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openNo Title Live Action TV
I see this situation arise on a lot of police procedurals, and was wondering if it has a trope name. Through previous scenes, the plot establishes that the detectives in charge of an investigation need to talk to a witness. For all they know, the guy merely saw something or knew something, so there's no apparent threat from him. In this trope, the witness is always at work when the detectives need to interview him. The detectives approach another employee, and ask where they can find the witness. The employee helpfully points out that the guy they're looking for is right over there, some distance away. Then, either the employee will yell out the witness's name and tell him that the cops need to talk to them, or the detectives will announce themselves, maybe flash their badges, then tell the witness that they have a few questions. The witness then takes off full speed in the opposite direction, knocking objects and people to the floor in the process, with the detectives in pursuit. This trope doesn't apply if the chase was unavoidable. It only applies when the detectives could have used a little more caution, such as announcing their presence after getting much closer to the witness.
Edited by dantesque17openNo Title Live Action TV
I don't know if anyone by chance caught Sunday's new episode of Mythbusters, but if you did, you may already have this one stuck in your head.
This happens towards the beginning of the episode. After they introduce the "Ballistic Barrel" secondary myth, they cut to the bomb range to set up their initial proof-of-concept test. In this test, they are testing whether or not methanol in a barrel can ignite. Now let me paint the picture for you:
They have a 55-gallon barrel strapped to a 4-wheel frame, horizontally, with the opened... eh, hole... at the top. On top of this barrel is a crash-test dummy who is lying face down on top of the barrel with its backside facing a ramp that's behind the barrel. On this ramp, there is an RC car with a road flare strapped to it... and it's really protruding out the front of the cart. The plan is to drive the car up safely to the barrel and use the road flare to ignite the methanol fumes.
Do you see where I'm going with this? (If not, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3X85StYJjE#t=8m55s
) For an added bonus, Grant udders the phrases, "We have achieved the hole. The fire is in the hole!" (Don't believe me? Video.) These phrases are immediately folded by a cut of the RC car repeatedly backing up and bumping against the barrel.
So, the question is: Is this something worth mentioning on the Mythbusters page? If so, what would this be considered? Freud Was Right? Accidental Innuendo?
Edited by Itsbrown4606openNo Title Live Action TV
What's the trope where the strong, manly hero's best friend gets horribly wounded or sick and is on the verge of death, forcing the hero to 1) turn into Florence Nightingale complete with bedside hand-holding and brow-wiping, 2) give a moving speech while friend is unconscious, telling him how much he means and begging him not to die? It's not Manly Tears, it's this specific situation, which gets used a lot. I'm thinking something along the lines of Don't Die ET.
Edited by TigereyesopenNo Title Live Action TV
I can't find two tropes for "Sherlock," and I've seen them so often in film and TV that they must be here somewhere. The situation is that Sherlock goes to the airport by official transport, leaving Irene Adler with loose hair and minimal makeup in a bathrobe in his flat. When he gets to the airport, Adler is already there, fully dressed in an evening gown and with hair and makeup done. So I want:
1) A trope where a character travels impossibly fast and the writers are clearly hoping you won't notice. Urban Teleportation? I Beat You Here?
2) A trope where a character changes clothes and does full personal grooming impossibly fast. Quick Change Artist?
openNo Title Live Action TV
Bob is in location A Alice in location B
Unbeknownst to the viewer, something extraordinary happens
- Bob : "Alice something extraordinary is happening" - Alice : "What is it ?" - Bob : "Can't tell you - you have to see this for yourself"
Fade to next scene.... The viewer is "Alice" - and has no idea what is happening (only that it is big).
Bob can't just say "the planet blew up" or "we are facing an invincible armada"... No.. Alice *HAS* to see it for herself.
How is that called ?
Thanks !
openNo Title Live Action TV
This has to fit somewhere...a bit in which the artificial nature of a set is referenced, indirectly, for gag purposes. I'm thinking of a scene in The Odd Couple in which Oscar tries to teach the basics of football to Felix. at one point (picture the apartment set in your mind), Felix grabs the ball and races down the hallway (stage right) where the bedrooms are, leaving Oscar befuddled. Seconds later, the door buzzer sounds (stage left), and Oscar opens the door to find Felix there. Obviously a physical impossibility, and Tony Randall merely ran around the back of the set. The gag is not lampshaded (no "How did you do that?" or anything of the sort), but the audience reacts with applause, obviously getting the gag. This is not really a "fourth wall" gag, but clearly is a "wink wink, nudge nudge" that says "yeah, it's just a set....so?" How would this be categorized?
openNo Title Live Action TV
I'm just wondering if there's a trope for this: Common in sitcoms, the cast of main characters has a low-budget vacation where every possible thing goes wrong, usually due to the person who planned it making cheap (and stupid) decisions. I know there's a "vacation episode," but that's more general.
openNo Title Live Action TV
I'm sure it was in here somewhere... A conversation takes place, and a new person comes up and joins in just as if they were there all the time, perfectly answering a hanging question. Constantly done in NCIS and Castle.
Edited by SinusopenNo Title Live Action TV
I know we must have this one, but I'm stuck on what it would be called. The character (most often female) who is the nerd or shy and sweet or otherwise likely to be overlooked socially who becomes the heart or backbone of the group, which is especially protective of her. Although she often proves emotionally stronger than she looks. Willow in Buffy and Kaylee in Firefly are obvious examples.
openNo Title Live Action TV
Is there a trope for a villian who seems to complusively leave esoteric riddle at thier crime scene? Normally to prove thier own intelectual superiority or so the detective will catch them before it is too late? In short a character like Batman's The Riddler. I was watching an episode of CSI: NY (titled "Can You Hear Me Now?") Where the culprit places a music box that plays an obscure beethoven song in a victims throat to lead police to a woman. Who in turn leads them to an apartment where another body is found. In this room the culprit has placed a phone with a voice message of the man being tortured which was activated by the culprit calling the phone, as well as a child's (viewfinder toy?) containing pictures of the victim. In one of which the culprit has placed (on purpose!) a music stand with the initials (YMH I think) to lead police to the Music Hall to find another victim in a seal musical drum etc. Its like the Riddler invaded CSI: NY. Each step seems to be setup on purpose by the culprit to test the police's deductive skills.
openNo Title Live Action TV
How about this one ?
As a character is about to meet its impending and violent doom (hit by a car, crushed by a falling piece of furniture, etc..) the camera switches for a split second to said character's face for a split second where he is shown to finaly realize his living days are over - with an expression of terror on his face - followed by a scene cut, a dark screen with the sound of the mishap or eventually the depiction of the event.
Any idea ?
openNo Title Live Action TV
Is there a trope for a high-class or educated person blending in among lower class folk. For example, in Firefly episode "Heart of Gold", Nandi says "So I trucked out to the border, learned to say 'ain't' and came to find work."
openNo Title Live Action TV
In works that feature a team of protagonists with a more-or-less well-defined hierarchy, I've noticed that there's a tendency to give the second-in-command position to a female character. Seen It A Million Times. Is there a trope for this?
If not, what would be a good way to trope it? It seems like a meaningful pattern to me — like an attempt to make the genders appear more equal, while still keeping the tradition of making the leader male, or a way to give a woman a position of at least some leadership in a setting (historical, modern-day military, etc.) where men usually just are the ones in charge.
openNo Title Live Action TV
Hey! Do We Have This One: A common trope in Sci-Fi television series'. It's where humans or something are mining or exploiting a resource they didn't realize was alive. Most often, this is the twist to the motivation of some non-humanoid or amorphous being killing people.
Examples includ:
- the episode "42" of Doctor Who
- the episode "The Problem with Popplers" of Futurama
- the episode "The Devil in the Dark" from Star Trek The Original Series
openNo Title Live Action TV
Hi! What´s the name of the trope for ending the episodes/seasons with a videoclip. I mean a song plays and you see (but dont hear or can but in low volume) the characters at the end of the episode doing their thing. It usually has a ending revelation or cliffhanger included and it also works as a epilogue for the episode/season. I cant find it! Thanks
openNo Title Live Action TV
A particular trope often seen in Star Trek stuck out to me as I was watching the latest movie, where technology will conveniently stall just long enough to affect the plot or create suspense, when said technology normally functions much quicker or instantaneously. This is pretty clear in the Star Trek movie when when Chekhov declares, "Five seconds to transport!", which is just enough time for [[Spock's mother to die.]] Just beforehand, Chekhov saves Kirk and Sulu's life by transporting them as soon as he gets a lock on them. Is there a trope for this?
openNo Title Live Action TV
There's a specific example I wanted to add if it's not there yet, but... I don't know what trope it is (if any). Basically it's a physics screw-up.
The example in question is in Doctor Who NS S1 E13. Rose decides she needs to rip the control panel from the tardis, so they attach one end of a chain to said control panel, and the other to a car (a Mini, IIRC). After much revving and no ripping, the chain breaks.
So what do they do? Go and get a fire engine. Er, guys, the thing that went wrong here was the chain. You need something that isn't going to break. A fire engine will just break the chain more quickly if anything.
Anyway, it works of course.
So what trope might that be?
Edited by jumblejumbleopenNo Title Live Action TV
Is there a trope for the type of episode in which someone wakes up in a mental institution/prison/whatever and discover that they are a Muggle with the delusion that they are the character they are in the show? For example person x with superpower y wakes up in a mental institution and discovers he doesn't have superpower y. Than at the end of the episode it's revealed that this was all a delusion by some enemy. I know Star Trek The Next Generation and Smallville have done it.
A related question, is there a list of television episode types?
Edited by asbjfalfkjopenNo Title Live Action TV
I noticed that some sci-fi shows (Star Trek:TNG, Star Trek: Generations and Firefly come to my mind), even when the setting is really futuristic most of the time, tend to portray family homes, or better the *ideal* family home, as coming straight out of the 18th century. Think Picard's family vineyards, Picard's Christmas fantasy in Generations, Simon and River Tam as children in a flashback. Has this been described before?

Is there a trope for the impending moment of doom signified by the falling and subsequent smashing of a snow globe?