History Main / FullHouseMusic

->''"Now, come on, one more time for nostalgia's sake: You come see my patient, you teach me a lesson, and then the music plays, right? In my head, it sounds like this: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXyuLN4TcRc Ba-buh-buh-ba-buh-buh-buh, ba-buh-buh-ba-buh-buh-buh-buhhh]]."''
--> -- '''J.D.''', ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', "My Old Friend's New Friend"

The synthesized, clarinet-heavy music which used to play under emotional moments in sitcoms.
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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* During what was probably the funniest section of the third ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' movie, Creator/{{Eric Idle}}'s character Merlin puts on some Full House Music to set the mood for Shrek and Artie's "little heart-to-heart."

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is apparently fond of playing sappy music during emotional scenes. This happens frequently on ''DesigningWomen'' and to a lesser extent on ''HeartsAfire''.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' featured a particular few bars of piano music so often in emotional moments that they eventually decided to [[LampshadeHanging hang a lampshade]] on this by having JD say that he always imagines this piece of music playing at emotional moments in his life. From that point on in the series, the music is mainly used in subversions of emotional moments.
** That music was featured so much that the actors themselves imagined that tune during emotional moments of their own lives.
* ''Series/FullHouse:'' The TropeNamer. Does this during every GoldenMoment. (Which, in this show, is about OncePerEpisode)
** Mind you, ''Full House'' (as well as pretty much every SitCom in the TGIF block) tended more for light bass guitar or a synthesizer on high notes over a clarinet, but it was the late 80s/early 90s.
* ''ProjectRunway's'' "Auf Wiedersehn" music (give or take a clarinet).
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' parodies the phenomenon in season two every time someone drops a hint that [[spoiler:Buster is actually Oscar's son instead of George Sr's]].
* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' did use loud, soppy music frequently.
** Between this series, the TropeNamer series, ''StepByStep'' and ''PerfectStrangers'', perhaps this trope should be renamed "Miller-Boyett Music".
** ''Family Matters'' was also quite fond of using a sappy 7-note piano riff at the end of a sad or dramatic scene, more or less OncePerEpisode.
* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210''. Nearly EVERY dramatic scene was underscored with some sappy "teen drama" music. Mind you, this continued even after the characters all [[CaliforniaUniversity moved on to college.]]
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** Occasionally used during the first five or so seasons, usually during a particularly dramatic Ross/Rachel moment.
** There was plenty of this in the episode where Ross's grandmother died.
** Same problem when Mr. Heckles dies in season 2 and the group leaves his apartment for the final time.
* Usually inverted by ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Emotional moments have no music at all, to contrast with the lighter moments of the show, which are usually accompanied with a light hip-hop beat.
* This seems to be a staple of ''Series/ModernFamily'', particular accompanying the ending voiceovers.
* In a non-sitcom example, ''Series/MinuteToWinIt'' does this [[OnceAnEpisode 2-3 times per episode]] when everything comes to a screeching halt so the contestant(s) can tell some kind of a sob story about their loved ones.
* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' was another TGIF show to use this. It was mostly used as transition music at the end of serious scenes though it was sometimes played during the scene if the scene was particularly emotional.
* Parodied in the ''Series/ThatsMyBush'' episode "Trapped In A Closet." Every moment where two trapped characters work out their issues/differences is humorously scored to the exact same sappy music.
* Beautifully averted by ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' which never used music to support scenes. Parodied in one episode where he plays pre-recorded sappy music when apologizing to Martin's girlfriend Elaine on the radio.
* ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' slows down the melody of the opening theme of the show at the end of the scene when Teddy finds out that her boyfriend, Spencer, is cheating on her. Most of the time, the theme music is played in a more up-tempo, cheery manner. This one of (if not the only) time the show uses this trope.
* ''Series/AirCrashInvestigation'', a.k.a ''Mayday'', ''Air Emergency'' and ''Air Disasters'', a documentary television show about [[CaptainObvious aircraft disasters]] usually plays this trope straight at emotional scenes (victim funerals, photos of the plane wreckages, the last few seconds when there's no hope, the first few seconds after the crash, etc).
* A pre-''Full House'' show fitting this trope was ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', where in many episodes a mellow or dramatic cue is played as Mike or Carol are offering that episode's [[AnAesop moral]].

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', since there's considerably less melodrama in that game than in other Final Fantasy games.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Holy Crap" in which Peter has a band on hand to play the Full House Music at the appropriate moment.
* Also parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Cripple Fight", when Big Gay Al is at home moping over his firing from the Mountain Scouts. We hear sappy ''Series/FullHouse'' music in the background, but Big Gay Al soon reveals that it's actually a pianist at his home playing mood appropriate music. He then asks the pianist to play something a little more upbeat.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', the same music would play during every emotional moment. In this case, it depended on the writing/performances in a given scene. Some of them averted this by being written/performed in a savvy way (usually with dry humor - a great example of them doing this brilliantly is in "Doug's Doodle").
* Believe it or not, The ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' cartoons of the early-60's (along with the late-1980's "New" Yogi Bear Show revival) used this a lot, even in scenes where it made almost no contextual sense (such as when Yogi and Boo Boo are discussing Ranger Smith's birthday in the episode Slap Happy Birthday).
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The sappy, synthesized, clarinet-heavy music which used to play under emotional moments in sitcoms.

Named for [[FullHouse the worst offender]], although ''{{Scrubs}}'' was pretty damn close. They snapped out of it though. Not to be confused with ''Series/{{House}}''. Or House Music, a type of music that developed out of disco in the [[TheEighties mid to late 80's]].

* Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is apparently fond of playing sappy music during emotional scenes, completely undercutting the performances of her actors just so we can be absolutely sure that we should cry or go "daww" during a particular scene. This happens frequently on ''DesigningWomen'' and to a lesser extent on ''HeartsAfire''.

* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' was terrible about this. Loud, soppy music actually sort of kills any emotional scenes.

* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'' was also pretty bad about this. Nearly EVERY dramatic scene was underscored with some sappy "teen drama" music. Mind you, this continued even after the characters all [[CaliforniaUniversity moved on to college.]]
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Occasionally used during the first five or so seasons, usually during a particularly dramatic Ross/Rachel moment.
** There was plenty of this in the episode where Ross's grandmother died. This wasn't the only problem of the episode. The grandma's moment of death was literally played for laughs and {{The Fun In Funeral}} segments hardly worked together with the sappy and fake emotional moments during which the Full House Music plays.

** Still, it's less about being dramatic than the others.

* Beautifully averted by ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' which never used music to undercut scenes. The results speak for themselves.
** Parodied in one episode where he plays pre-recorded sappy music when apologizing to Martin's girlfriend Elaine on the radio.

* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series is VERY fond of this trope.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', since there's considerably less melodrama in that game than in other Final Fantasy games.
* So are the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games.

Named for [[FullHouse the worst offender]], although ''{{Scrubs}}'' was pretty damn close. They snapped out of it though. Not to be confused with ''Series/{{House}}''. Or House Music, a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin type of music]] that developed out of disco in the [[TheEighties mid to late 80's]].

* ''Series/AirCrashInvestigation'': It usually plays this trope straight at emotional scenes (victim funerals, photos of the plane wreckages, the last few seconds when there's no hope, the first few seconds after the crash, etc).

* During what was probably the funniest section of the third ''{{Shrek}}'' movie, {{Eric Idle}}'s character Merlin puts on some Full House Music to set the mood for Shrek and Artie's "little heart-to-heart."

** Still, it's less about being dramatic then the others.

->''Now, come on, one more time for nostalgia's sake: You come see my patient, you teach me a lesson, and then the music plays, right? In my head, it sounds like this: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXyuLN4TcRc Ba-buh-buh-ba-buh-buh-buh, ba-buh-buh-ba-buh-buh-buh-buhhh]].''
--> -- '''J.D.''', "My Old Friend's New Friend", ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''

* During what was probably the funniest section of the third ''{{Shrek}}'' movie, {{Eric Idle}}'s character Merlin puts on some FullHouseMusic to set the mood for Shrek and Artie's "little heart-to-heart."

* Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is apparently fond of playing sappy music during emotional scenes, completely undercutting the performances of her actors just so we can be absolutely sure that we should cry or go "daww" during a particular scene. This happens frequently on ''{{Designing Women}}'' and to a lesser extent on ''{{Hearts Afire}}''.
* ''{{Scrubs}}'' featured a particular few bars of piano music so often in emotional moments that they eventually decided to [[LampshadeHanging hang a lampshade]] on this by having JD say that he always imagines this piece of music playing at emotional moments in his life. From that point on in the series, the music is mainly used in subversions of emotional moments.

* ''FullHouse:'' The TropeNamer. Does this during every GoldenMoment. (Which, in this show, is about OncePerEpisode)
** Mind you, ''FullHouse'' (as well as pretty much every SitCom in the TGIF block) tended more for light bass guitar or a synthesizer on high notes over a clarinet, but it was the late 80s/early 90s.
* ''{{Project Runway}}'s'' "Auf Wiedersehn" music (give or take a clarinet).

* ''FamilyMatters'' was terrible about this. Loud, soppy music actually sort of kills any emotional scenes.
** Between this series, the TropeNamer series, ''StepByStep'' and ''{{Perfect Strangers}}'', perhaps this trope should be renamed "Miller-Boyett Music".

* ''{{Friends}}'': Occasionally used during the first five or so seasons, usually during a particularly dramatic Ross/Rachel moment.

* Usually inverted by ''TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Emotional moments have no music at all, to contrast with the lighter moments of the show, which are usually accompanied with a light hip-hop beat.
* This seems to be a staple of ''ModernFamily'', particular accompanying the ending voiceovers.

* In a non-sitcom example, ''MinuteToWinIt'' does this [[OnceAnEpisode 2-3 times per episode]] when everything comes to a screeching halt so the contestant(s) can tell some kind of a sob story about their loved ones.
* ''BoyMeetsWorld'' was another TGIF show to use this. It was mostly used as transition music at the end of serious scenes though it was sometimes played during the scene if the scene was particularly emotional.
* Parodied in the ''ThatsMyBush'' episode "Trapped In A Closet." Every moment where two trapped characters work out their issues/differences is humorously scored to the exact same sappy music.
* Beautifully averted by ''{{Frasier}}'' which never used music to undercut scenes. The results speak for themselves.

* ''GoodLuckCharlie'' slows down the melody of the opening theme of the show at the end of the scene when Teddy finds out that her boyfriend, Spencer, is cheating on her. Most of the time, the theme music is played in a more up-tempo, cheery manner. This one of (if not the only) time the show uses this trope.

* A pre-''Full House'' show fitting this trope was ''TheBradyBunch,'' where in many episodes a mellow or dramatic cue is played as Mike or Carol are offering that episode's [[AnAesop moral]].

* The FinalFantasy series is VERY fond of this trope.
** Averted in FinalFantasyTactics, since there's considerably less melodrama in that game than in other Final Fantasy games.

* Parodied in the ''FamilyGuy'' episode "Holy Crap" in which Peter has a band on hand to play the FullHouseMusic at the appropriate moment.
* Also parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Cripple Fight", when Big Gay Al is at home moping over his firing from the Mountain Scouts. We hear sappy FullHouse music in the background, but Big Gay Al soon reveals that it's actually a pianist at his home playing mood appropriate music. He then asks the pianist to play something a little more upbeat.
* In ''{{Doug}}'', the same music would play during every emotional moment. In this case, it depended on the writing/performances in a given scene. Some of them averted this by being written/performed in a savvy way (usually with dry humor - a great example of them doing this brilliantly is in "Doug's Doodle").
* Believe it or not, The WesternAnimation/YogiBear cartoons of the early-60's (along with the late-1980's "New" Yogi Bear Show revival) used this a lot, even in scenes where it made almost no contextual sense (such as when Yogi and Boo Boo are discussing Ranger Smith's birthday in the episode Slap Happy Birthday).
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<<|ScoreAndMusicTropes|>>

* ''{{Friends}}'' had plenty of this in the episode where Ross's grandmother died. This wasn't the only problem of the episode. The grandma's moment of death was literally played for laughs and {{The Fun In Funeral}} segments hardly worked together with the sappy and fake emotional moments during which the Full House Music plays.
** Same problem when Mr. Heckles dies in season 2 and the group leaves his apartment for the final time.
* This is constantly used in ''SavedByTheBell''. The music often seems to be the same despite the content of the scene it's playing to.

* ''FullHouse:'' The TropeNamer. Does this during every GoldenMoment.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' parodied this music when in season two many hints are dropped that [[spoiler:Buster is actually Oscar's son, not George Sr's]].

* So are the PokemonMysteryDungeon games.