The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at the Trope Launch Pad.
Find a Trope:
openBad comedy act? Live Action TV
Is there a trope for when a character tries stand-up comedy and fails miserably? It's quite prevalent in Live-Action TV and animated shows, but it's not Dude, Not Funny!, as that more focuses on offensive jokes. Nor is it Cannot Tell A Joke, because that just adheres to simple jokes, but not stand-up. Any ideas?
openIs this SurvivorGuilt? Live Action TV
Hi all. I'm fairly certain the answer to my own question is Survivor Guilt, but I think that is a bit more broad than the example.
I'm referring to a season 2 episode of The Newsroom, where Maggie recounts her harrowing experience in Africa; the orphanage where she is sleeping is attacked by cattle raiders and she and the other adults evacuate the kids onto a school bus. Turns out, one of the kids was left behind, so she went back into the orphanage to get him, and carried him out on her back. But while heading back to the bus, her colleague dropped his camera, causing her to turn around... just as a gunshot meant for her hits the kid in the back, killing him.
This event is why she spends the entirety of the season in a state of Heroic BSoD, and I'm trying to determine if there's a trope here beside simple Survivor Guilt. There's an element of Failure-to-Save Murder, in that she tried and failed to save the kid, but it's not that, because nobody blames her for the kid's death... except herself.
I could take this to the TLP, but as I'm not even sure how to distinguish this from the two tropes mentioned, or if there are even any other examples, I thought I'd ask here.
Some variation of I Let Gwen Stacy Die?
openFamily/Friends on Reality TV Live Action TV
Is there are a trope for this / is this tropable? Usually either on or close to the finale of a reality show such as Survivor or MasterChef, they will bring in members of the contestants' family or friends for moral support, etc. Variations may include that the family members have to be part of a challenge, or otherwise may be important to the game, etc.
openThe pan flutes of native presence Live Action TV
You mostly see this in TV shows, but sometimes in movies too. It's where an "ethnic" character—usually a Native American or African—starts to say something about their culture, particularly about their spiritual beliefs, and in the background pan flutes start to play. It was especially popular in the 90s but it's definitely still around. Think Chakotay on "Star Trek Voyager." The character practically can't speak without pan flutes warbling in the background. Is this a trope and if so what is it called?
openWoman knows best Live Action TV
I am looking for the name of the trope where a female character helps a male character in a relationship by saying something to his girlfriend. This something is never explained and is always the best thing possible. It solves all problems and discussion and the girlfriend is love-struck. I saw it recently in Warehouse 13 episode "Merge with caution" but I saw it a lot in other tv shows. thanks for your help.
openGender ratio guest cast question? Live Action TV
What trope is it when an episode's cast is mostly one of these two flavors:
- Nearly all male, but only one or two female guest stars
- Nearly all female, but with only one or two male guest stars
- Only male guest stars
- Only female guest stars
Is there a trope?
openMental illness on TV Live Action TV
Is there a trope that refers to how mental illness is stereotypically portrayed on TV?
openA Green Acres trope? Live Action TV
Can't seem to find the trope (maybe it's not a trope?) where, in Green Acres for example, everyone but Oliver uses the same wrong pronunciation of a word (or, I'm trying to remember, wrong ideas?), but Oliver. And often later, sometimes in the same scene, he says it wrong as well? If it's a trope I'd love to see other examples of it. Thanks!
openThe Third Option Live Action TV
I'm thinking of a mystery trope where the show is down to either X or Y killed this person or X or Y died and the big plot twist is that it was Z who killed the person or died. Any ideas?
openCaught by the villain when breaking into his premises Live Action TV
When the protagonists, ostensivly on the side of Good, decide that, in order to procure some vital piece of evidence necessary to convict, they will need to break into the villain's office/house — that's when the Genre Savvy begin to hyperventilate. Because the villain always comes home early, or gets back from lunch while the protagonist is in the middle of picking the lock to the file drawer. There must be a trope for this as the one almost inevitably follows on from the other?
openKeeping them in the dark for their own good Live Action TV
I'm trying to identify the trope in which the Superhero has a whole litany of Battle Butler friends/coworkers, but for some reason, still feels that he has to keep one particular friend (or romantic interest) in the dark. The hero generally passes it off as saying he wants to protect them (making it similar to It's Not You, It's My Enemies, except that the relationship never started and it's before The Unmasking). The logic never seems to work, as the person in the dark is often in just as much frequent danger as the hero and their Battle Butler - they just don't *know* why the bad guys are always targeting them. Indeed, if they were let in on the secret, they might have a better chance to protect themselves - or at least, have the information they need to make an informed decision about whether to maintain the friendship.
Most recent example in my memory is The Flash (2014), the first season of which featured Iris not knowing the Flash's identity, even though nearly all of her friends and family did.
Edited by MrIttyopenMistakes in location filming Live Action TV
What is the name of the trope (is there one) when a work is set in a specific place but the production gets basic things about it wrong? The example I'm thinking about is in Fringe. I just started watching and so far they've sent someone to Boston General (doesn't exist, whereas Mass General, one of the best hospitals in the world does exist) and mispronounced the town Waltham (pronounced Walth-ham, not like walth-um).
openThe Newly Wed Couple and an Old House Live Action TV
Is there a trope for when a newly wed couple (always heterosexual when I've seen it) talks about their first house and the man in the relationship finds a literal piece of crap old house or some wreck where "the foundation is still good" and brings the wife through like "imagine the nursery here" and he's going to do all the work himself and of course she says yes, because she can picture it too and the sheer force of their love and several home depot trips is going to fix the house into some glorious place. I've seen it in Ghost Whisperer and Bones, but I know it's happened in other media too.
openEvery Video Game is from the 80's Live Action TV
You know that trope, usually in older shows before videogames rose in popularity, where some person is in front of a tv randomly mashing buttons while you hear random atari/80's arcade sounds coming from the TV?
This trope somewhat made sense in the 70's and 80's, but this annoying trope extended even into the late 00's.
openTough guy, lil kid Live Action TV
Is there a trope for Tough Guy and his Little (usually) Girl Sidekick, especially if he ends up loving her? Think of Arya and the Hound's relationship. Its always been my fav trope, is there a name for it
openActor Context Live Action TV
Do we have a trope where two actors appeared together in a famous role that makes their appearance together in a different show/film highly ironic?
I'm thinking specifically of the series Medici, starring Richard Madden (Robb Stark in Game of Thrones) and how David Bradley (Walder Frey) became his father-in-law in the show.
opendoctor Live Action TV
Is there a trope relating to how doctors in delivery rooms are never the doctor who is their normal one? They get a new one.

I'm looking for the kind of Face-Heel Turn that happens all of a sudden, with little to no character development. I considered Jumping Off the Slippery Slope since the character in question is morally ambiguous and has done morally ambiguous things (as have others), but he was considered to be in the good guy camp for several seasons before a laughably easy conversion to evil that made one think he's obviously undercover. Is that still Jumping Off the Slippery Slope?