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36 Tropes That Movies and TV Can’t Cut the Cord On

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36 Tropes That Movies and TV Can’t Cut the Cord On

January 03, 2024

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then Hollywood might just be the friendliest, most flattering place on Earth. When Tinseltown grabs hold of something that works, it flatters the holy hell out of that thing for decades to come. Well, the awkward handshake’s ego is getting a little too inflated, so it’s time to find a new muse.

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CRACKED.COM Awful Sitcom Tropes The Jim Halpert John Krasinski looking at the camera was a perfect straight man gesture, creating complicity between the mockumentary format and the audience. After every show started following The Office's template, however, it grew tiresome, as they just had to have the smartass glancing at us to tell us how dumb everyone else was. — Source

35

Awful Sitcom Tropes Car through wall Have you noticed that many sitcoms have cars smashing through walls? Now you have. What's with that? Surely it can't be that many? Here's a non-exhaustive list of this overused comedy gimmick: Full House, Family Matters, Silver Spoons, Everybody Loves Raymond, Wings, The Suite Life of Zack And Cody, and Two and a Half Men. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CRACKED.COM Awful Sitcom Tropes Next-episode amnesia In a classic Seinfeld episode, George gets a cushy job and ends up dating Michelle Pfeiffer's sister, just by doing the opposite of his every instinct. By the next episode, he's back to being loser ol' George. Sitcoms tend to avoid hard continuity, but it is tiresome to see characters learn life lessons and forget them the following week. — Source

33

Awful Sitcom Tropes Locked in a room Bottle episodes are in every TV genre, but they can be very predictable in sitcoms. Sitcoms with episodes in which their characters end up locked inside a room include Friends, Saved by the Bell, All in the Family, Night Court, and The Office. If it's an elevator and a pregnant woman is about to give birth, even better worse. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

CRACKED.COM Awful Sitcom Tropes Killing off the mom Because of Reagan or neon spandex or something, '80s sitcoms just had to get rid of the mom. Full House, My Two Dads, Diff'rent Strokes, Punky Brewster, Empty Nest... Those were all about the fragmentation of the family by doing away with the one member keeping it together. (Either that or a sitcom mom serial killer.) — Source

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CRACKED.COM ONS RS! anny Awful Sitcom Tropes The pansexual perv In sitcom logic, straight is normal, and gay is sassy, outlandish, or just a token of corporate progressivism. Pansexuals, however, are just presented as immoral deviants. Instead of the simple concept that they might find the whole spectrum of gender attractive, they're apparently attracted to everything-so we have Dean Pelton's Dalmatian fetish in Community. — Source

30

Awful Sitcom Tropes will they or won't they Today's fluid, less committed relationships may be displacing it, but Andy and Haley in Modern Family or Annie and Jeff in Community have helped keep this ages-old trope alive. Seinfeld got it over with fast, when Jerry and Elaine hooked up in Season 2. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

CRACKED.COM Awful Sitcom Tropes Monkeys They're like humans, but hairier, dumber, and zoo keepers will stop us if we try to throw poop at them, which is just a double-standard. Sitcoms that have featured monkey business for easy jokes include Full House, Friends, 30 Rock, Family Matters, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Community, Malcolm in the Middle, and Community. — Source

28

CRACKED.COM Awful Sitcom Tropes Celebrity cameos Remember the Matt Lauer cameo in the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt pilot? Yeah. Add to that Michelle Obama in iCarly, Donald Trump in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Quentin Tarantino in All American Girl, Bob Dylan in Dharma and Gregg, or Elon Musk in The Simpsons and Rick and Morty, and you'll agree that celebrity cameos in sitcoms can be highly obnoxious. — Source

27

When you're hiding out in a bathroom stall other people in that bathroom always seem to be talking smack about you... How To Get Away With Murder American Ple Monsters Inc. D CRACKED.COM — Source

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I'm unsure of myself. I need a confidence booster. I need...a mirror!!! to m'I been I 7000 osen Raging Bull Reservoir Dogs Wanderlust 30 Rock Pulp Fiction New Girl The Sopranos 25th Hour CRACKED.COM — Source

25

STAR WARS REVENGE OF THE SITH WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD A NIGHTMARE SO INTENSE THAT YOU CONSTANTINE JOLT UP 90 DEGREES FROM YOUR BED? HOW ABOUT... NEVER? THE RING CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Terminator: Genisys James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies SMON Need a Door Locked/Unlocked? Just break the security console and the door will conveniently seal itself shut or open automatically, without setting off any alarms! CRACKED.COM Star Wars: A New Hope Resident Evil — Source

23

Gilmore Once Upon a Time Girls Charmed Just chillin' on a bed in my combat boots CRACKED.COM — Source

22

When was the last time you witnessed an uninvited guest object to a wedding before running off into the sunset with the bride? Probably in a movie theatre. The Graduate The Princess Bride Made of Honor Shrek GRACKED.COM — Source

21

Hellboy Batman Begins IT If it rains at a funeral, the guests will be prepared with matching black umbrellas. John Wick Across the Universe The Amazing Spider-Man CRACKED.COM — Source

20

TIRED COMEDY BITS I'M OKAY! Even overdone in cartoons, but at least the absurdity of an I'm okay after a building falls on someone is way funnier than a live action character just falling, giving a dramatic pause, then proclaiming, I'm okay! Extra hacky points for the thumbs up. CRACKED — Source

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TIRED COMEDY BITS PARENTS TRYING TO BE COOL Middle-aged parents who have no idea what a Tikitty Tokitty is get a massive eye-roll from their teen daughter, who either helps them understand, or just storms off in a huff. CRACKED — Source

18

TIRED COMEDY BITS AWKWARD HANDSHAKES It's usually the punchline in most commercials, but countless movies and TV shows feature a spin on it. The missed high-five, or being left hanging, or the are we gonna hug, or fist bump, or shake, or high-five, or 'oh my god, this is so awkward! CRACKED — Source

17

TIRED COMEDY BITS SERIOUSLY? This one word joke comes before or after something wacky. Before, it's usually, You're not seriously thinking about stealing that car, are you? Or after the guy steals the car, he'll pull up to a more straight laced character who just says, Seriously? CRACKED — Source

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TIRED COMEDY BITS AWKWARD! In lieu of writing an actual punchline, a character will just say awkward, and the cringe we feel is supposed to be the joke. It's not a joke! It's all set up with a forced awkward chuckle because we're uncomfortable! CRACKED — Source

15

TIRED COMEDY BITS Mets THE FAT MAN-CHILD AND HIS HOT WIFE After Homer Simpson (who ironically was created to satirize the American man), the fat idiot who is helpless without his capable (out-of-his-league) wife became the biggest sitcom trope. CRACKED — Source

14

TIRED COMEDY BITS MEN DRESSING LIKE WOMEN Once some serious shock value, it's basically men being applauded for having the courage to be seen like that. If a man legitimately performs a great female character with great jokes, game on. But the laugh simply for the sight of it should be done with. CRACKED — Source

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CRACKED.COM A character makes a wish.. Regrets making it. - — Source

12

CRACKED.COM New Girl Friends Are you best friends with your exes? How I Met Your Scrubs Mother — Source

11

GRACKED.COM SNOW PLANET. DESERT PLANET JUNGLE PLANET A planet with more than one type of biome? Only Earth. — Source

10

The romance develops CRACKED COM quickly. Canon THE BIG TWIST? She's working for the bad side. — Source

9

MR. & MRS SMITH Perfect Gift... الله Card TMNT SPIDER-MAN WALL-E DAWN OF THE DEAD X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE *Awkward Elevator CRACKED.COM Music* — Source

8

CRACKED.COM Best friends in high school (these are all specifically about males) try to lose Porky's their virginity before college or some other specific date. Hilarity rarely ensues. American Pie Superbad Girl Next Door Sex Drive — Source

7

Tired MCU Tropes Daddy issues If Spielberg movies are about divorce and Snyder movies are about desaturation filters, then MCU movies are all about daddy issues. We've seen this in the character arcs of Shang-Chi, Tony Stark, Star- Lord, and Gamora/Nebula. Far From Home's focus on Aunt May was quite refreshing in comparison. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Um, cool... thanks, man.

Tired MCU Tropes celebrity pandering Most celebrity cameos in the MCU are fun, like Sam Neill in Thor: Ragnarok - but others are just laaaame. The bottom of the barrel is Iron Man 3, with Bill Maher and especially Elon Musk. History is quickly judging that one with an ooh boy. CRACKED COM — Source

5

Tired MCU Tropes Disneyfied characters Remember how Tony Stark's alcoholism was reduced to him just peeing in his suit? The MCU was already softening its characters before Disney came along, and it became even worse after the takeover. Case in point: Hank Pym. From a psycho abuser, he turned into cranky Michael Douglas. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Tired MCU Tropes The hero's journey It might be unfair to blame the MCU for such a basic trope - and yet, at the time of writing this we'd be willing to bet that Ms. Marvel is going to end with our quirky hero hitting rock bottom, getting in touch with her true power level, and a happier status quo will result after a big CGI fight. Again. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Tired MCU Tropes The damn jokes Whether it's Korg joking after Asgard collapses, or Nick Fury's eye story being wasted on a cat, or Ned doing a sitcom pause after Toby Maguire's Peter Parker recollects Harry Osborn's death... It's like the MCU doesn't trust its own emotional anchors, and has to ruin them with silly jokes. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Tired MCU Tropes superhero landing When Iron Man did it in his first movie, it was awesome. When non-MCU Deadpool turned it into a joke, we giggled and said, I understood that reference. But by the time it was the butt of even more jokes in Black Widow, we knew it was dead. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Tired MCU Tropes Mirror-image villains A clown complementing a man dressed as a bat requires some abstract thought. Instead of that, MCU villains tend to be like the heroes, but evil. Starting with the first Iron Man, examples also include Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Shang-Chi, and WandaVision. CRACKED.COM — Source

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