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Is there a trope for a show setting where the characters live in a small town and the show is mainly set there, but there's one (usually just one) large city close enough to influence the plot? Think Metropolis in Smallville or Canterlot in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
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I'm looking for a trope that shows how the less dialogue a character tends to have, the more impact there is behind what they say, and vice versa. For instance, the audience can pretty much ignore whatever a Motor Mouth says, but when The Quiet One speaks, they'd better listen.
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A common way of establishing how skilled the main character is, especially in medical shows. The character will be walking briskly down a hallway, and minor, younger, or more inexperienced characters will rush up to asks questions. The main character answers quickly, without difficulty, and without even breaking pace. This shows they know their trade, even when otherwise occupied. I've seen it in Body of Proof, Scrubs, and House (not sure on specific examples, but it's definitely there).
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Generally in your average High School tv show, where one member of the protagonist group suddenly finds themselves insanely popular for some reason. They ditch their old friends for most of the episode, only to eventually realize that "Wait a minute, being popular sucks!" They then return to their real friends, who forgive them.
I would think it'd be called Popularity is Lame, but I can't find anything like that.
The main example I can think of is one episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, where Moze found herself on the list of popular kids for no real reason.
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Is there something like a sorting algorithm of events probability? I mean, if a villain has a plan bomb some place, in a regular episode, it could happen. If a villain has a plan to destroy a city, in any episode that is not the finale, and even then, there is zero probability. If a villain tries to kill a main cast member in an early episode behind episode one, it has zero probability. In a finale or near-finale episode it has quite good probability, but it also depends on the cast's size. Another issue here is suspense - writers try to create suspense by raising the stakes, but by doing that they may kill it all by making the villain trying to pull a plan he has no chance of succeeding in.
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I just watched Tin Man (Oz, Darker and Grittier) and the one line struck me as interesting. (Spoilers ahead) Just after being possessed, Azkadelia tells her mother that she's "never felt better." It occurs to me that I've seen this (or very similar) line a number of times, and it's almost never good.
Is this already troped, tropable?
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You know how in Reality TV game shows, they have in between the action quick little one-on-one interviews with the contestants, where they talk about how they felt at that moment and such? What's that called?
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I would like to know the name of a camera trick where a split screen of two or more people in what appear to be different locations, only for it to pan out and reveal they are all within a few feet of each other.
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Let's say there's a show that has a couple of characters make up the key dynamic.
Over the course of the series, Loads And Loads Of Characters are introduced, which the writers may have trouble juggling.
Finally though, the show gets back to its roots and has a special episode or season finale focus primarily on the original cast members, acknowledging in-story that the heart of the show belongs to them.
Is this a trope?
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Is there a trope for a character who is humorously looking out for himself? The ensemble character who very obviously doesn't care about the company/cause/etc but only about his own needs. Often the goal is simply to keep his job.
Examples of this would be Creed in The Office and Nina in Just Shoot Me, who often give funny comments to this effect. When Creed doesn't check the quality of the paper that is shipped away and gets the company in trouble, he goes to great lengths to finger a woman at the printing company instead. "It is something I picked up while living on the street."
Nina immediately tells Maya to fire her new assistant, a young and pretty go-getter, thinking that she will be dangerous competition.
Creed tells the boss Michael Scott to deal with Ryan from the head office, who is introducing a new company website and also palm pilots for the sales team, as he believes all the new stuff means those who are old (like Creed) will be on their way out - there is not an ounce of thought to whether the company benefits from the new stuff or not.
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In an episode of Community, the Meta Guy Abed shoots a documentary/sitcom and says something like "It would be like a sitcom except that in reality people are ugly". What trope is he referencing ?
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That thing where a network uses one show to pimp out another. Example: the cast of one show dose a comerical in character for another show.
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A murder occurs, the police ask around the family/aquaintences of the victim and asks "Did he/she have any enemies?" invariable response: "No... Everyone loved X"
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What about "Reverse Auction"? Where you're bidding on the right to do a service or make a product with less, not more, than someone else? "Bid a Note" from "Name that Tune" is a classic example.
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The thing where actors mad-lib and imrpov their dialog mid shooting, for better or worse.
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Hi. I was wondering, but is there a trope for sitcoms where the youngest member of the family learns a swear word and the parents have to find out where they learned it from?
I saw it last night on an episode of Good Luck Charlie, and remember seeing a similar plot in that old sitcom Growing Pains.
I wanted to launch a trope page, but want to make sure there isn't one already. Could anyone help?
Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did
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Scene in Buffy The Vampire Slayer I really want to put a trope to. Scott had dumped Buffy and Faith sees him with another girl. So during the Homecoming party she goes over to the two of them and makes like she's an ex who she got some sexually transmitted diseases from to scare off Scott's date. What's there that's tropeable?
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I'm looking for information on structured plot models. Every tv show seems to have its own standard model for each episode. I know there is the standard Three Act Model for all forms of plot, but I'm looking for something more specific, maybe even information on particular tv show's models.
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This is a trope where people act like a jerkass to the resident jerkass, of the show and usually only that person

What is it when someone tends to appear in a show as a background character for years and has no lines. For example, in Wings, there was a woman with red hair who ran the Aeromass counter for every season, never says a single word, and only get mentioned by name once in the show's run. Are they just an extra?