Line #21 Main/OneNormalNight


1	->''"One normal night is a perilous trick,\
2	Normal is hard to attain\
3	Children are crazy\
4	and Parents are quick,\
5	Passions are hard to explain..."''
6	-->-- '''Uncle Fester''', ''Theatre/TheAddamsFamily''
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8	So, the youngest child is now [[SheIsAllGrownUp all grown up]], and is [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove no longer]] clueless to the phenomenon known as love, experiencing some of the associated symptoms like [[LongingLook longing looks]], a more bubbly personality, and long pauses between responses. The parents, and quite possibly siblings, who notice these changes will start to express some [[WhereDidWeGoWrong concern amongst themselves]], before addressing the situation to the person in question, who, by that time, will [[RelationshipReveal tell]] the family that he/she is in love with someone, and is planning to introduce the significant other and their family to his/her own. But, there's a catch. Turns out he/she feels quite [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents embarrassed]] with the current status that the family is in right now. So, before the significant other arrives, some ground rules have to be applied: Don't be a DotingParent, don't drag out any EmbarrassingOldPhoto, father, whatever you do, try to resist the temptation of falling into your [[WackyParentSeriousChild typical habits]], do not tell stories like "I Used To Change Your Diapers", keep those tacky, [[HomemadeSweaterFromHell moth-ridden sweaters]] you used to make me out of sight, and especially don't reveal my [[EmbarrassingMiddleName full name.]] Just, for the love of God, give me one normal night.
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10	May overlap with GiveHimANormalLife. May also involve BadBadActing if the people involved are not used to behaving to the normal standards of society. Expect [[StockPhrase stock phrases]] such as "YoureNotMyFather", "WhereDidWeGoWrong?", and, the extreme "YouAreGrounded". Expect massive {{Facepalm}}s from the child if they start to think the family isn't respecting his or her request, or are acting even worse than they normally do. As a last-ditch effort, the child in question might use StandInParents to make the illusion a reality.
11	----
12	!!Examples:
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14	[[AC:{{Film}}]]
15	* ''Film/YouCantTakeItWithYou'': Alice brings home her beau and asks that her family act normal.
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17	[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]
18	* In conjunction with StandInParents, this happens in an episode of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' when Max brings over a girlfriend.
19	* Inverted in ''Series/{{Soap}}'' when Danny introduces Elaine, whom his family presume is somebody very close to him as he rarely introduces his girlfriends so Mary asks everybody to pretend to be normal (e.g. asking Burt not to admit that he believes he can turn himself invisible). In fact, Elaine is a MafiaPrincess who is forcing Danny to marry her and Danny shows off all the craziness in his family in an attempt to scare her away. She concludes that they're all pretending to be crazy as no family could ever be ''that'' insane and refuses to let Danny go.
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21	[[AC:{{Theater}}]]
22	* The TropeNamer is a song from the musical ''Theatre/TheAddamsFamily'', where Wednesday, upon telling the titular family of her boyfriend's arrival, requests that they try to be normal for just one night to leave a good impression on his family. Her boyfriend then sings a verse where he implores his parents to try to be normal for just one night to leave a good impression on ''her'' family.
23	* The plot of ''Film/TheBirdcage'': the son of a CampGay nightclub owner is engaged to the daughter of a conservative politician, and when her parents come to visit, the household scrambles to pretend to be a "normal" nuclear family.
24	* ''Theatre/YouCantTakeItWithYou'': Alice brings home her beau and asks that her family act normal.
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26	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
27	* An episode of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Casper}}'' animated series had Fatso convince the rest of the ghostly trio to help him pretend to be a lord to impress a visiting woman ghost. [[spoiler: She turned out to be Miss Banshee in disguise, who was furious that they "cheated" on her...with her.]]
28	* Inverted in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', where Judy is so embarrassed of her family being "ordinary" that she comes up with a ridiculous scenario for them to act out for her crush, with her parents playing the roles of eccentric bohemians and Doug playing the role of...the ''butler,'' since he's supposedly too boring to be part of "her" family. [[spoiler: Doug turns the tables by adding a "secret agent" role to the proceedings, culminating in him [[JumpingOnAGrenade jumping onto the table in the middle of the lasagna]] and making a dramatic FinalSpeech.]] The boy in question thinks the whole thing was staged for his entertainment, not to deceive him, and [[SureLetsGoWithThat Judy decides to roll with it]].

Context Main / OneNormalNight