Line #20 WrongGenreSavvy/LiveActionTV


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8	* ''Series/AgentsOfShield'': Over the course of the pilot episode, Skye initially thinks herself the hero in a ConspiracyThriller, with S.H.I.E.L.D. being the sinister government organization whose evil secrets she and her organization of hackers called The Rising Tide are trying to expose to the world for the greater good. In reality, she's in a superhero action comedy, and S.H.I.E.L.D. are actually the good guys. And while she initially takes advantage of the opportunity to spy on S.H.I.E.L.D. from within after getting captured and subsequently recruited by them, she eventually grows out of it and becomes a loyal agent to the organization once she's spent enough time with them to learn how she and the Rising Tide misjudged them, and with that information the fact that there are far worse threats out there that she could be devoting her energy against.
9	* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'': When Capt. Winters and Capt. Nixon are discussing possible replacement commanders for Easy Company, Winters dismisses Lt. Shames as a viable option because he's "seen too many war movies" and thinks he needs to yell at his subordinates like a DrillSergeantNasty all the time.
10	* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': In the season six episode "Plan and Execution," as Howard Hamlin arrives at Jimmy and Kim's house to give them a big TheReasonYouSuckSpeech over ruining his life, he realizes far too late that he's no longer in the BlackComedy LawProcedural side of the show once [[KnightOfCerebus Lalo Salamanca]] shows up, resulting in Lalo [[UndignifiedDeath unceremoniously]] killing Howard.
11	* ''Series/BreakingBad'':
12	** When Walter sets up a meeting with a drug dealer at a garbage dump, both Jesse and Tuco mock him for watching too many movies. Sure enough, meeting with a dangerous psychotic in a remote location where no one can hear you scream [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome turns out to be a very bad idea]].
13	** When Lydia has a meeting with Mike at a diner, she tries to cover up her identity with tactics she likely knows from spy movies (wearing a face-concealing hat and sunglasses, conversing in back-to-back booths, using fake names), all of which just makes them more and more conspicuous.
14	* ''Series/{{Castle\|2009}}'': While Richard Castle's GenreSavvy skills are often an asset to his crime-fighting, he also likes to play with being Wrong Genre Savvy.
15	** In one example, he acts as though he's in a vampire show instead of a police procedural:
16	--->'''Castle:''' Whoa, whoa, whoa!\
17	'''[[TheCoroner Lanie]]:''' What is wrong?\
18	'''Castle:''' If he's a vampire and you pull that [stake] out, he comes back to life!\
19	'''Lanie:''' If he does, then we can all go home early.
20	** After tracking down a serial killer who supposedly rose from his grave:
21	--->'''Castle:''' We're going to a cabin in the woods, in the middle of nowhere?\
22	'''Beckett:''' Yeah, so?\
23	'''Castle:''' So... it's like the coed, checking out the strange noise in a basement in a slasher fic. It's a recipe for disaster.\
24	'''Beckett:''' It's not a slasher fic, it's a murder investigation.
25	** In one episode, Castle confided that he [[InvokedTrope only pretends to believe he's in the wrong genre]] because it [[BelligerentSexualTension annoys Beckett]].
26	* Dr. Drew has stated many of the patients on ''Series/CelebrityRehabWithDrDrew'' thought they were just doing another celebrity reality show and took a long time to adjust to the fact that they were in an ''actual rehabilitation center'' and actually had to do all the things that go along with it.
27	* In ''Series/CobraKai'', this happens with Amanda [=LaRusso=]. At first she's the StraightMan and OnlySaneMan, constantly StatingTheSimpleSolution like "rather than beat each other up, let's just talk it out" or "rather than beat each other up, let's just go to the cops". Problem is, she's not in a series that's rooted in reality: she's in a karate series based on ''Franchise/TheKarateKid'' films rife with {{Arrogant Kung Fu Guy}}s where the only real solution to any problem is either LetsYouAndHimFight or winning the InevitableTournament. Naturally [[SimpleSolutionWontWork the effectiveness of her "solutions" drops lower and lower with every season]], and even ''she'' ends up [[NotSoAboveItAll slapping Kreese across the mouth at one point and encouraging Daniel to kick Silver's ass]].
28	* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
29	** In "Regional Holiday Music", Abed thinks he's in a Very Special ChristmasEpisode where, with help from a life-affirming musical mentor, he has to stop his killjoy friends from forgetting The TrueMeaningOfChristmas through the Power of Song. He's ''actually'' in a BlackComedy parody of ''Series/{{Glee}}'' where trying to force his friends to be cheerful is played out like an alien mind control AssimilationPlot where they become soulless {{Stepford Smiler}}s, and the life-affirming musical mentor is a complete maniac [[spoiler:who straight up ''murdered'' his previous roster of students for [[DisproportionateRetribution failing to even win sectionals during the last competition season]]]].
30	** Another episode had Abed thinking he's in a WholePlotReference to ''Film/GoodWillHunting'' with Troy and a gift for plumbing standing in for Will's gift for math... but in reality, he's in a ''parody'' and when he tries to convince Troy to drop out and become a plumber by paraphrasing Ben Affleck's speech about "the best moment of my day is when I hope you've left town (and this crappy lifestyle) without saying goodbye", Troy is instead utterly hurt and insulted that Abed thinks of their friendship that way.
31	* In one episode of ''Series/{{Continuum}}'', a sci-fi fanboy finds a powered armor suit from the future, and upon accidentally discovering its powers, decides that it makes him a [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman super-hero]]. Too bad for him, despite the nigh-invulnerability granted by the suit, he's actually in a fairly realistic sci-fi, and the villains, who are looking for said armor, find him and beat him up quite badly before the actual heroine (who has a suit and knows how to use it) shows up.
32	* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'':
33	** The entire CentralTheme of Seasons 1 and 2 is the main character Rebecca Bunch believing that she’s the heroine of a romantic comedy. Many of the tropes seen in classic rom-coms are deconstructed in this show. A major example is that she assumes that she and Josh were meant to be together, making his girlfriend Valencia the enemy, meaning that she's justified in trying to break them up. Eventually, she [[HeelRealization realizes that Valencia, while flawed, is not evil, and that trying to sabotage a relationship for her own ends makes ''her'' the villain]]
34	** Likewise, Rebecca’s best friend, Paula, also embraces the romantic comedy trope, casting herself as the spunky friend who supports Rebecca with her zany schemes. Those schemes go ''wildly'' overboard, and even Rebecca is horrified when she learns all the things Paula has done. In the end, Paula realizes she's been fixating on Rebecca's love life to avoid her own problems, and loses interest in such capers once she starts to get her life together.
35	--->'''Paula:''' I broke into Josh's old high school and I made copies of his grades. I "bumped into" Lourdes at Starbucks and suggested you be a bridesmaid. I blackmailed Valencia's boss, so now I control when she teaches -- that's right, I make yoga class schedules! There's no limit to where my reach is.
36	** After realizing he wants her back in Season 4, Nathaniel asks for advice on how to win Rebecca away from Greg with a big, fun romantic gesture. Paula suggests he take a page from Rebecca’s favorite rom-com where “some kinda powerless nerdy underdog with a wacky best friend who feels invisible but then comes up with this scheme and then the underdog makes a big grand gesture and wins the person of their dreams”. Nathaniel then binge-watches classic big-name rom-coms and falls into a daydream where he is the “powerless nerdy underdog” of his own RomanticComedy with George as his “wacky best friend” who only cares about sports and his love life. Nathaniel’s daydream is full of rom-com references and tropes like the MakeoverMontage, the {{Jerkass}} RomanticFalseLead, the FakeRelationship, the “quirky but cute” coworker with a dead mom, the big event where he’s supposed to make his grand gesture, and countless other rom-com elements from too many movies to list here alone. Nathaniel schemes to win Rebecca back, but in the end, he realizes that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy if he really loves Rebecca, he should let her be happy with Greg]].
37	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E6TheVampiresOfVenice "The Vampires of Venice"]], when Amy and Rory are accosted by the [[ActuallyNotAVampire "vampire"]] Francesco, Rory attempts to use two candlesticks to form a cross to drive him away. Francesco just swats them aside, and Amy calls Rory out on that because they already knew the "vampires" were actually fish aliens who wouldn't have that weakness.
38	* In ''Series/{{Elsbeth}}'', the rotating pack of detectives in each episode all think they're in a standard CBS-style PoliceProcedural where cases are pretty clear and obvious. They don't grasp they're really in a ReverseWhodunnit MysteryOfTheWeek where the quirky titular lawyer character is the real crime-solver.
39	* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': In early episodes, Crichton often allowed himself to be influenced by [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Kirk]] and being one of the few members of the crew to do the “right”, more ethical option. He quickly learns how wrong he is, and after a prolonged period of being tortured by the Peacekeepers, he adopts a far more pragmatic and less naive mindset, though he never stops trying to do the right thing.
40	* ''Series/FlightOfTheConchords'' had a weird example when Bret tried to woo a woman with techniques he'd seen in a sitcom. Now, Bret ''is'' in a sitcom, but he did stuff that never works even in sitcoms. At one point, Jermaine asks whether what Bret is planning on doing worked in the sitcom he saw it in. Bret says that it didn't, but [[ThisIsReality as this is real life]], his chances are better.
41	* In an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Joey receives a visit from an unhinged, obsessed fan. Anticipating violence, he grabs a frying pan. Chandler suggests that he comes up with a backup plan in case she isn't a cartoon character.
42	** In another episode, after watching porn non-stop for too long, Joey and Chandler find that they're surprised when pizza delivery women don't try to have sex with them after giving them their order.
43	%%* ''Series/{{Galavant}}'': Gareth is trying to be on a show like ''Series/GameOfThrones'' but he is in a musical comedy series instead.
44	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
45	** Sansa Stark was raised on heroic ballads of noble knights and fair ladies, and often justifies this or that course of action because it's how they would do things "in the songs." She thinks she is in a fairy tale with herself as the PrincessClassic and Joffrey as the PrinceCharming. Petyr Baelish calls her on this rather early, telling her "life is not a song, sweetling. You may learn that someday, to your sorrow." She gets more savvy and cynical as her experiences show her the error of her ways, such as when Joffrey executes her father. In Season 3, she begins to slip back into this a little as a defense mechanism. However, this is shattered when she learns of the Red Wedding.
46	** Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish recounts the story of how, as a boy, he challenged the older and stronger Brandon Stark to a duel for the hand of Catelyn Tully because he had a head full of songs and stories of the small underdog emerging triumphant over the big bully. Unfortunately for him, he's in a much darker sort of fantasy story, and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Brandon nearly kills him]]. Petyr takes the lesson to heart and resolves not to fight his battles through honor and violence (both of which he's very bad at) but through underhanded trickery (which he's very good at).
47	* On ''Series/TheGoodGuys'' Dan thinks he's a CowboyCop in a high-octane action movie (in-universe there actually was such a movie made based on an old case of his), while Jack thinks he's in a PoliceProcedural. They're both wrong, they're actually in a buddy-cop action-comedy.
48	* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' had a young foster kid who thought herself a superhero, reasoning that she was an orphan who could do things normal people couldn't. However, her "super-power" is an [[FeelsNoPain inability to feel pain]] and she is badly injured as a result.
49	* ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' has this as Paladin's defining character moment. In essence, he thought he was the [[TheHero White Hat]] hired by [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure the local leader-type]] to fight off the DesertBandits. In reality, he was the [[HiredGuns muscle]] hired by the evil fat cat CattleBaron to put pressure on the {{Determined Homesteader}}s.
50	* Some ''Series/HellsKitchen'' contestants have tried to pull a number of reality show stunts in an attempt to win the prize of being head chef of a new restaurant, only for Gordon Ramsay to turn it against him. You will not woo him with SexSells (he’s HappilyMarried) and attempts to try and vote out the strongest will, nine times out of ten, have him send them back and pick the one he feels needs to be eliminated. This last one was subverted in the first season as Ramsay didn't have control of who got to leave back then, but once he did, this trope would be in play.
51	* Nobuo from ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'', being an Otaku in a show that directly parodies Franchise/SuperSentai , has been Wrong Genre Savvy on multiple occasions, including the first episode where he expects MakeMyMonsterGrow to take place, only for he and the other Akibarangers to be sitting around waiting till sunset, and when [[spoiler:the ghost of]] Yumeria's mother comes to visit her for her birthday, Nobuo thinks she'd disapprove of Yumeria's hobbies, and that they'll have to hide everything in her apartment and create an elaborate ruse, but then when Yumeria's mother actually arrives, she turns out to be an even bigger CosplayOtakuGirl (okay, maybe "Cosplay Otaku Woman") than Yumeria herself!
52	* On ''Series/TheInsideMan'', AJ seems to think he's in a major Hollywood action or drama movie and not the EdutainmentShow about IT security that he's in. He mentions in the first episode, "The New Guy," having been inspired by Enemy of the State. In a later installment, when Erica gets a flash drive that contains a "logic bomb," AJ races to her action-movie style and dives to try to keep her from inserting into her laptop, only for her to reveal that Mark is already on the phone with her telling her not to use it.
53	* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'':
54	** The entire gang are almost constantly under the wrong impression of what kind of story they're in over the course of the series. Dennis thinks of himself as TheAce, a suave ladies man who succeeds at everything; Mac sees himself as a John [=McClane=] style badass action hero; Sweet Dee believes she's a witty, quirky social woman similar to those on Sex In The City; and Charlie thinks he's a lovable down-trodden nice guy. In reality, they're all a group of selfish, morally-bankrupt sociopaths. Frank appears to be the only member of the gang aware of who he really is. Additionally, all of them believe that, should they desire it to, the universe will bend itself to follow the structure of whatever movie or TV series they currently wish to emulate. Similarly, they tend to act as though the world is governed by NegativeContinuity similar to TV shows, and that nothing they do will ever have any lasting consequences.
55	** Played with in "The Gang Hits the Slopes" when the gang treat a ski trip like it's a 1980s comedy...and for once, they're actually right and are able to fit in well amid the antics. [[spoiler: Until the last second where everything winds up deconstructed. The reason everyone could have wild, anonymous sex is that Frank had hired hookers all around the mountain (and everyone who had sex with them should probably be tested for sexual diseases), the wild 1980s party-hero is actually a sexual predator whose '80s movie-style pranks get him arrested by the police, and a single botched landing while skiing breaks both of Dennis's ankles, showing that skiing is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.]]
56	* The basic premise of ''Series/TheJoeSchmoShow''. The non-actors ''think'' they are on some wacky run-of-the-mill reality show contest show, when in fact they ARE the show, everyone else is an actor specifically playing a character to the genre, the game is rigged to them, and the main idea of the show is to see how far they can take it without the Joe finding out. In Season 2, one contestant subverted this by being GenreSavvy enough to figure out the show was not what it seemed; they ended up doing TheReveal to her early in the show (there was another Joe on the show and another Joe, er Jane, brought in to replace her) and convinced her to keep playing along.
57	* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Mona thinks that her StarCrossedLovers relationship with a wolfman demigod is an epic romance with a happy ending, like the Rebecca Silver novels she reads. Mick, [[MoustacheDePlume the one who actually writes those novels]], has to explain that the relationship does not end well, and hers won't either.
58	* In ''Series/LostGirl'', Bo at one point encounters a Lich. After being told that he stores his soul in something, she suspects that he did so in a picture of himself ala [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Dorian Gray]]. When she destroys the picture, he just laughs at her. Fortunately, she figures out where it actually is later.
59	* ''Series/MagnumPI'': An old enemy of Higgins has a habit of setting up complicated schemes based on classic movies, so Magnum spends most of the episode trying to figure out what movie he's supposed to be in, eventually settling on the 40s serial ''Film/PerilsOfNyoka''. The viewers knew it was ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' from the very first scene. This whole episode was an ActorAllusion to Tom Selleck being Spielberg and Lucas's first choice for playing ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', but he had to turn it down because the studio wouldn't let him out of his contract. (A clip from Tom Selleck's audition is included in the special features of the ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' boxset, proving that Selleck would have made a damn fine Indiana Jones.)
60	* Meredith from ''Series/MadMen'' is ''sure'' she's in a RomanticComedy about SleepingWithTheBoss once she's assigned to be Don's secretary. Nothing could be further from the truth.
61	* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' occasionally features an army colonel who comes so very close to being genuinely GenreSavvy. He knows he's in a comedy sketch show all right. Unfortunately he doesn't realize which one, and so he thinks that sketches should have clearly-defined jokes in them, with vaguely plausible premises, and punchlines. As a result, he calls an end to many a sketch which he considers to be far too silly, generally to provide at least some kind of closure to a sketch that is, frankly, totally off the rails by the time he appears with no stopping place in sight.
62	* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': Kinga wants to create big sweep weeks style ratings events, hoping to use the show's ratings to sell to Disney and make a billion dollars. She can't seem to understand that Netflix doesn't use traditional ratings and so her network-style ratings stunts are pointless, no matter how many times it's pointed out to her.
63	* ''Series/NowhereBoys'': Andy's first hypothesis is that everyone has forgotten the kids because of a mass hysteria, however this is quickly shown to be wrong.
64	* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'':
65	** Dwight Schrute is apparently convinced he's in an action movie of some sort. Some specific occasions:
66	*** He calls upon vampire tropes when he thinks Jim was bitten by a bat (sharpened stake, etc).
67	*** He panics when people start calling [[Franchise/HarryPotter Voldemort]] by name, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqIcjt5JNr0 afraid it will make him appear.]]
68	*** His family beet farm doubles as a survival training camp, where he's prepared for every AfterTheEnd scenario you can imagine, from nuclear war to a zombie breakout. There's weapons stashed everywhere, and a crossbow range. He's also concealed weapons all over the office.
69	*** When some Human Resources executives arrive to the office on one episode, he assumes that the means through which they will decide who stays and who gets fired will involve elimination tests, a la ''Series/{{Survivor}}''.
70	** Michael Scott is partly correct in that he acts like the lead character in a comedy, but it's the wrong genre of comedy. At the office, he sees himself as the lead in a Creator/RobinWilliams-style feelgood comedy, punching up the morale of his employees with jokes and impressions. In dealing with women, he sees himself as the charming [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Manic Pixie Dream Guy]] lead of a RomanticComedy. The height of his [=RomCom=] delusion comes when he proposes in public in front of a group of strangers to his girlfriend on just their ninth date, clearly thinking this would be an irresistible grand gesture. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs and [[RejectedMarriageProposal she says no]].
71	** Kelly Kapoor is a twofer, as she quotes and acts out romantic movie tropes, and on her interviews to the camera, she acts as if they're making a ''Kardashians''/''Real Housewives''-style reality show about beautiful glamorous people living beautiful glamorous lives in beautiful glamorous settings and engaging in beautiful glamorous bitchiness and backstabbing, of which she is of course the star. As opposed to being a relatively minor player in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, part of a CringeComedy.
72	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': In the first couple seasons, Henry understood he was living in a town full of displaced storybook characters, and practically weaponized GenreSavvy to try and help others. But when he met Peter Pan? [[InvokedTrope Well, Peter turned that against Henry.]] Peter Pan set up circumstances and told [[HalfTruth enough of the truth]] to make Henry believe that he was [[HeroicSacrifice the doomed hero who needed to sacrifice his life]] to save the world of Neverland when Henry's real role in the story (which, by that point, was a {{Deconstruction}} of Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon) was the UnwittingPawn and DistressedDude, with his family racing to try and save him before he killed himself.
73	* Israel "Izzy" Hands of ''Series/OurFlagMeansDeath''. Who would perfectly fit into a gritty, bloody pirate story like ''Series/BlackSails''. Unfortunately for him, he's in a quirky Creator/TaikaWaititi pirate romcom. Most of his agitation comes from not realizing he's stuck in the wrong kind of show.
74	* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "Abduction", Jason draws on his knowledge of science fiction and speculates that he and the other four students have entered an AlternateUniverse or become UnstuckInTime. Instead, it turns out that they have been [[AlienAbduction abducted by aliens]].
75	* This is extremely common in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', as hardly anyone outside of the main characters recognize that they are in a work of PostCyberpunk. The two big categories are government agents who believe themselves to be in post-9/11 SpyFiction, and criminals who believe themselves to be in a work of CrimeFiction.
76	** The first major character to show this flaw is Sameen Shaw, a covert operative who believes that the source of their secretive intelligence is [[ColdBloodedTorture Guantanamo]]. Root mocks her for this, pointing out that torture is an unreliable source of intelligence at best. The actual source is [[BenevolentAI The Machine]].
77	** Shaw's boss Control has the same tendency, ignoring the threat posed by Decima Technology and [[spoiler: Samaritan]] until it is too late in favor of going after traditional terrorists.
78	** Peter Collier similarly believes that The Machine is a simple government conspiracy, and acts as if he is in a conspiracy thriller. [[spoiler: It turns out he is a mere pawn of those with real authority, who are using him to bring Samaritan online. ]]
79	** We later see this tendency in the battle between Elias and Dominic, who act as if they are straight out of ''Film/TheGodfather'' and ''Series/TheWire'' respectively, focusing on the interplay between their warring gangs. Even after being arrested, Elias plots to escape while Dominic discusses his control of the prison system. [[spoiler: They are both removed from power by Samaritan, an artificial intelligence that is cleaning house and that neither were even aware of. While Elias survives initially, he is still eventually killed by Samaritan's agents.]]
80	* Detective Carlton Lassiter on ''Series/{{Psych}}'' is best summed up by a promo showing how he goes through cases believing he's in a dead-serious procedural drama, complete with sexual tension with partner Jules (who has no feelings for him whatsoever).
81	%%* ''Series/{{Reverie}}'': Upon entering a simulation taken from an elderly woman's youth, seeing her as a young beautiful girl accompanied by a dashing stranger in a foreign country, Mara assumes that it's a love story. [[spoiler: It turns out Pilar is actually trying to relive her one moment of heroism when she helped some children escape a military coup, and Mara's attempts to alter the story to give her a happy ending just make it worse.]]
82	* Used hilariously on ''{{Series/Scrubs}}'' when J.D. tries to escape the hospital in a body bag and Doug, the pathologist, wheels him into an elevator.
83	-->'''J.D.:''' Can you press Lobby, please?\
84	''[Doug screams, and beats on J.D. with a fire extinguisher until J.D. unzips the bag]''\
85	'''J.D.:''' Doug! Why were you hitting me?\
86	'''Doug:''' 'Cause I thought you were a [[ZombieApocalypse dead guy coming back to life]]!\
87	'''J.D.:''' ''[beat]'' ''Then why were you hitting me?!''\
88	'''Doug:''' Dead people should be dead!
89	* Christopher Moltisanti from ''Series/TheSopranos'' tends to live his life like he's in a gangster movie. Technically he is (or rather a gangster television show), but ''The Sopranos'' is a series that [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] most of the genre's tropes rather than plays them straight. In the very first episode, after murdering a rival of the family, he wants to place the body in one of their waste management bins to send a message, a la the Luca Brasi scene from ''Film/TheGodfather''. Big Pussy tells him all that would do is bring on a desire for revenge from the family as well as heat from law enforcement and they need to hide the body. He also thinks that once he's a made man, [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster he'll be living on easy street]] like the characters in ''Film/TheGodfather'' and ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}''. Instead, he discovers that it's just like any other full-time job where he has a lot more responsibilities and is under more pressure to earn money. The other gangsters even chastise him for watching 'too many movies'' on a few occasions, like when he thought his made ceremony was a ruse to whack him.
90	* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Quest, Part 2", Cam Mitchell decides to throw a large chunk of C-4 under a dragon since "that's where dragons are weakest". [[OurDragonsAreDifferent It's not that kind of dragon.]]
91	* ''Series/StrangerThings'':
92	** In season two, Bob Newby gives what would be considered excellent advice to Will about facing his fears... if he were in an Series/AfterschoolSpecial. Unfortunately, the Mind Flayer is no schoolyard bully. And the moment Will tries to face it as Bob suggested, the creature swiftly seizes the opportunity to possess him.
93	** Jason Carver in season four believes he's in a ReligiousHorror story about [[SatanicPanic a Satanic cult terrorizing a community and unleashing the forces of Hell]], with him as [[VigilanteMan the brave hero fighting back]] and liberating his town from their influence. He's right about being in a horror story... [[RightForTheWrongReasons the problem is]], it's a ''[[SciFiHorror sci-fi]]'' horror story with [[LovecraftLite Lovecraftian overtones]] in which the power of Christ does nothing to protect against [[EldritchAbomination inhuman monsters]] from [[EldritchLocation beyond our world]]. As a result, he nearly ruins the protagonists' efforts to stop [[BigBad Vecna]] [[spoiler:and ultimately gets [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe brutally killed]]]].
94	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
95	** The Winchester brothers and other Hunters occasionally encounter amateur hunters or {{Vampire Vannabe}}s who base their knowledge of monsters on popular books like ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga''. The Hunters treat these amateurs with derision and reveal real monsters are nothing like their books, so they'll likely get themselves killed.
96	** In "Frontierland", the Winchester brothers have to time travel to 1861 Wyoming. Dean is a massive fan of Creator/ClintEastwood western movies like ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' and tries to blend in by wearing a serape like The Man With No Name. He gets embarrassed when a cowboy calls him out for looking ridiculous.
97	* ''Series/{{Survivor}}'': Danny Massa from ''44'' assumes that the season he's playing on is one with a frantic and more chaotic merge like ''Cambodia'' or ''Cagayan'' where it's every man for themselves and alliances are only temporary and plays accordingly, leading to him needlessly backstabbing people who were loyal to him. However, it turns out he's on a season with a heavy focus on alliances, and, more importantly, tribal loyalty, as the Tika 3 exploits his mindset to turn him into their PuppetKing and then vote him out the second he tries to target one of them.
98	* ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'': In Series 7, Rhod Gilbert approached it as more of a Main/PanelGame show and focused primarily on trying to be funny rather than attempting to actually win, which caused some tension with the contestants who were taking the competition seriously (especially during team tasks).
99	* ''Series/TheWitcher2019'': Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier, has said that he intentionally played the character like he's in a sitcom instead of in a serious fantasy show.
100	* The central premise of ''Series/{{You}}'' is how Joe believes he's the hero in a rom-com with a little drama thrown in. He's really in a psychological thriller... where he's the sociopathic stalker and killer.
101	** The series excels in showing how scores of situations rom-coms play for laughs can be easily twisted into a darker theme as Joe's pursuit of Beck crosses the line of "romantic gestures" into outright criminal actions.
102	** When he's nearly caught while in Beck's apartment, Joe notes he's seen enough romantic comedies where the protagonist gets out of this okay when he just broke in.
103	** When he runs to see Beck, Joe thinks of the moment in a rom-com where the hero races through the rain to proclaim his love. It's not raining and when he throws a rock at her window, it smashes through it.
104	** Beck uses this in the finale [[spoiler: after being held prisoner by Joe]] by tricking him into [[spoiler: letting her out]] by saying this is the part where they'd kiss with swelling music.
105	** Season 2 has Joe once more thinking himself the nice guy getting with the ManicPixieDreamGirl Love...only to learn in the finale that [[spoiler: Love is just as twisted a killer as he is and was using ''him'' all along. Joe thus finally does grasp he's in a dark thriller...only he considers himself the "victim" in it all.]]
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Context WrongGenreSavvy / LiveActionTV