History Main / SocialSemicircle

* In the ''ComicStrip/SallyForthHoward'' strip for 10th June 2019, Hil and her friends are studying for finals, and Duncan asks why they're all sitting at the same side of the table. Hil replies "My dad has a theory, but if he shares it, people avoid us. I mean, even more so." (Ted Forth is something of a FourthWallObserver.)

* Jesus and His apostles all sit on the same side of a long table in Leonardo da Vinci's ''The Last Supper'' (and in other less well-known paintings of the subject).
** Spoofed in Creator/MelBrooks' ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'', when Leonardo interrupts the supper to paint their portrait:
-->'''Leonardo da Vinci''': "OK! Everybody want to be in the picture? Get up and get to the other side of the table! Come on!"
** There's a joke where Jesus enters a restaurant and asks for a table for 26. When the waitress points out there are only 13 of them, He says, "Yes, but we all want to sit on the same side of the table."

* On ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', when all four women are at the kitchen table, Sophia pulls up a stool next to Dorothy rather than sitting on the camera side. There isn't even a chair on the camera's side. (We're probably meant to assume that the table - and the oven, which is stage left but lined up with said table - are up against the FourthWall).

** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] once and only once at the end of a ThanksgivingEpisode when Deborah sits at said table with her back to the audience.

** This TV-placement sort of justification can be seen in a number of shows.
*** Done on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' in the characters' apartments, though the coffee-shop scenes tend to [[AvertedTrope avert]] this for the most part.
*** Also tends to occur in most shows that have living-room/den/parlor scenes.

* ''Series/That70sShow'' does this any time a group sits down at the Foreman's kitchen table.
** Averted, though, in some scenes in the basement, where the characters are presumably sitting around a table. The camera is in the middle, rotating to face whoever's talking. This also servers to [[NoSmoking keep off-camera]] whichever character is supposed to currently be holding the joint being passed around.
** This was {{Lampshaded}} on one occasion (specifically during a ''Last Supper'' parody) when Jackie questions why everyone is sitting on the same side of the table.

* The sofa is the indispensible prop in ''Series/LesFillesDaCote''. The three girls and others are often seen interacting or having in-depth conversation while sitting on the sofa in their apartment with the camera angle directly in front. Of course, this is also an aspect of MsFanservice, as TheNineties fashions tended towards short skirts and bare legs. the occassional PantyShot was not edited out of the final show. [[SarcasmMode one wonders why this was not spotted in editing]]. Discussions in the boys' apartment tended to be around the dining table and shot from the waist up - but also stuck to this principle.

* Jesus and His apostles all sit on the same side of a long table in Leonardo da Vinci's ''The Last Supper''.

** ''HomeAndAway'' will often feature something like Miles washing dishes while Alf and Romeo sit on the couch, or Irene popping her head in as Leah cooks up a storm (both of which are normal for the house and diner respectively), but it's somewhat noticeable when, say, the cast sits down at the dining table. It's usually played a bit more realistically at the diner and surf club/Angelo's

* TheNexus does this everytime they talk to each other. Sometimes they justify it by having them watch the action in the ring on a monitor, but not always. It creates the weird effect of someone speaking to the person directly behind them.

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* Used in the karaoke episode of ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' when they sit down at a table at the karaoke bar. Justified as the table was against a wall and was designed to save room while letting everyone talk to anyone else at the table.

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[[caption-width-right:350:For extra fun: Try to figure out who is playing against who...]]

* It was also done on occasion in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''; the page pic is one such instance.

Often achieved in a non-intrusive way by use of TheCouch. The camera is presumed to be filming from the location of the television, since no modern family would arrange a room with seats facing away from the television. As a result, the SocialSemiCircle is more intrusive when used in other settings: one wonders how Sam kept ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' afloat so long with one entire side of the bar unused.

* A ''Webcomic/{{Yamara}}'' [[http://yamara.com/2006/05/18/yamaras-dreme/ strip]] featured the title character (a halfling in a D&D gameworld) having a dream in which she sees the gaming groups from [=KoDT=], ''DorkTower'' and ''Commissioned'' and wonders why they're all on one side of the table. The answer: "Because the ''other'' side ... is for people like ''you''."

->'''Andre:''' How come none of us ever sit on ''that'' side of the table?
-->-- ''Series/{{Victorious}}''

%%* ''{{Reba}}''
* ''That70sShow'' does this any time a group sits down at the Foreman's kitchen table.

** Justified, since it's a panel-style [[TalkShow talk show]].

** ... and averted and Lampshaded [[http://www.fuzzyfive.com/2012/comic/108-part-of-an-incomplete-breakfast/ here]].

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' did this frequently in the briefing room, where the far side of the table [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070623231015/memoryalpha/en/images/4/4f/JanewayStaffOmegaBriefing.jpg is never used]].

** There's a joke where Jesus enters a restaurant and asks for a table for 26. When the waitress points out there are only 13 of them, He says, "Yes, but we all want to sit on the same side of the table.".

-->-- ''{{Victorious}}''

* ''AllInTheFamily'' Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria sat around the two thirds of their dining table facing the camera, leaving the third facing the audience free.

* Sociological studies have shown that when two same-gender friends are allowed to choose how to orient themselves while sitting and talking, two women will usually {{avert}} this trope by orienting themselves directly toward one another, while two men will usually play it straight by orienting themselves in the same direction. Interpretations for the significance (if any) of this phenomenon vary.

** Averted, though, in some scenes in the basement, where the characters are presumably sitting around a table. The camera is in the middle, rotating to face whoever's talking. This also servers to keep off-camera whichever character is supposed to currently be holding the joint being passed around.

** Averted, though, in some scenes in the basement, where the characters are presumably sitting around a table. The camera is in the middle, rotating to face whoever's talking.
*** And pointedly avoiding whichever character is supposed to currently be holding the joint being passed around.

* Used in the karaoke episode of RegularShow when they sit down at a table at the karaoke bar. Justified as the table was against a wall and was designed to save room while letting everyone talk to anyone else at the table.