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Bowling For Ratings

Ah, bowling! The sport of the common man. Generally when TV shows portray someone as an everyday working class hero, the writers make him a member of a bowling team. Could result in just references to a team, a singular bowling episode or a chance for a character to be Bested At Bowling. Trope name is a parody of Bowling for Dollars, a syndicated American Game Show format of The Seventies.

Sometimes, a Canadian series will have that country's distinctive five pin variant: five pins with rubber rings around the wide bottom and smaller balls with no finger holes.

The following shows have had episodes involving bowling:

7th Heaven: Eric delays telling the family that he needs an open-heart surgery, so he decides the family should go bowling.
All in the Family
The Big Bang Theory
Cheers
Dead Like Me: George joins Happy Time Temp Agency's bowling team in one episode. There's also the Plague Division of reapers from the extended pilot, which spends its time lawn bowling and intently watching rodents for signs of another epidemic.
Dexter: Dexter joins a bowling team in Season 2.
- His biological father also became an avid bowler after turning his criminal life around.
Ed
Eureka: An episode had the show's bowling league playing against that of Area Fifty One.
The Flintstones
The Golden Girls
Happy Days
Home Improvement
The Honeymooners
The Huckleberry Hound Show
King of the Hill: In one episode Peggy is afraid to go bowling since her embarrassing shoe size would be displayed on the heel.
King of Queens: Doug and Carrie and their friends Deacon and Kelly are on a bowling team.
Laverne and Shirley
The Looney Tunes Show
Malcolm in the Middle had one of the best examples of this, with a Rashomon type episode showing what would happen if Lois took the boys bowling, or if Hal took them instead.
Married... with Children
My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: The Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt to get bowling cutie marks at the start of The Cutie Pox.
My Wife and Kids
The Odd Couple
The Office (US): Where Ryan is working when Micheal recruits him for The Micheal Scott Paper Company.
Pac-Man
Parks and Recreation: Leslie hosts an appearance at the bowling alley as part of her campaign for city council (and to show up someone who criticized her in a focus group).
Rocko's Modern Life
The Roman Holidays
Rugrats
The Simpsons
That '70s Show: S4 Ep11, "The Third Wheel".
United States Of Tara
Veronica Mars: Season three features a painful-if-you've-been-in-this-situation "not a date" bowling episode.
Wait Till Your Father Gets Home