The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
Find a Trope:
openWordplay on Gladiators Live Action TV
In the latest episode of Gladiators (2024), Apollo is introduced before the Powerball event with a caption that mentions that as a kid, he wanted to be a Power Ranger. Powerball and Power Rangers both have the word Power in them, so it seems to be wordplay. Is there a trope for that kind of reference?
resolved Not actually eating Live Action TV
Whenever characters on television shows eat, it seems like they never ACTUALLY eat anything. They just move food around on the plate with their forks.
openLarge Story, Large Suppression Live Action TV
So, something I've noticed lately is that this new 8-episode format a bunch of networks are applying to seasons of series they host is simply inefficient when it comes to lore-heavy and story-focused shows. In other words, the platform isn't providing enough episodes for a story to be fleshed out, forcing the show to skip over a bunch of worldbuilding and character development/growth, which tends to hurt the execution of the show's premise.
Is there a name for that? I thought about perhaps Absurdly Short Production Time, but that doesn't feel quite right.
This feels like a YMMV type of thing due to how much it varies whether or not a person's opinion of the show is affected, but when it's so easy for most viewers to notice, it feels more like a Trivia type of thing.
The best example I can think of is First Kill: The relationship between Cal and Juliette is very intimate, but in some viewers' eyes not developed enough for any chemistry to feel real. Tess, despite clearly being an important part of Cal's life, is removed from the show at the halfway point with nary a peep from Cal (we don't even know if Cal knows about Tess's parents by the end). And by the end of the season, it's still never hinted at how legacies can die (or if they're even immortal or they just live for several times longer than humans).
openPlease Don't Tell Me Live Action TV
When a character asks this question and the answer is not what he wants to hear.
Q: Please don't tell me you wrecked the car.
A: I wrecked the car.
openInteresting Background Object Live Action TV
There is a scene where an object is part of the background and is simply there, playing no part in the story, but is still an interesting item. At times it can be a Mythology Gag or a Call-Back, but sometimes it's just something notable.
openWhen a character comments on an aspect within the show he appears in Live Action TV
A show has four main characters and several recurring characters. One character goes missing. After a head count, it turns out the missing character is one of the main characters. One of the remaining characters comments "its one of the main four."
openWhen a character is not pregnant, but the actress is Live Action TV
An actress becomes pregnant, but the pregnancy isn't written into the show for her character, so it has to be hidden.
resolved IP address out of range Live Action TV
An IP address is the technical address which a computer uses to communicate on the internet. It's made out of 4 numbers, each in the range of 0 to 255; in one episode, an IP address is used where the first number is 392.
resolved Revenge on the police Live Action TV
A police officer is shot. It turns out that the shooter's brother is dead, probably murdered, the shooter (a couple days after his 18th birthday) believing that the culprit was a police officer—although clearly not that police officer.
Edited by Someone1981openPlant the evidence in the site of a terrorist attack Live Action TV
On September 10th 2001, a woman was murdered in Manhattan. The next day, the murderer severed her arm and put it in the area where the Twin Towers had stood.
openExplode the evidence Live Action TV
In order to prevent evidence at a crime scene from being used to track the perpetrator, he uses some method of explosion to destroy such evidence.
resolved Poor Sidekick Live Action TV
A sidekick who belongs to a lower economic class than the hero's. The hero can be either rich or middle class, but the sidekick is stereotypically "poor".
This happens for a variety of reasons:
- To show the hero doesn't have class prejudices, as he befriends a poor person and treats them as an equal. Or, to show the hero didn't abandon his poor friend when they became richer.
- So the sidekick can show some street smarts and help the hero whose skills are based in training and book-learning.
- To satirize the Upper-Class Twit who's manipulated by his lower class Hypercompetent Sidekick, or make a political point about class disparity.
- To contrast the characters' upbringing, sometimes showing the hero as being Spoiled Sweet.
- Because the hero is so spectacularly rich, everyone else is poor in comparison.
- As Wish-Fulfillment for the Audience Surrogate sidekick.
- Because their poverty makes the sidekick more prone to be a Damsel in Distress.
- Because the sidekick is still a beginner, and the hero became richer through his adventures.
- Because the Heroic Comedic Sociopath is a miser who doesn't pay his sidekick enough.
Is that a trope?
Edited by Mac_Rresolved Picked the WRONG victim Live Action TV
Bully sees a victim who the bully assumes will be weak and helpless, and starts harassing him. Bully then has an OH CRAP moment when he discover that he picked the WRONG person to pick on. A few examples that come to mind:
1. The West Wing: Some drunk frat guys harass a girl they meet at a bar and the guy she is with. They discover the girl they are harassing is te president's daughter, and the Secret Service quickly deals with them.
2. Catch Me If You Can: Some high school bullies harass a young-looking man, who turns out to be their teacher. Of course, he wasn't really a teacher, but they still had the OH CRAP moment because they thought he was.
3. Chiefs: A corrupt police officer in a small southern town in the 1960s pulls over a black man and starts harassing him for no good reason. That black man turned out to be the new Chief of Police.
openFragmented information Live Action TV
What's the name of the trope where different groups of characters have the combined knowledge to solve a mystery, but they each don't know that the other groups are even investigating in the first place, and would only need to just talk to each other to figure everything out?
Stranger Things likes to use this one a lot. For example, in Season 1: Joyce, Hopper, Nancy and Johnathan, and The 3 boys plus Eleven have the combined information needed to figure out where Will is but don't communicate with each other until the very end
openAbility Amnesia Live Action TV
A character forgets how to perform a special power.
Example: Raising Dion, in season 1, Dion can turn invisible fully, but in season 2, it's now just his hand he can turn invisible.
openGuest Star Becomes Permanent Live Action TV
What do we have to cover a scenario where a guest star on a tv show ends up becoming a permanent cast member?
It's not a case of Fake Guest Star, as they are intended to be a guest star for only a few episodes. However, for any of a number of reasons, they stick around longer and become a regular cast member. (Though that trope can also apply if they remain billed as a "guest star" in the credits.)
Would be some form of Trivia trope I'm sure, but I'm seeing anything for it. Ed Helms as Andy in The Office (US), Chris Pratt as Andy in Parks and Recreation, Tom Petty as Lucky in King of the Hill... All were initially signed for just a few episodes/one season, but ended up sticking around long-term after their initial guest run.
TIA!
A baby (sometimes even a young toddler) is present in a scene but the script doesn't require them to do anything (except maybe cry, babble, or coo, but that can be added in post). Very commonly in those cases, and for good reasons, the baby is not played by an actual baby, but represented by a vaguely baby-shaped rolled-up blanket (often containing a doll). Because faces are hard, the baby is usually shown from behind or completely hidden by the blanket. Examples: most sitcomes, e.g. The Office, Big Band Theory. Also the second act of Into the Woods.