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openI Need A Freaking Aspirin Live Action TV
In crime shows, there's a tendency for Da Chief to take aspirin/ibuprofen/tums
to deal with the stress caused by the people underneath their command. Like I Need a Freaking Drink, but with medicine instead.
openSplitting the Difference Live Action TV
I'm looking for a trope where a series realizes it's said two things and clears it up by splitting the difference. In Babylon 5, President Clark had been referred to as William Clark in one broadcast and Morgan Clark in another before it was established his full name was William Morgan Clark. In Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama's late wife's name was said to be Caroline in a flashback in "Act of Contrition" (Season 1, Ep 4), but then in a flashback in "Scattered" (Season 2, Ep 1) he referred to having recently married a woman named Anne. "A Day in the Life" (Season 3, Ep 15) established that he'd only been married once and her name was Carolanne, combining the two names, with "Caroline" presumably a retroactive mispronunciation and "Anne" a shortening.
Edited by NOYBopenEpisodic format Live Action TV
Is there any actual trope to indicate a strictly episodic formula, akin in style to MacGyver (1985), where you can plug in at any episode, continuity is barely there and the only connecting tissue are recurring characters and general concept?
Asking for a very specific case with Czterej pancerni i pies, which, despite being ostensibly a TV series, opens each episode with "Studio Syrena presents FILM from the... Title Drop series", and excluding two two-parters, the entire show is done entirely in self-contained episodes, with the only continuity being progression of the war and characters knowing each other.
Or should just Film Serial be used directly to describe it?
Edited by StaniszopenForged medical license, decent doctor Live Action TV
A doctor who has been working for years at a hospital is suddenly discovered do be using a medical license which is forged. The discovery is made due to the first case he had of a patient dying during surgery.
openCommonly used joke about somebody's last name being a common thing. Live Action TV
I feel like it happens a lot in TV. Is there a trope for when somebody makes the very common joke where they imply a super common thing is named after a fake person? ie>
Jonathan Movie, inventor of Movies Robert Microwave, founder of Microwave, Inc.
openSci fi sidecut Live Action TV
It seems a lot of media, probably starting from the new 10's, has characters sporting a sidecut. Yknow, buzzed sides, full length middle usually swept to a side? Like Josephus Miller in Expanse, Natalie Dormer's character in Mockingjay, Vi in Arcane, the protagonist in Warhammer+'s Interrogator?
If not, is it worth starting a trope even?
openCapitalist Realism Live Action TV
Is there a trope for the concept of capitalist realism i.e. the idea that capitalism is so entrenched that it's become impossible to imagine human civilisation without it?
openLight's out, something was stolen Live Action TV
I guess what I'm looking for is kind of a variation on Light's Out, Somebody Dies, that I've often seen parodied in TV shows and cartoons, except that instead of murder, the crime is a robbery, usually of something the victim was wearing, like jewelry or even clothing. I've seen it played for laughs quite a lot, but never played straight, wich left me wondering if there actually is a trope like that or at least where the parodies came from.
openSomeone leaves quickly and their chair spins Live Action TV
Hey folks.
It seems like this is common enough, but I can't find it here. Someone is either caught in a lie, is embarrassed, or for some other reason wants to leave quickly. You see them sitting in the chair first, cut to someone or something else, then cut back, but they're gone and the empty chair is spinning.
Here's an example from Arrested Development, s2e18.
https://youtu.be/9-PkutG_Q2Q?t=70
Thanks! j
openMid episode theme repeat Live Action TV
Is there a trope for when an episode of a show recreates a different version of the introduction mid-episode for a plot reason or as a transition change?
I'm asking for my brother, so I don't know/remember the exact context of these, but he's seen it in My Name Is Earl and Community.
Two I remember better:
- An episode of How I Met Your Mother where, after Barney declares himself the leader of the gang, Barney sings the theme song with lyrics related to being the new leader.
- An episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, where Rebecca's Stalker with a Crush Trent sings the theme song (which for that season was justifying her also being a Stalker with a Crush).
openTV network cameo appearance Live Action TV
Reposting because my previous question got kind of lost in the pile.
Is there a trope for the case when the network that airs a TV series/ made-for-TV movie is referenced, especially by showing characters watching the network's channel? Is this a form of Product Placement or something, or do we have an entirely different trope for this?
openSave Development For The Finale Live Action TV
A character's motivations and backstory are purposely left unexplained until the ending of a season or series, forcing the viewers to keep watching to find out more. (Actually, it works for just about every end.)
openUnrelated countdown Live Action TV
I'm trying to find a tropes page for the situation wherein a character is innocently counting down for one reason or another, but the audience is made to understand that this is the actual countdown for something more dramatic.
examples: The Simpsons - the characters are doing 10 "Iroquois Twists" as part of a group workout and it's implied that after the 10th twist, the nuclear plant will melt down
Jericho - a kid playing hide and seek counts down from zero, and it's implied that when she says "zero" is when all the bombs go off
World War Z - a stuffed bear counts to 12 and when it reaches the last number, a person has finished transforming into a zombie
openCan't decide on title? Live Action TV
Is there a trope for where a creator can't decide on a title, so uses all the ideas he wanted in one title, for example:
Gotham: The Rise of the Bat : From Bruce to Batman: Gotham, Rise of the Bat, Joker and Penguin
creating a long title?
Edited by Merseyuser1openPlace is hated?? Is there a trope? Live Action TV
Is there a trope for where a location becomes The Scrappy to viewers, not just a character? Ethnic Scrappy is about characters so that probably wouldn't fit.
openTelevision signal bleeding across borders Live Action TV
Migrated to the right place.... is there a trope covering real life situations where one country's television signal reaches an unintended audience in the country next door? I know there's sometihng like this as I've seen such a trope - just can't locate it. thinking of, for instance, British TV signals being received in Northern France and vice-versa. It must happen a lot - TV does not stop at geographical borders - and seems to be a distinct, if related, thing to Periphery Demographic. Thanks for any pointers!
openSense8 Christmas Special Live Action TV
I'm looking for a character trope regarding an early scene in the Sense8 Christmas episode where Hernando dresses down a student for being a homophobic douche.
It's not The Stoic, because Hernando is one of the most passionate characters on the show. It's not Nerves of Steel, because it's very clear he's emotionally affected by it. But it's got something to do with his ability to stay cool under pressure, because his relationship has just been outed to his classroom, which is embarrassing, and yet he is able to take this incredibly humiliating moment and turn it into an object lesson.
What trope is that?
openChild overhears his own diagnosis Live Action TV
I have found a few tropes which are close, but nothing which quite fits.
Basic background : Max, recently had his 10th birthday, has Asperger Syndrome; his parents decided—and the Asperger expert they consult with agrees—that Max is too young to understand this, so they don't tell him. They do hire a behavioral aide for him. Max's uncle, Crosby, had recently had sex with her, resulting in her quitting her job with Max.
The actual incident: Max's father is extremely angry at Crosby. When Crosby comes to apologize to Max's father, the two brothers start yelling at each other, the father mentioning that Max has Asperger. Unbeknownst to the brothers, Max comes into the room during the yelling and overhears the diagnosis. They only find out because Max asks what Asperger is.
Edited by Someone1981openWalking on hot coals Live Action TV
A character walks on hot coals to demonstrate the power of mind over matter and perhaps win a bet. If they need medical attention afterwards it might be a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome. But surely we have a trope specifically for walking on hot coals?
I looked at Convection, Schmonvection and Mind over Matter. Neither quite seems to apply here nor did they point me in the right direction.

This seems to be a fairly common trope in fantasy/science fiction live action TV shows where there are a truckload of sapphic characters, even in the main cast, but at best there's about 2 male gay/bi characters (achillean characters) who are a couple, and often they're guest cast. E.g. most of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Constantine was the one queer male character while Sara, Ava, and even Charlie were all sapphic and numerous other sapphic characters came and went. The show Legacies had Hope, Josie, Josie's numerous girlfriends, and many other sapphic characters, but the only male queer characters were Jed and Ben in the last season. Supergirl had maybe one queer male character with a dead husband, while having several female queer characters and a trans woman character. To what I understand, many animated shows such as Steven Universe and She-Ra have similar situations. This is also fairly common in books by straight authors and definitely not uncommon in movies.
Basically a But Not Too Gay trope specifically for gay men in media which otherwise have many queer women. Media with Chromosome Casting don't count for this, however, this (perhaps a bit ambiguously) applies to shows that have one-episode queer male characters if the show has major female queer characters. Basically, the queer male characters should generally be scarcer than the female characters or much more often background characters.
Bait-and-Switch Lesbians also do not count, the characters must be obviously queer. Haven't yet seen a trope page for this but it's super common in diverse media
Edited by Jonnesty