History Series / SomeMothersDoAveEm

* StickySituation: The main plot in "Wendy House". Frank has been using superglue to build furniture to replace the items that were destroyed when he and Betty moved to their new house, and is waiting for a bus with a chair he has just made. Also waiting for a bus are an elderly woman who is feeling a bit giddy and her son, who helps her into the chair before Frank can point out that it is made with superglue; inevitably, she gets stuck to it, then the son gets stuck to the bus stop sign after handling the tube of superglue. Frank tries to enlist the help of the conductor of the bus when it arrives, but soon they are both stuck to the chair. When all four of them are taken to Accident and Emergency, they

** In "The Public Relations Course", while spending the night at the house at which the title course is being held, Frank sits on his hot water bottle, causing it to spring a leak. He leaves the room to take a phone call, leaving the hot water bottle on a chair next to the bed of Eddie, a coursemate who has taken Frank under his wing. When he comes back, he accidentally squirts water from the leak into a militant coursemate's face, and in revenge, the militant empties the bottle all over what he thinks is Frank's bed, ignoring Frank's protests as Eddie returns from the bathroom. As Frank sheepishly gets into his own bed and wishes Eddie good night, Eddie attacks the militant for soaking his bed.

* StickySituation: The main plot in "Wendy House". Frank has been using superglue to build furniture to replace the items that were destroyed when he and Betty moved to their new house, and is waiting for a bus with a chair he has just made. Also waiting for a bus are an elderly woman who is feeling a bit giddy and her son, who helps her into the chair before Frank can point out that it is made with superglue; inevitably, she gets stuck to it, then the son gets stuck to the bus stop sign after handling the tube of superglue. Frank tries to enlist the help of the conductor of the bus when it arrives, but soon they are both stuck to the chair. When all four of them are taken to Accident and Emergency, they find Frank's DIY instructor, who got superglued to the classroom telephone.
* StudioAudience

''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' was a British SitCom that originally aired on the BBC from 1973 to 1978, starring Michael Crawford as the hapless Frank Spencer. It was written by Raymond Allen, [[RomanAClef based on]] [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory his own experiences as a single man]]. However, upon seeing the first draft for the script, Creator/MichaelCrawford insisted that Frank have a wife. Michele Dotrice was then cast as the long-suffering Betty.

''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' was a British SitCom that originally aired on the BBC from 1973 to 1978, starring Michael Crawford as the hapless Frank Spencer. It was written by Raymond Allen, [[RomanAClef based on]] [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory his own experiences as a single man]]. However, upon seeing the first draft for the script, Michael Crawford insisted that Frank have a wife. Michele Dotrice was then cast as the long-suffering Betty.

* {{Corpsing}}: One noticeable example occurs in "Wendy House" where Richard Wilson plays an insurance assessor who calls on Frank and Betty. All three sit on a sofa to discuss the situation and Wilson slowly sinks down into it so that he barely manages to come up to Crawford's shoulders. Michele Dotrice cannot stifle her laughter and this, in turn, causes both Crawford and Wilson to corpse. After a few seconds all three manage to pick up the script again and the scene is retained in the finished episode.

* TheCameo: Creator/ElisabethSladen appears as Judy the fruit shop owner at the beginning of "The Hospital Visit".

* NotGoodWithPeople: Frank is a Type 1.

The series also focussed on Frank's role as a family man. Henceforth, it featured a StoryArc where Betty becomes pregnant and eventually gives birth to a girl, Jessica.

* StickySituation: The main plot in "Wendy House".

** In "Australia House", an argument between Frank and his next-door neighbour, Mr Lewis, results in the two of them demanding the return of borrowed gardening implements, including a hoe Frank borrowed from Mr Lewis. After the arugment escalates to the point that Frank accidentally knocks down the fence Mr Lewis put up between their gardens to keep the Spencers' dog from defecating in his garden, Mr Lewis grabs the hoe and saws it in half, not realising it is his own until Frank points it out. Enraged, Mr Lewis throws the pieces aside... straight through the glass of his greenhouse.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: In "Men as Women", Frank's shock at his doctor dressed in drag subsides when he realises that both the doctor and his colleague were only playing dames in a local Cinderella {{pantomime}}. Upon hearing that one of the Ugly Sisters is ill, Frank even offers to fill in at the end of the episode.
* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: This is remarked upon by Betty's mother in "The Job Interview".
--> "He never goes to work, he goes for interviews."
* YouLookFamiliar: Some of the supporting cast from the 1973 series reappear in different roles in 1978.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse / {{Retcon}} / ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Season 3 seems to have erased all mention and memory of Dr Smedley.

* TheUnSmile: Frank's attempt at practising a polite smile in "The Job Interview" manages to ''knock an employee into the pipes display''.

* SpecialEffectFailure / StylisticSuck: An in-universe example -- Frank's performance in "Frank and Marvin", with his terrible ventriloquism act, bad jokes and his human "Vesuvius" effect which he sets off by accident.

* TitleThemeTune / GeniusBonus: The theme tune is the show's title in Morse Code.

* TechnicallyASmile: Frank's attempt at practising a polite smile in "The Job Interview" manages to ''knock an employee into the pipes display''.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Despite popular opinion, Frank never said his popular CatchPhrase, "Ooh, Betty!" anywhere in the show.
* {{Blooper}} / {{Corpsing}}: One noticeable example occurs in "Wendy House" where Richard Wilson plays an insurance assessor who calls on Frank and Betty. All three sit on a sofa to discuss the situation and Wilson slowly sinks down into it so that he barely manages to come up to Crawford's shoulders. Michele Dotrice cannot stifle her laughter and this, in turn, causes both Crawford and Wilson to corpse. After a few seconds all three manage to pick up the script again and the scene is retained in the finished episode.

* FatalMethodActing: Michael Crawford and stuntman Derek Ware made the newspapers when they were both nearly strangled during the window-cleaning segment of "The Employment Exchange". They were left 300 feet up the side of a London skyscraper after the cradle they were dangling from refused to budge. Surprisingly, the cameraman continued to film the entire ordeal.

* MoneyDearBoy: Michael Crawford expressed his fears at becoming typecast into Frank Spencer-like roles before being offered ten thousand pounds (which was a ''lot'' of money at the time) to star in Season 3.

* VindicatedByReruns: By the very end of TheSeventies, the show's often {{slapstick}} humour and the appeal of Frank Spencer were starting to wear thin. However, when it was [[BetterOnDVD released on home video]] in TheNineties and reran on television stations shortly after, it experienced a {{Revival}} of sorts. The fact that Michael Crawford had since gone on to appear in Broadway musicals such as ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' and ''Barnum'' no doubt helped the cause.

---> "I do try Betty... no-one can be more trying than me..."

* {{Manchild}}: Frank's behaviour, way of thinking and emotional vulnerability makes him one of these.

* {{Mooning}}: An unintentional example. At the very end of "Scottish Dancing", Frank's kilt suddenly falls down to reveal he is not wearing any underwear.
** Michael Crawford and the director of the episode initially rehearsed the scene with Crawford wearing [[GoofyPrintUnderwear Union Jack underwear]] [[EnforcedMethodActing to elicit the right reaction from the rest of the cast]] during filming.

* TrashTheSet: Practically in every episode, but this trope is the focal point of the episode "Have a Break, Take a Husband", where the hotel room ends up with torn linoleum, a hole in the floor and a broken wardrobe.

* YouLookFamiliar: some of the supporting cast from the 1973 series reappear in different roles in 1978.

* TheCameo: ElisabethSladen appears as Judy the fruit shop owner at the beginning of "The Hospital Visit".