Basic Trope: The format of a show is changed to appeal to new viewers.
- Straight: Alice and Bob, a struggling sitcom with some noticeable dramatic elements, is slowly turned into a balls-to-the-wall comedy.
- Exaggerated: Alice and Bob, a struggling dramatic series, is turned into an almost Dadaist comedy in the span of one episode.
- Downplayed: Alice and Bob, a somewhat dark sitcom, is slowly turned into a somewhat comedic sitcom that nonetheless still teaches lessons to its viewers.
- Justified: Viewers came for the comedy but didn't stay for the drama.
- Inverted: Alice and Bob, a show enjoying the peak of its popularity, is suddenly changed for little to no good reason.
- Subverted:
- The shift was temporary. A couple years later, it's back to its old self again.
- Alice and Bob(1977) was the struggling dramatic sitcom, Alice and Bob(1988) was the balls-to-the-wall comedy.
- Double Subverted:
- But that shift back was temporary, too.
- Those are the Fan Nicknames for the pre- and post-retool seasons.
- Parodied: The producers change everything about the show, including the title and the main characters - to the point where anyone wonders if it's the same show anymore.
- Zig Zagged: Some elements of the show are gone for good, but others eventually see their way to returning.
- Averted: No changes are made.
- Enforced: "Ratings are down for this show. Let's change it from a dramatic sitcom to a straight-up sitcom!"
- Lampshaded: "Remember when you used to be serious?" "I don't think about that, and neither should you."
- Invoked: See "Enforced".
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: The producers decide that even though they may need new fans, they don't want to upset the fans they already have.
- Discussed: "Didn't our lives seem a lot more serious until a few months ago?" "Now that you mention it..."
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: The Retool doesn't pay off: not only do the fans of the show stop tuning in, but the new premise fails to draw any new viewers.
- Reconstructed: The Retool pays off and gets new viewers in the door.
Back to Retool - the trope that's now been replaced by a YouTube page.
