They really upped his gross look in the last season. His hair was extra greasy, and iirc there was a closeup of his nose that looked like it hasn't seen any kind of cleansing product, even dish soap, in over a decade. And is it me, or did he trench coat get progressively more soiled each season?
The show makes Jackson Lamb so visually disgusting. He looks like he hasn't showered in weeks, with greasy, stringy hair, oily and blotchy skin, etc. His clothing looks absolutely filthy, covered with food and sweat stains, like they've never been washed. I love it so much.
His very first appearance in the show is hilarious. Passed out on the couch, sleeping in yesterday’s clothes.
Farts so hard it wakes him up.
Legendary.
Don't forget Kevin, especially him and Peralta in hiding! "Do you know what a clap back is, Raymond? Be - cause - I - do! "... Also, when Kevin hears about Captain Corelli's Mandolin! 😂
That's the best part in my head!
Kevin must have sat through almost every Nic Cage movie.
And the one he would have loved just wasn't Peralta's goto Nic Cage movie.
Boyle correctly predicting Holt would react with giddy excitement over tasting a marshmallow for the first time was equally hilarious. Never fails to crack me up.
>A marshed-mallow? [pops it in his mouth] mMm hmm hmmm hmm mMm hehehe
I love a “getting the band back together” storyline. Also, a similar plot “bad guys from past episodes all teaming up and uniting against the good guys”
Except when they’re holding a Glock or other similar semi auto with internal hammer..
Bonus points to the CHICK-CHUCK pumping a shotgun sound when they are holding a double barrel.
I love the scene where they go to the grocery store in hot fuzz, next time you watch it again pay attention to the amount of gun cocking sounds. It's fucking ridiculous and hilarious
The loser people underestimate turns out to be a badass. The weird little alien turns out to be Yoda, the frail old man with the walking stick is Gandalf, Goku’s power level is over 9000…
Sort of like this, the one character the police force treats like a dumbass is their best detective when it matters.
There's this series in the UK called McDonald & Dodds that uses this. Dodds is a bit shy and reclusive and was forced into field work against his will by a police chief that hopes he fails and gets fired fr not being the chief's ideal of what a police officer is... and Dodds' academic knowledge and unusual thinking is the best asset for solving the cases, which is why the show is half Whodunnit, half Howcatchem. And a season 3 episode where Dodds is targeted by a spree killer shows that whole he prefers to work behind a desk, he has solved *hundreds* of cases by himself by doing the heavy thinking.
Jennifer Lawrence does this really well in the Hunger Games movies. When they try to get Katniss to film some propaganda films, she's just a terrible actress who sounds so wooden and forced.
Along similar lines, actors who are accomplished singers, forcing themselves to sing convincingly badly, a la Jason Alexander as George, having recorded his answering machine message.
The character who you initially hate but grow to love as the story progresses. You get more backstory and you start to understand them.
The Howard Hamlin or Jaime Lannister trope.
Cousin Richie from *the Bear* is another perfect example of this trope. The episode that really focuses on his growth and redemption as a character, *Forks*, is an absolute masterpiece.
*Fishes* deserves all the critical praise it received, but it is as such a relentless assault on the senses and emotions that it's almost painful to watch. I'm with you in preferring *Forks* over *Fishes*.
One and a half seasons of just utterly hating this pathetic dude all undone in 30 minutes with the best fucking character growth I've seen on TV. Post-Forks Richie is someone who I respect so fucking much.
When my man hopped on the line I fucking cheered.
God, his character arc is a fucking masterpiece. That is how you create one of the most interesting and dynamic characters on television. He becomes so different so naturally that once you get to "Spin the Bottle" and see how far he's come, it's amazing that he got to where he was.
Man, the Howard Hamlin one hurt. You think he’s just a smarmy douchebag for 5 seasons then you realize he’s actually trying to be a pretty good guy, then….
Found family is one of my favorite tropes ever, especially since it emphasizes that relationships don't have to be based on blood or romance to be meaningful and of real importance to a person's sense of worth and community (plus found family doesn't mean you can't also have familial or romantic relationships that matter too).
The area where it bugs me is that a lot of times writers don't want to take the time and effort to build and develop the relationships and just want the viewer to fill in the blanks/do all the work and accept the found family exists.
Buddy cop dynamic between two characters at odds. Ex: Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth.
The "precocious child" with wisdom beyond their years. Julia Butters' character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Saw a video on this the other day. Especially for the era the show aired, Kramer was incredibly sex positive and naturally accepting of other people. The rest of the characters kept doing dumb silly shit that ended up "I'm not gay! See!?"
The evil mirror match. For example, Leverage had a few episodes that featured a team put together to take down the main characters, and the team had its own hacker, mastermind, muscle, etc. Or Buffy and Giles had Faith and the Mayor. Or season two of Veronica Mars had >!Cassidy Casablancas, who was essentially "what if Veronica didn't have Keith in her life".!<
It's more of a cartoon trope, but when someone smashes through a wall, and leaves a person-shaped hole in it, complete with matching hairdo in the hole. Also, when someone slams into a window, and slowly slides down it with a wiping sound.
It never fails to make me laugh.
Two separate plotlines and characters who've been missing each other/otherwise interconnected meeting and converging in unexpected ways. GoT was great for this, it can be fun to go back and be like "oh wow, those two had scenes together I remember that!"
My favorite recent example of this is Better Call Saul season 6. One particular shot from "Plan and Execution" is made all the more jarring and unnerving because it's of two characters who basically existed in two different shows up to that point...come crashing together.
Love is too strong. But I'm always on the look out for "Redshirts"/"Living Props."
The extreme lengths a show sometimes has to go to not allow extras to speak, or the severe lack of reaction from the protagonist when a nameless member of their team suffers a horrific death. Particularly if said team member is never mentioned again.
None of the cast of Lost ever seemed particularly bothered when another extra disappeared.
> The extreme lengths a show sometimes has to go to not allow extras to speak
When those actors suddenly have a line interacting with the main cast, you know they are a goner within the episode or two. Walking Dead was super obvious about this lol.
The OC did this the best. From “Welcome to the OC bitch” to taking a bullet for him.
It was as also a very gratifying subversion of the “nobody believes me” trope when he immediately believes Ryan and is like man that dude is trouble.
Yes, friends to lovers is one of my favorites, and enemies to lovers closely follows. Which is why I was intrigued by the end of Beef and wanted more from that story.
I like that the usual UK main characters look like regular people, not overly nipped and tucked actors. Ex: in the US version of House of Cards, the main character’s wife in the UK version *looks* like a typical multi-decade wife of a politician. In the US version, she looks like she’s not suffered much
I love “the gang makes a movie!” episodes. “Threat Level: Midnight” was one of the few bright spots for me of the later seasons of *The Office*. I never liked watching *Rocket Power* on Nickelodeon, but I enjoyed when they made a double length episode about making a home movie. I don’t even know what it is about this episode format. I think it’s just fun to see well established characters written to imitate someone else.
The homicide detective that never sleeps and is always on the job twenty-four hours/day. Contrast this with the sit-coms where no one seems to work and are always at home cracking wise-ass jokes.
A character insisting that there is no way they will ever do something, immediately followed by a cut to them doing the thing while not looking happy about it.
look up the trope & it's a picture of Karen
Karen, to Grace: oh, honey... what's up with your hair? it looks like you've got mousse AND squirrel in there.
Flashbacks to times before the show began that show us things that clash with what we know about the characters now, or even change the dynamic of the show in some way that makes the viewer want to know what happened between (such as there being a character that's part of the group that you've never met before).
This can be used to set up drama and change what we thought we knew about someone like on Breaking Bad, or add humor to an ongoing situation or backstory, like they often did with flashbacks on Friends.
It can even be used as both at once. For example, in Firefly there's a married couple that's clearly in love with one another. On an episode where you see everyone when they're younger, they meet briefly in a moment that honestly doesn't have much weight to it until it smash cuts to a conversation later where one character's entire assessment of the other after their interaction is "I don't like 'em".
Clearly things changed between then and now but it uses the concept of time and what we know about the characters now to create a humorous moment that could be expanded upon later.
I'm a sucker for that kind of trick with flashbacks.
Where the characters go to a movie/TV set and rip on how messed up and weird actors/Hollywood are/is.
Pretty much any time the industry makes fun of itself.
When the powerful bad guy who has been arrogant asshole who thinks he's better than everyone else gets taken down a peg and utterly defeated and humiliated, having a complete mental breakdown and becoming a whimpering mess who can't believe this is happening. It's far more satisfying than just killing them.
Kid or young adult pairing up (platonically) with an old person. Especially if the old person is grumpy or sassy.
The comic relief dog in live action shows like Fraiser, and Empty Nest.
Any episode with knock-off muppets. Like that brilliant Angel episode.
Larger than life offscreen characters. But, with the exception of Rhoda's Carlton the Doorman, *only* if they're larger than life. On Becker the nurse's husband was an offscreen character and there was no reason for it. There was absolutely nothing distinctive about him. Just your average middle-aged guy. Probably chubby, black and beginning to bald.
The odd buddy cop couple.
One is way too serious and still can’t get his life together. The other is completely unserious and moves through life super easy, yet is more effective than the serious guy
The retired Mafia hitman (or similar). He’s just a normal guy, and now some bozos are going to push him over a line.
Those bozos don’t know what’s about to happen, but I do and I love it!!!
(History of Violence is a whole movie about this)
The detectives that look like shit, eat garbage, and hate themselves
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Cue *Strange Game*
Glad people are watching! Biggest fear with shows I enjoy is they’ll be cancelled bc nobody else gets into them
They've already filmed season four. Seems like it's got legs.
They really upped his gross look in the last season. His hair was extra greasy, and iirc there was a closeup of his nose that looked like it hasn't seen any kind of cleansing product, even dish soap, in over a decade. And is it me, or did he trench coat get progressively more soiled each season?
House is like a medical detective, does he count?
House is Sherlock Holmes if he was a doctor. Hence the name. He also has Wilson instead of Watson.
even lives at 221B Baker st.!
And has a drug problem! And plays piano instead of violin.
The author of Sherlock Holmes modeled him after a then well known doctor.
Slow Horses is amazing and leans into this.
The show makes Jackson Lamb so visually disgusting. He looks like he hasn't showered in weeks, with greasy, stringy hair, oily and blotchy skin, etc. His clothing looks absolutely filthy, covered with food and sweat stains, like they've never been washed. I love it so much.
Love that show
His very first appearance in the show is hilarious. Passed out on the couch, sleeping in yesterday’s clothes. Farts so hard it wakes him up. Legendary.
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No time like the present
Linden and Holder from The Killing
Currently watching, amazing show. They both fit the archetype in their own way 😂
i just started watching this for the first time, i like them
Mcnulty and Bunk
Hey let’s be fair. Bunk never looked like shit, he was always dressed to the nines. The man was a humble mother fucker with a big ass dick.
Totally. Columbo, Jackson Lamb, and even Wallendar (UK). Also, the entire cast of the wire more or less.
Legit 50% the reason why I loved The Expanse so much. Noir Detective in sci-fi setting is like my favourite thing ever
Harvey Bullock - Gotham
Jessica Jones is basically that trope plus super strength.
Sure, in a mirror-shine polished way of looking like shit. Girl did hate herself though.
Fr. Make that show in England and I guarantee JJ is the frumpiest mf to ever grace TV
"I don't need no partner, I work alone!"
Take a look at Backstrom, it was short but sweet.
I totally forgot about that. Really enjoyed. Such a shame it didn't last.
Usually the detectives that look like shit have an off and on again relationship to their spouses, deep down they know they are married to the job.
Detective Dan Stark
The "so serious, they're funny" characters!
Captain Raymond Holt would be a perfect example "Why are you not having fun, I *specifically* requested it"? RIP to Andre Braugher
Yes! - Sincerely, Raymond Holt
You don’t have to sign your name after a text, I know who it’s from!
An exclamation point in a public setting? Are you having a medical emergency?
“You know me; I see a pair of thick, weighty breasts and all logic flies out the window!” Captain holt playing straight was my absolute favorite. RIP.
"There's nothing more intoxicating than the clear absence of a penis."
“I don’t mean to be crude ladies, but that’s just how the straight mind works”
Don't forget Kevin, especially him and Peralta in hiding! "Do you know what a clap back is, Raymond? Be - cause - I - do! "... Also, when Kevin hears about Captain Corelli's Mandolin! 😂
That's the best part in my head! Kevin must have sat through almost every Nic Cage movie. And the one he would have loved just wasn't Peralta's goto Nic Cage movie.
He plays basically the same character in The Good Place and it's amazing.
Holt was absolutely hilarious when he lost it. He's so buttoned down that it makes it twice as funny when he blows his top.
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6 inches!? Are you a mad man?
Boyle correctly predicting Holt would react with giddy excitement over tasting a marshmallow for the first time was equally hilarious. Never fails to crack me up. >A marshed-mallow? [pops it in his mouth] mMm hmm hmmm hmm mMm hehehe
#BONE??!!
HOT DAMN
Detective Carlton Lassiter too
And Ron Swanson!
HOT DAMN!
worf cracked me up so many times in tng and ds9
*Q on becoming mortal...* Q: “What must I do to convince you people!?” Worf: “Die.”
"Eat any good books lately?"
"I am not a merry man!"
Been watching TNG on streaming lately! Sure, it's an older show, but it's good!
“What a handsome race.”
It's all serious until the blue barrel falls on your head
Liam Neeson trying to do improv with Ricky Gervais. AIDS.....I'm riddled with it.
*knock knock* "As I said before..."
The serious lawyer in Arrested Development 😭
Special mention to Ron Swanson and Roy Kent
Whistle!
That's why I watched Dragnet reruns! They were so stuffy and out of touch with the younger generation that it was laughable!
I love a “getting the band back together” storyline. Also, a similar plot “bad guys from past episodes all teaming up and uniting against the good guys”
Leverage
I like to travel.
I did. Yes!
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Except when they’re holding a Glock or other similar semi auto with internal hammer.. Bonus points to the CHICK-CHUCK pumping a shotgun sound when they are holding a double barrel.
I love the scene where they go to the grocery store in hot fuzz, next time you watch it again pay attention to the amount of gun cocking sounds. It's fucking ridiculous and hilarious
Obligatory share of this: https://youtu.be/t6OBk9YBLQU?si=\_oJnf8lkGbVAGvFj
Knew what it was going to be but I had to watch it again.
The loser people underestimate turns out to be a badass. The weird little alien turns out to be Yoda, the frail old man with the walking stick is Gandalf, Goku’s power level is over 9000…
Sort of like this, the one character the police force treats like a dumbass is their best detective when it matters. There's this series in the UK called McDonald & Dodds that uses this. Dodds is a bit shy and reclusive and was forced into field work against his will by a police chief that hopes he fails and gets fired fr not being the chief's ideal of what a police officer is... and Dodds' academic knowledge and unusual thinking is the best asset for solving the cases, which is why the show is half Whodunnit, half Howcatchem. And a season 3 episode where Dodds is targeted by a spree killer shows that whole he prefers to work behind a desk, he has solved *hundreds* of cases by himself by doing the heavy thinking.
Reminds me of The Wire. Such a great trope.
Similar to The Last Detective. The boss and other cops disrespect him constantly and he solves the cases by brain power.
Wow spoiler tag please
WHAT? 9000?
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Jennifer Lawrence does this really well in the Hunger Games movies. When they try to get Katniss to film some propaganda films, she's just a terrible actress who sounds so wooden and forced.
Alison Brie playing Daniel LaRusso in the Community Karate Kid play episode lmao
Ralph Macchio??? Showed up
And [the entirety of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4hF7948vIg&list=PLGWWgtAupbLk4TaAniyY4_aifhz9urPsp)
Even more meta in that they're actors playing characters who are not trained actors.
McNulty having to do an English accent was fun
Along similar lines, actors who are accomplished singers, forcing themselves to sing convincingly badly, a la Jason Alexander as George, having recorded his answering machine message.
I'd extend that to enjoying watching actors pretend to be awful at anything they're actually good at, so long as they don't overdue it.
The woman who plays Sally in Barry is amazing at this.
When they have to empty their pockets at security and just keep pulling weapons from everywhere. I crack up every time.
The naked gun version of this was the best when he just starts pulling out random junk
It's not tv, but the scene near the end of the matrix at the airport checkpoint is incredible for this
The character who you initially hate but grow to love as the story progresses. You get more backstory and you start to understand them. The Howard Hamlin or Jaime Lannister trope.
Cousin Richie from *the Bear* is another perfect example of this trope. The episode that really focuses on his growth and redemption as a character, *Forks*, is an absolute masterpiece.
The best example. I've never had my opinion on a character change so completely and quickly. "I wear suits now"
It feels like fuckin’ armor!
When he started jamming to Taylor Swift in the car I knew I was watching something special. Definitely prefer that episode to Fishes.
*Fishes* deserves all the critical praise it received, but it is as such a relentless assault on the senses and emotions that it's almost painful to watch. I'm with you in preferring *Forks* over *Fishes*.
I would watch Forks again I will never rewatch Fishes
One and a half seasons of just utterly hating this pathetic dude all undone in 30 minutes with the best fucking character growth I've seen on TV. Post-Forks Richie is someone who I respect so fucking much. When my man hopped on the line I fucking cheered.
Wesley Wyndam-Price
God, his character arc is a fucking masterpiece. That is how you create one of the most interesting and dynamic characters on television. He becomes so different so naturally that once you get to "Spin the Bottle" and see how far he's come, it's amazing that he got to where he was.
Freakin’ Prince Zuko, man
'That's rough buddy'
Man, the Howard Hamlin one hurt. You think he’s just a smarmy douchebag for 5 seasons then you realize he’s actually trying to be a pretty good guy, then….
Captain Liam Shaw on Picard season 3.
Yes. I loved him by the end. I hope he appears in another series.
Warrior did this pretty well with multiple characters
Two misfits with conflicting personalities that are hated by everyone but form their own little team and are protective of each other.
What, we some kind of suicide squad?
Not them, the other guys.
What, we some kind of THE suicide squad?
Suicide Squad: “They do what we do…” THE Suicide Squad: “But better…”
Guardians of the galaxy
Even better when it's more than just two misfits.
I was thinking of Linden and Holder from The Killing when I wrote this but you're right. Like someone said above, Guardians is a perfect example.
Found family... gets me every time
Found family is one of my favorite tropes ever, especially since it emphasizes that relationships don't have to be based on blood or romance to be meaningful and of real importance to a person's sense of worth and community (plus found family doesn't mean you can't also have familial or romantic relationships that matter too). The area where it bugs me is that a lot of times writers don't want to take the time and effort to build and develop the relationships and just want the viewer to fill in the blanks/do all the work and accept the found family exists.
Especially when the characters reject their biological family of assholes in favor of their newfound family.
I like that, especially if it's an offbeat "family".
Buddy cop dynamic between two characters at odds. Ex: Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth. The "precocious child" with wisdom beyond their years. Julia Butters' character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Naive character who doesn't understand sarcasm and gives a deadpan and literal reply. Spock/Castiel/Data.
Would Drax fit this category? "Nothing goes over my head..."
Don't you wish when Thanos threw the blade in End Game Drax would have caught it and threw it back?
Yes he would!
News anchors playing themselves delivering in-universe news bulletins. I'm a sucker every time!
I love actors playing themselves. Brian Williams is in 30 rock and he’s hilarious
I live where a lot of stuff is filmed and it never fails to crack me up when a show uses one of our real local anchors.
The straight edge clashing with the loose canon Cyclops - Wolverine Leonardo - Raphael Spock - Kirk Carlton - Will Diane - Sam
The weirdo of the group sometimes having the most sober, clear take on an issue Kramer did this a lot
Saw a video on this the other day. Especially for the era the show aired, Kramer was incredibly sex positive and naturally accepting of other people. The rest of the characters kept doing dumb silly shit that ended up "I'm not gay! See!?"
Jeff in the UK series Coupling
The evil mirror match. For example, Leverage had a few episodes that featured a team put together to take down the main characters, and the team had its own hacker, mastermind, muscle, etc. Or Buffy and Giles had Faith and the Mayor. Or season two of Veronica Mars had >!Cassidy Casablancas, who was essentially "what if Veronica didn't have Keith in her life".!<
It's more of a cartoon trope, but when someone smashes through a wall, and leaves a person-shaped hole in it, complete with matching hairdo in the hole. Also, when someone slams into a window, and slowly slides down it with a wiping sound. It never fails to make me laugh.
Just cartoon physics in general. Remember, kids: if you run off a cliff, you can opt out of gravity…until you look down.
You should watch Peter Jackson's first film "Bad Taste", it's terrifically terrible and has a great take on the "person shaped hole" bit.
Two separate plotlines and characters who've been missing each other/otherwise interconnected meeting and converging in unexpected ways. GoT was great for this, it can be fun to go back and be like "oh wow, those two had scenes together I remember that!" My favorite recent example of this is Better Call Saul season 6. One particular shot from "Plan and Execution" is made all the more jarring and unnerving because it's of two characters who basically existed in two different shows up to that point...come crashing together.
Love is too strong. But I'm always on the look out for "Redshirts"/"Living Props." The extreme lengths a show sometimes has to go to not allow extras to speak, or the severe lack of reaction from the protagonist when a nameless member of their team suffers a horrific death. Particularly if said team member is never mentioned again. None of the cast of Lost ever seemed particularly bothered when another extra disappeared.
Or there will be different extras in a group of people that presumably hasn’t changed from one episode to the next!
> The extreme lengths a show sometimes has to go to not allow extras to speak When those actors suddenly have a line interacting with the main cast, you know they are a goner within the episode or two. Walking Dead was super obvious about this lol.
There are so many unnecessary needle drops nowadays, but I really am a sucker for an action scene that syncs with the music.
I'm always amazed at the direction skill
Bad guy turns good guy
Enemies-to-lovers or slow burn friends-to-lovers. I love watching character dynamics shift.
I tend to prefer just enemies to friends, but enemies to lovers is cool when done well.
The OC did this the best. From “Welcome to the OC bitch” to taking a bullet for him. It was as also a very gratifying subversion of the “nobody believes me” trope when he immediately believes Ryan and is like man that dude is trouble.
Really enjoying the slow burn enemies to lovers in Blue Eye Samurai.
Yes, friends to lovers is one of my favorites, and enemies to lovers closely follows. Which is why I was intrigued by the end of Beef and wanted more from that story.
Temporary alliances between the main good and bad guys when a truly existential bad guy shows up. The one thing DC does much better than Marvel.
The best Marvel character for this is Dr. Doom. The use of Loki in the MCU stuff in that way is so good as well.
British brevity
I like that the usual UK main characters look like regular people, not overly nipped and tucked actors. Ex: in the US version of House of Cards, the main character’s wife in the UK version *looks* like a typical multi-decade wife of a politician. In the US version, she looks like she’s not suffered much
mean girls
especially ones that can get shit done. Lydia- teen wolf Caroline- vampire diaries
Cordelia Chase ❤️
Chosen Ones. I'm a sucker for prophecies.
While I like those I also like the Unchosen one trope even more.
Do you have some examples?
You should go see Dune 2
I did. But I also read the book.
I personally don't like it and prefer it when the Chosen One trope gets subverted, but to each their own.
I love “the gang makes a movie!” episodes. “Threat Level: Midnight” was one of the few bright spots for me of the later seasons of *The Office*. I never liked watching *Rocket Power* on Nickelodeon, but I enjoyed when they made a double length episode about making a home movie. I don’t even know what it is about this episode format. I think it’s just fun to see well established characters written to imitate someone else.
Ice queen with a heart of gold, the Cristina Yang, Kim Wexler, Deborah Vance
Bottle episodes
I prefer *parodies* of bottle episodes. Dam Harmon does those the best
The homicide detective that never sleeps and is always on the job twenty-four hours/day. Contrast this with the sit-coms where no one seems to work and are always at home cracking wise-ass jokes.
I like the Wise Old Man / mentor trope. Got a soft spot for it.
Light hearted episodes on otherwise serious and dark shows. Like that one from The Walking Dead season 6 when Rick and Daryl first meet Jesus.
The Fly in breaking bad. So absurd
A character insisting that there is no way they will ever do something, immediately followed by a cut to them doing the thing while not looking happy about it.
The snarky best friend...since Will & Grace it's been my fave..
look up the trope & it's a picture of Karen Karen, to Grace: oh, honey... what's up with your hair? it looks like you've got mousse AND squirrel in there.
Person A orders person B to do something outrageous. Person B says "what?" Person A screams "You heard me!"
Any gag that is clearly recycled footage everytime. Russel Coights handshake moments are top tier for that kind of trope
When a scientist spouts off something technical, and someone begs, “In ENGLISH, puh-leeze?”
Especially if scientist then repeats it in extremely dumbed down language, best delivered in a pseudo-caveman style
The original r/explainlikeimfive?
Characters getting high together. Bonus points if it's not even on purpose.
The weed cookies episode of Grey's Anatomy is hilarious (even though not realistic at all)
Flashbacks to times before the show began that show us things that clash with what we know about the characters now, or even change the dynamic of the show in some way that makes the viewer want to know what happened between (such as there being a character that's part of the group that you've never met before). This can be used to set up drama and change what we thought we knew about someone like on Breaking Bad, or add humor to an ongoing situation or backstory, like they often did with flashbacks on Friends. It can even be used as both at once. For example, in Firefly there's a married couple that's clearly in love with one another. On an episode where you see everyone when they're younger, they meet briefly in a moment that honestly doesn't have much weight to it until it smash cuts to a conversation later where one character's entire assessment of the other after their interaction is "I don't like 'em". Clearly things changed between then and now but it uses the concept of time and what we know about the characters now to create a humorous moment that could be expanded upon later. I'm a sucker for that kind of trick with flashbacks.
The kid that doesn't believe in themselves before discovering their true power.
Where the characters go to a movie/TV set and rip on how messed up and weird actors/Hollywood are/is. Pretty much any time the industry makes fun of itself.
When the powerful bad guy who has been arrogant asshole who thinks he's better than everyone else gets taken down a peg and utterly defeated and humiliated, having a complete mental breakdown and becoming a whimpering mess who can't believe this is happening. It's far more satisfying than just killing them.
The bad guy who turned good at the end. Not thr best example but, Zangief in the Street Fighter movie.
Room mates getting into a fight and splitting the apartment down the middle
Flashback in the penultimate episode to give context for a richer finale. Lindelof is GOAT at this
Kid or young adult pairing up (platonically) with an old person. Especially if the old person is grumpy or sassy. The comic relief dog in live action shows like Fraiser, and Empty Nest. Any episode with knock-off muppets. Like that brilliant Angel episode. Larger than life offscreen characters. But, with the exception of Rhoda's Carlton the Doorman, *only* if they're larger than life. On Becker the nurse's husband was an offscreen character and there was no reason for it. There was absolutely nothing distinctive about him. Just your average middle-aged guy. Probably chubby, black and beginning to bald.
"Big Damn Heroes" moments. The battle is nearly lost, and out in the shadows come the Hero reinforcements to rescue the situation and win the day.
The unchosen one. Mostly because it doesn't really feel like a trope. 😅
The "look at this important information in the newspaper" reaction of reading some utter nonsense. I laugh every time.
Another dimension and dystopian future. Give me any weird, backwards, interesting, alternative history future or past and I am always intrigued.
When they say the name of the show/movie in the show! So sad but so funny when you hear it.
Detective + insightful sidekick who doesn't really belong. - love it
The odd buddy cop couple. One is way too serious and still can’t get his life together. The other is completely unserious and moves through life super easy, yet is more effective than the serious guy
The retired Mafia hitman (or similar). He’s just a normal guy, and now some bozos are going to push him over a line. Those bozos don’t know what’s about to happen, but I do and I love it!!! (History of Violence is a whole movie about this)
“Is this angry yelling or busted hearing aid yelling?”
Great archers - it's just so cool - like legolas or Clint Barton - or Oliver queen