Line #102 Main/SleepingSingle


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/ILoveLucy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/abf27349_0e15_4c76_9806_7d5164bc366f.jpeg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:"Great news, honey! Our nightstand is expecting!"]]
6
7	->''"I don't mind telling you, we pushed our beds together ''that'' night! And that was no mean feat; her room, as you know, is across the hall."''
8	-->-- '''Niles Crane''', ''Series/{{Frasier}}''
9
10	Once upon a time, back in TheThirties and TheForties, UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode foisted very harsh censorship rules upon American filmmakers by the MoralGuardians. (The Hays Office was actually created by the studios themselves, in part, because they feared that actual government censorship would be the result of failing to rein things in.) One of the "do nots" that weren't to be shown in films under any circumstances was "Any licentious or suggestive nudity." Further down, in what was described as the "be careful" section, was "Man and woman in bed together."
11
12	The result was this trope: couples of any type were never shown in the same bed together, even if the work in question featured them as married and having children. If couples were shown in a bedroom at all, they were consigned to a pair of twin beds, usually with a nightstand in between so you didn't imagine them ever pushing the beds together when we weren't watching. Exactly ''where'' [[FridgeLogic all those onscreen kids came from was]] [[BellisariosMaxim not a question you were supposed to ask]]. In less censored media from the same era, twin beds were generally used to imply {{Sexless Marriage}}s, and [[NotReallyMarriedPlot couples whose marriages were not believed to be lawful]] might find their sleeping accommodations unhappily altered.
13
14	A curious variation appeared where the couple in question was actually shown as owning a bed big enough for two people. In such cases, they would never be lying down in the bed on-screen at the same time. The most "risqué" thing usually seen on-screen was one of them lying down and the other sitting on the edge of the bed. It can be gleaned from this that, in the eyes of the censors at the time, the unwritten rule was apparently that the line between a perfectly innocent talk in the bedroom and a prelude to steamy sexual activity was whether or not someone kept at least one foot off the bed and firmly on the ground at all times.
15
16	Although (as noted above) it wasn't strictly forbidden to show men and women in bed together, it almost never happened in practice after 1934. This trope carried over to television in the 1950s and remained in effect until censorship standards loosened and The Hays Code became a dead letter in the 1960s, replaced by the MPAA rating system for films and FCC censorship for television. The first live-action TV couple to share a bed onscreen, whose actors were not a married couple in real life, were Darrin and Samantha Stephens on ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''.[[note]]The reason for [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative those qualifiers]] is because the first couple to ''ever'' share a bed on TV were ''Series/MaryKayAndJohnny'', but they were [[RealLifeRelative married in real life]], and when the show aired in the late '40s, the Hays Code hadn't been fully adopted by television yet. And [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Fred and Wilma Flintstone]] started sharing a bed before Darrin and Samantha.[[/note]] Also, by the early '70s, the trope had been discarded entirely on such series as ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' and ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow''.
17
18	While mostly a DeadHorseTrope now, it might crop up from time to time in parody. It might also be used as a shorthand indicator that a married couple's relationship is in trouble. Nowadays, if a couple is depicted as doing this, it represents that [[SexlessMarriage they have a very distant or antagonistic relationship]]. Or they may [[JustifiedTrope have other reasons for not sharing a bed]] like incompatible sleep, though having a different room is just as common for this. A reversal of this trope occurs when the characters ''aren't'' in a romantic relationship but ThereIsOnlyOneBed. Not related to ExiledToTheCouch.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Advertising]]
26	* The couple in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIB5fvxbWjg this]] Sleep Number commercial.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
30	* ''Manga/BrokenBlade'': King Hodr and Queen Sigyn do not even sleep in the same room. Sigyn barely even sleeps in her own room, sometimes falling asleep while working. The reason is that Sigyn, despite that Hodr clearly loves her, [[NoSparks does not have any romantic interest in her husband]]. They don't have any children.
31	* Rare modern (2009) example: In ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}} After Story'', Nagisa and Tomoya sleep on different futons. After getting married. Because placing two futons together [[SarcasmMode is really hard to do]]. Though maybe this isn't as surprising considering they have a ''literal'' NoHuggingNoKissing {{Chast\|ity Couple}}e Relationship, where they never go beyond holding hands [[spoiler: at least onscreen, anyway. Obviously, they go farther than that since Nagisa eventually gets pregnant. In fact, it's outright mentioned in conversation that they've slept together.]] But other than that Nagisa and Tomoya's relationship is distinctly portrayed as physically chaste. The VN, on the other hand, does have them sharing a futon after marriage (though any physical intimacy between them is still not shown on screen).
32	* In ''Manga/EmmaAVictorianRomance'', the aristocratic couples the maids serve usually have separate bedrooms. TruthInTelevision, since the story takes place in Victorian-era England and sleeping together every night was not considered proper behavior for a well-bred couple in that era, even if they were HappilyMarried. Wilhelm and Dorothea Mölders discuss this trope in a side story; they're a loving couple with an active sex life, but when Wilhelm suggests they start sharing a room, Dorothea says she'd rather not since she doesn't want him to see her putting on makeup.
33	* ''[[Anime/{{Iczer}} Fight! Iczer-One]]'', an anime from the late 1980s, provides an extremely unusual example. Nagase's parents seem to have separate beds. This is a pretty hardcore {{yuri}} anime we are talking about.
34	* In ''Manga/FutariEcchi'', a neighboring couple to Yuna and Makoto were stuck in a SexlessMarriage. They were shown to be sleeping in separate twin beds, which was lampshaded as being something that would make initiating sex a little more difficult.
35	* In ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', one of the girls that Onizuka helps is upset that her family has become distant since acquiring money. She compares the distance to the wall that exists between her two parents' rooms (and beds). Onizuka takes the literal approach to solving the problem and puts a gigantic hole in said wall with a hammer.
36	* In ''Manga/IMarriedMyFemaleFriend'', after Ruriko and Kurumi enter a fake marriage, they sleep in separate rooms. This isn't entirely due to a lack of intimacy, but also because they have completely different working and sleeping schedules.
37	* Seen in the epilogue of Creator/{{CLAMP}}'s ''Manga/ManOfManyFaces'', in spite of some previous knot-tying. This is likely related to the manga's "All Ages" rating (in the US).
38	* ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'': While we never see them sleeping, Lain's parents have separate beds. This comes off as rather strange given how oddly physical they seem together around the house. It serves as one of the first clues that something is wrong with Lain's family structure.
39	* Yor and Loid Forger of ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'' have a {{Sexless\|Marriage}} MarriageOfConvenience where they sleep in different bedrooms. When they have to convince Yor's brother they're a regular married couple, they rearrange things to have a single, large bed complete with "Yes/No" pillows.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Comic Books]]
43	* Parodied in one ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' article about how old-fashioned movies used this trope. As a married couple lies in separate beds, the wife tells her husband that their end table is pregnant.
44	** Also parodied in a much older issue (contemporaneous with the actual use of the trope) in a story on the [[TheFilmOfTheBook differences between films and the books they adapted]]. In the book, the trope was averted, with the husband [[AwfulWeddedLife complaining]] how his wife was always stealing the covers. In the movie, the trope was played straight... with the husband ''still'' complaining about his wife stealing the covers.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
48	* Famously averted by [[ComicStrip/Blondie1930 Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead]] in a rather daring move at the time (1933) that was anyway supported by religious figures.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
52	* This is implied in "[[Literature/{{Goldilocks}} Goldilocks and the Three Bears]]" -- how else could Papa Bear's bed be too hard, but Mama Bear's too soft? (Of course, nowadays there are beds with adjustable hardnesses on each side, but still.) Also justified, as the fact that they need different mattress firmnesses is probably ''why'' they have separate beds.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
56	* Examined and parodied in ''Film/AlienTrespass'', where one couple ''does'' have separate beds, but share one for a romantic interlude.
57	* ''Film/AChristmasStory'' shows Ralphie's parents with the twin bed setup as he cleverly hides the BB gun advert in his mother's magazine.
58	* This was never mandatory in French cinema, so in ''Film/TheEarringsOfMadameDe'' it obviously emphasizes that while Andre and Louise remain friendly, their marriage is now completely sexless and passionless.
59	* ''Film/EasyToLove'' is one of those films from UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra, before this trope was enforced. Here it is a signal that Carol and John haven't been having sex for a while.
60	-->'''Carol''': First a double bed, then twin beds, then separate rooms.
61	* Gregory and Paula from ''Film/{{Gaslight}}'' are newlyweds however sleep in separate ''rooms'', which is unusual even by Victorian standards. Considering Gregory's [[{{gaslighting}} ulterior measures]] it makes more sense he'd keep her distant.
62	* A strange example in ''Film/{{Giant}}''. Bick and Leslie do this later in their marriage, even though they started by sleeping in the same bed and are still HappilyMarried.
63	* ''Film/GodzillaMinusOne''. When Koichi Shikishima wakes up from a nightmare we see that Noriko Oishi is sleeping in a separate bed, even though everyone assumes they're a family. This foreshadows the reveal that he's refused to marry her because he's unable to move on from what he experienced in the war.
64	* ''Film/AGuideForTheMarriedMan'' depicted married couples in twin beds while husbands and their girlfriends used double beds.
65	* In ''Film/HMPulhamEsq'' poor Harry is doing this on his honeymoon. While this is an EnforcedTrope, of course, it helps reinforce how Harry has chosen safe, rather dull Kay over his exciting girlfriend [[TomboyishName Marvin]].
66	* ''Film/{{Houseboat}}'' (1958) tweaks this. Carolyn's getting divorced and consequently isn't sleeping with anybody, whether in one bed or two. But the LongingLook she casts as she gets up out of her single bed, and looks at her soon-to-be-ex-husband's empty single bed, is meant to show how lonely she is.
67	* Played for laughs in ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' where it crops up in Audrey's sitcom-inspired fantasies about married life.
68	* Single beds silliness from the 1952 film, ''Film/TheMarryingKind''.
69	* In ''Film/{{Modesta}}'' Modesta sleeps by herself in a double bed, while her husband sleeps in a hammock. Potentially justified in that she is visibly pregnant.
70	* The father Lalit and his wife start ''Film/MonsoonWedding'' like this, but eventually they wind up curled up together in one of the twin beds just holding one another.
71	* The movie ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'', largely set inside the world of a fictional '50s sitcom, makes explicit reference to this trope. One of the signs that the show's world is changing is that larger beds are for sale.
72	** And later, beds being restricted to a maximum width to try protecting the [[StatusQuoIsGod Status Quo]].
73	* In ''Film/TheProwler1951'', John and Susan have two single beds in their bedroom. However, it has as much to do with the state of their marriage as it does with the Hays code.
74	* While not shown, it's mentioned by [[GossipyHens Gretchen Weiners]] in ''Film/MeanGirls'' that [[AlphaBitch Regina]] [[RichBitch George's]] parents are having [[SexlessMarriage marital problems to the point of sleeping in separate beds.]]
75	* ''Film/PleaseTurnOver'': When Edward is trying to accuse Janet of not loving him anymore, he brings up how she made him buy single beds a year ago, although Janet meant nothing of the sort by the beds and only got them for her insomnia.
76	* The couple in ''Film/Seconds1966'' has single beds which underpins their loveless marriage.
77	* ''Film/TheThinMan'', which is from the '30s, though they imply a lot in dialogue anyway. And there was that [[BabiesEverAfter time on the train]].
78	* Classic 1955 Creator/AlfredHitchcock movie ''Film/TheTroubleWithHarry'' included a then-racy comment that a couple would need a double bed, which caused the heroine (played by Creator/ShirleyMacLaine) to have a major blush-attack.
79	* Mark and Fran of Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/TheUglyDachsund'' sleep in separate beds despite being married. Possibly for the best since Fran lets their dachshunds sleep on the bed with her.
80	* In ''Film/WildOrchids'', a 1929 silent film made before the Sleeping Single trope was enforced, this is a plot point. John Sterling is aghast when presented with a double bed, and is relieved to find out that he and his wife will be sleeping in separate rooms. This underscores the lack of any sex in the Sterling marriage, which is driving his wife into the arms of another man.
81	* ''Film/TheWinningTeam'': Played with. In the scene where Grover wakes up at night and realizes that his double vision has gone, it's clear that he and Aimee are in the same bed, but the film is carefully shot so that we can't see them in the same bed. As Grover is looking out the window at the moon, the shot is blocked so that his body obscures Aimee's. As he gets up, the camera sweeps across so fast that we can barely see Doris Day. Only after he's gone from the room does the camera show Aimee on the other side of the bed.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Literature]]
85	* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' this is normal ... mainly because it would get very crowded with [[ExoticExtendedMarriage ten to thirty wives per husband.]] The women take turns visiting their husband.
86	* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', this is standard for noble families. The queen and king have an arranged marriage, and may not even have consummated the marriage, as king Jakoven prefers young men. He ''encourages'' other men to start affairs with queen Tehedrato ... only to then assassinate the nice young men, and leave the queen heartbroken. He's ... not a nice person.
87	* ''Literature/FireAndBlood:'' King Viserys I and Queen Allicent Hightower not only slept in separate bedrooms, but her bedroom was on an entirely separate ''floor'' from his. Says a lot about their marriage... and maybe his very sudden death. Then again, Viserys was overweight and in seriously bad health. Not the sort of person you'd want to share a bed with (or possibly be ''able'' to share a bed with).
88	* In the ''Literature/ImagerPortfolio'' series by L.E. Modesitt Jr, all married imagers are ''required'' to have separate quarters from their spouses. This is because Imagers sometimes Image in their sleep, which could be dangerous for anyone else in the room. This rule only applies to the literal act of sleeping, as several married Imagers (including the main characters in both subseries) are shown to have children.
89	* ''Literature/TheNakedSun'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov takes place on Solaria, a planet with a population so small that every individual gets their own estate of several hundred to thousand square miles. They communicate only through holographic communicators and see physical presence as disgusting. Even spouses rarely come into physical contact with one another, each having their own half of a huge mansion. This is quite common with Spacers, humans that don't live on Earth, as the Spacer buildings near New York City in ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'' are expansive domes that house small buildings inside in contrast to the City domes that Earth has.
90	* Literature/{{Spenser}}'s FriendOnTheForce Quirk once tells Spenser that once their kids left the house, he and his wife started sleeping in separate rooms. Everyone thinks the marriage is in trouble, but it's just for comfort's sake, and "it makes the time together more special". Author Robert B. Parker [[RealLifeWritesThePlot actually did this]] with his wife Joan in RealLife, though to a greater extent - actually building a two-part house where they could live separately, but visit whenever they wished. He once said, "I never want to sleep with my wife again, but I hope to continue making love to her forever."
91	%%* ''Literature/TheTwits'', and it isn't hard to see why.
92	* In ''Literature/AYellowRaftInBlueWater'', Christine and Elgin Taylor as a married couple both have their own beds to sleep in since [[JustifiedTrope they're renting out a hotel room to live in together]]. They try to combine them into a double bed, but Christine ends up falling between the beds and struggling to get herself out without accidentally waking up Elgin. Eventually she decides to leave the beds single as Elgin would end up coming home later than usual, a sign of her husband's infidelity that would show up as the marriage progressed.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
96	* Inverted in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''. When Jemma is stranded on an alien planet and meets an American astronaut who has been there a while, they work together for several weeks before falling in love, and we get a SexyDiscretionShot of them making out before the commercial break. After the break, we see their two cots pushed together, clearly implying that they had sex.
97	* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Tobias and Lindsey are shown sleeping in two different beds in season 4 after getting a new, oversized house. The trope is used here to show their failed marriage.
98	* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E6CityAtTheEdgeOfTheWorld City at the Edge of the World]]", an ActionGirl takes a fancy to Vila, takes off her gunbelt and puts her arms around him. Next time we see them, they're lying on separate beds [[RightThroughHisPants fully clothed]], [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vila_after_7243.jpg bathing in the afterglow.]]
99	* In ''Series/CitizenKhan'', Mr. and Mrs. Khan sleep in separate beds. Mr. Khan reacts in shock when he sees Mrs. Khan pushing their beds together in the middle of the day and shrinks back in fear when she insists he fulfills his "husbandly duties". Turns out she just wanted him to fix the plumbing in their room and moving the beds provided easier access to the pipes.
100	* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': Downplayed in one episode, where Hotchner and Rossi note that a couple shared a queen-sized bed but had separate mattresses (which Rossi calls "less intimate"). It's one of the first signs that the relationship was strained before the wife killed her husband seemingly out of the blue.
101	* ''Series/TheCrown2016''
102	** Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip each have a bed in a room opposite each other, which is traditional for British gentry but is emphasized in an episode where they are having marriage problems. At the start of the episode, Elizabeth muses that she's woken up in the wrong bed, suggesting that the Royal couple have had sex and things are going well. At the end of the episode, she starts to worry about her husband's fidelity after he's left on a five-month royal tour, so she shuts the doors opposite rather than continue to look at her husband's empty bed.
103	** When the Thatchers arrive at Balmoral, they're nonplussed to discover they've been given separate bedrooms. Margaret later insists on Denis sleeping with her regardless.
104	** Charles and Diana are given separate bedrooms on their Australian tour; however, after they rekindle their relationship, Charles spends the night in Diana's room.
105	* In perhaps a parody of this trope, Bree and Orson are shown in a hotel room with twin beds in one episode of ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', despite the fact that they're there on their ''honeymoon''.
106	* While technically holding to this trope, Rob and Laura Petrie of ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' were arguably the first TV couple to be shown having an obviously dynamic and ''energetic'' romantic relationship, due to the fantastic chemistry between stars Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore.
107	** This also goes for Gomez and Morticia Addams of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' ("Tish! That's French!"), who subverted the trope ''constantly''.
108	** Likewise Herman and Lilly of ''Series/TheMunsters'' were actually shown in bed together a few weeks after the ''Bewitched'' episode mentioned in the page intro. This may or may not have been handwaved by them [[WeirdnessCoupon being 'weird']].
109	** However, this trope was completely averted by the very first American sitcom, ''Series/MaryKayAndJohnny'', which aired from 1947 to 1950. It showed the featured couple sharing a bed and even depicted Mary Kay's real-life pregnancy. It should be noted that the stars were real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns.
110	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
111	** Rory and Amy in early series 6, as after the TARDIS shenanigans result in their bedroom being deleted, they tell the Doctor that when he has the TARDIS create a new one, leave out the bunk bed.
112	--->'''The Doctor:''' But bunk beds are cool! It's a ''bed'' with a ''ladder''!
113	** They may have just been using one of the beds together and wanted a single large bed for greater comfort. After all, Amy and Rory still managed to [[spoiler:conceive a child]] while in the TARDIS. (When fans asked how and when, Creator/StevenMoffat and Creator/NeilGaiman [[WordOfGod both tweeted]] -- accidentally at the same time, and completely by coincidence -- "[[WallBangHer on the ladder]]".)
114	* Averted by Lord and Lady Grantham on ''Series/DowntonAbbey''. As British aristocrats of their day and master and mistress of a great house, they would be expected to not only sleep in separate beds but in separate rooms. And technically, they do have separate rooms with separate beds—it’s just that Lord Grantham only uses his bedroom to change and then goes to Lady Grantham’s room to sleep in their common bed, the Granthams having had the great fortune to fall in love with each other [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage about a year into their marriage]]. The only time his bed gets any use is when she [[ExiledToTheCouch exiles him from hers]] (or on one occasion, he feels he has shamed himself and exiles himself), or when Lady Grantham is ill. His daughter gives him cheek about it in Series 1:
115	-->'''Lady Mary:''' I hope you know that really smart people sleep in separate rooms.\
116	'''Lord Grantham:''' I always keep the dressing room bed made up so I at least pretend we sleep in separate rooms. Isn't that enough? \
117	'''Lady Mary:''' No. Never mind.[[note]]Lady Mary, when she did marry years later, never did sleep separate from her husband.[[/note]]
118	* Played with on ''Series/FatherTed'' -- Ted and Dougal have twin beds in the same room, Justified due to them not being a couple, meaning it would be very weird (even by the show's standards) if they shared a bed.
119	* On ''Series/FawltyTowers'', Basil and Sybil are seen doing this in "The Wedding Party", although by then they could have easily shared a bed. They just hate each other. In the same episode, Basil refuses to let an unmarried young couple have a double bed, saying it's against the law of England, and nothing to do with him.
120	* As referenced in the page quote, Niles and Maris on ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' have a terrible marriage and sleep in separate rooms.
121	-->'''Frasier:''' She's been missing for three days and you're just panic-stricken now?\
122	'''Niles:''' I only just realized it. The last two nights, I knocked on Maris's bedroom door to wish her goodnight and I was greeted with a chilly silence, so naturally I assumed everything was status quo!
123	* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', King Robert and Queen Cersei have separate bedchambers due to their loveless marriage.
124	* The Howells slept single on ''Series/GilligansIsland''.
125	* Zig-zagged in ''Series/GreenAcres'' -– the Douglases had no furniture when they first moved into Green Acres and for a short time temporarily rented Mr. Haney's single cots. A little later, Lisa brings over their lavish double bed.
126	* In the ChainedHeat episode of ''Series/HeyDude'', the handcuffed Ted and Brad spend an uncomfortable night in ''bunk beds'' when you would think a double bed would be the best choice. The best choice anywhere but TV land.
127	* ''Series/HiHoneyImHome'': Honey and Lloyd are people from a 1950s television show who are now living in the real world. They sleep in separate beds, but they push them together in the first episode of the second season.
128	* Francis and Elizabeth Urquhart in the ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK'' trilogy. They seemed to have a very open marriage.
129	* Frank and Claire Underwood in the American version of ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' are like this too.
130	* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Marshall and Lily tried this, not because they're sexually estranged (Marshall and Lily have a ''lot'' of sex -- the two were even planning to buy a third bed ''just'' for sex) but simply to try and get a better night's sleep. It actually works for a while, but both decide that they're more comfortable sharing a bed.
131	* ''Series/ILoveLucy'':
132	** The series is infamous for this, although the twin beds were actually ''pushed together'' throughout the entire first season. After Ricky and Lucy had a child, the network had a nightstand put between them to "diminish the impact of the suggested sexual history".
133	** It was actually averted a couple of times. In one strange instance, Fred says that Ethel woke him by not being there "because there was no one poking him in the ribs and telling him to roll over" which pretty much means they needed to be in the same bed. While shortly afterwards ''in the same episode'', they are shown sleeping in twin beds.
134	** In another episode, both Fred and Ethel ''and'' Lucy and Ricky are briefly depicted as sharing a double bed in a motel that they stop at on their way to Hollywood. However, neither couple actually gets to sleep because a train keeps going by and moving the bed across the floor.
135	* In the ''Series/InspectorMorse'' episode "Deceived by Flight", when the Fosters were allocated a college room to sleep in, it had twin beds, which the scout pushed together to make a double -- only to find they'd been pushed apart again. It turned out this was because [[spoiler:they were actually customs officers UndercoverAsLovers]].
136	* One episode of ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'' had Hyacinth get a flat in a former big country house as a holiday home. Although they slept in the same bed at home, in the flat they had twin beds; Hyacinth implied they're now too old to be getting up to anything that would require a double.
137	* For a single episode of ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' the couple sleep in separate twin beds. A delivery mistake brought them twin beds instead of a new king-size and they are told it will take time to fix and ship out the replacement bed. They grow to like the separate beds (she can read late and he can eat in bed without disturbing each other) and consider keeping them while their friends and family become increasingly worried that their marriage is in trouble. In the end, they decide they miss sleeping in the same bed and send for the replacement bed.
138	* In ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al would love nothing more than to sleep separately from Peg. Considering that one episode establishes that their sleeping position involves Peg strangling Al from behind while she digs her feet into his back, this shouldn't be surprising. He goes so far as to replace their usual bed with ''bunk'' beds with him taking the top bunk so he won't even have to look at Peg at night. However, Peg dislikes this and physically kicks Al out of his bunk, causing him to fall off and through the floor into their living room. In another episode, Al forces Peg to get twin single beds in exchange for getting a TV for their bedroom.
139	* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Midge Maisel's parents Abe and Rose Weissman sleep in twin beds. This makes sense because they are a Jewish couple probably born around 1900-1910; Jewish law requires men not to touch any menstruating woman, not even his wife, so for observant Jews of that generation (and even Orthodox Jews today), the obvious solution is separate beds (the alternative being one spouse or the other being ExiledToTheCouch for a week to ten days a month). This does not mean a lack of intimacy; Midge gets a lot of mileage in her comedy act from her realization at the age of 26 that the scraping sounds she thought were a ghost as a child were actually her parents moving their beds together/apart.
140	* Averted in ''Series/TheMorecambeAndWiseShow'' where the two protagonists, for no reason which was ever explained other than RuleOfFunny, shared a bed. Ernie Wise took inspiration from Creator/LaurelAndHardy in their short ''Early to Bed''.
141	* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S1E4TheManWithThePower The Man With the Power]]", Dean Radcliffe and his wife Emily sleep in separate beds.
142	* Ned and Chuck from ''Series/PushingDaisies'' have to sleep in twin beds, as Chuck would die by touching Ned, but it also helps with the general [[TheFifties retro feel]] of the show. Later on, they put the beds together separated by a plastic sheet, with an inserted arm-glove for hugging.
143	* ''Series/{{Reba}}'': After teenagers Cheyenne and Van have a ShotgunWedding, Reba sets up Cheyenne's room to accommodate Van by adding a second twin bed. Upon returning from their honeymoon, they promptly push the beds together.
144	* Lampooned in the ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' episode "The Fifties Show", which satirizes various old sitcoms.
145	-->'''Dan:''' What do you say tonight we push our twin beds together and...?\
146	'''Roseanne:''' Stop, the kids will hear you!
147	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': Invoked by Bea in "[[https://youtu.be/oPyx4JRCQ88?t=192 Dream Home Cousins]]" (April 9, 2022). It was her idea to replace the king bed with three single beds for her son and his wife when designing the house.
148	* Done as a throwaway gag on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. Eliot's WASP-ish emotionally distant father comes to visit, and says that her mother is having the bedroom redecorated... but he's keeping his the same.
149	* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Frank and Estelle Costanza have separate beds. But as Frank explains, it's because Estelle has the "jimmy arms" and this was the only way either of them would get any sleep.
150	* ''Series/StrangerThings'': Jonathan and Nancy sleep in a motel room on their way out to visit Murray Bauman. They take a double with twin beds, due to their [[UnresolvedSexualTension denial of their increasing feelings towards each other]].
151	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'':
152	** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E14ThirdFromTheSun Third from the Sun]]", William and Eve Sturka's bedroom has two single beds.
153	** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E17TheFever The Fever]]", Franklin and Flora Gibbs sleep in separate beds in their UsefulNotes/LasVegas hotel room.
154	** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E22LongDistanceCall Long Distance Call]]", Chris and Sylvia Bayles sleep in separate beds.
155	** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E6LivingDoll Living Doll]]", Erich and Annabelle Streator sleep in single beds.
156	* ''Series/WandaVision'': "[[Recap/WandaVisionEpisode2DontTouchThatDial Don't Touch That Dial]]", a GenreThrowback to '60s sitcoms, opens with Wanda and Vision sleeping in single beds. Wanda pulls them together with her magic after they get scared by a loud banging noise from outside. They quickly decide they prefer it this way and [[SexyDiscretionShot pull the covers over their heads]]. This seems to be playing on the transition from the fifties ''Series/ILoveLucy''-like setting of the first episode into a fairly direct pastiche of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' (as noted above, one the earliest sitcoms to defy the trope).
157	* ''Series/YoGabbaGabba'': In "Sleep", it is shown the gang sleeps in their own realms in their beds, but in "Doctor," Toodee sleeps in Muno's.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Music]]
161	* The Music/TheAllAmericanRejects music video to "Give You Hell" uses this trope.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Video Games]]
165	* ''VideoGame/{{Bugsnax}}'': Although Snorpy Fizzlebean and Chandlo Funkbun are in love, they sleep in separate beds in the upstairs of their hut.
166	* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': Dialogue in Act IV can reveal that Lord Linder Kemm has grown distant from his wife and sleeps separately from her. It's revealed to be because [[spoiler:he's [[MoleInCharge joined forces]] with the GreaterScopeVillain and now uses a HumanDisguise to hide that he's become undead.]]
167	* Mars' grandparents in ''VideoGame/ShiningWisdom'' sleep in separate beds, more importantly however is that they sleep in the kitchen to allow Mars the whole upstairs as his bedroom.
168	* Strangely enough, this shows up in a few ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' games. Almost all the games require you to get a "Big Bed" to get married. For you and your spouse, right? No -- for your spouse and ''your child.'' You still sleep in your own tiny bed. While it's pressed close to the others, it's still separate. Where does the kid come from, then? (Other games avert this, however.) In at least one, you need a new bed which is a crib for the child, and you and your wife just share the single bed you start with. Guess you're both pretty sedate sleepers.
169	* Possible in ''Videogame/TheSims'', and mandatory if the relationship between Sims isn't high enough or, obviously, being children.
170	* Judging by the houses in the Ruins and New Home in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', it seems as if [[spoiler: Toriel and Asgore]] not only slept in separate beds, ''but also separate bedrooms''. One of the videos in [[spoiler: the True Lab]] features them talking at night, with the implication that [[spoiler: Toriel]] came into [[spoiler: Asgore’s]] bedroom to film his reactions to her puns, as he tells her to "Go back to bed" at first, then she says "I'm going back to bed" after he makes a pun himself.
171	* In ''VideoGame/XMenLegends'', Cyclops and Jean Grey have separate bedrooms in the mansion, though in the standalone universe of the Marvel RPG's, it's unknown how long they've been a couple.
172	* Both Nate's and Katie's parents sleep in separate beds in ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch''.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
176	* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': Tomoya and Nagisa. In 2009. However, it's due to living in a tiny apartment and being poor as all hell, they're not going to spend money on a double futon that probably won't fit in the wardrobe. They probably just brought their old ones from home to save money.
177	* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
178	** Natsuhi and Krauss sleep in separate bedrooms, and it's heavily implied they have a SexlessMarriage.
179	** George and Shannon slept in separate rooms during a date before the events of the series, to [[ShipperOnDeck Jessica's]] disappointment. [[spoiler:If they had slept in the same room, most of the series would most likely not have happened since Shannon/Sayo Yasuda's secret would have gotten out because George would have seen Shannon/Sayo's mutilated sexual organs (as well as the strong implication that Sayo was [[RaisedAsTheOppositeGender designated male at birth]])]].
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	%%[[folder:Web Comics]]
183	%%* WebComic/BugMartini discusses this [[http://www.bugmartini.com/comic/sleeping-with-the-enemy/ trope]]. (Dead link ZCE)
184	%%[[/folder]]
185
186	[[folder:Web Original]]
187	* Deconstructed in this Cracked.com [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19230_the-5-least-romantic-keys-to-happy-relationship.html article]], which argues that couples who sleep separately tend to be happier since they're less likely to disrupt each other's sleep.
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Western Animation]]
191	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'': Jay's adoptive parents sleep this way. In one episode, when Franklin Sherman is feeling a bit frisky, his wife says, all right, as long as he goes to her. When the light kicks on, we see a no-man's-land with barbed wire and Doberman pinschers between the beds.
192	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Even though King Zog and Queen Oona are married and mentioned to have a sex life, he is shown to sleep in his own separate bed while she sleeps... [[AnOddPlaceToSleep in the ceiling upside down]]. But then again, they are also united in an ArrangedMarriage, so that may be a reason why.
193	* On ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', Edd's parents' bedroom ("please leave or I'll have to call an attorney!") is arranged like this. No wonder the kid's so [[NeatFreak uptight]]; his parents are as germophobic as he is.
194	* The ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "Hassle in the Castle" shows that Cosmo and Wanda sleep in separate beds.
195	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': When Peter is lost at sea, and Brian marries Lois to keep the family together, they sleep in separate twin beds, despite Brian's nightly effort to convince Lois to [[SexlessMarriage have sex]] with him. (Keep in mind, Brian is the ''[[InterspeciesRomance dog]]''.)
196	** In another episode, Peter and Lois start sleeping in separate beds (Peter calls them "Lucy and Ricky beds") after Peter rolls over and suffocates her one time too many. However, Peter asks Quagmire to [[HoYay sleep with him]] just so he wouldn't feel lonely, which is [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday totally not gay]] by the way.
197	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Fantastic Four\|1967}}'' depicted Reed and Sue sleeping in separate beds in the episode "The Terrible Tribunal" in spite of them being married.
198	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' are generally acknowledged to be the first animated couple to share a bed, but earlier seasons did have Fred and Wilma in separate beds.
199	** One episode has Fred and Barney sharing a double bed. Barney mentions that he is having trouble sleeping because he and Betty sleep in twin beds. A giant ax later splits the bed, making Barney much happier.
200	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', Arnold's grandparents are shown to have separate beds.
201	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'':
202	** Dale and Nancy sleep in separate beds while she was having an affair.
203	** Hank and Peggy's bed is actually two beds pushed together. Hank pulls his away in one episode because he can't stand the smell of Peggy's hair. Hank later explains to Bobby that they have it that way because Peggy likes her mattress firm and he likes his extra firm.
204	--->'''Hank:''' I guess it's true, opposites attract.
205	* One of the latest straight playings (in the puritan way) is the '90s WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoon ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyT_Xc8DVng Hansel and Gretel]]'', where Mickey and Minnie don't sleep in the same bed, even though there's only one bed and this means Mickey must sleep in an armchair.
206	* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'':
207	** Not only do Orel's parents have separate beds, but there is a privacy screen between them.
208	** Doughy's parents have separate rooms, though this is more because they're mentally still teenagers -- Kim's bedroom, which we do see, is still decorated like a high school girl's. It should also be noted that this has no bearing on their sex lives, as they regularly bribe Doughy with money to leave the house so they can be alone.
209	* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Pinkie Pie's somewhat... old-fashioned parents are shown to sleep like this. The fact that they have four kids (and strongly suggest theirs was a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage) means this can't have damaged their relationship any.
210	* One of the first clues that Luann and Kirk Van Houten on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' might have a troubled marriage was Kirk's proposal to "push the twin beds together" after he procured a sex tonic. Later seasons saw them get divorced, though as of present they're back together.
211	* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Bottle Burglars" shows that Plankton and his computer wife sleep in separate beds.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:Real Life]]
215	* Averted in more old-fashioned and/or religious traditions in which the "marital bed" has a sacred significance.
216	* In fact, through most of human history and prehistory, [[https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/communal-sleeping-history-sharing-bed communal sleeping]] was the norm, meaning you'd either be sleeping in close proximity with most of the tribe or (say, in the medieval era) sharing a bed with strangers.
217	* It's [[http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/09/12/lw.sleep.alone.when.married/ not]] [[http://www.divinecaroline.com/22074/74191-couples-sleep-separate-beds unheard]] [[http://zeldalily.com/index.php/2010/07/more-american-couples-sleeping-in-separate-beds/ of]] for happily married couples to sleep in separate beds or even separate rooms if their sleep habits aren't compatible or if there are medical circumstances (back problems, allergies or breathing problems, for example). This doesn't mean they don't enjoy "together time" when the mood strikes.
218	* Heck, in some places, the husband and the wife don't even share a ''room''! (Most commonly with kings, who had to worry about things like assassination attempts. The Emperor of China eventually took to having his concubines stripped naked and wrapped up in a blanket to be delivered to his chambers for pleasure.) Many upper-class homes, given their large amount of space, do often have separate bedrooms for Him and for Her.
219	* Also, studies show that those who have certain sleeping habits (like snoring) or health problems are better off sleeping in different beds, and this shows that accommodating those needs ''improves'' a relationship. These studies are usually the reason for married pairs to sleep in different beds; before, different beds were considered to be wholesome and chaste, and the idea of "snuggling" was considered to be vulgar.
220	* [[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21369007/ns/health-behavior/t/some-couples-distance-key-closeness/#.T3d-1hGPWTk This couple]] decided to [[ExaggeratedTrope live in separate houses]] while happily married due to already having two places that sufficiently contains all their stuff but they'd have to get a bigger, more expensive place if they didn't keep both homes. Appears to work pretty well for them, and the 2006 U.S. census data reports 3.8 million couples doing the same thing.
221	* When they were a couple, Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter and Creator/TimBurton had adjoining HOUSES.
222	* Medical orthodoxy in the late 19th century was that sharing beds was unhygienic (because one lay in another person's sweat and exhaled water vapour), meaning it was highly probable that many happily married couples slept like this (of course many families couldn't afford more than one bed for the whole family, so it wasn't universal -- which, in turn, made it ''aspirational'' to be sleeping single).
223	* Certain Jewish traditions surrounding the ''Niddah'', or a woman's menstrual cycle, stipulate that she sleep in a separate bed from her husband during and for several days after her cycle until she can be ritually cleansed in a bath called a ''mikvah''. Many modern Orthodox couples set this up either this way or by giving her a separate bedroom (often a guest room) for this time, though others [[ExiledToTheCouch exile one of the couple (usually the husband) to the couch]].
224	* A downplayed example is a suggestion from sleep experts to sleep in the same bed but use separate covers. This prevents one partner from [[BlanketTugOWar hogging the covers]] while also allowing each partner to choose how heavy or light their covers will be if each prefers a different sleeping temperature.
225	* Creator/RobertBParker and his wife Joan realized that their lifestyles were too different[[note]]she loved to socialize and host parties, he preferred solitude with his dog for company and staying up late watching classic baseball games[[/note]] to support traditional co-habitation so they lived separate lives[[note]]they lived in a three-story house, each claiming one floor and sharing the one remaining[[/note]] while remaining very much in love and committed to each other. When describing their arrangement, Parker said, "I want to make love to my wife for the rest of my life, but I never want to sleep with her again."
226	* UsefulNotes/FranklinDelanoRoosevelt and UsefulNotes/EleanorRoosevelt never slept in the same bed from the point after she caught him having an affair in 1918. While they were always a team and loved each other deeply, their relationship was never quite romantic after that point.
227	* When the marriage of the [=11th=] Duke and Duchess of Rutland hit a rough patch, they moved into separate towers of their 300-room castle and went about their lives.
228	* William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, the parents of Creator/MaryShelley, lived in separate apartments 20 doors down from each other for the entirety of their brief marriage (they married when Wollstonecraft became pregnant with Mary, and she died from an infection following childbirth). They were nonetheless happy in the relationship and often corresponded by letter.
229	* Creator/PGWodehouse and his wife Ethel Wayman appear to have had their own rooms throughout much of their marriage. Although Wodehouse may have been UsefulNotes/{{Asexual}} as well as sterile due to a case of mumps in his youth, they were HappilyMarried for sixty years until Wodehouse's death in 1975.
230	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SleepingSingle