1980s sitcom tropes

The smart, sarcastic brother and the idiot sister.

The annoying kid next door who everyone hates, but they are over everyday.

The sibling that is born around the 5th season when ratings are waning, who also ages 5 years by the 6th season.

The career-woman mom who works off her guilt with aerobics.

The loud piano playing on the jaunty theme song.

The kids' get rich quick scheme that goes horribly awry.

Actual family gatherings and family game night.

For women characters: tennis shoes worn with business suit or skirt and blouse/sweater.

The accidental fire at the place of business that forces a whole storyline of rebuilding said business (Arnold’s in Happy Days, Edna’s Edibles in Facts of Life...)

Catchphrases!

Kids getting diddled. First Dudley from a very special episode of Diff'rent Strokes and that kid from Mr. Belvedere.

Very special episodes,

Tootie's meltdowns. Jermaine Jackson, Natalie scoring a boyfriend and ignoring her, Jo and Blair leaving for college, Natalie's father dying, the mother of the latchkey kid living next door to Edna's Edibles who refused to come out during a gas leak. She needed happy pills, that's for sure

You forgot me, OP.

Even middle class families had live in maids/butlers who everyone went to for advice. Was this a real thing in the 80s?

Yes, that was all part of life's rich pattern at that time, R15.

Old ladies who are funny, especially saying sexually inappropriate things.

The "kid from the streets" who looks like he or she just got done with their photoshoot for Vogue.

It's rough at first but all of the tension culminates into the foster/adoptive parents have a heart-to-heart with the kid in the kitchen and then everything is alright and the dead parents are never spoken of again.

Mallory catches Martha Plimpton shoplifting.

The nighttime soap opera.

R15 Yes! Every house in the 1980s came with a complimentary household staff member who was quite a character who didn't mind giving up their life goals in order to attend to the personal problems of the family who overworked them and gave them the crappiest room in the house to call their own. Where the heck were you raised?

Even poor kids had a huge wardrobe of designer clothes and expensive haircuts.

The "special guest star" kid who had a popular-social-issue-of-the-moment problem, all the other characters gather 'round them and help them overcome the problem and vow to be their friend and then "special guest star" kid is never seen again.

The 1980s version of Mayberry set in Alaska where an annoying doctor chases after a hugely annoying female.

Someone offers the religious zealot from Growing Pains cocaine at a party and Alan Thicke chain locks his front door for the first time before going to bed.

None of the hilariously befuddled mothers had children in real life and that's why they always looked like they spent 10 hours a day at an aerobics studio and then they a kid in real life and suddenly they don't look so good anymore.

Rhoda finds condoms in Justine Bateman's brother's personal belongings and a...serious talk...ensues. Rhoda was so cool about it.

Mo Rocca just had a great podcast on sitcom characters who have died or just ceased to exist.

Punky's mom didn't die; she abandoned her while shopping for groceries. She was friends with Cherie before Henry discovered her living in a vacant apartment in the building he managed.

There was a one girl who had to wait to find out if either Paul Reiser and the guy from BJ and The Bear was her biological father. Reiser and BJ were such different people and hilarity soon ensued on this show that had such a great plot.

No, but there's one called My Two Dads

My Two Daddy Bears! Now that would've been a great 1980s sitcom.

It is discovered that one of the cast members has a half-decent singing voice.

Is this what you mean R5?

Completely useless characters like Jennifer on Family Ties.

So Christopher Knight did grow as an actor after The Brady Bunch ended. Thank you R35.

[quote] Even middle class families had live in maids/butlers who everyone went to for advice. Was this a real thing in the 80s?

In the case of Mr. Belvedere and Nell from [italic]Gimme A Break![/italic], they were paid in food.

[quote] So Christopher Knight did grow as an actor after The Brady Bunch ended. Thank you [R35].

Unfortunately, he didn't turn 18 until a year after it went off the air.

Joe's World must've came along after The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

A main character might have a terminal illness but it turns out they don't.

A teenage character has to deal with the death of friend who was doing something very wrong like drinking and driving so there is a dramatic moment along with a message.

very special episodes involving a disabled person

My thesis that I'm basing my paper on is that the premise for Roseanne was stolen from Joe's World. The problem is I've never actually seen an episode of Joe's World--they're not available online. So my thesis is based only on viewing the opening credits and the show's Wikipedia page.

I'm not just disabled, I'm also a lesbian.

Cousin Geri? What I am about to say will sound harsh but I have been holding this in for years. You were supposed to be a comedian? You are not funny. You got sympathy laughs because you have special needs.

Yes, yes, disabled, differently abled people. Sitcom gold whenever the writers ran out of ideas.

Adding a child character to a show when the show is on its last legs.

That's still more than any post-[italic]Taxi[/italic] Tony Danza series, R45.

You've been holding that in R45? Glad we were able to help you unclench.

R48 No. Tony was funnier.

R49 I feel so much better.

A male teen who is a heartthrob to the preteen set but who was secretly gay the whole time.

No, R50, he wasn't. He's a moron and a bad actor.

yes, r35. That's some mighty clanging piano there.

R52 You would seriously rather watch 30 minutes of Cousin Geri than Tony Danza??

[quote] A male teen who is a heartthrob to the preteen set but who was secretly gay the whole time. —G. Scarpelli

Would you settle for a bisexual, especially since they fired the disabled lesbian for yours truly?

R55 Yeah, I guess. Which lesbian got fired? Tell the whole story!

[quote][R52] You would seriously rather watch 30 minutes of Cousin Geri than Tony Danza??

You would sell out one of our own for someone who can only answer to a name he can barely read or write?

R57 You make a very good point. Forced laughter be damned, I'm going with Cousin Geri.

She was a barrel of laughs compared to George Clooney. What did Embassy ever see in him other than him being married to Martin Balsam's daughter around the time he was on [italic]Archie Bunker's Place[/italic]?

I never understand why Geri didn't get her own spinoff show from TFOL?

R60 Because she wasn't funny.

The same reason Joan Collins slept with Cloris Leachman's husband.

Larry Wilmore was also on The Facts of Life. He played a police officer who liked to visit Charlotte Rae's store or bakery or whatever it was.

If Richard Dean Anderson couldn't sell a backdoor pilot off that show, then it just wasn't happening.

Absurdly sexist male gets told off by strong modern feminist woman. Yawn.

Pervy male harasses young female, gets what's coming.

At some point the topic of pedophilia comes up.

Derek makes Ricky wear a dress to a party on [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic], yet is still a better host than Ann Romano is in jeans.

The black family where each kid has a different skin tone.

At some point a drug dealer enters the picture. Hear-to-heart talk with parent or parents ensues.

R68 Yeah! all the Huxtable children look like they had five different fathers.

One of the kids goes to a party where the other kids are.........DRINKING BEER! A valuable life lesson ensues after the parents have a heart-to-heart with the kid. He/she will never, ever hang out with those beer-drinking kids again!

[quote]Where the hell did they come up w/the name Huxtable?

It was originally supposed to be "Buttrapist."

R71 And the parent TALKS to the child, doesn't punish them, they have a talk and end up hugging and saying "I love you" to each other.

R72 Wait. I thought the original name was Dr. Drugandrub.

"My Two Dads" aka "Your Dead Mother Was A Whore"

A drunk whore.

the teen members of the cast in second or third season where the drugs/anorexia kick in

The 20-something male mentor to a family of teenage girls and adolescent boys whom the show depicts as wise and all knowing, but in reality is actually a douchey creep, a rapist, and a homophobe, while his cuter co-star is forced to play the buffoon and drink his sorrows away as the non-disclosure agreements keep him from spilling the beans about the horrific horrors committed on that set, worse than any Universal monster movie.

[quote] Yeah! all the Huxtable children look like they had five different fathers.

Actually, skin color difference isn't that unusual. We've had a few threads on this here and it's usually because someone at some point in the history of the family was white. You may not see it in the parents or even grandparents but it just randomly shows up as a trait in one of the kids.

As for tropes:

A teenage character randomly gets a set group of friends that they've been friends with the entire time but they've never mentioned before they appeared.

Characters walk into the home of the family but they don't actually seem to have spent time unlocking it. (They poke fun of this with a bit on "Fuller House" where a character will ring the door bell and they all scream, "It's always open!" because in the past it usually was.)

The political episode where a character is introduced in order to prove a point that reflects progressive thinking on a then current issue in society and of course they're never heard from again. (A gay character / A homeless character / a physically handicapped character)

The just passing through, but if things work they stay a while concept.

At least one of the cast members was clearly high on cocaine during taping.

The updated, more 80's sounding theme song to imply the shows still got strength. (Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Gimme A Break! Silver Spoons)

The altar of Cosby on which they and that Brewster girl were all sacrificed when the ratings proved otherwise, R82.

We lost too many good shows because the execs only believed in things like ratings. They never gave them a chance.

Ratings, man. Damn capitalism, man.

That's where I come in.

Fonzie has a major crisis, one time he cried.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech! Goddammit you worthless motherfucker, you suck shit! Kiss my asshole, fuckface!

R88 I don't remember that episode.

White muggers, robbers and gangs.

That wasn't an episode, R89, that was a porn video made years later.

The next door neighbors visit every day and just come in without knocking. Of course, the door is never locked.

The teenage daughter is either a slutty ditz or a goody two-shoes brainiac.

[quote] The next door neighbors visit every day and just come in without knocking. Of course, the door is never locked.

With all due respect, R92, our neighbors run an inn. They wouldn't get many customers if they locked their doors.

I feel so sorry for Brian Dennehy in that sitcom.

I hope he's happier it died.

The loving, hard-working father who is most likely a closet queen both on and off the show.

The loving, hard-working father who is most likely a closet queen both on and off the show.

The backdoor pilot for a shitshow.

The show grinds to a standstill for five minutes while the main character (Linda Lavin, Nell Carter, Dixie Carter) breaks into a song that bores the hell out of you. Years later, you find out that the actor demanded the songs be written into the script out of vanity.

A supporting character who appears to be mentally challenged, but the other characters don't realize it and are pretty mean to the character anyway. (e.g. Vera, Skippy, Boner)

The child character's bedroom appears to be bigger than your living room. (I guess a large "room" is necessary to hold all the camera equipment, but still, at least try to appear realistic.)

Two sets of stair one is usually found in the living room and the other is in the kitchen.

stairs*

The parents never curse or hit their kids (Dammit Julie!). They don't even raise their voices. When they ground their kid, the kid agrees that he or she deserves to be grounded.

Parents always have time for those "meaningful" conversations. Never too stressed out or too busy or too tired.

R104, that's right. Both parents work, but the family dinner is always on time, the house is spotlessly clean, and there's plenty of time for getting the kids to their extra curricular activities.

R105 And don't forget the magic fairies who came in at night to wash, press, fold and put the kids designer clothes away.

Funky music at the opening credits?

Joe's World was the real Roseanne. Maggie Briggs was the real Murphy Brown.

These shows were created by someone on the inside and then cancelled so another network could steal the concept and take the credit.

The child actors hired because of their cuteness that within two seasons and an aggressive onset of puberty turns them into real life gremlins and thus forces the producers to not only pay them for two lines of dialogue per episode for the remainder of the series but also necessitates hiring another group of adorable children. Tina Yothers and Jeremy Miller, I'm looking at you

The bad girl guest star of one of the series' kids who then gets blamed for their shoplifting. See Martha Byrne on 'Kate and Allie'

Adopting kids when you have too many to begin with.

Poor Lucy

R111 - If someone dares to raise this question we get, 'We'll manage somehow. We always have..'

The gay-from-space actor playing a heterosexual family man/heartthrob.

Leo Dicaprio was brought onto Growing Pains because Jeremy Miller turned into a bust when he hit his teen years. The producers needed a new teen heartthrob (Cameron was aging out) and Miller became startlingly fugly.

And also because Jerk Cameron had almost fat-shamed Tracey Gold to death.

The gay as a goose sidekick who's supposed to be a fire-breathing heterosexual.

[quote]—Monroe, Niles, who else?

Surely not ME.

Pastel everything.

Of course not, R118, they meant me.

The door to the kitchen that has no handle and simply requires pushing.

(Or is this a regional, American, or time-specific thing?)

The socially awkward next-door neighbor who covers up his latent homosexuality by pretending to have a crush on the most mannish female in his neighborhood in over to cover up for the fact that it's her older brother he really wants.

R121 before “open concept,” people didn’t have time to deal with doorknobs while pushing open doors laden with plates. The swinging door was copied from restaurants

Inga Swenson is still alive!

R123

I didn't know. We never see them in the part of the world I live in. We're either open-plan or struggle with knobs.

The popular pretty boy with a succession of ex-girlfriends, some of whom who will go on to fame and fortune on other shows.

R109 Even Rudy Huxtable started looking a little rough once she hit a certain age.

The long, slow pullout of an act 1 opening shot of whatever is for dinner.

R127, hence my mention of her moustache in my signature...

R129 You did mention. Sorry. (The girl couldn't afford a little wax or some Nair???)

If it was any bigger, she'd be my illegitimate daughter.

The episode where the child befriends an adult who can't read, and then the parent gets the illiterate adult into a G.E.D. class, and the adult and child feel fake humble/superior.

The social issue episode that half "get off our backs" and half "give us an Emmy".

That = that's

R78 I need a little more help/clues -- which show do you mean?

The kid who is wiser than all of the adults in the show put together and then you grow into adulthood and realize what a nightmare it would be to actually have to live with such a smug, self-satisfied, self-righteous little kid.

Charles In Charge r135.

The show that was supposed to be a starring vehicle for a well-known star of a previous series, but the hot hunk son suddenly becomes a teen idol and the show suddenly revolves around him, leaving the star fuming.

R138: Step by Step? Could also be Family Ties, Growing Pains, Silver Spoons, You Again (anyone remember that one?)

And then you had the sassy supporting character usurping the star's popularity. Jackee and Marla Gibbs on 227 immediately come to mind.

The prom episode where the father makes awkward conversation with his daughter's date.

The tween/adolescent lies about where they are going so they accompany their friends to a party/concert and something bad happens and they have to call the parent for help.

[quote][R78] I need a little more help/clues -- which show do you mean?

I'm sorry. I thought it was obvious based on recent news.

The episode where a bald middle-aged guy gets a toupee, but in the end learns to love himself just the way he is.

Having to scramble home to erase an answering machine tape before its recipient hears something awful said in the heat of the moment.

The tomboy--or a nerdy girl--takes off her glasses, gets a nice haircut, puts on some make-up and a stylish outfit, and suddenly everyone recognizes as the beautiful swan she's always been.

The "idiot" friend who is actually a secret genius.

The burglary episode reminding America to lock their doors.

A Madonna reference. See: Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Webster, Small Wonder, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss?, Murphy Brown, Roseanne, Designing Women, 227, The Golden Girls etc

R65 The rant from the strong modern feminist woman calling the absurdly sexist guy a "male chauvinist pig," specifically.

The neighbor from next door who brings home-cooked food as an excuse for butting in.

The episode where they painstakingly try to keep the surprise birthday party a secret.

Front and back doors unlocked from the outside.

The youngest child is the ugliest one in the whole family.

Everyone overreacts to everything.

The acting is bad.

No one decade has a monopoly on bad acting, R156.

The girl turns out to be a robot.

There's an alien from outer space. (They use phrases like "outer space.")

It's always a White Christmas during the Christmas show. Even in Miami.

The oldest child, after graduating high school, decides to attend a local university and live at home...even though money is not an issue.

The family pet dies and the parents,who can't break the bad news, replace the pet with a lookalike instead. The kid always figures it out.

The gay episode where a principal character is revealed to be homophobic after a one-shot gay character appears, but then learns his or her lesson by the end of act II. Whether the gay character makes it to the end of the episode alive is to be judged on a case-by-case basis.

The one where the father comes out as trans and then...oh wait.

One of the kids has a tough time with their first job at the mall.

Bikini bottoms covered the navel.

The wacky mother burns the dinner because she’s a heroin addict.

R167 no that came circa 2005 maybe.

Didn't all '70s and '80s sitcoms have an episode where the company/father's workplace puts on a Christmas variety show where employees and their families perform? -- a vehicle for the cast members to show off their singing and dancing "talents."

A lot of shows seemed to have an episode where there was a plane trip and the pilot becomes ill, resulting in the show's star landing the plane.

And the obligatory "flashback" episode, where the cast faces some hardship that causes them to reminisce -- cue the old clips.

The later-season vacation episode where the family takes a trip to a glamorous locale--like Hawaii or Paris--and wacky adventures ensue.

If it was an ABC sitcom, they were also sent to Disneyland!

The episode with the pop star cameo, who inevitably invites everyone into the recording studio.

The Facts of Life Down Under!

Helping a homeless kid on Thanks Giving or Christmas.

The dream sequence

The daughter's boyfriend seems to be nice at first, but he turns out to be a dirtbag who's using her. When her family tries to tell her the truth, she turns on her family. Eventually, she realizes the truth about the jerk. On the verge of tears, she tells him off and kicks him out of the house. The audience applauds.

The lead male and fame characters but heads a lot, but they're both single and good looking. The viewer is constantly wondering, "Will they, or won't they?". Finally the characters hook up, and it ruins the show.

One of the best parodies of 80s sitcoms was the short-lived "That's My Bush" by the South Park creators. It came out right before 9/11. It was really funny and covered virtually every trope there is.

The episode where the oldest son's goofy best friend becomes a pass around bottom for the high school football team.

"Skippy, you've got cum in your hair again."

The sister's friend wants to hang out/study at her house just so she can get close to the cute older brother.

The lumpy living room couch unfit for guests to sleep on.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner scenes with the food being pushed around the plate the whole time and never actually eaten.

The hot, thin wife loves having sex with her older, fat husband.

R184, yes, that describes the 80s well.

The political jabs at elected officials who are now dead.

The supposedly-funny emotionally abusive mother who lives with her adult child (Who's the Boss, Golden Girls, Mama's Family)

R187: Was making Katherine Helmond play a bitch Embassy's way of getting back at [italic]Soap[/italic] for copying [italic]Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman[/italic]?

The Christmas episode where the family helps out the homeless janitor who secretly lives in a storage closet at the church.

The Halloween episode where the family goes to the Halloween parade and Dad accidentally sucks off a stranger in a Spider-Man costume in the alley behind the soda shop.

Remodeling the home/store from the early 80s drab, fake wood paneling to bright pastels.

R191 The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes say hi!

The Mona character (Who's the Boss) was an abusive cunt and it was played for laughs. I always hated that character and the way we were supposed to believe that she was some kind of irresistible sexpot. There was one episode where she was fucking a college guy who brought his fraternity brothers to serenade her. As fucking if.

Mona treated Angela like crap even though Angela let Mona live over her garage rent-free. And for no apparent reason.

A character lives above (or in) the garage, and their abode is somehow huge. (How big were those garages back then?)

R195 Fonzie started it with the Cunningham's garage on Happy Days in the late 70s INTO the 80s so it kinda counts.

The house is the size of an airplane hangar.

Liver spots and wrinkled vag must have been all the rage back then if Mona was considered sexy.

Who would you pick: Mona or Blanche?

How many garages have two stories? And how many garage floorplans include enough room for a kitchen area, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room? How many garages have plumbing to accommodate running water? Maybe these garages had no kitchens or running water. That way Mike Seaver and Mona had to enter the main house to eat or use the restroom. That would definitely force them to engage with the other characters more.

If you have a family member living above the garage, you need to be careful not to heat up your car by letting it idle in the garage with the doors closed.

The misunderstanding that results from overhearing a snippet of conversation. ("She's pregnant?!" "He's a murderer?!")

The listener doesn't discuss what they heard with the person who said it. They instead report the gossip to other characters, which allows the misunderstanding to escalate until the final minute of the show, when everyone finally learns what has happened.

The numerous continuity errors regarding family members and the past histories of the main characters. I'm looking at you, Golden Girls!

The episode where they go to the beach, but it's obvious they're just in a TV studio.

[quote]Who would you pick: Mona or Blanche?

I'd rather have a three-way with Clayton and Doug.

[quote]The episode where they go to the beach, but it's obvious they're just in a TV studio.

No one was paying attention to the sets.

The episode where the FLOTUS does a cameo.

[quote] The episode where the FLOTUS does a cameo.

The opioid crisis 30 years later it not only failed to prevent, but brought down one of the cast members of the show she was on.

The one where the kid gets glasses.

Mildly anti-capitalist anti-imperialist sentiments undercut by ads for the Army, the Navy, Texaco, Exxon, and Oreo Cookies.

None of the kids look like they could even be remotely related to the parents or each other.

The con artist episode - usually a car accident, sometimes a family member.

The science fair project episode.

Dudley gets diddled

Adjusting to attending night school.

The feeling like you already saw this exact same business with someone else.

The teen character's boyfriend/girlfriend wants to "go all the way". The teen decides to say no. When the teen reveal this decision, it turns out their boyfriend/girlfriend is relieved, and didn't really want to "go all the way" anyway. The request was due to peer pressure. The couple feels good about their decision to wait.

R217 and then Joanna Kerns suggest they just do anal to be safe...

The IRS agent who comes to a low-income person's home to do an audit on their taxes.

I'm the bar where nobody is smoking cigarettes. Yes, that's right. A bar in the 1980s where nobody is smoking cigarettes.

LOL R220.

I'm Yvonne and this is it!

The Emmy-winning, decade-running exempt-from-criticism hit that was plagiarized from a local show:

The Dallas/Soap Opera parody episode that it seemed like every 80's sitcom did at least once.

Re the post at R222

Why is that bitch's face all over this site?

Someone's trying to make Yvonne, a guest star in a shitty Golden Girls episode, happen, R225. No one is supporting it.

The one where the woman dyes her hair for a big date, but it turns out BLUE!

I already happened, R226. Deal with it. Maybe you wouldn't be so cranky if you had new workout gear.

Normal/average looking kids. Today they all look like Instagram hos.

Whoever's pushing Yvonne is the saddest queen in all of humanity.