This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Vulpy: I'm a little confused. Not all of these are bad, right? I mean, I liked The Twilight Zone's Jars of Tang, and No Exit is routinely called a classic. The Shaggy God Story can be really interesting, and Info Dump can be quite witty if handled properly. (I am especially fond of things like the Encyclopedia Galactica, provided it's an appendix I can peruse at my leisure.) This says nothing of my intrinsic fondness for the Space Western. On the other hand, As You Know, some are to be avoided. Is this more a "use with care" list than anything?
Ninjacrat: It's just our wiki in miniature.
Vulpy: Well, the tone of this piece is a little more negative than our wiki, at least to me. Me, I like the fact that we even make fun of things that are admittedly pretty absurd. Perhaps it's because this is a list of things commonly seen in "pulp"/low-grade writing, but high-grade writing can do what low-grade writing does and be successful. The trick is to do it better. I'll just try to take what wisdom I can from it. ;)
Spectrum: Vulpy, dude, you shouldn't rely on an authoritative source like the Turkey City Lexicon (or the TV Tropes Wiki, for that matter) to tell you what is good and bad. Remember that critics are just as fallible as anyone else. Take it as advice, not as any kind of final answer to anything.
The Gunheart: We so need an actual trope for Squid On The Mantelpiece. Also, I think this should be taken more as a "handle with care" guide. Tropes Are Not Bad, after all, but these are some pretty easy pitfalls to fall into.
Space Lizard: It seems like the authors despise anything that's not their brand of science fiction. See: "Tabloid Weird", aka anything that crosses over sci-fi and fantasy because the authors deny the fact that the divide is incredibly hazy.
