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resolved Inexplicably Attractive Character Live Action TV
Is there a trope for when a character seems to attract a lot of romantic attention from people even though they don’t have much to recommend them? Not a Kavorka Man because in the show I’m thinking of, all the main characters including this one have a baseline level of TV-character-attractiveness. But this particular character just seems pretty boring personality-wise when all the people who are into him are much more charismatic and dynamic to the point that it’s hard to understand why they’d be interested in him.
Edited by SuperTroperresolved Coincidental premature rejection Live Action TV
Is there a trope for the comedic scenario wherein Bob is about to ask Alice for something, but Alice, coincidentally, talks about how much she hates it when people ask her that.
For instance:
- Bob (short on cash): Alice, can you do me a favor?
- Alice: Sure, I miss spending time with you. Ever since I won all that money, a bunch of parasites showed up trying to borrow some. I want to kill them, greedy bastards.
- Bob: Right... what a bunch of jerks...
- Alice: So, what did you want?
- Bob: Nothing, just looking for my keys - oops, they're in my pocket, thanks, bye.
resolved Convenient Innocent's Death Live Action TV
Alice is evil, so Bob the Anti-Hero kills her. Charlie then finds out, but Charlie is by-the-books, so he has to tell the cops. After all, it's still murder. Bob's in a jam now - he can't kill Charlie, cause Charlie's innocent. He can't go to jail either.
So, Charlie's on his way to the cops, when he dies in an accident, or is murdered. This is great for Bob, since he gets to follow his moral code, and get away with Alice's murder. And if Charlie was murdered, Bob can avenge him in his deadly fashion.
resolved "Keeps getting worse" gag Live Action TV
A stock joke in comedies where a guy starts saying something bad, and keeps pausing and adding worse stuff.
I can think of a few examples:
- From The Simpsons (Lionel Hutz gives the judge a piece of paper): This veredict is written on a napkin... and it still says guilty... and guilty is spelled wrong.
- From Friends (Ross talking about the last time he had sex): Well last week...it completed three months...since I stopped trying.
resolved Informed Big Budget Live Action TV
A TV series features a metafictional work that's supposed to be impressive, but since the show doesn't have a big budget, the Show Within a Show can't have one, either. Usually this applies to blockbuster movies on in-show games, that look very crappy.
resolved Betray Old-time friend for new group Live Action TV
Old friends Alice and Bob meet a group of Charlies. At first, they seem okay, so they become friends - usually it's a situation where Alice and Bob are desperate and the Charlies are helping them. But Alice starts to realize they're actually evil. She tries to leave and goes get Bob, but Bob's been converted and sides with them (sometimes even snitching on her). Usually because the group is rich and/or powerful.
resolved Fantasy First Scene Live Action TV
Is there a trope for shows where the first scene takes place in a Speculative Fiction world, then moves to the budget-friendly real world for most of it. Usually an alien who crash-lands in the first episode, or a fugitive from fantasy land.
resolved Post-Apocalyptic Ferrarri Live Action TV
Is there a trope for characters taking advantage of societal breakdown to use expensive cars and other luxury items? Like if 99% of the world's population is gone, there are lots of ferrarris to go around?
resolved Flanderized Riches Live Action TV
A character starts the story being relatively well-off, but as he suffers Flanderization, he's retconned into being very rich, a millionaire, billionaire, or one of the richest people in the world.
resolved Minor character with implied bizarre background Live Action TV
A recurring extra is given a few lines or a minor plot thread in a long-running show, and the joke is he has knowledge and/or skills that suggest a freaky backstory, like being in witness protection or on the run from the mob/cops, having Once Killed a Man with a Noodle Implement, being Ambiguously Human, being incongruosuly intelligent (or having a Worthless Foreign Degree), having extreme or incomprehensible beliefs, et cetera. Sometimes happens to an Ascended Extra.
Edited by Mac_Rresolved The Fantasy Sequence is Closer to Reality Live Action TV
I've seen this, very rarely, and was wondering if there's a trope for it - a character's appearance or behavior is closer to an actor's real self during an Imagine Spot than during the show proper - for instance, an actress wears a fat suit during the show, but her character has a dream about being skinny, which is just the actress being portrayed without the suit, or an actor whose character has a heavy accent speaks with his native accent during a fantasy sequence.
resolved He wasn't ''shooting'', he was ''shot'' Live Action TV
A character (usually a bad guy) points his gun to a good guy or hostage. Then, we hear a bang - we're led to believe the bad guy pulled the trigger, but actually, another good guy shot him, thus saving the target's life.
resolved Surprise Celebration Outburst Subversion Live Action TV
Alice wants to surprise Bob - either a surprise party, dinner, gift or something. Thus, she pretends she's not doing anything special, and ignores Bob's attempts at reminding her. This drives Bob mad and he goes on a rant trashing Alice, saying their relationship is over, revealing secrets and so on... then he finds out about the surprise, but it's too late.
resolved Misunderstanding Evidence Debuked Live Action TV
Alice thinks X about Bob. Throughout the episode, she sees a bunch of stuff to comfirm her hypothesis.
In the end, she (or someone she talked to) confronts Bob, and Bob explains what every piece of evidence really meant.
The example I'm thinking of, from The Nanny, Fran assumes Niles is a serial killer because he's been shopping for knives, calling the morgue and wearing sneakers. In the end, Niles reveals he's written a play - the sneakers were so he could walk on stage, the knives were props and the morgue was research. Often, the explanations are increasingly ridiculous as a form of Lampshade Hanging.
resolved Pilots Have Lots of Sex Live Action TV
Is there a trope for airplane pilots being portrayed as having lots of sex, since they can travel around the world and sleep with locals and attractive flight attendants?
Or rather, a trope that associates professions and sexual attractiveness/promiscuity?
resolved Picked the WRONG victim Live Action TV
Bully sees a victim who the bully assumes will be weak and helpless, and starts harassing him. Bully then has an OH CRAP moment when he discover that he picked the WRONG person to pick on. A few examples that come to mind:
1. The West Wing: Some drunk frat guys harass a girl they meet at a bar and the guy she is with. They discover the girl they are harassing is te president's daughter, and the Secret Service quickly deals with them.
2. Catch Me If You Can: Some high school bullies harass a young-looking man, who turns out to be their teacher. Of course, he wasn't really a teacher, but they still had the OH CRAP moment because they thought he was.
3. Chiefs: A corrupt police officer in a small southern town in the 1960s pulls over a black man and starts harassing him for no good reason. That black man turned out to be the new Chief of Police.
resolved Didn't know when to stop Live Action TV
A character goes to legal or illegal casino. He starts out winning some money, gets a lot of chips, wins a fortune, but keeps gambling and gambling in hopes of getting more, until he starts losing, and ends up losing everything. Had he said he had enough, he'd go out a rich man.
resolved Nagging Others to Get Married Live Action TV
If "Christmas Cake" is someone who is nagged to get married, what's the trope for those doing the nagging?
Edited by walkenfanresolved Shot Down at First Date Live Action TV
Do we have a trope for where the love interest gets rejected when they first ask a character out, only for the two of them to get together in the end?

I almost added this example to Answers to the Name of God, but it isn't that. Is it Comically Missing the Point, or something else?
George: Boy, that must be a strong telescope!