Overused Plots in Movies and TV

[Drtooth]

One plot I get tired of seeing is "I like this person and I think this person likes me, but I guess we'll just be friends because no one wants to make a move". And wouldn't you know it, something goes wrong for one of the characters, like an accident or deciding to move, and other other person finally admits his/her feelings for that person and then they decide to start a relationship after months and months of flirting.

I think that transcends plot and becomes a general cliche all together. While it does have to do a lot with plot lines, it's mainly some sort of character trait.

Anyway:

Plot/storytelling device i am so sick of: Back from the dead. A staple of soaps that's worked its way into primetime dramas. Fans of television shows have gotten so used to it that when a character dies, the fans always note if the death took place onscreen or not or if anyone ever saw a body.

Kinnikuman, as everyone knows by now my favorite anime, does that ALL the time, and mostly for no apparent reason. One character who had a giant teacup for a head has his head ripped clean off and his body pierced... and he somehow became one of the trainers in the 2001 series. If it were a major important character, I'd see it... but this guy was minor as they come. Maybe they just forgot he was dead.

 

[minor muppetz]

For some reason I keep thinking that somebody mentioned an overused plot involving somebody deciding they would rather be more like one of the other characters... Can't really find it (though I saw a few that I could have mistook the comments for), but it is a bit awkward when first season episodes involve one character acting like another character. Bobby decided to act like Louie in the first season Taxi episode "High School Reunion", and Red acted like Mokey in the first season Fraggle Rock episode "I Want to Be You"... It seems odd when they decide to do these kinds of plots in the first season, as the characters are fairly new and the audience is just meeting them... I'm impressed that the "characters acting like other characters" works during first season episodes... The writers/producers better be confident enough that the actors know what characteristics to portray in such a short time, and they'd better be confident that the audience is familiar enough with them by that time.

 

[RedPiggy]

Well, as I recall in the documentary/interview stuff on the FR DVD's, Karen Prell had a hard time figuring Red out UNTIL Red tried to be like Mokey, then it all sorta gelled. So, they can be useful to iron out the differences.

 

[Drtooth]

D'oh!

I can't believe ANYONE (not even myself) has brought up the lame "Pregnant woman in an elevator" sitcom cliche before now. Talk about tiresome and pointless. Even Recess made fun of that old cliche (mentioning it was an episode of Beany McChimp). Man, I HATE that one.

 

[D'Snowth]

I can't believe ANYONE (not even myself) has brought up the lame "Pregnant woman in an elevator" sitcom cliche before now. Talk about tiresome and pointless. Even Recess made fun of that old cliche (mentioning it was an episode of Beany McChimp). Man, I HATE that one.

Um... what? Is that from modern sitcoms or something? Because I don't recall no "lame pregnant woman in an elevator sitcom cliche" before...

 

[Gelfling Girl]

Um... what? Is that from modern sitcoms or something? Because I don't recall no "lame pregnant woman in an elevator sitcom cliche" before...

The only one I can recall is the Christmas episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

 

[D'Snowth]

Oh. I wouldn't know, I don't watch any of those Disney kidcoms, lol.

 

[Gelfling Girl]

Oh. I wouldn't know, I don't watch any of those Disney kidcoms, lol.

Yeah, I sometimes watch it, but mostly it's just AFV, game shows, and taped episodes of Sesame Street.

 

[Super Scooter]

Um... what? Is that from modern sitcoms or something? Because I don't recall no "lame pregnant woman in an elevator sitcom cliche" before...

It doesn't typically happen to a main character. But, often a main character is stuck in an elevator with a pregnant woman, and sometimes assists with the birth (or just faints).

The only time I can recall a main pregnant character being stuck in an elevator was in the Dick Van Dyke Show, but she didn't give birth there... Don Rickles held them up instead.

 

[D'Snowth]

Ohhh!

Well then, in that case, then yeah, even M*A*S*H did that once where Hawkeye helped a Korean woman deliver on a bus back to camp, while Radar kept freaking out... but that was genuinely funny though, lol.

HAWKEYE: Where were you when they taught this in school? !
RADAR: I must've been out that year! Should I get some hot water or somethin'?
HAWKEYE: There's no time for that!
RADAR: I'd be very happy to get off this bus and go look for some... maybe there's uh... a hot river near here?