March 16, 2014

Top 5 Sitcom Tropes That Could Never Happen in Real Life


As you all know,  love sitcoms. But even I acknowledge that things that we see in these shows just could hardly ever happen in real life.

Here are five examples:


#5.Heavy Husbands with hot wife

This is top of the list because it isn't fair to say it's impossible for a heavy or dimwitted man to marry a hot and/or smart wife. But let's be honest....what are the chances in real life that most of these couples would really be together? This one goes all the way back to The Honeymooners!The list of series to have this include Still Standing, King of Queens, Fresh Prince, According to Jim, The Simpsons, and I am sure plenty more! It also works for dimwitted husbands which the wife is much smarter than. Everybody Loves Raymond anyone?



#4.Beautiful home/apt characters should not be able to afford

I love Friends, but how in the world does Monica afford that apartment? We know she sublets it from her grandmother but still! How about that year she was out of work? For some shows this works. For instance, Cliff and Clair Huxtable are high paid professionals so that beautiful home seems believable.But this is especially hard to believe when the show is set in New York. Could Jerry really afford his apartment in Seinfeld? Will must have been one heck of a lawyer to live in his apartment in Will & Grace. How about Paul and Jamie's place on Mad About You? And this isn’t limited to apartments of course.How in the world did Danny Tanner, a sportscaster, afford that beautiful three story town house on Full House?? And I know on Who's The Boss? that Angela was president of an advertising firm, but how she managed to afford that Connecticut home is beyond me.




#3.Kid with easily solvable problems

It seems as old as time itself....every problem in a sitcom can be solved in less than 22 minutes. I hate that, because just because the episode runs 22 minutes doesn't mean the events of the episode did. But one thing I will comment on is the way these problems never seem to be really bad. Can you think of one episode where a kid comes home high on drugs? They may get drunk but it is usually a one time thing. And what about other things teenagers gei nto? Like crime? Home Improvement touched on this in one episode when a very rebellious Brad was caught breaking windows with friends. Brad would also becaught with Marihuana in a later episode. This would be great...if it ever gotbrought up again! The Cosby Show brought this up in an episode where Cliff asked do they have kids who don't get into trouble, or do they have kids who get into trouble but never tell them?



#2.The Wacky Neighbor

What is it with sitcom characters never knowing how to lock their doors? Or just tell the annoying person to go away and never come back? I mean, Steve Urkel was a kid and was told to go away pretty much every episode.So that one is kind of ok. But why didn't Jerry throw Kramer out? Why did the Westons on Empty Nest tolerate Charlie for a second? And why did Lenny & Squiggy have free access to Laverne & Shirley's apartment whenever they wanted???? In real life this would not be tolerated for even a minute. But in a sitcom, it's just all part of the fun. The worst I think was Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched, she didn't just storm over but would stare out the window and practically monitor the Stevens home. In real life Darrin and Sam would have probably called the police!



#1.The Heartfelt Talk/Hug

Yeah, if only life really worked like this. Wouldn't it be nice? If you have a problem, you just discuss it with the other person and...Voila! Problem solved and all is right with the world! Family Ties was bad with this formula, every episode seemed to end with two characters having a heartfelt talk in the kitchen which would solve the problem. Even the anti-sitcom Seinfeld, hard as it tried, had this happen in the episode "The Deal". But every sitcom has succumbed to this formula one time or another.I would be here all day listing them all. In real life things just don't get resolved that easily.


Despite these five items I still love sitcoms and the escape they give from the real world.

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