# Dead or nearly dead tropes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797 "2025-02-25T23:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/341 "2025-03-07T03:00:46Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Here’s an old dead trope - reviving an unconscious person (often someone rescued from drowning) by moving their arms above the head then across the chest. . . This was used in _The Treasure of the Sierra Madre_, from 1948. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/342 "2025-05-15T20:10:51Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Several sitcoms from the dawn of television into the '70s – the last one I recall having one of these episodes was Brady Bunch – had a “small town speed trap from heck!” episode. They have one of these in the newest episode of _Leverage: Redemption_. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/343 "2025-05-15T20:36:30Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > gotten Q: Do you smoke after sex? A: I don’t know, I’ve never looked. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/344 "2025-05-16T16:23:48Z")
King of Queens - Arthur gave Spence (who worked in a glass booth in the subway) a package that blew up into a raft. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/345 "2025-05-16T16:33:39Z")
I saw this old comedy trope recently (don’t remember exactly where though) and I thought ‘huh, haven’t seen that trope in awhile’. Basic setup is, main character goes to person (A) to ask a favor. Person (A) says "fine, I’ll help you if you can get person (B) to do me (favor). Person (B) only agrees if person (C) will do some other favor for them, and so on and on in a round-robin wild goose chase. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/346 "2025-05-16T16:42:39Z")
I remember that trope from an episode of MASH where Hawkeye had to do so many things for so many people to get a new pair of boots. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/347 "2025-05-16T16:53:38Z")
> **[Chain of Deals - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChainOfDeals)** > > Alice needs something from Bob, but Bob wants Alice to get something from Carol, who wants something from Denise, etc. etc. etc. In a comedy, the chain either collapses or is rendered moot at the end. One common way of this happening is that the … ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/348 "2025-05-16T16:59:29Z")
Chain chain chaaaain…chain of deals ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/349 "2025-05-16T17:09:01Z")
Live bands at school dances… I think this is dead now although it lived well into the 2000s I think. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/350 "2025-05-16T17:13:29Z")
And live play-by-play commentary over the P.A. system at youth sporting events (as seen in every _Mighty Ducks_ movie). ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/351 "2025-05-16T18:52:54Z")
Still have this at our local high school (total enrollment \<500) and at all the away games as well. For football. I haven’t attended any other sports except tennis and of course not only is there no play-by-play, you’re liable to get bounced by your own coach if you cheer a little too loudly between points. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/352 "2025-05-16T19:43:21Z")
Students in middle/high school forced to take a “Career Aptitude Test” which apparently will literally decide what their sole future job will be. Usually the smart person will get a job like “Farmer” or “Bum” and the dumb person will get a job like “Scientist” or “Engineer”, and the smart person will act in despair while the dumb person will act suddenly like the smartest man in the room, then it turns out their tests were accidentally swapped and there’s a lesson on how you shouldn’t let tests determine your future. Which is funny because I literally never remember taking ANY aptitude test in school. We had career fairs, and we had to take the ASVAB, but literally that was it. I didn’t take some weird test that told me “Civil Engineer” was my future career path. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/353 "2025-05-16T20:06:43Z")
One I remember from several old shows was “X gets audited”. I haven’t seen that one in years. I don’t think it’d work with most people – who saves all their receipts anymore? My personal theory about shows like this is that nobody really wanted to write episodes using well-worn tropes. Screenwriters used these as prompts in their writing classes. But when crunch time came and they started running out of sitcom script ideas, they just plunged into their old assignments and came out with crap like this one, and the others listed above. – Bringing your boss home for dinner – someone overhears a discussion about what’s going to happen to an animal, and thinks it’s about them –X is saved from certain death, and now acts like a suck-up to Y, who saved them. –They can’t find the winning lottery ticket! – You’re picked for jury duty Etc. etc. et cetera ad nauseum ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/354 "2025-05-16T20:09:06Z")
When I was a freshman in college we took an aptitude test like that - everyone called it “the carrot test” because one of the questions was “Do you like carrots raw or cooked?” But we didn’t get the results back automatically - you had to make an appointment for a session with a counseler to discuss the results, which I didn’t get around to doing until I was a senior (my best fit career was “linguist,” but “engineer” was not excluded, fortunately). On “Facts of Life” they did the IQ test version… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/355 "2025-05-16T20:18:35Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You’re picked for jury duty Opened a new thread on this one [The Jury Duty plot versus reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jury-duty-plot-versus-reality/1018458) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/356 "2025-05-16T20:28:53Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > “Did I say that out loud?” haven’t seen that one since (I’m sure) _Friends_ reruns, but maybe that hoary punchline still gets an airing now and then. There’s a current commercial which uses that. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VqRoGMwBVSM/maxresdefault.jpg "Helen’s Golden Voice | Uber Eats") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqRoGMwBVSM&t=19) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/357 "2025-05-16T20:51:20Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Which is funny because I literally never remember taking ANY aptitude test in school. We did, as seniors in high school. A surprising number of us got “forest ranger.” I guess we were all introverted. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/358 "2025-05-16T20:59:39Z")
I think we did an aptitude test but no one seemed to care much about it. The counselors certainly didn’t try to influence the students off of the results. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/359 "2025-05-16T21:20:17Z")
tim white… hes gone now but he had some stories … ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/360 "2025-05-16T21:27:22Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > > [@Asuka](#): > > > > Which is funny because I literally never remember taking ANY aptitude test in school. > > We did, as seniors in high school. A surprising number of us got “forest ranger.” I guess we were all introverted. > [@Loach](#): > > I think we did an aptitude test but no one seemed to care much about it. The counselors certainly didn’t try to influence the students off of the results. We did some sort of test but it wasn’t to see how apt we would be for any given profession, more like what professions would fit our interests. For some reason, I got a small variety of suggestions rather than anything specific; one of which was “electrician” and another was “airline pilot”. Ain’t no way I would have been able to handle the stress of being a pilot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=19)