History Main / FriendsRentControl

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': Mac's apartment is fairly spacious, despite the fact that he lives with his single mother who's supporting him and his brother. His father is presumed dead (as opposed to divorced or separated), so she probably doesn't get child support or alimony. It's also revealed that the enormous, titular Foster's Home gets donations (in reference to a house that feeds and provides room & board for hundreds of imaginary friends). Although when Mac fibs about there being no hot water, his mom passes it off as one of the problems with their home.
* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'': The alien trio move into a large house outside downtown Sherman (similar to UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}). How do they afford it? Why Octus is able to create[[note]]sounds nicer than counterfeit[[/note]] money to pay for it as opposed to applying for a home loan. ([[SarcasmMode ''Fine. ''Everyone'' pays for houses in cash."]])

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': Mac's apartment is fairly spacious, despite the fact that he lives with his single mother who's supporting him and his brother. His father is presumed dead (as opposed to divorced or separated), so she probably doesn't get child support or alimony. It's also revealed that the enormous, titular Foster's Home gets donations (in reference to a house that feeds and provides room & board for hundreds of imaginary friends).
* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'': The alien trio move into a large house outside downtown Sherman (similar to UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}). How do they afford it? Why Octus is able to create[[note]]sounds nicer than counterfeit[[/note]] money to pay for it as opposed to applying for a home loan. ([[SarcasmMode "Fine. ''Everyone'' pays for houses in cash."]]

->''"Without a doubt, the combined forces of [[SexAndTheCity Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda]] have been more devastating to life in New York than anything dreamed up by Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay. As a cable series,'' Sex ''turned New York's way of life upside down -- convincing millions of Midwest dreamers that they could afford a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment by writing a single newspaper column every four months, that they could subsist entirely on Cosmos and pastries, and that they would magically have enough free time and disposable income to lunch with the girls in between Manolo Blahnik shopping sprees. Utterly devastating."''

Your cast of good-looking single hangarounds live in a fancy apartment in the middle of the town. None of them seems to work, or if they do, they're usually [[OneHourWorkWeek actors, columnists or whatever leaves them with a lot of leisure time]] to have drama in their clean, well-furnished flats. How can they afford it? They have Friends Rent Control, named after ''Series/{{Friends}}'', where the cast [=handwaved=] their situation by saying they had rent control.

Your cast of good-looking single hangarounds live in a fancy apartment in the middle of the town. None of them seems to work, or if they do, they're usually [[OneHourWorkWeek actors, columnists or whatever leaves them with a lot of leisure time]] to have drama in their clean, well-furnished flats. How can they afford it? They have Friends Rent Control, named after ''{{Friends}}'', where the cast {{handwave}}d their situation by saying they had rent control.

* DonaldDuck lives in a free-standing two-floor house, despite not being able to hold a job for very long, or living on his uncle's slave labor wages. Handwaved by claiming Scrooge rents him the house, but that just raises more questions.

* ''{{Friends}}'', the TropeNamer. HandWaved by Monica claiming that her place actually belongs to her grandmother: Monica is illegally subletting it. The superintendent is actually aware that Monica is breaking the law, and one episode centered on Joey trying to persuade him not to blow the whistle after his patience runs out. Chandler and Joey's apartment directly across the hall is an aversion, as Chandler has what is implied to be a high-paying white collar job which would allow him to support both himself and the frequently unemployed Joey, and yet their apartment is roughly a quarter the size of Monica's and is sparsely furnished. By the end of the series, most of the characters ended up with jobs that would have allowed them to afford the apartments outright.

* Richie and Eddie from ''{{Bottom}}'' definitely are not LivingInAFurnitureStore: their residence is a gradually decaying first-floor walkup flat over a corner shop. And yet, although we occasionally meet the landlord, making the rent never seems to be an issue, despite the fact that our protagonists haven't held a steady job since 1979. They attempt to HandWave this away in an early episode by mentioning an aunt of Richie's who is the actual owner of the flat; said aunt, however, is never spoken of again.
* ''TheWestWing'' has perhaps the strangest variation on this. The show's sets include vast, opulently furnished rooms such as the Lobby, the Roosevelt Room, and the Mural Room. The real-life West Wing either doesn't have these at all, or has much smaller, shabbier versions, as you'd expect given that it's essentially a government office building. Part of what causes this dissonance is the desire to create a sense of constant activity within the White House, resulting in the TV version being more active than the real thing (as well as having many more pretty glass doors and windows to exhibit this activity).

* In ''{{Reaper}}'', the guys move into a ''massive'' three bedroom apartment which cost them only $1,200 a month in rent. Despite Sock trying to HandWave it away by saying that he "got a great deal" and it "used to be a meth lab," it's obviously way over the minimum-wage group's income bracket. Especially considering the established gay couple living next door, who have obviously been there for ages, and the wonderful state of repair it is in. This is later justified when it is revealed that [[spoiler:the Devil, Satan, Father of Lies, He Who Is Legion, the Beast Whose Number Is 666, happened to sign their lease as part of an EvilPlan to put down a demonic rebellion.]]

** It was also never explained how Angel could afford to live and keep an office in the building that he used for Season 1. The hotel used for Season 2 onwards however received two {{Handwave}}s on the subject: first a wealthy client who owed Angel Investigations a favour handled all of the paperwork on the matter, then [[AmoralAttorney Lilah]] (in order to piss off a co-worker) fabricated even more paperwork.

* In ''{{Seinfeld}}'', Jerry and Elaine have steady jobs, and Jerry's apartment is based heavily on his actual former apartment in the Upper West Side. George's living arrangements depend on his employment status, sometimes resulting in him having to live with his parents. As far as Kramer is concerned, no one has any idea how he can afford his apartment with no obvious source of income, but this was kind of a RunningGag throughout the series. It was shown in an episode of Mad About You that Kramer sublets from Paul and that Paul doesn't want to let go of the apartment; as such he may be subletting at under market value as Kramer is a "good" tenet.

** The trope was handwaved in the first episode, when Charlie flat-out says "I get paid a lot of money for doing very little work".

* Averted (mostly) in ''TheCosbyShow''. Supposedly the show was originally supposed to be about a working class family, but when someone saw the set they said that the Huxtable family would have to have better jobs to afford a house like that. Thus Heathcliff is a high-ranking obstetrician and his wife a successful attorney. The novelty of a black family being upper-middle class on television is front and center in the first episode, where instead of accepting his son's decision to quit school and become a bus driver, Heathcliff brow beats the boy into going to college so he can get a white collar job.
* On ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', three twenty-something women (only two of whom have jobs) own a large three-story Victorian manor with a yard in San Francisco, a very dense urban area with some of the most expensive real estate in the country. The issue is supposedly [[HandWave handwaved]] that it has been in the family for generations and has been inherited, but the Halliwells would likely not be able to even afford the property tax on a home that would likely sell for at least $5 million, assuming it's not in wealthy or desirable part of town. Also bear in mind the place belonged to their Grandmother first and Prue and Piper only moved back in just a few months before they became witches. When Penny died she likely had some form of inheritance and before that Prue was a museum curator, then a prominent job at an auction house. In season 2 she also becomes a photographer for a magazine and she seems to have no trouble finding work. Piper was previously a bank teller, then the head chef in a posh restaurant before setting up her own club that always seems to have a decent amount of people in there. When Paige moved into the house she was a social worker though quit her job and never worked full-time after that. Phoebe seemed to go in and out of various jobs in the early seasons before becoming a very successful advice columnist (successful enough to be given talk show appearances, billboards and plenty of interviews). This is acknowledged as she does not gain a car until season 5 where she's been at her job for a good few months. While their house is always under threat from demons, some episodes do show them using magic to repair damages.

** Xander averted this in season four, living in his parents' basement and being charged rent while he went through a number of scut jobs. Then in season five he moves into an absurdly spacious apartment, with the HandWave that he had earlier been given a permanent job with a decent level of responsibility. Justified by season seven when he's in charge of a major project and frequently in suits to talk to clients.

To emphasize, this isn't just about having a large or open plane home for the characters. It is about the correlation between typical price of living, financial stability of the characters, the ''quality'' of the place and its surrounding neighborhood, and then the actual size. Having a large home wouldn't be too expensive if it's in a [[WrongSideOfTheTracks "quaint"]] neighborhood, {{Suburbia}}, and/or smaller cities like UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} or {{Milwaukee}} which have low costs of living. And a steady day-job tends to be more lucrative than a wish-fulfillment career.

* The Tendo Dojo in ''RanmaOneHalf'' is a traditional Japanese compound with four bedrooms, two guestrooms, a large tearoom, and a large freestanding dojo, all surrounded by a an expansive walled garden. It's a bit much for a bad for a self=employed martial artist supporting three daughters and three freeloaders.
While it's reasonable to assume that a traditional dojo would have room to house students, Mr. Tendo doesn't appear to have any students, other than Akane (daughter) and Ranms (freeloader).

* Another deliberate aversion is Haruhi's cramped apartment in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', which stands in deliberate contrast to the rediculously vast palatial homes of her ultra-wealthy classmates.
she's appalled to discover that Tamaki's house is larger than her entire apartment building and even more appalled when she learns he lives in his grandmother's guest house; the main house is even bigger.
* The Tendo-ke in ''RanmaOneHalf'' is a traditional Japanese compound with four bedrooms, two guestrooms, a large tearoom, and a large freestanding dojo, all surrounded by a an expansive walled garden. It's a bit much for a bad for a self=employed martial artist supporting three daughters and three freeloaders.While it's reasonable to assume that a traditional dojo would have room to house students, Mr. Tendo doesn't appear to have any students, other than Akane (daughter) and Ranms (freeloader).

* Averted in ''{{Anime/Noir}}'', where the 19-20 year old Mireille's Parisian apartment may be fairly large, but it's also only one room and has a divider between the sleeping and living areas. Additionally, it's heavily implied that in addition to her income as a high priced assassin she receives assistance from her uncle Claude (who lives in a mansion) and that she inherited her family's considerable wealth after their deaths 10 years prior to the start of the show.

* Another deliberate aversion is Haruhi's cramped apartment in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', which stands in deliberate contrast to the vast palatial homes of her ultra-wealthy classmates.

* In ''[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'', one has to wonder how Delia Ketchum affords her house, considering that she doesn't seem to work and she has no husband. While it's not alluded to in the show, [[AllThereInTheManual additional material]] reveals that she runs the only restaurant in town.

* Played with in various continuities of TenchiMuyo. A frequent cause of disbelief is the size of Tenchi's house, that's apparently too large for the incomes of a single architect ([[BumblingDad Tenchi's father]] Nobuyuki) and a retired Shinto priest (his grandfather Katsuhito) to maintain, let alone acquire a land for, especially with the frequent {{Broke Episode}}s in TV Series, bringing the accusations of Masakis being the LandPoor. On the other hand, at least in the OVA continuity it's justified by the fact that it sits in countryside on the grounds of a family shrine, of which Katsuhito is the priest, and that their original house in the city was much smaller.

* The heroes of ''LakeviewTerrace'' buy a large, beautiful house with an in-ground pool in a wealthy district of Los Angeles, an area with very high housing costs. They refer to this as a "starter home".

** Played straight with Phoebe though, whose apartment was larger and nice than Joey and Chandler's. Justified in early seasons as she was sharing it with her grandmother but is later living alone on a massuse's salary.

* Averted in ''TheDrewCareyShow'' where the set was modeled after the real house Drew's mother had in Cleveland. In-universe, meanwhile, it was explained by saying Drew bought the house from his parents when they moved out of state. Drew also may not have a particularly lucrative job, but it is middle-management of a department store (sort of, he's the Assistent to the non-existent Director of Personel, meaning he does [[CosmicPlaything all the work without getting the money]]).

* Averted (mostly) in ''TheCosbyShow''. Supposedly the show was originally supposed to be about a working class family, but when someone saw the set they said that the Huxtable family would have to have better jobs to afford a house like that.

* A non {{Sitcom}} example: ''Series/BurnNotice'' generally avoids the trope, as it's a plot point how Michael's apartment is horrible despite the fact he could get a better one. It's not bad size-wise, but it's not actually rated as being a legitimate apartment as it has bare floors, a small kitchen area, a steel frame "second floor" and no room partitions (it seemed to have been mildly renovated from a storage site). It's also over a nightclub. Michael also apparently does "favors" for his landlord, further driving the price down. While Fiona might follow this trope with a waterside bungalow in Miami and no job (strictly speaking), her gun running and occasional bounty hunting jobs can help [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief suspend disbelief.]] Sam, by contrast, has a series of well-off sugar mamas.

** This is averted and regularly lampshaded with Allen who can only afford to live in Malibu because he does not pay rent to Charlie or Walden and in later seasons becomes unemployed and supports himself by mooching off Walden.

* Subverted in ''MyNameIsEarl''. Even with his lottery winnings, Earl and Randy still live in a cheap, rundown motel. Before that, They lived in a trailer which Joy and Darnell now own. When Earl gets job, He and Randy have fairly modest apartment (One that a salesmen with pre-existing funds could afford in a non-competitive property market).

* FullHouse: Some found it unrealistic that Danny could have afforded what was obviously a very nice, very big town house in a presumably equally very nice section of San Francisco on a TV morning show host's salary, as well as support three young children. There's never any mention of Joey or Jesse paying him rent (not that they could have, given how sporadic their employment was for the first few seasons of the show). [[FridgeBrilliance Then again, given that Danny was a widower, maybe his late wife's life insurance helped some.]]

* Played in ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. Nobody in New York, especially not owners of a sandwich shop that seems to be perpetually half-empty, can have a house, complete with basement, parking lot, and balcony in TriBeCa. Though there could be explanation in that Jerry (the dad) seems to STILL have some very big pull in the magical world. This would help with the situation.

** Heck, the main character's no exception! Madoka's dad is a househusband, she has a baby brother and her mom is a realistically alcoholic business woman. Even if she makes a ton, it can't be enough to afford the Kanames' large, custom-built, ultramodern house in the Mitakihara suburbs.

* Parodied on ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'' when August is planning her future with Tommy:

** Averted entirely by the cramped attic rented by the four protagonists throughout the run of the series. Harry's "bedroom" is essentially a closet under the stairs, much like that of [[HarryPotter a later Harry]].

To emphasize, this isn't just about having a large or open plane home for the characters. It is about the correlation between typical price of living, financial stability of the characters, the ''quality'' of the place and its surrounding neighborhood, and then the actual size. Having a large home wouldn't be too expensive if it's in a [[WrongSideOfTheTracks "quaint"]] neighborhood, {{Suburbia}}, and/or a traditionally blue-collar city like UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} or {{Milwaukee}} where the rent would be relatively low, and a steady day-job tends to be more lucrative than a wish-fulfillment career.

** Among the DVD Extras for ''AzumangaDaioh'' are set designs and layouts. Relevant is 'Nyamo's One Room Efficiency', the tiny apartment one of the teachers lives in [which is roughly the size of a single room, just subdivided into more, tinier rooms]. The other teacher character still lives with her parents.

* Film/SleepingWithTheEnemy: Laura is able to rent, fix up, and maintain a HUGE, beautiful home, despite only having a part-time job at a library before fleeing her abusive husband and initially not working at all when she does get away. And when she does finally start working, she's still in a job that doesn't pay much. Even for Iowa in the early 90's that's quite a stretch. As well as that she's able to afford plenty of luxuries like brand name products. This is AdaptationDecay as in the book she had to live on oatmeal and water for months when she first ran away.
* Averted in MarleyAndMe (no doubt because it's based on a true story), as the Grogan's increasingly nicer homes coincide with a better paycheck for each of them.

* SleepingWithTheEnemy: Laura is able to rent, fix up, and maintain a HUGE, beautiful home, despite only having a part-time job at a library before fleeing her abusive husband and initially not working at all when she does get away. And when she does finally start working, she's still in a job that doesn't pay much. Even for Iowa in the early 90's that's quite a stretch. As well as that she's able to afford plenty of luxuries like brand name products. This is AdaptationDecay as in the book she had to live on oatmeal and water for months when she first ran away.