# Most absolutely ridiculous sit-com episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885 "2004-10-29T17:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/141 "2004-11-06T16:46:37Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > But did they know of Tim outside of Detroit? They would have these incredible celebrity guests (like astronauts) come to the show. And I’m thinking, “How great for their career is it to appear on a show only known around Detroit?” Well… they get _invited_ to appear on the finctional show. It happens all the time IRL – if some celebrity is in the area anyway, they sometimes go for little local guest spots. Often people are in the area (doing press junkets, book tours, concert tours, speaking engagements, or whatnot) and it’s a fine way to endear yourself to the locals. I’ve worked that from the other end. Sending someone on tour, I may have a gap of two or three days where they have nothing to do. So you try to fill them up with “whatever” that’s positive enough to give them a teensy weency boost with the locals as well as cross promote your book-signing/concert/touring play etc. So I do the research to find out what’s in the area, and see if a local radio show would like to have the artist in the studio, or a local TV show might like a cameo, a charity event needs a guest speaker, a celebrity judge is needed for bake-off (okay, maybe not). It usually works out happily for everyone. We get the extra little promotional time for our artist, so do they for their show. If the little radio or TV show sees a press release saying you’ll be in the general area, they may contact you and invite you. (If I have a local cooking show, and see that some famous chef is going to be around, there’s no harm in asking them to pop by for a taste test or something – worse they can do is say “no, thank you.”) Unless the show is truly, TRULY pathetic, it doesn’t do any harm for someone to appear on a small local show (and “Tool Time” has always come off as a “goofy, but locally quite popular” kind of thing.) I have no trouble at all with the idea that an astronaut’s PR rep said “Hey, there’s this little home improvement show that all the locals know. Wanna stop by on your way to that aerospace convention in Detroit? They’ll _pay your regular speaking fee_. Interested?” ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/142 "2004-11-06T17:41:55Z")
Storylines that always seem to pop up, some have been mentioned in passing: “The tests are positive” misoverheard phone conversation. Usually the nosey snoop will think it is something critical like death or pregancy when it really is about something inncoucuous like positive tests for X fungus in the basement. “Man iumitates a goat” – For some reason the cast is hiding a goat at work from the bitchy boss. The goat goes “Baaaaa.” Boss says what is that, the wacky star then does a bad goat imitation, all laugh. “Third shift workers stay up all day.” They meet for adventures after spending an all-nighter at work. “I heard that!” Wacky intuitive character hears another character badmouth her from one mile away. “May-May-December Mix-up With The Daughter” Older man is dating younger woman who is his daughter’s age. He takes young GF to meet daughter, but just happens to bring his son along. Daughter thinks younger woman is her brother’s date. Hilarity ensues when she finds out pop is dating the pretty young thing. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/143 "2004-11-06T18:08:44Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Hey, it’s XXXX’s birthday/ wedding aniversary … lets organize a surprise party for them The absolute best this was ever done was in _As Time Goes By_ when Steven let Penny think he was cheating on her rather thanlet in on the surprise, and even after the party, did not want to tell her the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/144 "2004-11-06T21:00:55Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > And as for trite sitcom plotlines, how about when – Character A does something nice for The Boss, Then The Boss seems to overlook it, Character B coaxes A to write a nasty letter to The Boss a nasty letter, then The Boss comes through a produces a n overly-generous “thank you” gift, but in the interim character C has _mailed the letter!_ So, Characters A & B must pull off an elaborate scheme to break into the post office/mailroom/Boss’s office in order to retrieve the letter before he reads it! Except when it’s Homer Simpson who mailed it. The Simpsons writers can use any of these plots they want, as it’s obvious they use them with the full knowledge of the lameness, if there is any. Plus, it’s still funny to recall Homer’s intonation: Homer: Hello, my name is Mr. Burns, I believe you have a letter for me! Post Office Guy: Okay Mr. Burns, whats your first name? Homer: I don’t know! ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/145 "2004-11-07T16:55:43Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > Storylines that always seem to pop up, some have been mentioned in passing… Just thought of another…male buddies have a falling out; one buddy gets a new buddy. Original buddies have a soap-opera spurned-lover conversation “Am I not (whatever) enough? I give and give, and this is the thanks I get”…yada yada. See, it’s like they’re gay! Har! Funny the first 10 or 12 times I’ve seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/146 "2004-11-07T18:56:33Z")
I get annoyed when secondary characters are unable to grow or change over time. In _Family Ties_ the nerdy neighbor, I think his name was Skippy, was always stuck being the loser. Two episodes stand out, though I don’t think I have seen them all. One Skippy meets a girl who is as nerdy as he is, when he says he understands her problems she tells him basically to get lost. The second episode is the main one that made me quit watching the show regularly was where Skippy joins the army. Rather than the army being good for him and making a “man” out of him, he once again remains a loser. Alex and his family (not Skippy’s) have to go to base and “rescue” him from his “lame brained” decision. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/147 "2004-11-08T00:44:16Z")
> [@Zap\_Rowsdower](#): > > The second episode is the main one that made me quit watching the show regularly was where Skippy joins the army. Rather than the army being good for him and making a “man” out of him, he once again remains a loser. Alex and his family (not Skippy’s) have to go to base and “rescue” him from his “lame brained” decision. Yeah. Although, to be fair, the Keatons were so far left they made Mccarthy look like a Commie… -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/148 "2004-11-08T00:48:55Z")
> [@Zap\_Rowsdower](#): > > I get annoyed when secondary characters are unable to grow or change over time. In _Family Ties_ the nerdy neighbor, I think his name was Skippy, was always stuck being the loser. And with good reason, Marc Price is an unfunny a comic actor as you’ll find. He should get together with Colin Quinn. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/149 "2004-11-09T16:35:50Z")
> [@Zap\_Rowsdower](#): > > I get annoyed when secondary characters are unable to grow or change over time. In _Family Ties_ the nerdy neighbor, I think his name was Skippy, was always stuck being the loser. Two episodes stand out, though I don’t think I have seen them all. One Skippy meets a girl who is as nerdy as he is, when he says he understands her problems she tells him basically to get lost. What annoys me even more is when secondary characters become one dimensional as a series progresses. For example, Cliff becoming more of a stereotypical know-it-all idiot on **Cheers** while Sam is more sex obsessed and Dan becomes more obsessed with kinky sex on **Night Court** Occasionally those characters get to show their human, normal side, but, generally they just become 1 dimensional. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/150 "2004-11-09T18:36:39Z")
> [@Zap\_Rowsdower](#): > > The second episode is the main one that made me quit watching the show regularly was where Skippy joins the army. Rather than the army being good for him and making a “man” out of him, he once again remains a loser. Alex and his family (not Skippy’s) have to go to base and “rescue” him from his “lame brained” decision. And of course the Army is incredibly understanding and just lets him go. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/151 "2004-11-09T19:21:49Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Oh, and since I’m here, **Sampiro** , I will point out that on **Happy Days** , they did always manage to scare up some snow for their Christmas episodes. But that’s typical for a lot of sitcoms. I don’t remember it ever snowing on non-Christmas episodes of **Roseanne** , either, or **Cheers** or **Mary Tyler Moore** , or any show set somewhere that’s known for its harsh winters. And then they usually have to make a huge calamity of it, with everyone getting snowbound and separated. Actually, there was an episode of Mary Tyler Moore in which a snowstorm occurred on Election Day. The team are stuck in the studio trying to report what’s happening while absolutely no returns are being received. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/152 "2004-11-09T20:13:14Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > And with good reason, Marc Price is an unfunny a comic actor as you’ll find. He should get together with Colin Quinn. What’s pathetic is that I’ve seen him do stand-up and his routine is still centered around “People must be asking, did Skippy really say that?”. Price, booby, that show ended 15 years ago. Meredith Baxter has starred in 1,239 disease-of-the-week movies for Lifetime since then, Michael Gross has starred in more than 400 _Tremors_ movies and TV episodes since then as well as guest appearances on quality shows like _ER_, Tina Yothers has died and been resurrected as a brunette lounge singer, Justine Bateman has… well, not sure exactly, but even the little mutant boy has gone on to form a punk band. Michael J. Fox has had 30 bad box-office movies, married, had a housefull of kids, starred in a hit series and developed Parkinsons since then (though he _still_ manages to get better roles than you’ll ever have). GO GET YOUR REAL ESTATE LICENSE OR LEARN TV REPAIR OR SOMETHING THAT’S USEFUL BECAUSE YOU ARE PLAYED! Speaking of the youngest son, how many sit-coms have relied on that old saw: sometime between the awkwardly added pregnancy and delivery in the elevator/phonebooth/stalled cab/plane crashing without a pilot/etc. and the baby’s weaning, babies just aren’t cute anymore. You can only do so many (i.e. one) plots about babies howling at night or breastfeeding jokes, etc., so lets give the kids massive hormone injections and have him shoot from 2 months old to wisecracking (about sex and politics, no less) 4 year old overnight. Speaking of pregnancies, I understand why some shows find it better to write in the actress’s real life pregnancy than to hide her tummy behind a box or bag of groceries for 10 episodes\*, but when a pregnancy is added for no real reason other than the writer’s can’t think of anything better to do to boost sagging ratings it gets irritating. For example, it’s hard to believe that a very intelligent 45 year old TV anchor like Murphy Brown would have an accidental pregnancy, or that Roz on _Frasier_ (whose sex life is mentioned at least three times per episode) would make that slip, and (other than massive free publicity courtesy of Dan Quayle and media overreaction in the case of _Murphy Brown_) neither new rapidly aging baby added much of anything to the show. \*There was actually cute spoof of this done on _The Nanny_ in which Sheffield learns that the lead actress in his play is pregnant. He and his assistant, CC Babcock (played by Lauren Lane), discuss the annoyance and lack of believability of having to hide the pregnancy of an actress with lame gimmicks; as she’s saying this, Lane is standing behind chairs, briefcases, holds a sandwich board and a rack of drycleaning, etc. in front of her. (The actress was pregnant in real life and the audience got the joke; the baby was _not_ written into the plot.) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/153 "2004-11-09T21:30:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Speaking of pregnancies, I understand why some shows find it better to write in the actress’s real life pregnancy than to hide her tummy behind a box or bag of groceries for 10 episodes\*, … They were able to hide Shelley Long’s pregnancy on _Cheers_ quite easily - they just had her stay behind the bar for several months. It wasn’t all that obvious, and she didn’t have to tote around big boxes or wear caftans for the same time period. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/154 "2004-11-10T02:35:03Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Actually, there was an episode of Mary Tyler Moore in which a snowstorm occurred on Election Day. The team are stuck in the studio trying to report what’s happening while absolutely no returns are being received. > > Ed Oh! Well, now I know! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/155 "2004-11-10T03:29:47Z")
Sampiro writes: \> . . . a very intelligent 45 year old TV anchor like Murphy Brown . . . The character of Murphy Brown was supposed to be 42 when her baby was born, although Candace Bergen herself was 45 at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885/156 "2004-11-10T03:33:38Z")
Excuse me, it’s Candice Bergen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-absolutely-ridiculous-sit-com-episodes/271885.md?page=7)