Line #31 Series/HotInCleveland


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
4	%%
5	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16649988690.23044600
6	%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
7	%%
8	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_46_2.jpeg]]
9	%%
10
11	''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Creator/ValerieBertinelli (Melanie Moretti), Creator/JaneLeeves (Rejoyla "Joy" Scroggs), and Creator/WendieMalick (Victoria Chase) as three past-their-prime entertainment industry veterans from Los Angeles. One day, their lives are changed when their Paris-bound plane makes an emergency landing in Cleveland, Ohio. Here, the group finds a welcoming community that is less shallow, youth-obsessed and weight-conscious than LA. Melanie falls in love with the place and leases a home with sassy caretaker Elka Ostrovsky, played by Creator/BettyWhite. It's essentially ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' with a slightly younger cast. The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was the channel's highest-rated telecast in the cable network's fourteen-year history.
12
13	The show is written by Suzanne Martin (''Series/{{Frasier}}'', ''Ellen'') and is executive produced by Creator/SeanHayes (''Series/WillAndGrace'') and Todd Milliner for Hazy Mills Productions. The series is taped in front of a live studio audience at CBS' Studio City in Los Angeles using a multi-camera format.
14
15	The show debuted on June 16, 2010 and ran for six seasons until concluding on June 3, 2015.
16	----
17	!! This series provides examples of:
18	* AccidentalAesop: InUniverse. When Victoria does an undercover news story to show that people are disgusted by and judgmental of fat people, she realizes she was the one who felt that way and other people were actually nice to her. If she tried doing the story somewhere else like LA rather than in Cleveland, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance the result would probably have been different.]]
19	* AccidentalMarriage: In the season two finale, Joy and Victoria wake up to discover that they got married the other night. [[spoiler: It isn't until the end that they discover they married each other.]]
20	* AdamWesting: Susan Lucci seems to get a big kick out of playing an exaggerated version of herself as a mean, vindictive, spiteful rival and frenemy to Victoria.
21	* TheAlcoholic: Joy seems quite fond of the drink, although the other girls aren't exactly light drinkers either.
22	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: A RunningGag is that Joy always ends up being attracted to and dating guys who are jerks.
23	* AllWomenAreLustful: Played straight with the main cast, even with Elka.
24	* AlliterativeName: '''M'''elanie '''M'''oretti and '''C'''olin '''C'''ooper, Victoria's fellow news reporter. Joy was also almost this when she married Kyle Jones.
25	* AmbiguouslyBi: Bob.
26	-->'''Joy:''' New plan: We drive a wedge between Chester and Lily and get one of them on our side.\
27	'''Bob:''' I hear you. You want me to use my devastating charm to seduce Lily.\
28	'''Melanie:''' Eh, Chester's the one with the wandering eye. Someone has to flirt with Chester.\
29	'''Bob:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Alright, I'll need a pair of short shorts and a couple shots of rum.]]
30	* AscendedExtra: Elka was only supposed to appear in the pilot, but was so well-received by early viewers, she was made into a core cast member.
31	* AuthorAppeal: Betty White's decades-long support of animal rights has crept into Elka more and more. She gets [[AuthorTract a speech about why she loves animals]].
32	* BackgroundHalo: During a blind date, a man who looks like Jesus has a lighted beer advertisement behind his head that looks like a halo.
33	* BigShutUp: Whenever Victoria's agent calls.
34	* BottleEpisode: "Everything Goes Better With Vampires". The houseguests who were supposed to be kicked out were unable to leave, since the police were looking for a suspect in the area.
35	* BoundAndGagged: Joy in "One Wedding And One Funeral".
36	* BrilliantButLazy: Joy's mum describes her as this.
37	* BrotherSisterIncest: Victoria's character in ''Edge of Tomorrow'', where Honor St. Raven shoots, has sex with, and abandons her brother to die in an abandoned diamond mine.
38	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: In the second season premiere.
39	-->'''Elka:''' So, what are you in for?\
40	'''[[Creator/MaryTylerMoore Cellmate]]:''' Drunk and disorderly. Or as I call it... Tuesday.
41	* BrickJoke: That ''Literature/MommyDearest''-like tell-all Victoria mentions one of her children as having threatened to write about her? Gets turned into a movie two seasons later starring Susan Lucci. The movie also references the "[[MemeticMutation wire hangers]]" line from the ''Mommy Dearest''.
42	* {{Bridezilla}}: Elka in the appropriately named "Bridezelka".
43	* ButWeUsedACondom: Joy claims that she became pregnant even when using a condom.
44	** Her baby daddy later states that the condom broke.
45	* ButtMonkey: Joy to Elka. Victoria is often this in regards to her rivalry with Susan Lucci.
46	* CampStraight: Victoria's son Tony. She assumed he was gay because he was into fashion.
47	* CelebrityParadox: ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' and ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' are both mentioned in the show. Jane Leeves, who played Daphne Moon in the latter show, stars as Joy in this series. Peri Gilpin who played Roz in ''Frasier'' and Rhea Perlman who played Carla in ''Cheers'' also did guest appearances.
48	* CelebrityStar: Susan Lucci, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/JimmyKimmel, Music/RickSpringfield (who turned out to be a guy who impersonated Rick Springfield to sleep with women).
49	* UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}}: It's where the show takes place in.
50	* CharlieAndTheChocolateParody: But with beauty treatments and plastic surgery instead of candy.
51	%%* CoolOldLady: Elka.
52	%%* ComedicSociopathy: Joy. Elka as well.
53	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Joy and Elka. Especially Elka.
54	%%* DecemberDecemberRomance
55	* TheDitz:
56	** Mamy Sue. She's even called this by her former bowling teammates.
57	** Victoria to an extent, who once claimed to Elka "You know I don't know stuff!"
58	* DidntThinkThisThrough: In "Dog Tricks, Sex Flicks & Joy's Fix", Joy meets a guy named Gordon who is seeing the same therapist as her and they hit it off. As she is about to be deported, she steals his psychiatry file to see if they're compatible. When he finds out about this, he breaks up with and files a restraining order against her and her therapist stops seeing her.
59	* DropInCharacter: Rick was like this, and Artie seems to becoming one, too.
60	* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: In "Beards", Melanie pretends to be a lesbian to join a cruise and gets hit on by her sister's girlfriend.
61	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: A lot of Victoria's Lifetime movies were titled like this.
62	-->Victoria: I once played a lady storm chaser in the Lifetime Original Movie ''Lady Storm Chaser.''
63	** Not to forget season 5's "The Animated Episode"...
64	* {{Expy}}: Elka is very similar to Sophia from ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''.
65	** In a very odd coincidence that can be considered creepy. Elka and Sophia followed very similar paths. Elka was originally a much smaller part, but Betty White's PopularityPower convinced the producers to expand her character. Interestingly, Elka's ''Golden Girls'' Expy Sophia follows a similar path. Originally conceived as a DropInCharacter, Sophia responded so well with fans, the writers wrote out their original fourth character (Rose, Blanche, and Dorothy's gay cook, Coco) and wrote Sophia in.
66	** Let's keep this going. Victoria could be the show's Blanche, rather self-centered and vain. Joy is the second-in-command DeadpanSnarker, similar to Dorothy. Melanie is the hardest to compare, although she does tend to be a rather sweet and naive Rose-type at times. At one point, Jane Leeves actually said the show could be called ''The Silver Girls.''
67	** One reviewer called Victoria the new Dorothy and Joy the new Blanche, but both women share qualities of each of those Golden Girls. Victoria has Blanche's vanity and self-centered nature while Joy has Blanche's sex life, and both women display ample amounts of Dorothy's snark. Elka tends to pick on Joy the most, rather like Sophia singled out Dorothy more often than not (though Blanche was not immune either). Either comparison works.
68	* FakingTheDead: Elka's husband Bobby was a fence for the mob. The season 2 finale "Elka's Wedding" reveals he's alive, with the season 3 opener "Elka's Choice" explaining that he went into hiding to escape his mob cohorts.
69	* FallbackMarriagePact: A [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback episode that showed how Victoria, Melanie, and Joy]] had Victoria say that any man would be stupid to leave Joy at the altar and, jokingly, that if Joy was still single 20 years later, she would marry Joy herself. Became HilariousInHindsight, as they actually did get married shortly before the flashback episode aired.
70	* FashionHurts: Especially Victoria's shoes.
71	* FauxYay:
72	** After she accidentally got married to Joy in Canada, Victoria plays it off by pretending to be a lesbian to further her career. They [[BecomingTheMask begin acting like a real couple]] at home with their constant bickering LikeAnOldMarriedCouple and [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther act affectionate whenever they aren't arguing.]]
73	** "Beards" has all four women pretending to be gay to go on a cruise ship exclusively for lesbians.
74	** "Straight Outta Cleveland" has Victoria's CampStraight son Tony. She always assumed he was gay because of his love of fashion and he went along with it because he didn't have the heart to tell her he wasn't gay. When he visits her, pretends that he and his business partner are lovers.
75	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Elka is choleric, Victoria is sanguine, Joy is melancholic, and Melanie is phlegmatic.
76	* FreudianExcuse: Victoria says that she can't marry a man who doesn't make a lot of money since her parents argued a lot about money, and she never wanted that to be a problem.
77	** Her Vanity comes from the fact that she used to be fat as a kid, and got bullied by her schoolmates.
78	* GarnishingTheStory: In "Everything's Better With Vampires", Elka gets the idea to add vampires and werewolves to a RadioDrama version of ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind''.
79	* GenderBlenderName: Preston Vanderbauche IV in "Rubber Ball".
80	* GlobalIgnorance: Victoria. She seems to think that there's two Ohios and once even thought that Newark wasn't located in the United States.
81	* GoingCommando: Melanie in "Duct Soup". It's implied that she's naked underneath a trash bag she wears as a substitute dress, though she slightly and inadvertently exposes herself to the others for a moment when she cheers "yay!" at Joy's daughter having a wedding soon, and raises her arms, causing her to hike up her trash bag-dress. She says it again less enthusiastically when she realizes she's revealing too much in her oops moment and tugs it back down quickly.
82	* GoshDangItToHeck: Melanie does this a lot, but she is able to curse out her ex-husband. Mamy Sue also curses like this.
83	* GrammarNazi: Melanie once dated a college professor who corrected every grammatical error she ever made.
84	* HairFlip: Victoria attempted to do one while on ''All My Children'', but due to Susan Lucci's interference, was unable to complete it.
85	* HollywoodBeautyStandards: The entire premise of the show. The main women are seen this way in Los Angeles, but are pretty in Cleveland.
86	* {{Homage}}: The episode "Indecent Proposals" is basically one to ''Series/SexAndTheCity''.
87	* HoneyTrap:
88	** Joy plays this role in the detective agency she works at by using her looks to get unfaithful husbands caught in the act.
89	** Melanie tries and ''fails'' to be this in "Straight Outta Cleveland". She is hired by Joy and Mitch to catch a cheating husband in the act but all she does is make him feel more and more devoted to his family.
90	* IHaveMyWays: Joy invokes this (right before admitting that her "way" of tracking people down is to follow them).
91	* IWantGrandkids: Joy's mother reminds her about never having children every time they speak. Turns into BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor when [[spoiler: Owen shows up... and then shows up later with a son. Joy's mum is less than pleased initially about the situation since both were born out of wedlock and she was also never told of them until the very last moment.]]
92	* IWasQuiteALooker: Elka.
93	* ImprovisedClothes: Melanie in "Duct Soup". Early in the episode, she's wearing a pale turquoise trash bag for a dress, due to not wearing anything when she went out the get the paper while staying at her boyfriend's place and the door closed and locked on her, as she explained to the others.
94	* IncomingHam:
95	--> '''Victoria:''' I have a major announcement to make!
96	* {{Japandering}}: Victoria dreamed of the day that she built enough success, respect, and credibility as an actor to piss it all away for a boatload of cash. She didn't, however, expect it to be for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGNZGKiMV-E "Lady Pants."]]
97	* InformedFlaw: In "God and Football", Joy is told by her daughter to give up smoking and junk food, two things we have never seen her consume before, during or after this episode.
98	* JerkAss: Colin, Victoria's co-anchor who plays pranks on and makes jokes about her on-air.
99	%%* KavorkaMan: Rick.
100	* LargeHam: WhiteDwarfStarlet Victoria likes to pretend that she's still on a soap opera set.
101	* LooksLikeJesus: In one episode when the girls set dates for each other, Melanie gets this type of guy. FauxSymbolism tropes are {{played with}} throughout (i.e. a brief shot of BackgroundHalo).
102	* MayDecemberRomance: Victoria and her SugarDaddy, as well as Joy and Lou. Joy dated Mark, a blind twenty-two-year-old, while pretending to be 26 years old. When he had surgery to restore his eyesight, she had Victoria's daughter Emmy pretend to be her. Melanie [[FauxYay pretended that Elka was her girlfriend]] while on a gay cruise so she would have someone to introduce to her sister.
103	* MrExposition: Parodied with Hugh, one of Victoria's cast mates from ''Edge of Tomorrow'' whose character on that show also served as this trope.
104	* MistakenForGay: Victoria, after she tries to retrieve an earring she dropped in between a woman's breasts.
105	* MistakenForProstitute: In "Bad George Clooney", Victoria goes to the park to meet a normal guy. She meets one and asks him how much money he makes and if he is interested in sex. He reveals himself to be an undercover cop and arrests her for suspected prostitution.
106	* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Joy's first plan whenever her friends are hurt is to kill the person.
107	-->'''Joy:''' I say we kill him.\
108	'''Melanie:''' That's your solution for everything.\
109	'''Joy:''' Well can't we try it just once?
110	* ParentsAsPeople: Even though their children are grown and college-aged, this is prominent with Victoria's character in her children's childhoods. She has even forgotten how many kids she has on multiple occasions.
111	-->'''Victoria:''' - It was like that for both of my pregnancies.\
112	'''Melanie:''' Victoria, you have 3 kids...\
113	'''Victoria:''' ''[surprised look on her face]''
114	** Granted, she could've had a multiple birth but it's always stated in a way that points to this not being the case.
115	** Victoria's father is annoyingly self-centered and always flirting with women, while Melanie's mother is very overprotective. When they are [[CallingTheOldManOut called out for it]], they try to be better parents.
116	** When Melanie's son and Victoria's daughter announce their engagement, they both know it's a bad idea, but decide not to get involved in their children's relationship anymore.
117	* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: In "People Feeding People", Melanie goes on a date with a guy who had to eat people in order to survive after his plane crashed.
118	* OutWithABang: The mayor dies while having sex with Elka. Elka tries to keep it a secret because she fears the true details of his passing will ruin his reputation.
119	%%* PlaceWorseThanDeath: Cleveland.
120	* PsychoExGirlfriend: In season 4, Melanie gets a job at a PR firm and falls for a guy named Alec who works there. Unfortunately, Alec's ex-wife Chloe is Melanie's boss who is under the delusion they will get back together and even goes as far as threatening to maim Melanie if she dates Alec.
121	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Elka develops a penchant for doing this in "Bridezelka" because she thinks "All. Brides. Do it.".
122	* RealityIsUnrealistic: Victoria entered and [=LOST=] a look-a-like contest, as herself. She was supposed to be a drag queen look-a-like, but she still lost (to a Susan Lucci look-a-like.)
123	* RichBitch: Victoria can be considered an example, except her finances, or lack thereof are a recurring problem for her.
124	* RunawayBride: Joy's fiancee left her at the altar, which was something that took her years to get over. Elka left Fred at the altar when Max and Bobby interrupted the wedding, and she had to choose between the three of them.
125	* RunningGag: Something that the show seems to thrive on.
126	** Victoria's [[GlobalIgnorance limited knowledge]] of world geography.
127	** Usually once a season, Victoria would have to promote something from a Japanese company called Mrs. Ladypants. These products were generally variations on the "adult diaper" theme - ranging from plastic pants with a diaper in them, a full-body diaper and an "absorbent gown, now with crystal litterbox technology".
128	** Joy sniping at Elka because of her age and Elka sniping at Joy due to her alleged loose morals.
129	* SassyBlackWoman: Esther-Jean Johnson, the aunt of Councilman Powell.
130	--> '''Esther-Jean:''' You know what the problem is with young people? It's they don't understand hard work! They ask, "how much do I get to mow the lawn?" And then I ask, "Well what do I get for not whoopin' you?"
131	* SeriousBusiness: Sports such as basketball for people in Cleveland.
132	* SexinessScore: In "Murder House", Melanie's ChildhoodFriend Rachel invokes this trope while giving a ShoutOut to ''Film/Ten1979'', when she reminisces about the time she and Melanie both got Creator/BoDerek cornrows hairdo but the boys said that even together they still didn't amount to a "10".
133	* SheCleansUpNicely: Joy's little sister Jill. When she first shows up, she has a unibrow and wears dull, frumpy clothing. After a makeover, she looks even more gorgeous than her older sister.
134	* ShirtlessScene: Dan Cortese gets this while playing Jimmy Armstrong in "God and Football".
135	* ShowWithinAShow:
136	** ''Edge of Tomorrow'', a recently cancelled daytime drama where Victoria played the role of Honor St. Raven. A glimpse of the show (its last episode, actually) is seen in season 3, revealing that it [[NoEnding ended]] [[LeftHanging on a]] {{cliffhanger}}.
137	** Victoria's news segment, ''Oh, hi! Ohio'' also counts as this.
138	* SiblingTriangle: Melanie's sister's girlfriend starting hitting on her almost immediately.
139	* SickeninglySweethearts: Jack and Melanie, who make all kinds of corny jokes and are openly affectionate to an annoying degree. Victoria describes them as "sugar dating syrup".
140	* SitcomArchNemesis: Susan Lucci is Victoria's archnemesis.
141	** It's going to be interesting to see what happens next season, since Victoria has actively been trying to sabotage Susan Lucci and now ''All My Children'' is canceled.
142	* SoundEffectBleep: Airport buzzers and metal detectors censor out swear words in "It's Not That Complicated".
143	* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: In the season 2 finale "Elka's Wedding", as Elka prepares to marry her boyfriend Fred, the line isn't actually said, but several men end up objecting anyway because ''they'' want to marry her... and then another voice speaks up: "She's not gonna marry any of you losers. She's already married, to me." It turns out to be Elka's [[FakingTheDead thought-dead husband]] Bobby.
144	* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''. See {{Expy}} above.
145	* {{Squick}}: An In-Universe - example Victoria fills in for Juliet in the High School play and has to kiss a high school boy. The audience cringes. Lampshaded by Elka:
146	-->'''Elka:''' [[RefugeInAudacity it's funny]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice 'cause it's gross]].
147	* StripperCopConfusion: At Elka's bachelorette party.
148	* SubcultureOfTheWeek: An episode in the 4th Season gives a nod to ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and its adult fandom.
149	* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Victoria dated a janitor and broke up with him because he didn't have a lot of money. The next day, it was revealed on her show that he won the lottery.
150	* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: Joy‘s grandson Wilbur is a newborn in Season 4, goes to Preschool in Season 5 and is in the third grade in Season 6.
151	* TakeThat: To Music/JustinBieber of all people. When it's discovered that Elka has him on her iPod:
152	-->I ''love'' her! They keep saying she's a boy, but I'm not buying it.
153	** And to ''Series/{{Glee}}'', too:
154	-->''[Joy and Victoria are spying on Melanie and her ex-husband]''\
155	'''Joy''': What's going on?\
156	'''Victoria''': She's making a heartfelt speech while he's stares at her like an idiot. It's like those warm moments on Glee!
157	** Joy's admirer Rick mentions that in the Battle of the Bands, a group of hot youngsters will perform and blames it on ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
158	* TeenPregnancy: Joy was revealed to have given a child up for adoption in episode 2.
159	* ThemeNaming: Meet Victoria's children: Emmy, Oscar, and Tony (She doesn't like Tony that much.)
160	** She really stuck to the theme considering Oscar is a girl.
161	* TitleDrop: Joy says "Welcome to Bridezelka" in the episode "Bridezelka".
162	* TwoferTokenMinority: In "Undercover Lovers", Victoria advocates to keep city dog parks open and assumes she will win easy sympathy points because the councilman campaigning to close them down is white. When she meets the councilman in person, she is surprised to discover that is a wheelchair-bound African-American. It's even implied that he has run unopposed for years because no one wants to come across as racist and/or disablist by challenging him.
163	* TheUnfavorite: Victoria's third child, Tony. She [[RunningGag frequently]] forgets she actually has 3 kids, not 2.
164	* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: Detective Bob/Joy/"Canadian" Joy.
165	* VitriolicBestBuds: Elka has this kind of relationship with Marnie and Joy.
166	* WackyParentSeriousChild: Averted with Emmy, who's just like her mother. Played straight with Victoria's other two kids; Oscar is a journalist for NPR, and Tony is a civil engineer.
167	** Played straight with Joy's son, who was so shocked by Joy's crazy life that he initially thought meeting her was a mistake and wanted to just go home and continue to not have any contact with her.
168	%%* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Victoria.
169	* WholePlotReference: The episode "Scandalous", which revolves around covering up Elka's connection to Mayor Deacon's death, is a reference to ''Series/{{Scandal}}''.
170	* WillTheyOrWontThey: Elka and Max, Joy and Colin, Victoria and Johnny Revere.
171	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: "Elka's Big Day", the night of her bachelor party, in which Victoria, Melanie, and Joy get drunk and accidentally take the dog's medication, which turns out to cause memory loss and hallucinations in humans.
172	* WholePlotReference: "Elka's Big Day" for ''Film/TheHangover".
173	* YankTheDogsChain: When Joy and Victoria accidentally get married, they are excited about it and try to figure out who their husbands are. They don't realize until later that they flew to Canada and married each other.

Context Series / HotInCleveland