Sandbox / Stereotypical Television Set

Any TV in fiction will be small and three-dimensional, with dials to change the channel or control the volume in case the remote isn't working. It may even have antennas. As unrealistic as this may seem to you, this is actually how TVs used to look.

Can make visual works less jarring since it would be paradoxical to see a TV that looks exactly like your TV, inside your TV. Common in cartoons, video games, and comic strips but also show up in live-action works as well.

Can result in an Unintentional Period Piece. Compare Stock Food Depictions, for when a food is consistently depicted a certain way, and Typical Cartoon Animal Colors, for when a type of animal is consistently depicted a certain way.

Examples

Comic Strips

• Calvin and Hobbes: Calvin's TV is a small TV with antennas sticking out of the top.
• Garfield: Jon's TV set is a small, brown TV with antennas.
• Peanuts: Charlie Brown's TV is small with dials.

Films — Live-Action

• Back to the Future: The McFly's TV is small with dials.
• RoboCop: Clarence Boddicker's gang keep a small brown TV with dials and antennas in their secret hideout. Justified since it might have been stolen from a junkyard.
• The TV in Rose's house is small with dials. She has a lot of old-fashioned things in her house and it fits in with the quaint atmosphere.

Live-Action TV

• Any TV in Lost is small with dials.
• Young Sheldon: The TV of the Cooper household is small with dials. Justified since it takes place in the 80s.

Video Games

• Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life: The TV in your house is small, brown, and has dials.

Western Animation

• The Amazing World of Gumball: The Watterson's TV is small and brown with dials.
• CatDog: The title characters own two TVs, both small with dials. Cat's TV has antennas, but Dog's TV has a shirt hanger attached on top.
• The TV Courage the Cowardly Dog is small, brown, and has dials.
• Cow and Chicken: Cow and Chicken's household TV is small with dials and antennas.
• Family Guy: The Griffins' household TV is small with dials and antennas.
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: The TV is small and brown with dials and antennas.
• King of the Hill: The Hills' TV is a small brown TV with dials and antennas.
• Peppa Pig: The family's TV is small with dials.
• The Powerpuff Girls: The TV that the girls watch is small with dials.
• Regular Show: The TV that Mordecai and Riby watch is small and brown with dials. Becomes a plot point when an anthropomorphic TV like this is upset over streaming services.
• The Simpsons: The Simpsons household TV is a small TV with dials and antennas.
• Any TV in the early episodes of South Park is small and brown with dials and antennas. This has changed with the newer seasons.
• Spongebob Squarepants: Spongebob, Squidward, and Patrick have small brown TVs with dials and antennas.