Line #72 Main/DayInTheLife


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16	->''"Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head''\
17	''Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, and looking up, I noticed I was late''\
18	''Found my coat, and grabbed my hat, made the bus in seconds flat''\
19	''Found my way upstairs and had a smoke, and somebody spoke and I went into a dream..."''
20	-->-- '''Music/TheBeatles''', "[[TropeNamer A Day in the Life]]", ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''
21
22	[[Main/ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Just what it says,]] an episode that follows the characters around on their normal routine. Make this the focus of an entire series, and you have SliceOfLife.
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24	Some stories place a Day in the Life at the very beginning to establish TheProtagonist as one of the NormalPeople the audience can relate to, before things go downhill fast. In such cases, a Day In The Life can be seen as an action-free BatmanColdOpen.
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26	Sometimes it is framed as a [[TheDocumentary documentary]]. Can lead to ADayInTheLimelight for minor characters, and is often used for character development for them. Can also be a BreatherEpisode in particularly serious arcs. May contain a MorningRoutine.
27
28	Ironically, Day In The Life episodes are highly unusual, generally occurring only once in the life of a long-running series (although if they are sufficiently popular and/or acclaimed they may be elevated to a OnceASeason tradition). Also ironically given their mundane and uneventful nature, they are usually among the most well-regarded and best-remembered episodes of their series.
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30	----
31	!!Examples:
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* Episode 10 of ''Literature/{{Akikan}}!'' showed a day in the life of the three Akikan girls at home. Melon tried to deal with the heat, Yell cleaned up the apartment and Budoko played make-believe. No wacky harem antics, and no school scenes.
36	* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' had an episode following the exploits of a rogue Tachikoma, which basically meant helping a little girl find her dog.
37	* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. After Claes's handler was killed it was too difficult to bond her to another handler, so all memory of him was erased from her mind and she was taken off missions and used as a [[TestedOnHumans human test subject]]. The chapter ''A Day in the Life of Claes'' is a moving episode (especially in the anime with its rendition of "Scarborough Fair"), showing how Claes fills out her days in reading, gardening, painting and helping the Agency doctors with their research. [[DontYouDarePityMe She refuses to be depressed]] over her solitary existence, but finds herself feeling moments of unexplained sadness on seeing things that subconsciously remind her of the handler who was a ParentalSubstitute to her.
38	* Played for drama in Chapter 179 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', which follows [[ServileSnarker Hayasaka]] through her daily routine and makes it abundantly clear how horrible such a life is.
39	* ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' has the anime-original episode "Someday in the Rain". It's so much a Day In The Life that there are long, silent sections of Yuki reading a book in an empty room, with the only breaks being occasional noises outside the door. Apparently, it was intentionally written as such in order to contrast with the traditional GrandFinale episodes in anime. Note that this episode is chronologically the last in the anime. This is also the only episode where Kyon does not narrate, and he spends significant portions out doing errands with no view from his perspective.
40	* ''Anime/OnegaiMyMelody'': One episode follows My Melo's daily life, and another such episode focused on Baku's.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	* This is the bread and butter of ''ComicBook/AstroCity''. While the book's setting is a classic superhero universe full of costumed heroes and battles between good and evil, the actual focus of many of the stories is the day-to-day, down-to-earth parts of life. Even the issues that are about a superhero often show the "boring" parts of their lives, rather than the exciting, action-packed moments.
45	** "In Dreams", which covers Samaritan's nonstop heroic-filled day, due to his ChronicHeroSyndrome.
46	** "On the Sidelines" covers a relatively typical problem for a super-powered civilian.
47	** "Where the Action Is" follows a woman who [[MostWritersAreWriters writes comic book stories.]]
48	** "Waltz of the Hours" does this with a transdimensional being.
49	** "The Sorcerer's Assistant" follows the Silver Adept's secretary through a normal day.
50	** "The Menace From Earth" shows the First Family's adventures on the planet Zirros, told from the perspective of a native.
51	* Issue 8 of ''[[ComicBook/TeenTitans The New Teen Titans]]'' featured a story titled "A Day in the Lives" which followed all the Titans except Robin during a normal day. It's widely agreed that it was this issue which helped launch ''The New Teen Titans'' to the best-seller list (where it would remain for ''sixteen years'').
52	* The ''ComicBook/{{Noob}}'' comic does this for one of the players of the {{MMORPG}} in which the story takes place at the beginning of each comic.
53	* Issue #170 of ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'', "She's A Wonder!", sees [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] follow Diana for a day as part of an interview.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Fan Work]]
57	* The 19th chapter of the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' / ''ComicBook/PowerGirl'' crossover fic ''FanFic/OriginStory'' is entitled “Things to Do in California When You're On Vacation”. For the most part is all about Alex and Louise Harris going on their honeymoon after being “married' in a Domestic Partnership ceremony.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
61	* ''Film/TheAssistant'': The film follows one workday in the life of a BeleagueredAssistant in film production company working for a very BadBoss. She starts her day before sunrise and ends in the late evening. She doesn't even make it home before the film ends.
62	* ''Film/{{Clerks}}'', ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'', and ''Film/ClerksII'' are all examples. Creator/KevinSmith apparently likes this trope.
63	* ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', despite being a non-stop action film, is actually like this. The creators chose to make it a "day in the life of Judge Dredd" type story as opposed to trying to adapt one or more of the big storylines of the comic where the entire city is in peril. This is most emphasized at the end after Dredd has killed hundreds of mooks, nearly died himself, and dismantled an entire drug network, he casually notes it down as a "drug bust".
64	* The innovative 1929 film ''Film/ManWithAMovieCamera'' is a visual document of a day in the life of city folk in the Soviet Union. There are no characters, story, or plot, just a feature-length collage of regular people going about the business of life. Director Dziga Vertov's wildly experimental use of [[CameraTrick camera tricks]], {{Montage}}, and editing, result in a movie that's much more interesting that the preceding description makes it sound.
65	* ''Film/OurDay'' is an unusually sophisticated home movie from 1938 in which journalist/photographer Wallace Kelly documented a day in the life of his family.
66	* ''Film/ThePaper'' is based around one day at a daily tabloid newspaper.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* The whole plot of ''Literature/TheDayThouGavest'' in the ''Literature/VillageTales'' series.
71	* ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich'' is about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one day in the life]] of a gulag ''zeke''.
72	* Creator/JamesJoyce's ''Literature/{{Ulysses}}''.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
76	* The last episode of ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete'' is a Day In The Life episode that underscores the goofiness of its milieu. Another series that ended with such an ep was the short-lived WB cartoon ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers''.
77	* For a Creator/MutantEnemy example, go to the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E09HarmsWay Harm's Way]]". If you see the secondary character Harmony get up in the morning, work, go to Happy Hour, then wake up the next day with a hangover and a dead stranger, you have a Day In The Life. The episode is also ADayInTheLimelight.
78	* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' has an episode ''entitled'' "A Day in the Life", although the events taking place in it are something less than typical; a better example might be the episode "Final Cut" (which is also ADayInTheLimelight for a few characters).
79	* ''Series/BabylonFive'' had the episode "[[http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/092.html A View From The Gallery]]" about two maintenance workers' workday.
80	* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': The episode "Tell It Like It Is" saw Carol write about a typical day at the Bradys for the magazine ''Tomorrow's Woman''.
81	* ''Series/{{House}}'' episode 6x14 "5 to 9" follows a day in the life of Lisa Cuddy. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As one might expect]], 6x10 "Wilson" does so for Wilson as well.
82	* In the ''Series/KungFuTheLegendContinues'' episode "May I Ride With You?" Caine tries to get to know his son Peter better by spending a day accompanying him on his rounds as a cop. Peter returns the favor a season later in "May I Walk With You?"
83	* The ''Series/LawAndOrder'' fourth season episode, "Mayhem", which focuses on the detectives as they investigate several cases over the course of one day as opposed to just one case over the episode; the prosecutors barely appear.
84	** The Season 13 episode, "Couples", does the same thing.
85	** The episode "Aftershock" didn't have a normal investigation ''or'' prosecution, instead following the various characters around for a day in the wake of an execution they all witnessed.
86	* ''Series/{{MASH}}'' relied on this storyline for multiple episodes, most using "the letter home" FramingDevice to demonstrate the characters' lives in Korea, but occasionally other documents (Hawkeye's will, for example).
87	** The episode "Point of View" showed the life of a typical Army private, from wounding in the field through the treatment at the 4077th and leaving on the evac bus.
88	* ''Series/NightCourt'' had four episodes titled "Day in the Life", "Another Day in the Life," "Yet Another Day in the Life," and "Still Another Day In the Life," all of which involve the gang trying as many cases as possible before a deadline.
89	* ''Series/SesameStreet'': The 1973–74 season opener, particularly the opening segment which shows just about everyone in the cast for the coming season. Gordon (the second one, played by Hal Miller) ends this first segment by saying, "Just another day on Sesame Street!"
90	** Western Publishing issued a series of ''Sesame Street'' coloring books in the late 1970s, one of which was titled "A Day On ''Sesame Street''. Pictures and activities depict scenes from the pre-dawn early morning (Herry Monster helping unload newspapers and breaking a newsstand in the process) to late night (everyone going to bed).
91	* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'''s parking lot episode is probably the best example of taking observational humor into a dramatic format. ''Seinfeld'' specialized in taking the logic of a Day in the Life episode to its {{logical extreme}}.
92	* ''Series/StargateSG1'' did one in the eighth-season episode "Zero Hour", as we get to see Jack O'Neill getting used to the day-to-day work of running the SGC just after his promotion.
93	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' did it in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E11DatasDay Data's Day]]".
94	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E14LowerDecks Lower Decks]]", the day of four junior crewmen and their interaction with the senior crew is highlighted. One of the crewmen is one of the former Academy cadets that was involved with Wesley's squadron covering up losing a man to an illegal flight maneuver.
95	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
96	** The episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS06E04WeekendAtBobbys "Weekend at Bobby's" (S06, E04)]] revolves around Bobby's general routine [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin over a couple of days]]. Given the general weirdness of happenings on the show and Bobby's prominent role in the hunter community, this involves [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer answering phones and pretending to be various government officers]], [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique hiding bodies from the police]], [[ChunkySalsaRule shoving an okami into a woodchipper]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking doling out well-researched advice to hunters in the field]]. Bobby's overarching goal of getting his soul back from [[DealWithTheDevil Crowley]] is practically a side-plot.
97	** The episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS11E04Baby Baby]] showed the minutia of the brothers working a case. Instead of cutting away as they get in the car and then cut back to them arriving, the episode followed them on the drive, showing their random conversations, singing along with the radio, eating as they drive. Instead of cutting away when they're ready to sleep, it showed them settling down in the car and the things they talk about as they drift off. The episode is a fan favorite because it focused on what the brothers do when they're not [[BadassNormal saving the world.]]
98	* It's a good way to spotlight a minor character, as in the episode of ''Series/TheTick2001'' where they follow Sewer Urchin around on his underground routine (which is far more fraught and dangerous than they thought). This provides a bit of RetCon and BackStory for the Sewer Urchin. Plus, very funny. This episode is also ADayInTheLimelight.
99	* The Season 5 episode of ''Series/TheWestWing'' "Access" starts out as an InUniverse version of this as an outside camera crew follows C.J. around in what was meant to be a "day in the life of" documentary of the White House Chief of Staff. This framing gets Subverted though when she gets word of a shootout involving terrorists and the FBI which she wants to keep a lid on -- as a result the in-universe episode is not aired until after the Bartlet administration is over in exchange of the camera crew being allowed to continue filming what would otherwise be classified information.
100	* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' gently parodied it in the aptly-named episode "A Day in the Life" that followed the mythological hero around on a day when she wasn't getting in adventures.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Music]]
104	* Music/TheBeatles' song quoted above, the climax of ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', is both an example and the TropeNamer. Things Lennon drew on included the fatal car accident of Beatle friend Tara Browne (heir to the Guinness beer fortune), Lennon's own experience acting in ''Film/HowIWonTheWar'', and a news story Lennon read about potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire. Music/PaulMcCartney threw in the bit about waking up in the morning (see page quote above).
105	* Music/EverythingElse's "Harassing The Conman" tells the story of a day at Valley Fair in which a friend of the band has a run in with the law.
106	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q&ob=av2n It Was a Good Day]]" by Music/IceCube describes a good day for a gangster, namely one without violence.
107	* Music/KeroKeroBonito has the song "21/04/20", detailing a SliceOfLife during lockdowns caused by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. It's surprisingly not a downer, and the day is actually quite tranquil, even if everyone is bored and anxious.
108	* Music/TheResidents album ''Music/{{Eskimo}}'' is a Day in the Life of an Inuit Clan.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Video Games]]
112	* In first chapter of ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'', April goes about a rather normal day of her life, during which the player can get familiar with the setting. Only a couple of strange things happen, but the first one doesn't break the flow much and the other ones happen in choice-dependent ending cinematics of the chapter.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Webcomics]]
116	* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', there have been sixteen comics named this, each focusing on different characters. For the purpose of this article, the most famous are:
117	** [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2196 Pooch's and Percy's.]]
118	** [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4646 Absinthe, the green succubus]], ending with the reveal of her name and her suffering from attacks of conscience.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Web Originals]]
122	* ''WebAnimation/KarekoreTheHalfBlood'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJA9M9GAfM8 One episode]] has Hisame record a video of herself going through her morning routine and going to school.
123	* A number of the chapters in the Ayla stories in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse are like this: she goes to classes, gets powers testing, tries to get really good food in the cafeteria, chats with side characters...
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Western Animation]]
127	* The episode [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheTalesOfBaSingSe "The Tales of Ba Sing Se"]] from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Toph and Katara bond during girls' day out, Iroh helps people and [[TearJerker mourns his dead son,]] Aang creates a zoo in about two minutes, Sokka stumbles on a poetry club and ends up in a haiku battle, Zuko goes out on a very awkward date, and Momo goes looking for Appa.
128	* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' has "300 Big Boys" it focus on the Planet Express crew's various ways of spending a 300 dollar tax refund, which was made possible by a very unnecessary invasion commanded by [[GeneralFailure Zapp Brannigan.]]
129	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Just Another Manic Mojo" is basically a day in the life of Mojo Jojo, with the girls acting like regular little girls, as three Dennis the Menaces to Mojo's Mr. Wilson.
130	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had "22 Short Stories About Springfield" which is about what various characters do over the course of a day.
131	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DayInTheLife