History Main / FriendsRentControl

* In ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Roger and Anita seem to afford a pretty nice two-story home while also affording a nanny and two dogs despite Roger only being an amateur songwriter while Anita has never had her job said. It would seem the amount of Dalmatians finally forced them to relocate to the country in the sequel.

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 apartments. How can they afford it? They have Friends Rent Control, named after ''Series/{{Friends}}'', where the cast {{handwave}}d their situation by saying they had rent control.

* The [[{{Film/Ghostbusters2016}} 2016 reboot]] of ''Ghostbusters'' subverts it in one scene where the team are viewing a firehouse like the one from the original movies. They're all in favor of the building until the realtor tells them the rent is $21,000 a month. Erin immediately tells the realtor to burn in hell. [[spoiler:They're able to afford the building by the end when the Mayor puts them on the city's payroll]].

* Referenced and lampshaded in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''. Early in Season 4, when Fitz and Simmons were looking for an apartment together, Daisy, having gone off the grid to protect fellow Inhumans, lured Simmons into helping her by emailing her an ad for a rather nice apartment, commenting that Simmons was "always a sucker for a breakfast nook." As Daisy was always the lead ShipperOnDeck for Fitz and Simmons, she did promise Simmons that the apartment was theirs if they wanted it, adding "And it's rent-controlled."
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'',

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* ''Series/BurnNotice''.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}''

* ''Series/{{Glee}}''

* On ''Series/{{Graceland}}'' the main characters live in a spacious beach home that they could never afford. This is perfectly justified since they are federal undercover agents and the house is a safe house owned by the federal government. However, it also means that they cannot really bring any not-in-the-loop friends to the house since their cover identities could not afford the rent on a place like that and people would start asking questions. Mike can get away with this since his cover is that of a pilot on temporary assignment in LA whose expenses are covered by his airline. On the other hand, Johnny is supposed to be a personal trainer and Charlie usually pretends to be a homeless junkie so they could never explain how they can afford to live there. However, Charlie only pretends to be a junkie when working a case involving drugs, in the pilot it's mentioned she tells the locals she's a trust-fund kid.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''
** The apartment where Ted, Marshall, and Lily live has an abnormally large main room but is otherwise not that big. Both the kitchen and the bedrooms are fairly small (Ted's drafting table is in the main room cause it won't fit anywhere else) and it's implied the building itself isn't that great. Ted has always been employed as an architect and Marshall lives off his student loans. Averted when Lily moves out and ends up living in a one-room apartment so small that its Murphy bed can't even come down all the way. {{Lampshaded}} by Ted in Season 4: "I thought having a rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side was half the reason she agreed to marry me." Also lampshaded in a flashback when Marshall points out that they can just barely afford their apartment.

* The TropeNamer is parodied in ''Friends: The Musical Parody'' with the song "495 Grove Street - How Can We Afford This Place?". The answer turns out to be SuspensionOfDisbelief.

* In Mumbai, rent control was enacted during UsefulNotes/WorldWar2, and rents on most of the housing [[https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/2sEX5MD7aW1whVkxFllNCL/Rent-control-is-crippling-Indias-richest-city.html have been set at their 1940 level]].

** This really should not be the Trope Name. The explanation that Monica is (illegally) subletting a rent controlled apartment from her Grandmother is a perfectly reasonable explanation for how she and Rachel can afford a place that would otherwise be way out of their means. Plus remember that both come from upper middle class families. Their parents probably made some investments for them, they don't have student loans or other similar obligations. Nor do either have cars and the expenses associated with that.

The most obvious cause of the trope is that larger sets are easier to film in. Even if the home is supposed to look relatively run-down or poor, it's a nightmare to block out scenes where characters are practically on top of each other and get in each other's way when they move around. Larger sets also let you break up the action into multiple locations, allowing for concurrent scenes and conversations within the same area. Similarly there is a certain amount of WishFulfillment involved, however much the characters may struggle they can still go home to a place anyone would love to live in. And [[FirstWorldProblems their complaining of trivial things can be contrasted with their realistic luxury]].