Basic Trope: Iconic references to a time period that show when a scene takes place.
- Straight: Tom travels to The '50s, and immediately finds an old-fashioned Malt Shop that has various 1950s songs playing on a jukebox, including "Mr. Sandman" by The Four Aces.
- Exaggerated: Tom travels to various historical eras. He sees the pyramids in Ancient Egypt, dances to disco music in the 70s, goes to a Malt Shop in the 50s, and witnesses the assassination of Julius Caesar in Ancient Rome.
- Downplayed: Not much clear indicator is given that Tom is in the 50s, but some 50s-era songs are playing and he finds a Malt Shop rather quickly.
- Justified:
- Tom's time machine is supposed to show The Theme Park Version of various historical eras.
- The iconic references to that time period are Truth in Television.
- Tom used the time machine at a place where, if it doesn't still exist, he at least knew that a Malt Shop used to be there.
- Inverted: Tom, from the 1950s, travels to the present day, where he runs into a modern restaurant with a tablet menu, contemporary pop music on the radio, and everyone on their iPhones.
- Subverted: Tom's time machine didn't actually work. It was "only" a teleportation device that dropped him in a retro-themed diner.
- Double Subverted: ???
- Parodied: Tom intends to travel to the Renaissance era. He ends up with... disco music?
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Tom is in the 50s and can only tell from reading a nearby newspaper.
- There is no reference to any previous time periods to begin with.
- Enforced: To let the audience know what time period the scene takes place in.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Tom is black, and the iconic 50's culture along with the suspicious stares he's getting from the pre-Civil Rights era white locals remind him he's already in a lot of trouble if he isn't careful.
- Reconstructed: Tom is black, and the iconic 50's culture and songs he overhears while out of view of any locals warns him ahead of time that this is likely not a good time and place to go on a leisurely vacation, so he skedaddles out of there before any trouble occurs.
Back to "Mister Sandman" Sequence. Hearing that song lets you know that you're in The '50s!
