Let's be a cliche sitcom?

I’m the kid with the catchphrase who unexpectedly becomes the breakaway star, infuriating the veteran actors who were the leads.

I'm the snarky mother-in-law

I’m the always present laugh track.

I'm the all-wise 5 year old.

I'm the unlocked front door for the unexpected neighbor drop ins.

I'm the respected but financially unstable Broadway star slumming in a sitcom.

OP, why is that a question?

R7 you like thread, No?

I'm the wife's single sister who spends an inordinate amount of time at her married sister's house.

You mean "clichéd," OP.

I’m the dog that makes cute faces and basically breaks the fourth wall.

Awwwww!

In the theme song that sets up the Situation and the clips of the actors providing Comedy.

I'm the audience "ooohhhhs" and "aaaahhhhs" that accompanied on-set kissing beginning sometime in the 1980s.

I'm the charming, good child actor who grows up and changes their acting style to be more mannered and 'professional' - and becomes just awful to watch.

Op failed the test with his title.

Over. Out.

I'm the token gay.

I’m the rap sheet and then suicide of the child star who couldn’t adjust to being no longer cute or marketable as an adult.

I’m the observation “you sound fun, r15 !!!” followed by torrents of canned laughter.

I'm the disabled character who appears in the very special episode to teach the main characters a lesson.

I'm the fat sassy female neighbor or coworker who takes no shit from the male lead. I say mmm hmmm a lot and the studio audience cheers every time.

I'm the racial monotony.

I'm the hot young wife of the funny fat guy who the show is centered on. He's basically a bumbling idiot, while I roll my eyes and quietly straightens out his messes.

I’m r21, posting from the ‘80s

If you can’t write a thread title, then quit right now.

What is a tracher?

I'm the 'Hey do you remember when...?' clips-episode(s) when the writers are on strike or some other calamity has hit production.

I'm they very special episode were life shattering problems like abuse, drug addiction, illnesses and bigotry are all magically resolved in 22 minutes time.

I'm the living room sofa.

I'm the set design that incorporates at least 20 built in sources of light: wall sconces, table lamps, down lights on every every shelf of every shelving unit, uplights, hanging lights

I'm the Latin male lead who's fucking the script girl. And I invented the three camera process.

I’m one of the dozens of books on the bookshelves in the back of the set that nobody reads

I'm the door to the house/apartment - typically always on the left.

If it's on the right, it's because there's a swing door to the kitchen on the left that's used by characters to come in and out of. I've never seen a swing door to a kitchen.

I'm the male lead's ne'er do well best friend or brother...I'm either a major loser with women or I'm a player.

I'm the stairway beside the entrance.

Immediately beside the entrance.

R25 you get +1 for spotting an obvious error. Now do the same for Op. I will award more points for your effort.

I'm the pregnancy what ruins the show.

I'm the single room home set with kitchen and dining room all in one area where everybody hangs out all the time. I'm the people pretending to cook on a cold stove with no burners turned on and obviously cold food.

I'm the smart-ass little kid delivering wisecracks written by adults that no child that age would use.

R38 was absent they day they taught the difference between theatrical and reality, the difference between performative and and actual.

I'm the poker game scene involving the dad and his friends.

I'm the father who is a dolt and an imbecile with his all-knowing wife and genius children.

I play the role of the hot but dumb slutty teenage daughter. The producers make me report to their office every morning to make sure I haven't gained any weight that would look bad in my skimpy wardrobe. They are considerate men, they even let first take off all my clothes so that won't add to the number on the scales.

I'm the baby or child added to the show in the fifth season in a desperate attempt to avoid cancellation.

I'm the wardrobe of the cast. Even though they're just hanging around the house, they're all dressed to the nines. The only time anyone in the cast wears pajamas is when they're sick.

I'm the daughter's interchangeable boyfriends that always do something wrong to fuck up the relationship.

I'm the "let's put on a show!" episode which gives the regulars the chance to trot out some really bad song and dance.

I'm the Middle American teenagers who all talk like 30 year-old Jewish guys from LA.

We're the three kids who are supposed to be biological siblings yet we don't have the slightest bit of resemblance to one another.

We're the three kids again, cranking out one liners, zingers and put-downs better than Henny Youngman and Rodney Dangerfield in their prime.

Where did three WASPY preteen kids get their borscht belt sense of humor?

I'm the cute sitcom kid who grew up to be a hateful, far right fundie

[quote] Where did three WASPY preteen kids get their borscht belt sense of humor?

Better yet where did a refugee Asian kid get her borscht belt sense of humor?

[quote] I'm the fat sassy female neighbor or coworker who takes no shit from the male lead. I say mmm hmmm a lot and the studio audience cheers every time.

Aren't you also black?

I'm the "serious" episode about child sexual abuse. The laugh track in the background is kind of awkward.

I’m the visible boom mic shadows.

R46, whenever the "let's put on a show" happens, the ratings are tanking. The writers cannot come up with new ideas. "Laverne & Shirley" was guilty of this, in later episodes. I stopped watching it.

I'm a public school classroom with 12 students.

Fuck you R50.

I'm the annoying loudmouth grandfather.

I'm the sassy grandma

I'm the loving sitcom dad whose show is hard to watch ever since he was revealed to be a serial sexual predator

I’m the new “cute” kid brought in when the youngest of the show’s kids starts going through puberty and is no longer cute.

The main star will either turn to be a conspiracy theorist, a right wing nut, or a sexual predator.

I’m the episode about the son’s friend. His penis is too big. Yes, this actually happened in the real world.

I'm the kid actor who was cast on the show when I was a toddler. Once I got older, it became clear that I couldn't act!

I'm Special Guest Star JULIA DUFFY as Principal Hodges!

I'm the bottle episode.

I'm the veteran comedy actor/actress as the grandparents (Rue McClanahan, Jerry Stiller, etc.)

I'm the very special episode about drugs. I look campy and outdated in retrospect!

I'm the parent that shows up unexpectedly after a few years of not calling. I'm going to make some broken promises and then get a talking to from one of the main characters

Empty promises*

I’m an improbable misunderstanding that serves as a plot

I’m the bizarre supernatural element added to a sitcom starting in the 50s, sin a desperate attempt to find something new to do with a genre that’s been done to death.

I may be:

A Martian

A mother who is a car

A talking horse

A family of horror movie characters

A small, sassy alien

A human sized, sassy alien

I’m the “stylish” clothes horse friend who is actually a horse in real life……despite her denials to the contrary.

I’m the cast member who either dies or gets MeToo’d mid-run. Expect me to be replaced by either David Spade or Ashton Kutcher.

I’m the episode where the wife is on a committee to save the park.

I’m the lead’s parents, being played by stars from older, much better, sitcoms.

I'm the effeminate queen who spews funny one-liners and reinforces the belief that all gays are amusing female-acting clowns.

I’m the whoops and cheers whenever the celebrity guest first appears.

I'm the carafe of coffee/teapot/pitcher of lemonade whose spout is stuck as far into the cup as possible when poured to disguise the fact that it's empty.

I'm the women's auxiliary luncheon hosted by the female lead.

I'm the smart kid and I wear glasses so you can remember that I am the smart kid.

I'm the new friends of one of the kids and I am hiding a secret. Either my family is dirt poor and I am hungry, or my mom is an alcoholic or I am basically raising myself because my mom died and my dad is so broken up about it he can't even look at me. And we never get a Christmas tree.

I am the kid's best friend. We've know each other since pre-school. Despite this I am never mentioned until the middle of season three. I am in one episode then I am never seen or mentioned again. During the series six seasons there are four of us.

I’m the identical twin/cousin who appears via split screen and trick photography.

R63. The show "Still Standing" had a show with this as a plot. Except it was their son.

I'm the actor playing the eldest son on the show, who becomes a teen heartthrob. The show is suddenly re-focused around me, making me the de facto star. This really pisses off the actors playing my parents, because this show was supposed to be a star vehicle for them.

^^^ I see that Esther Rolle, John Amos, Meredith Baxter, and Michael Goss have entered the chat.

^^Don't forget us!

I’m the bitter/starchy landlady/neighbor played by a real life lesbian.

(I’m telling you to be on TIME to the set, so I don’t have to tell you THEN.)

I'm the relative who visits so the sitcom family can cure my Very Special Problem (addiction, kleptomania, an abusive spouse) in 20 minutes and thirty seconds. I will never be heard from again.

^^Tom Hanks as the drunk uncle on Family Ties immediately comes to mind. He drank vanilla extract in the Keatons' kitchen.

I’m Earl Boen. I’ll make a guest appearance as a professor, doctor, priest. Anything that will suit my recognizable voice.

I'm Michael J fox running to answer the phone before it starts ringing

I'm the sidekick who ends up taking over the whole show

I'm the cat allergy or the gambling addiction that is one episode and is never talked about again

I'm the family pet who breaks the fourth wall staring into the camera as a producer, a producer's drinking buddy, or a producer's whore makes sardonic or sweet voice over comments about the family

We’re the ditzy white token couple on the show with all blacks. Under no circumstances shall we show any intelligence and we must always be the butt of jokes.

What show is that R97?

The one with Cedric the Entertainer on cbs.

I'm the dream sequence. Alternately, I'm the fantasy sequence: played with the same over-the-top energy as the dream sequence, but this time with voiceover.

I'm the character who is clearly gay but the show doesn't acknowledge it for some reason

I haven’t seen that show, either.

^^ re:

[quote]R97 We’re the ditzy white token couple on the show with all blacks. Under no circumstances shall we show any intelligence and we must always be the butt of jokes.

I'm the antagonistic relationship between the wife and mother-and-law, and the husband's inability to stand up to either of them.

I'm the sassy maid/butler that oversteps all professional boundaries and in reality would be fired for such behavior.

I'm the doctor making a house call.

I’m the housewife trying to manage her monthly household allowance. And failing.

I'm the family that isn't rich but has a live-in maid for some reason

I’m the yellow bottle of Joy liquid dish soap. I’m sitting next to the sink in what seems like every ‘80s sitcom.

I'm the absence of shadowy corners anywhere on the set. I'm the lights on in every connecting room and hallway and on the front and back porches or on the balcony. There are no dark windows just as there is never a beam of sunlight.

I'm the AIDS episode.

I'm Joan Collins.

I’m the Halloween episode with every cast member and extra looking like they’ve been costumed and made up by Hollywood professionals.

I’m the elaborate breakfast spread on a weekday. There’s a gigantic pitcher of orange juice and a pile of pancakes if I’m laid out in America. Beans and bacon with tea if I’m happening in the UK.

The cheeky son will ignore me; he’ll playfully bite into an apple on his way out, right after he made some snarky remark.

I'm this week's guest star, Edie McClurg. Next week I'll appear on a different cliched sitcom.

I’m the cuddly, ditzy idiot

I’m the braless divorcee.

I'm Teri Hatcher

We're the Landers Sisters, Audrey and Judy, who appeared on every tv show in the 80s. We looked like a couple of cheap $10 whores but the network executives loved us!

I’m AIDS

I'm the "outdoor" scenes with an obviously painted backdrop, astroturf for grass and a fan blowing to make things "windy."

[quote] I'm the AIDS episode.

I'm Jason Bateman's acting in these scenes.

R120 I'm the very special episode where one of the characters forgot to read the whole DL thread perfore posting

I’m the very special episode where r123 gets the gift.

We're young urban professionals working as a teacher, a chef, a masseuse, a waitress, a struggling actor, a standup comedian, a copy editor, etc., living in spacious New York City apartments with big windows and nice views of the city.

I am the child actor who played the boy with AIDS in Mr. Belvedere and also Helen Rosenthal's son on St. Elsewhere. I am now a trans journalist.

I'm the talent show episode.

I'm the "whooooo-ooo!" from the studio audience when two characters start kissing.

I'm the apartment that would be unaffordable in real life.

I’m the ultra cool loft the artist lives in with brick walls and neon sculpture

I’m “something suddenly came up”.

I’m the guy who appears on the show because I won a contest. I have one line and will never work again.

I'm the fat husband married to the beautiful wife.

I'm the whistles and hooting from the men in the studio audience when the 15 year old slutty daughter walks into the scene.

I'm the cameo from a celebrity who was "hot" at the time. People watching 40 years later will have no clue who the celebrity was.

R135 Cornel Wilde

“It’s a women’s prerogative to change her mind…”

You'd better pee before you come to our house because we don't have a commode in our bathroom. Just a tub and shower.

Lanford is just so different after $108 million dollars.

We're the OG Alex, Louie, Elaine, and the Rev. Jim---aka Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer.

I’m the interior set that in no way matches the building seen in establishing shots.

I'm the loveable sitcom dad. On the show, I'm devoted to my wife. In real life, I'm actually a huge homo!

I'm the sibling who disappears halfway through the second season without any explanation. I'm never mentioned again, as if I never existed.

I’m show about a girls boarding school that continues after all the characters go off to college.

I’m the sibling who gets recast for the spinoff.

I'm fake Derwood.

I'm the original straight actor husband of a TV witch soon to be replaced by a lesser talented, swishy gay actor who looks nothing like the original me and has no chemistry with my meddling mother in law

We're the applause the studio audience gives a guest star when they make their entrance.

I’m the would-be recurring character who gets dropped after 2 episodes because I don’t get along with the star.

I’m the Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve shows.

I'm the endless reruns, just like some of the posts in this thread.

I’m the pregnant actress who starts dressing like a walking tent and carrying purses the size of trucks.

[quote]We’re the ditzy white token couple on the show with all blacks. Under no circumstances shall we show any intelligence and we must always be the butt of jokes.

[quote]What show is that [R97]?

[quote]The one with Cedric the Entertainer on cbs.

Yeah, that show won't age well in 10 years, after this whole 'woke' hysteria has run its course.

I'm the slick raincoats and umbrellas the cast hangs on the coatrack next to the front door after they come inside from the storm.

I'm the back of the television.

Shouldn't this thread actually be titled Let's be a sitcom cliche, thus spreading the wealth around the genre, rather than cramming it all into one sitcom?

With all these considerations, this is turning into a top heavy mash up by Proust and Altman, with possibly a little Sondheimy kitchen sinking.

I'm uncle Bill's doorknobs.

[quote]we don't have a commode in our bathroom

Most people don't have commodes; they have toilets. Not a "mobile chamber pot".

We just call 'em shitters!

I’m all the shoes. Everyone wears their shoes in the house or apartment. Even lying on sofas or beds, they leave their shoes on. No one looks comfortable.

I'm the missing mother.

When I tell a woman " till death do we part" I mean it

[quote] why, then, networks decided the 1980s was a good time to start killing off moms

Huh? 1950s and 60s and 70s were full of dead mom shows. Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry RFD, Family Affair, Beverly Hillbillies, Nanny& the Professor, Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Patty Duke show (Cathy’s mum is dead), Brady Bunch, Sanford & Son, Chico and the Man, Diff’rent Strokes.

Even Edith Bunker got killed off.

I’m the correct use of “clichéd”, OP.

I'm the ostensibly heterosexual men who are raising a kid together, for some reason

^^I'm My Two Dads, aka Your Dead Mother Was A Fucking Whore

Oh I loved Nanny and the Professor.

I'm the innocent sexual inuendo

I'm amnesia. I am way more common on crappy TV shows than I am in real life

I'm the two part wedding episodes that usually features rs ridiculous wedding related storylines.

I’m the late night host playing himself and referencing the show’s characters.

I'm the 8-year-old "genius" character wearing clear glasses so you know he's a genius!

We're the first half of season one. When you watch us in reruns, we will seem disjointed, unfunny and slightly off.

Pay us no mind. We just didn't have our sea legs yet.

I’m the drop-in character’s catchphrase.

“Hello!”

“OH…MY…GOD!”

“Well, well, well…”

I'm the game show guest episode.

I'm Sherri Shepherd.

I'm the lost Awards dinner acceptance speech that necessitates an ad-lib that omits any mention of spouse. Cold-shoulder hijinks ensue!

I'm the wacky neighbor who, it turns out, is a wicked witch and has known exactly what is going on all along.

I'm the misunderstanding blown to apocalyptic proportions and neatly resolved.

I’m Fran Drescher making constant “The Nanny” in-jokes which sends the crowd wild.

I’m the mother-in-law. I’m not for the faint of heart.

I'm the hostess pants. 👖

I'm Conrad fucking Bain.

I’m Kaley Cuoco’s cleavage.

I’m the character that’s supposed to be funny but always turns out to be just an ANNOYING sitcom character like Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

He was NEVER funny but ALWAYS annoying.

I'm the actor/actress hired to replace another actor/actress who's played the same regular character for several seasons but now has gone off to college. I look nothing like my predecessor, but audiences are just going to have to accept it.

Re: r185:

Joe Gerard on "Rhoda."

Bobby Wheeler on "Taxi."

Steve Rhoads on "Married with Children."

Add for "Frasier":

Sherry for Martin.

Lana for Frasier.

R188 What about ME???

R187- I think those are weak examples. Those characters could be annoying at times but Ted Baxter was ALWAYS annoying.

Another example- Lennie and Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley.

I’m the erased, never-happened kids and spouses in the inferior, Botoxed reboot.

I'm the character played by a washed up pop star whose car broke down right in front of the show's title character's house.

I'm the blax on the reboot.

I’m the episode which won a GLAAD award back in the day but is now viewed as PrObLeMaTiC.

I SAID CONRAD FUCKING BAIN

I'm the opening credits of the late 1970s and early 1980s with the many zany moments and pivots.

Angie did away with the pivots in Season 2, but kept in the zany behavior.

I'm the cast member hired because I'm related to the one of the show's producers. Or because they are the relative of a big star.

I'm the flower power episode with ratty wigs.

I'm the "Festive Flashback" episode.

I'm the "Okay, I'll Go Where/Do What You Want" episode.

I'm the "Dream" episode.

I’m the ugly bridesmaid dress episode.

I'm the dramatic storyline that's too awkward for a sitcom.

0/10

I'm the episode where one of the cast members sings.

I'm the first cast member to win the Deadpool.

I'm the magazines on the coffee table.

I am the adorable six-year-old who suddenly shows up to live with the family.

I'm the studio lights harshly reflected in one of the actor's glasses, when (s)he forgets not to look up too far.

I'm Florandana jackson. I’m your stereotypical sassy, fat black eye-rolling, “I told you so” neighbor . I am the only black person in the city..or so it seems

I'm the stuck elevator, the meat freezer where the lock is broken, the car that runs out of gas as the plot device that gets 2 characters to hash out their differences.

I’m the actress who marries mid-show and hyphenates her surname. I‘ll drop it a few seasons later after the inevitable divorce.

I'm the laugh track.

I’m the bathroom without a toilet.

I’m the pretty young actress who gets her little toe stuck in the faucet of the bathtub when she’s supposed to go somewhere important.

We’re the group of teens who all mostly hate each other but do everything as a group through high school and then all go to the same local college.

I'm the makeover.

I’m Sammy Davis, Jr.

I'm the really annoying screaming and hooting the live audience does whenever the cute actress with a nice rack trots out on stage or two characters kiss.

I first noticed this shit during Happy Days and it ruined the later seasons of TBBT. Live audience tapings suck.

Wait, they did a sitcom about a girl's naughty parts?

I'm the annoying neighbor kid who comes over all the time even though nobody can stand me. Why doesn't anyone just lock the door?

I'm the attic. Exteriors of the house don't suggest I exist, or could be so spacious to accomodate a huge bedroom for someone.

I’m the globe, the old map, and the treasure chest found in R221’s attic. We were always there, all the time, hiding in plain sight — just patiently waiting to get “discovered”.

Let’s be a cliche - Op

I'm live before a studio audience, and with the exception of those classic 1970's CBS comedies All in the Family and MTM & Bob Newhart, I play to the worst insticts of hamminess, sexual inuendo and screaming dialogue. Happy Days was great before it turned to me, and then became unbearable.

R224 you just named my pet peeve. I watched TBBT and it got bad with the "whoos" every time somebody kissed, Penny came out in a sexy dress or applause every time a character comes on stage. Friends was bad too.

R225 So was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

R225 Oh, “Friends” audiences became insufferable in the later seasons. All those fraus and teenage girls squeeing at everything.

I’m the actress with Shakespearean ambitions who views the show as beneath her, despite it bringing her more fame and wealth than most people could ever dream of having.

You rang, R228?

I’m the “Special Guest Star.”

I'm the more-popular-than the star co-star who leaks nasty bits to the trades about the star's demanding ways and their lower-than-mine Qrating. I'll get my spin-off and have to deal with someone just like me, on my own, soon to be canceled show.

I'm the well-loved, very accomplished septegenarian that the writers feel should say "cute" lines that play off my younger co-stars. I sound stupid and I feel very patronized by the producers and writers.

They're just using my name to promote the show. I hate you Hot In Cleveland.

I'm the theme song to Valerie, Valerie's Family, and The Hogan Family that was sung by Roberta Flack.

I’m 🪦

I’m Tits Romano

I'm the extremely annoying neighbor kid who everyone hates but keeps coming over.

I’m Julie bouncing off the walls like a super8ball

I'm the extra sister/brother/neighbor/gay cook of the star/s that shows up in the pilot then dissapears after being written out once the show is picked up.

I'm the series finale that ends with the main star looking back on the interior of their house all misty eyed, then switching a light off/closing a door and walking out on to the set to huge applause.