History Main / CaughtComingHomeLate

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', Bob returns home, eats a slice of cake, and discovers Helen waiting up for him. Cue kung-fu pose with cake in hand. IT's played up as though he were having an affair, but in truth he's actually gone back to superheroing.

* Played twice in ''WesternAnimation/{{Luca}}''. Luca lies to his parents after returning late yet the second time he gets in big trouble and his parents discovered his action thus wanting Uncle Ugo to take Luca to the deep only for Luca to run away.

* In ''Series/StrangerThings'', when Nancy returns home late from Steve's party, her mother is waiting in the corridor to berate her.

* ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}'': After [[SparedButNotForgiven confronting the murderer of Ben and May Parker]] and [[ItMakesSenseInContext getting a new car]], this trope happens when the teens walk in on Splinter, who knew the whole time that they'd run off to Brooklyn. While he understands why they went, [[YouAreGrounded he still punishes them for sneaking out]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Bob returns home, eats a slice of cake, and discovers Helen waiting up for him. Cue kung-fu pose with cake in hand. IT's played up as though he were having an affair, but in truth he's actually gone back to superheroing.

* ''Series/DoomPatrol'': In a flashback, [[SympatheticAdulterer Larry]] arrives home late after being with his gay lover, only to find his wife waiting to confront him about how he hasn't changed despite promising to. He tells her that their family is what keeps him sane, but that does not placate her.

Typically, the guilty party is a husband or a teenage child who was hanging out with friends for too long, or they weren't supposed to have left in the first place and had gone SneakingOutAtNight. Perhaps the character simply broke curfew and now hopes to return home without waking anyone. When the waiting party is someone's parents, they are oftentimes an EducationMama or HelicopterParents, and the child will be [[YouAreGrounded grounded]] as a result. When this trope occurs with a husband coming home to a disapproving wife, it simultaneously reinforces the stereotypes that [[AwfulWeddedLife husbands are untrustworthy or immature and that wives are nags.]]

Typically, the guilty party is a husband or a teenage child who was hanging out with friends for too long, or they weren't supposed to have left in the first place and had gone SneakingOutAtNight. Perhaps the character simply broke curfew and now hopes to return home without waking anyone. When the waiting party is someone's parents, they are oftentimes an EducationMama or HelicopterParents, and the child will be [[YouAreGrounded grounded]] as a result. When this trope occurs with a husband coming home to a disapproving wife, it simultaneously reinforces the stereotypes that husbands are untrustworthy or immature and that wives are nags.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Bob returns home, eats a slice of cake, and discovers Helen waiting up for him. Cue kung-fu pose with cake in hand.

Typically, the guilty party is a husband or a teenage child who was hanging out with friends for too long, or they weren't supposed to have left in the first place and had gone SneakingOutAtNight. Perhaps the character simply broke curfew and now hopes to return home without waking anyone. When the waiting party is someone's parents, they are oftentimes an EducationMama or OverprotectiveDad, and the child will be [[YouAreGrounded grounded]] as a result. When this trope occurs with a husband coming home to a disapproving wife, it simultaneously reinforces the stereotypes that husbands are untrustworthy or immature and that wives are nags.

* ''Webcomic/KiwiBlitz'': Steffi's best friend Benzene is caught by his parents after going out to fight crime with her, providing the page picture.

[[folder: Comic Books]]

* In the [[https://youtu.be/I79TpDe3t2g Cold War recap]] of ''WebAnimation/Oversimplified'' Stalin greets a Soviet citizen of East Berlin as he returns home from West Berlin.

[[folder:Web comics]]
* Webcomic/KiwiBlitz: Steffi's best friend Benzene is caught by his parents after going out to fight crime with her, providing the page picture.

** ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''

** In [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 the reboot]], Bubbles is in curlers sitting in chair angrily waiting for Donny the Unicorn to come home from a visit with a new friend. From the episode "Odd Bubbles Out".

* ''WesternAnimation/PeppermintRose'' begins with Rose stuck at home because she was grounded for coming home late the previous night.

* ''Webcomic/TheLegendOfGenji'': At the end of Chapter 1, Genji returns home in the dead of night and stealthily climbs through the window of his apartment, only to find his mother waiting for him inside, ready to chew him out for SneakingOutAtNight during a military curfew.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** One episode has Harold walking in with his wife there waiting, unknowingly to him, with wonderful news.
** This is played straight and inverted in an episode where the Professor begins dating a disguised Sedusa. The first time it's used, she scolds the girls for being out at night despite them being superheroes. Later on, the roles get reversed when the girls sit in the living room waiting for her to come home after a crime-spree.
** In the reboot, Bubbles is in curlers sitting in chair angrily waiting for Donny the Unicorn to come home from a visit with a new friend. From the episode "Odd Bubbles Out."

[[quoteright:275:[[Webcomic/KiwiBlitz https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kb_benzene.png]] They're clearly expecting Ethanol at this point.]]

* On the show ''Series/TeenWolf'' Scott came home, closed the window, turned on the lights and BAM! There was Derek, sitting in a chair expectantly. Stiles went to Scott's house, went to his room, closed the door, turned on the lights and saw Scott sitting in a chair.
* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', in the episode "The Bizarro Jerry", Kramer returns home to Jerry's apartment after a day at "work", when he turns on the light and finds Jerry sitting in the dark. Jerry is sitting at the table and they argue about Kramer being late.
* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'': TheStinger for "George Goes to Disneyland" has George coming home late and being greeted by Max, who reminds him that he called into work sick with a tummy ache. He then turns on the light to reveal George covered in Disneyland merchandise, and he yells "I knew it! You went to Disneyland without me!".
* In ''Series/StrangerThings'', when Nancy returns home late from Steve's party, her mother is waiting in the corridor to berate her.

* In ''Series/TheDayAfter'' a young woman creeps quietly home at daybreak after spending the night with her boyfriend, only to be confronted by her angry father. She points out that she is going to be married the next day, which is actually the source of his emotions- fear of losing his 'little girl'.[[/folder]]

Typically, the guilty party is a husband or a teenage child who was hanging out with friends for too long, or they weren't supposed to have left in the first place and had sneaked out. Perhaps the character simply broke curfew and now hopes to return home without waking anyone. When the waiting party is someone's parents, they are oftentimes an EducationMama or OverprotectiveDad, and the child will be [[YouAreGrounded grounded]] as a result. When this trope occurs with a husband coming home to a disapproving wife, it simultaneously reinforces the stereotypes that husbands are untrustworthy or immature and that wives are nags.

* Mindy McCready's "Guys Do It All The Time" starts out with her coming home at four in the morning to an angry boyfriend, only for her to point out the DoubleStandard that men often go out drinking with their buddies until the wee hours and expect not to get hassled about it.