History Main / SleepingSingle

** However, this trope was completely averted by the very first American sitcom, ''Mary Kay and Johnny'', which aired from 1947 to 1950. It showed the featured couple sharing a bed and even depicted Mary Kay's real-life pregnancy. It should be noted that the stars were real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns.

Although (as noted above) it wasn't strictly forbidden to show men and women in bed together, it almost never happened in practice after 1934. This trope carried over to television in the 1950s and remained in effect until censorship standards loosened and The Hays Code became a dead letter in the 1960s, replaced by the MPAA ratings system for films and FCC censorship for television. The first live-action TV couple to share a bed onscreen, whose actors were not a married couple in real life, were Darrin and Samantha Stephens on ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''.[[note]]The reason for [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative those qualifiers]] is because the first couple to ''ever'' share a bed on tv were ''Series/MaryKayAndJohnny'', but they were [[RealLifeRelative married in real life]], and when the show aired in the late 40's, the Hays Code hadn't been fully adopted by television yet. And [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Fred and Wilma Flintstone]] started sharing a bed before Darrin and Samantha.[[/note]] Also, by the early '70s, the trope had been discarded entirely on such series as ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' and ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow''.

* In ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', one of the girls that Onizuka helps is upset that her family has become distant since acquiring money. She compares the distance to the wall that exists between her two parents rooms (and beds). Onizuka takes the literal approach at solving the problem and puts a gigantic hole in said wall with a hammer.

* In ''Film/TheProwler1951'', John and Susan have two single beds in their bedroom. However, is as much to do with the state of their marriage as it is the Hays code.

* The couple in ''Film/Seconds1966'' is having single beds which underpins their loveless marriage.

* Inverted in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''. When Jemma is stranded on an alien planet and meets an American astronaut who had been there a while, they work together for several weeks before falling in love, and we get a SexyDiscretionShot of them making out before the commercial break. After the break, we see their two cots pushed together, clearly implying that they had sex.

* In ''Series/CitizenKhan'', Mr. and Mrs. Khan sleep in separate beds. Mr. Khan reacts in shock when he sees Mrs. Khan pushing their beds together in the middle of the day and shrinks back in fear when she insists he fulfill his "husbandly duties". Turns out she just wanted him to fix the plumbing in their room and moving the beds provided easier access to the pipes.

** Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip each have a bed in a room opposite each other, which is traditional for British gentry but is emphasized in an episode where they are having marriage problems. At the start of the episode, Elizabeth muses that she's woken up in the wrong bed, suggesting that the Royal couple have had sex and things are going well. At the end of the episode, she's started to worry about her husband's fidelity after he's left on a five-month royal tour, so she shuts the doors opposite rather than continue to look at her husband's empty bed.

** Likewise Herman and Lilly of ''Series/TheMunsters'', who were actually shown in bed together a few weeks after the ''Bewitched'' episode mentioned in the page intro. This may or may not have been handwaved by them [[WeirdnessCoupon being 'weird']].
** However, this trope was completely averted by the very first American sitcom, ''Mary Kay and Johnny'', which aired from 1947 to 1950. It showed the featured couple sharing a bed, and even depicted Mary Kay's real-life pregnancy. It should be noted that the stars were real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns.

* Played with on ''Series/FatherTed'' -- Ted and Dougal have twin beds in the same room, Justified due to them not being a couple, meaning it would be very wierd (even by the show's standards) if they shared a bed.

* In the ChainedHeat episode of ''Series/HeyDude'', the handcuffed Ted and Brad spend an uncomfortable night in ''bunk beds'' when you would think a double-bed would be the best choice. The best choice anywhere but TV land.

** It was actually averted a couple of times. In one strange instance, Fred says that Ethel woke him by not being there "because there was no one poking him in the ribs and telling him to roll over" which pretty much means they needed to be in the same bed. While shortly afterwards ''in the same episode'' they are shown sleeping in twin beds.

* One episode of ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'' had Hyacinth get a flat in a former big country house as a holiday home. Although they slept in the same bed at home, in the flat they had twin beds; Hyacinth implied they're now too old to be getting up to anything which would require a double.
* For a single episode of ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' the couple sleep in separate twin beds. A delivery mistake brought them twin beds instead of a new king-size and they are told it will take time to fix and ship out the replacement bed. They grow to like the separate beds (she can read late and he can eat in bed without their disturbing each other) and consider keeping them while their friends and family become increasingly worried that their marriage is in trouble. In the end, they decide they miss sleeping in the same bed and send for the replacement bed.
* In ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al would love nothing more than to sleep separately from Peg. Consdering that one episode establishes that their sleeping position involves Peg strangling Al from behind while she digs her feet into his back, this shouldn't be surprising. He goes so far as to replace their usual bed with ''bunk'' beds with him taking the top bunk so he won't even have to look at Peg at night. However, Peg dislikes this and physically kicks Al out of his bunk, causing him to fall off and through the floor into their living room. In another episode, Al forces Peg to get twin single beds in exchange for getting a TV for their bedroom.
* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Midge Maisel's parents Abe and Rose Weissman sleep in twin beds. This makes sense because they are Jewish couple probably born around 1900-1910; Jewish law requires men not to touch any menstruating woman, not even his wife, so for observant Jews of that generation (and even Orthodox Jews today), the obvious solution is separate beds (the alternative being one spouse or the other being ExiledToTheCouch for a week to ten days a month). This does not mean a lack of intimacy; Midge gets a lot of mileage in her comedy act from her realization at the age of 26 that the scraping sounds she thought were a ghost as a child were actually her parents moving their beds together/apart.

* Strangely enough, this shows up in a few ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' games. Almost all the games require you to get a "Big Bed" to get married. For you and your spouse, right? No -- for your spouse and ''your child.'' You still sleep in your own tiny bed. While it's pressed close the others, it's still separate. Where does the kid come from, then? (Other games avert this, however.) In at least one, you need a new bed which is a crib for the child, and you and your wife just share the single bed you start with. Guess you're both pretty sedate sleepers.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': Tomoya and Nagisa. In 2009. However, it's due to living in a tiny apartment and poor as all hell, they're not going to spend money on a double futon that probably wont fit in the wardrobe. They probably just brought their old ones from home to save money.

* Deconstructed in this Cracked.com [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19230_the-5-least-romantic-keys-to-happy-relationship.html article]], which argues that couples who sleep separately tend to be happier, since they're less likely to disrupt each other's sleep.

** Doughy's parents have separate rooms, though this is more because they're mentally still teenagers -- Kim's bedroom, which we do see, is still decorated like a high school girl's. It should also be noted, this has no bearing on their sex lives, as they regularly bribe Doughy with money to leave the house so they can be alone.

* Also, studies show that those who have certain sleeping habits (like snoring) or health problems are better off sleeping in different beds, and this shows that accommodating those needs ''improve'' a relationship. These studies are usually the reason for married pairs to sleep in different beds; before, different beds were considered to be wholesome and chaste, and the idea of "snuggling" was considered to be vulgar.

* Creator/RobertBParker and his wife Joan realized that their lifestyles were too different[[note]]she loved to socialize and host parties, he preferred solitude with his dog for company and staying up late watching classic baseball games[[/note]] to support traditional co-habitation so they lived separate lives[[note]]they lived in a three-story house, each claiming one floor and sharing the one remaining[[/note]] while remaining very much in love and committed to each other. When describing their arrangment, Parker said, "I want to make love to my wife for the rest of my life, but I never want to sleep with her again."

Although (as noted above) it wasn't strictly forbidden to show men and women in bed together, it almost never happened in practice after 1934. This trope carried over to television in the 1950s and remained in effect until censorship standards loosened and The Hays Code became a dead letter in the 1960s, replaced by the MPAA ratings system for films and FCC censorship for television. The first live-action TV couple to share a bed onscreen, whose actors were not a married couple in real life, were Darrin and Samantha Stephens on ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''.[[note]]The reason for [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative those qualifiers]] is because the first couple to ''ever'' share a bed on tv were ''Series/MaryKayAndJohnny'', but they were [[RealLifeRelative married in real life]], and when the show aired in the late 40's, the Hays Code hadn't been fully adopted by television yet. And [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Fred and Wilma Flintstone]] started sharing a bed before Darrin and Samantha.[[/note]] Also, By the early '70s, the trope had been discarded entirely on such series as ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' and ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow''.

* ''Series/HiHoneyImHome'': Honey and Lloyd are people from a 1950s television show who are now living in the real world. They sleep in separate beds, but they push them together in the first episode of the second season.

* ''Series/TheCrown2016''. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip each have a bed in a room opposite each other, likely for traditional and pragmatic reasons (of necessity the Queen has to work longer hours than the Royal Consort) but it's also emphasized in an episode where they are having marriage problems. At the start of the episode, Elizabeth muses that she's woken up in the wrong bed, suggesting that the Royal couple have had sex and things are going well. At the end of the episode, she's started to worry about her husband's fidelity after he's left on a five-month royal tour, so she shuts the doors opposite rather than continue to look at her husband's empty bed.

* In ''Manga/EmmaAVictorianRomance'', the aristocratic couples the maids serve usually have separate bedrooms. [[TruthInTelevision Truth In Manga]], sleeping together every night was not considered proper behavior for a well-bred couple in that era, even if they were HappilyMarried. Wilhelm and Dorothea Mölders discuss this trope in a side story; they're a loving couple with an active sex life, but when Wilhelm suggests they start sharing a room, Dorothea says she'd rather not since she doesn't want him to see her putting on makeup.

* In ''Manga/EmmaAVictorianRomance'', the aristocratic couples the maids serve usually have separate bedrooms. [[TruthInTelevision Truth In Manga]], sleeping together every night was not considered proper behavior for a well-bred couple in that era, even if they were HappilyMarried.