle, the best bar name ever. 

 

[Peace 47]

One trope that I’ve noticed that many fans really respond to is the Character Death (that cannot be undone by magic/ sci-fi etc.). I’m feeling some ambivalence about how the trope is becoming to be viewed as the last frontier of brave storytelling and that the death is needed for the story/ episode/ movie to be seminal, serious or awards-worthy.

Like, there is obviously tremendous variation among shows and how they deploy this (a couple of old examples where I don’t think the deaths were for plaudits but to tell a viscerally violent story were something like Hank’s death on Breaking Bad or Lucy’s death on ER).  It’s just that these days, it’s as if the audience is forever hungering for the “death” episode and ready to call a show a cop-out if they don’t deliver, and the showrunners know this and deliver on it as a matter of course in every show.  I feel as though the shows (again, using older examples so people don’t come after me for spoilers) Lucifer and Alias delivered on a death in the last season simply because it is expected that someone important has to die.  I don’t know, maybe it’s that people want the catharsis that processing a fictional death can bring and that’s why it’s so popular.  But sometimes I feel like people (myself included) may be responding to the adrenaline rush of the shock and not the story.  I don’t know if I’m making sense.

I’m obviously thinking about it in the context of this super-recent example:

Spoiler

Succession:  Logan’s death was obviously necessary to the story and it alters existing character dynamics in ways unknown, but the mere fact that he died doesn’t automatically need to elevate this episode to the best one of the series, either.  I mean, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but why does the death episode get so elevated?

 

[Egg McMuffin]

9 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

There was a lot of Jack overhearing someone talking in the kitchen and jumping to the wrong conclusion on Three's Company though. The premise of the show was Jack being gay to live with the girls, but the trope was mined deeply on the show otherwise. Also going to the Regal Beagle, the best bar name ever. 

 

My two favorites: Roper overheard Chrissy and Jack talking about her wart, and he thought she was talking about being pregnant. Or when Jack was dating Helen’s cousin, a slightly older woman, and the girls though he was dating Helen’s elderly aunt instead.

[paulvdb]

I've never watched Three's Company, but I know that a lot of plots involve some kind of misunderstanding. The show was so well know for it that there was an episode of Friends that had this joke (paraphrased because I don't remember the exact quote). One of the Friends is watching an episode of Three's Company. One of the other Friends enters the room and asks which episode it is. The first Friend answers: "It's the one where there's a wacky misunderstanding." The second Friend replies: "Oh, I've already seen that one."

[DoctorAtomic]

I watched reruns of Three's Company back when there were cable channels with late night reruns. The show does not hold up. 

But I got swinging doors to my kitchen! You have to have those. 

[Fool to cry]

 

 

[scarynikki12]

I don't know if it has a name but I'm not a fan of the one where someone becomes a/the suspect in a crime because they have a family member with the knowledge of whatever subject is relevant to the crime committed. Maybe it's just me but if I become a suspect in a crime because the profilers decide the person has a history of construction (Dad) or extensive knowledge of American History (Mom) that's just stupid. I don't know anything about construction and no one will ever mistake me for an expert in American History. Yet characters on shows become suspects when the investigators learn about the family member with the specific knowledge they're looking for. 

[Fool to cry]

 

 

[Dr.OO7]

On 3/3/2023 at 2:15 PM, Trini said:

I'm sure it's been mentioned already; but I just saw another instance of the "every hotel room in Paris has a unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower" trope.

That trope is literally called the Eiffel Tower Effect.

And yes, it's annoying. Someone living or visiting whatever famous city just HAS to a view of whatever famous landmark the city has just outside their hotel/apartment window, even if it would be geographically impossible.

[DoctorAtomic]

When I was in Paris you could see it from everywhere, and all the French people would say 'how you say, English...' when they wanted to ask me something and laughed like 'hohn hohn hohn'.