History Main / SeniorSleepCycle

** One episode has Steve [[ItMakesSenseInContext age up to an eighty year old due to an experimental CIA serum]]. Despite this, he still tries - and fails - to go on a date with the AlphaBitch of the school, who had given his teenage self a chance. At the diner, she leaves him in disgust as said old man, and, in the midst of protesting, he falls asleep mid-sentence. Shortly thereafter, another elder walks by and gleefully declares, "They brought back the old napping booth!" She proceeds to sit down and fall asleep as well.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', Mr. Peggs, the elderly teacher who is meant to be supervising detention but always sleeps on the job instead. He will not wake up for ''anything'', as demonstrated when Biffy yells "YOUR FACE IS ON FIRE" while standing right in front of him and doesn't get as much as a peep. This is very convenient for Lee considering how often he has to sneak out for some reason or another. [[spoiler:Of course, this being ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', this turns out to not be what it seems and is actually important to the plot – we find out in Season 3 that Mr. Peggs once tried to open the [[PyramidPower mysterious pyramid]] beneath the school, but he didn't have all the instructions so he missed the part that tells you when you can do so, and, as a result, was zapped by a beam of magic and fell into a permanent sleep-like coma, no cure for which is yet known.]]

** Professor Farmsworth once fell asleep while skiing and woke up at the lodge with a bronze medal around his neck.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'':
** Whenever Grandpa Lou is put in charge of the babies, he is always asleep within a matter of seconds, a fact that the babies always use to their advantage. TheMovie hints that age has nothing to do with this however and that he's been this way his whole life (likely alluding to narcolepsy). Didi mentions that he slept through [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Pearl Harbor]].

** Invoked as a plot point in the Chanukah episode; when the babies mishear "the meaning of Chanukah" as "the meanie of Chanukah," they decide to put him down for a nap. First, they try blankets and a pillow, then they try using a portable TV (which breaks). Finally, the "meanie", Shlomo, takes his nap as Boris tells the Chanukah story.
** In one episode, while Grandpa is absent, Tommy tries acting like him so Dil won't miss him. This includes "reading" a storybook before falling asleep.

%% * The wise old man in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', much to the chagrin of his hat.

!!'''Examples:'''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', during a few of the murders, Nanjo's alibi is that he was asleep at the time.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Vice-Admiral Garp is about to punch Luffy when both suddenly fall asleep. It's less that Garp is old than that he comes from a family of [[SleepyHead narcoleptics.]]
* Carlos of [[Anime/GunXSword El Dorado V]] is ''always'' asleep when he's on screen, save for two occasions.
%% * Crux from ''Manga/FairyTail''. However he can also use "sleep" to gather up information about other Celestial Spirits.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* One of the recurring background extras in ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' is a wheelchair-using senior citizen who tends to fall asleep during conversations. According to Dhokla in "Moong Fu Samosa", he alternates between spending six hours awake and six hours sleeping.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/TheCityOfEmber'': Sul is an 80-year-old man who falls asleep almost every time he sits down in his work chair.
* Bernard, one member of the Neighborhood Watch Alliance in ''Film/HotFuzz'', spends most of his onscreen time asleep, except for about a minute during the final confrontation.
%% * The wise old man in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', much to the chagrin of his hat.

* According to the DVD commentary for ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation,'' the grandparents had a side bet going during filming as to who could appear asleep on screen most often.

* In ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Exile's Honor]]'', one of Alberich's undercover identities is an old man who lives this trope. "Falling asleep" after dinner lets Alberich eavesdrop on the upper classes safely.
* Bilbo Baggins, in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings.'' Used to show Bilbo's age catching up with him [[spoiler:after he gives up the One Ring.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* "Old Man" of ''Series/PawnStars'' had been shown to be flat out asleep when he was at work. He is co-owner of the place and so he's allowed to do that. Chumlee has rudely lampshaded this fact on more than one occasion. You gotta admire a man who keeps his resumé up to date.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Deadly Years", RapidAging caused Captain Kirk to doze off in the command chair.
* Father Jack Hackett on ''Series/FatherTed'' seemingly spends his entire life sleeping when he isn't drinking or yelling obscenities.

--> '''Mr. Humphries:''' Mr. Grainger, are you free?
--> '''Mr. Grainger:''' Er, yes, I'm free!

* The old man [[spoiler:Yanni Yogi]] in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' constantly falls asleep in the middle of conversations, and even the trial, and only wakes up when his SnotBubble pops. [[spoiler: This is all part of his act, however]].
%% * Ellen from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon64'' has this generally, and it's also notably subverted once, [[spoiler:[[TearJerker when she dies]]]].

* There are sleeping old men in some of the apartments in ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne''. They're heavy sleepers, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO9ZZhCxtic this]] video demonstrates.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': [[OldMaster Gehrman]] slept for... a week? A year? A decade? '''''[[FridgeHorror God knows how long he's been dreaming?]]''''' [[spoiler: It was justified however, he's been stuck in his own dream unwillingly after all.]]
* Averted in ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' - in fact, elders are the only life stage who automatically awaken when they reach a full energy bar (all other Sims will sleep in until morning) - the cycle this inevitably creates (given the steady decline of the energy bar over time) is that it simulates the "early to bed, early to rise" sleeping pattern for which many RealLife elderly people are known.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* WebVideo/TheAnnoyingOrange's Grandpa Lemon. He falls asleep in the middle of conversations and even while being chopped in half.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}}'':
** Whenever Grandpa Lou is put in charge of the babies, he is always asleep within a matter of seconds, a fact that the babies always use to their advantage. TheMovie hints that age has nothing to do with this however and that he's been this way his whole life (likely alluding to narcolepsy). Didi mentions that he slept through [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Pearl Harbor]].
** When he leaves in "[[Recap/RugratsS3E4GrandpaMovesOutTheLegendOfSatchmo Grandpa Moves Out]]", the family visits him at the retirement home. Tommy and Angelica are watched over by the surrogate grandmother. She shows pictures of her grandchildren while listing the names of [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs the seven dwarfs.]] When she can't remember the name of the last one, and Angelica suggests "Sleepy", she says she could use a nap and instantly falls asleep. Angelica also believes that the seniors went to a "Tired Center" because they're all too tired to play with their grandchildren, and she and Tommy get the idea to wake up all the seniors.
** Invoked as a plot point in the Chanukah episode; when the babies mishear "the meaning of Chanukah" as "the meanie of Chanukah," they decide to put him down for a nap. First, they try blankets and a pillow, then they try using a portable TV (which breaks). Finally, the "meanie", Shlomo, takes his nap as Boris tells the Chanukah story.
** In one episode, while Grandpa is absent, Tommy tries acting like him so Dil won't miss him. This includes "reading" a storybook before falling asleep.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Abraham J. Simpson]] is constantly falling asleep, often in the middle of sentences. It's possible he's narcoleptic (especially on the season nine episode "Lisa's Sax" where, after he tried to sing "The Funky Grampa," Grampa ended up falling asleep standing up).
%% * On ''{{WesternAnimation/Arthur}}'', Grandma Thora averts this, but Grandpa Dave plays it straight.
* Happens in ''{{WesternAnimation/SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' with Mermaid Man, who will keep randomly dozing off while standing and when woken up he'll start acting like he's about to go into a mission.
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'':
** Professor Farmsworth once fell asleep while skiing and woke up at the lodge with a bronze medal around his neck.
** ''Less Then Hero'' had this gem:
-->'''Leela:''' "Professor, isn't it time for your nap?"
-->'''Farnsworth:''' "Yes, dammit!" *instantly falls asleep*
* Suga Mama on ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' always falls asleep while watching wrestling or when she is supposed to be chaperoning Penny or babysitting the twins. Turn it off and she immediately wakes up to tell you to turn it back on, then goes back to sleep once it's back on.
* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. Linda's mother appears to be succumbing, but she was playfully teasing Lawrence about his boring thimble story.
* Cohort of the Ministry of Pain (a trio of elderly supervillains) from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Fallen Arches" is shown to have fallen asleep in the midst of a bank heist.
* Granny Smith of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' seems to doze off easily. In "Luna Eclipsed," when she takes some fillies out Trick-or-Treating, she states that she should have been asleep five hours ago. It's a trait that appears less and less as the cartoon goes and she gets a more energetic personality.
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', as both grandparents are quite hyperactive, and awake almost all of the time. Almost inverted with Grandma Gertie, since she seems to even be awake at odd hours in the night.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Elderly Numbuh 2 in the final episode, Operation INTERVIEWS. In the Live-Action segments, despite not looking like a year over his 50's, he's almost always falling asleep, and is shown to have become somewhat senile with age.

** In "Old Stan Of The Mountain" after Stan gets cursed for mocking the elderly causing him to turn into an old man, after misunderstanding a conversation between Steve and Hayley he thinks they want him to die, he then becomes paranoid and repeatedly tries to kill them but keeps falling asleep in the process of doing so.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' dealt with Hank and the gang befriending the elderly school groundskeeper Smitty, who keeps falling asleep every time he tries to fix up the football field.

* Referenced, if not actually present, in the Avatar Extras in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. When Bumi welcomes the Gaang to "Old People Camp," the Extras pop on screen to declare, "Dinner at 4 o' candle and bedtime at 6:30 o' candle."
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' episode "Days, Nights, and Weekends of Future Past!" had Falcon and H.E.R.B.I.E. end up in an alternate reality where Scarlet Empress (an older Scarlet Witch) has taken over the world with an army of Sentinels. The heroes encounter an elderly Magneto who frequently falls asleep before finishing his sentences.
* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' has Bobby and Ronnie Anne's grandfather, Hector Casagrande, doze off at various times. One of the first episodes has him napping in the same spot where a narcoleptic St. Bernard is sleeping.
* The ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short "Youngstar 3" starts with [[OldSuperhero Old Man]] falling asleep, prompting his grandson Youngstar and Shero to go ahead and face a giant monster without his help. Once he wakes up and follows them, Old Man isn't happy about his teammates facing the threat without him.
-->'''Old Man:''' Where do you think you two are going without ''me'' to save the day?\\
'''Youngstar:''' But Grandpa, you were napping!\\
'''Old Man:''' (''mocking tone'') But Grandpa...

[[SelfDemonstratingArticle ...zzz...]]what the? [[TheStinger The Trope's over already?? Aw nuts.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', [[OldMaster Gehrman]] took it UpToEleven and slept for... a week? A year? A decade? '''''[[FridgeHorror God knows how long he's been dreaming?]]''''' [[spoiler: It was justified however, he's been stuck in his own dream unwillingly after all.]]

--> ''"When I die, I want to go [[PassedInTheirSleep peacefully in my sleep]], like my grandfather... not screaming, like his passengers."''

* Cohort of the Ministry of Pain from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Fallen Arches" is shown to have fallen asleep in the midst of a bank heist.

-->'''Old Man:''' Where do you think you two are going with out ''me'' to save the day?\\

%% * Cohort of the Ministry of Pain in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' in the midst of a bank heist.