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resolved Not actually eating Live Action TV
Whenever characters on television shows eat, it seems like they never ACTUALLY eat anything. They just move food around on the plate with their forks.
resolved IP address out of range Live Action TV
An IP address is the technical address which a computer uses to communicate on the internet. It's made out of 4 numbers, each in the range of 0 to 255; in one episode, an IP address is used where the first number is 392.
resolved Revenge on the police Live Action TV
A police officer is shot. It turns out that the shooter's brother is dead, probably murdered, the shooter (a couple days after his 18th birthday) believing that the culprit was a police officer—although clearly not that police officer.
Edited by Someone1981resolved Poor Sidekick Live Action TV
A sidekick who belongs to a lower economic class than the hero's. The hero can be either rich or middle class, but the sidekick is stereotypically "poor".
This happens for a variety of reasons:
- To show the hero doesn't have class prejudices, as he befriends a poor person and treats them as an equal. Or, to show the hero didn't abandon his poor friend when they became richer.
- So the sidekick can show some street smarts and help the hero whose skills are based in training and book-learning.
- To satirize the Upper-Class Twit who's manipulated by his lower class Hyper-Competent Sidekick, or make a political point about class disparity.
- To contrast the characters' upbringing, sometimes showing the hero as being Spoiled Sweet.
- Because the hero is so spectacularly rich, everyone else is poor in comparison.
- As Wish Fulfillment for the Audience Surrogate sidekick.
- Because their poverty makes the sidekick more prone to be a Damsel in Distress.
- Because the sidekick is still a beginner, and the hero became richer through his adventures.
- Because the Heroic Comedic Sociopath is a miser who doesn't pay his sidekick enough.
Is that a trope?
Edited by Mac_Rresolved Guest Star Becomes Permanent Live Action TV
What do we have to cover a scenario where a guest star on a tv show ends up becoming a permanent cast member?
It's not a case of Fake Guest Star, as they are intended to be a guest star for only a few episodes. However, for any of a number of reasons, they stick around longer and become a regular cast member. (Though that trope can also apply if they remain billed as a "guest star" in the credits.)
Would be some form of Trivia trope I'm sure, but I'm seeing anything for it. Ed Helms as Andy in The Office (US), Chris Pratt as Andy in Parks and Recreation, Tom Petty as Lucky in King of the Hill... All were initially signed for just a few episodes/one season, but ended up sticking around long-term after their initial guest run.
TIA!
resolved Good for the Actor, Bad for the Character Live Action TV
A character in a TV show keeps experiencing failure because if he succeded, it'd mean the character would be written off, or the show would end. I'm thinking in particular about the last episode of Community^ where Annie imagines a future where she fails at her dream FBI job to move back to Greendale (for what is clearly supposed to represent a seventh season of the show), meaning the character would still be on the show, but people would feel bad for her.
Or, it could be the inverse - something's bad for the actor, but good for the character - an actor gets unceremoniously fired, and the character is Put On A Bus To Heaven and given a happy ending offscreen.
resolved Fantasy Sequence B-Plot Live Action TV
I know this might fall into Complaining About Shows You Dont Like a bit, but I figured since there's a trope for Undercover When Alone, there might be a trope for a related issue:
Alice and Bob are shown doing some stuff during part of the story, then it's revealed it was All Just a Dream Alice was having (or some sort of fantasy/hallucination). But, wait - if it was Alice's dream, why did parts of the story focus on Bob doing something that's not related to Alice, and without her knowledge? Or even, how does Alice dream incorporate stuff she doesn't know but Bob does? Sometimes the dream even features a character who never even interacts with the two of them!
The reason, of course, is that the writer didn't think the story through. That is:
- The writer didn't decide it was a dream until later on in the story, after the nonsensical parts had already been published.
- It would be too obvious that it was all just a dream if the story only focused on the dreamer, because other episodes don't have the same focus.
- The story is Strictly Formula to such an extent that the writer doesn't know how to write an episode without including those mistakes.
- Some sort of Voodoo Shark makes it so dreams work different in the story's world.
resolved No divorce? Pay with your life Live Action TV
A particular Jewish woman wanted a divorce. Unfortunately, under the religious rules, only the husband can grant it to her; if he refuses—which he did—she remains married to him for the rest of his life. (Note that this is not Artistic License – Religion.) Once she realized that no pressure would change his mind, she payed to have him murdered.
Edited by Someone1981resolved Protest against the dead at his funeral Live Action TV
A teenage Serial Rapist was murdered (covered by a previous episode, so not troped in this one). In the middle of his funeral, a group of girls (as far as we know, none of them were his victims) yell that he was a rapist, and hold up a sign "Mourn the victim, not the rapist".
Edited by Someone1981resolved Everyone Else is Cheating Too Live Action TV
An Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist is planning on cheating at a competition, only to discover he doesn't have the advantage because everyone else is cheating too (thus it once again is a real competition, to see who's the best cheater). Or, a group of people have an uneasy agreement and the protagonist plans on breaking it, only to discover everyone else is also breaking it.
A variation - the protagonist undergoes Character Development and abandons his cheating ways before the proper competition, only to get beaten by everyone else who didn't.
resolved Light-Shattering Terror Live Action TV
A trope for any sort of monster that causes lightbulbs to explode, and flames to snuff out leaving the protagonist in darkness
resolved Don't Mention the Major Event Live Action TV
Is there a trope for when characters don't acknowledge a (usually recent) major world event even when it feels like it would be relevant to do so. Not a case of Distanced from Current Events where something is altered to avoid causing offence, sometimes late in production. I'm thinking more like Brief Encounter where no one brings up the war despite the fact that it was still ongoing at the time the film was produced and the characters appear to be living in what was the present-day with no timestamps or suggestions of alternate timelines.
resolved Ignored conversation lie test Live Action TV
A comedy/sitcom scene: Alice is telling Bob a story, but Bob's ignoring her - focusing on a football game on TV, a hot woman on the street, or, nowadays, his smartphone. So Alice starts making up ridiculous lies to test if he's listening. He continues nodding and saying vague stuff like "that's nice" as her stories grow more ridiculous.
resolved What he wanted to do to others, ends up done to him Live Action TV
A villain plans to victimize someone in a specific way, but ironically ends up as in the victim's position, usually due to a misunderstanding or mixup.
resolved We were playing a videogame! Live Action TV
The cops have a bug on Alice and Bob's place. They're listening to Alice and Bobs' plan to murder someone. They're discussing techniques and weapons, comparing previous kills, mentioning locations. Then the SWAT team breaks in... and they're just talking about the Murder Simulator they're playing.
Is that a trope? I get that it's not too realistic nowadays, but TV is TV.
resolved Preying on criminals by baiting Live Action TV
A criminal pretends to be a drug dealer, prostitute or similar. When a rube becomes interested, the criminal takes him to an isolated location and robs him.
Variations include the child criminal offering sex to lure a pervert, a serial killer making sure his targets are scumbags, and the classic "using handcuffs on a horny guy, then robbing him".
The idea in those cases is the victim understands why they need to be sure nobody's seeing them, and won't tell the cops what happen, for fear of getting himself in trouble.

You know when a character has no scruples about being dishonest, sleazy, hypocritical, etc etc etc, to the point where they will come right out and say it. Like they might not necessarily be a terrible person, they just know they're not morally upstanding.
I have two specific examples I can think of. In Succession when Kendall asks Stewy if he can have his support in a board vote and Stewy goes "I can promise you I'm ethically, morally, financially behind whoever wins". Stewy's notorious for this, there's also another line where he simply goes "I'm kind of a selfish person, so."
The other example I can think of is the bit in The Newsreader where Gerry complains about a series of terrible joke recommendations his CEO gives him for his comedy show. When Helen says "but you ignored him, right?", Gerry says "oh no I said them, but I have no integrity, you stick to your guns."
The important thing is that these characters admit to their insincerity or selfishness or whatever, and furthermore, don't have shame or a desire to improve. Is this a thing, or am I going insane.