Someone in a slightly dangerous position (prosecutor, judge, detective, secret agent… basically, the good guy who fights crime) will get a phone call or something, and they’ll either say, “pizza? I didn’t order a pizza. what kind is it? send it up anyway.” or “ooh, flowers! send them up! I wonder who they’re from.”
and it’s never good.
If I ever become a prosecutor or detective, I won’t accept flowers random unexpected delivered gifts.
because I’m smrat!
Sitcom cliche: The characters are trapped. That’s it. Two or more of the main characters get locked inside a basement or storage room or trapped in an elevator and then they have no choice but to really communicate. I’ve seen that on All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show, Maude, Alice, WKRP in Cincinatti, Family Ties, and I’m sure there’s more.
No, but they could coat the kid in lard and blood to simulate that fresh from the oven look.
“I don’t know who you are anymore” or “I don’t know who I am anymore.”
People coming home with a bag full of groceries with French bread sticking out.
People chopping up vegetables on the kitchen island or counter as if they were on a cooking show.
Where do real people chop vegetables? On the floor?
In horror/thriller movies, women (it’s always a woman) taking a bubble bath in a clawfoot tub with her hair up. The bath itself will be uneventful. If they show her in a towel, it’s always a white towel. When the boogeyman arrives on the scene (usually after the plug has been pulled and the water is draining out of the tub), we are always shown a reflection of him in the mirror while the woman is standing in front of the sink, clueless, doing stuff, like singing as she dries her hair. She will then either be strangled, drowned, or stabbed repeatedly so that blood splatters dramatically across the mirror and white surfaces of the bathroom.
At my house, we prefer to cut things on the cutting board. It’s next to the stove, not on an island in the middle of the floor. 
This is also a good cue that a clip-show episode is about to be presented.
Any cliché regarding computer passwords, especially regarding passwords that are suspiciously easy to guess in relation to what they are supposed to protect. In a modern movie t’s not entirely inplausible that a top secret password is:
a. the name of the computer owner’s wife, who happens to be on a framed photo next to the computer
b. something completely ridiculous but still easy to guess for the protagonist, like “god” or “omnipotent”
I’ve never used/seen this device/technology but BLAM here I am using it like a master.
Ashly Judd and her computer in Double Jeopardy
3rd Rock from the Sun did this. As well as Saved by the Bell. Pretty much every damn show I’ve ever watched has done this at one point or the other.
A subclass of this cliche is the two characters are trapped in a giant freezer–All in the Family, Three’s Company and no doubt some other shows.
Scientists who use animals in their research are evil. Scientists that don’t use animals are good and always find a cure without using so much as a tissue culture.
Entering a dark room the damsel in distress never turns on a light. Or if she does, it doesn’t work so she continues to go searching the dark creepy place!!
The Jerky boyfriend that negates infedility. A woman is with a guy who is a jerk so she cheats on him with the handsome lead. We are not supposed to care that she is cheating.
In the end she dumps him, or worse… If he isn’t a total dickwad he will after competing for the lady’s love, step aside for the better man and even worse will give his blessing and then disapear into the background of the shot in a very emascualted way .
The flipside of course is if A Guy cheats on his girlfriend he is the scum of the earth and usually the villian.
Are movie flashlights a cliche? You know, the flashlights that illuminate about a 1 foot circle at any given time or distance? Oh, we entered a dark room - and after 18 sweeps with the flashlight, we’ll see what’s in here!
Added to that are the lights that have to turn a room blue. (see CSI, The X Files and any other mysterious crime solving show/ movie.)
How about the character that walks onto the street and suddenly (or even worse, after a long pause) gets hit by a bus.
Or the protaganist who has gotten in over his/her head, with no hope of returning to normal, when the sudden death of a guest character involved in the situation leads to a return to status quo.
Or the combination of the above two (Nip/Tuck anyone?)
I’m also annoyed by almost all portrayals of computer use on TV and in film. Especially the use of typing frantically on the keyboard to accomplish tasks that were really meant for a mouse. I admit to really liking the cliche though, of all computer in TV and film being Macs!
Anyone care to start a thread of cliches that we like, or a thread for anti cliches - things we’d like to see in movies because they run counter to conventional story writing or because it would be more realistic?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles move several years ago did a great poke at this one. Thanks to IMDB, it goes like this:
Donatello: The perimeter’s quiet.
Leonardo: Yeah, a little too quiet.
[Donatello knocks two Foot soldiers out]
Donatello: Well, that was easy!
Leonardo: Yeah, a little too easy.
Donatello: Look! It’s Raph!
Michaelangelo: Yeah, a little too Raph.
I don’t know why that cracks me up so much, but my son and I still laugh about that dialog.
I get so annoyed at those scenes where one person misinterprets a situation that could be cleared up easily, but isn’t for some reason. I was going to write an example but it would be a spoiler, but the situation I am discribing usually involves an exchange such as, “What’s going on here?” “This isn’t whatyou think it is.” “Really?” “No.” “I don’t believe you.” Walks away.