# Name and Exemplify Sitcom Syndromes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218 "2005-08-16T04:35:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/101 "2005-08-16T20:55:44Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > All in the family had a knife and Apple incident told from at least 3 perspectives. > Archie’s had a very large knife, Mike’s was w/o the knife and Archie being 100% jerk and I think Lionel’s which was in between and obviously close to the real story. There was also an episode of Mama’s Family. In Eunice’s telling Ellen (Betty White) was sinister and Naomi a total bimbo, in Ellen’s telling Mama was senile and Naomi a total bimbo, and in Naomi’s Eunice and Ellen were both evil and she was practical and loving. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/102 "2005-08-16T20:59:09Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > The **I’m young for my age** syndrome. Where a 30ish year old cast plays high school students. Happy Days and Kotter are examples. There’s also the opposite **I’m Old For My Age** , which usually deals with parents or grandparents. Examples include an actress playing Mona’s mother on _Who’s the Boss_ who couldn’t possibly have been old enough to have a child Katharine Helmond’s age, or Cliff’s parents on _The Cosby Show_ who were perhaps a decade older than him (just as Felicia Rashad [sp?] was a decade older than her oldest TV daughter). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/103 "2005-08-16T21:14:15Z")
**The Supporting Character Whom We Overlook Is A Criminal Thug** Hawk on Spencer for hire- hit man. Huggie Bear on Starsky & Hutch: pimp. Fonzie (originally) on Happy Days- juvenile deliquent gang member. And to add injury to insult, these characters are inevitably wussified to make them more palatable. **The Skag-Ugly Woman** Has no purpose in life but for the rude sarcastic main character to insult her for how ugly she is. Often is blind to or refuses to acknowledge how ugly she is. For example, by commenting on her latest trip to the hair salon or makeup parlor. Examples: Aunt Esther on Sanford & Son, or T’Nuk on Tripping the Rift. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/104 "2005-08-16T21:24:34Z")
**Must Be Pheremones** - a character is portrayed as a total stud or total babe even though the actor playing him/her ain’t all that. Fonzie is at the top of this list (he’s 5’4, has no money and lives in a dingy efficiency- what the?). While not a sitcom, the king of this syndrome when opened to a wider variety of shows is _Brian Kinney_ of _Queer as Folk_ (played by a good looking actor, but not somebody you’d be beside yourself to fall in bed with). ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/105 "2005-08-16T21:25:55Z")
**The Inevitable Nookie Rule** : All crushes by one character on another are eventually reciprocated. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/106 "2005-08-16T21:25:57Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **Must Be Pheremones** - a character is portrayed as a total stud or total babe even though the actor playing him/her ain’t all that. Fonzie is at the top of this list (he’s 5’4, has no money and lives in a dingy efficiency- what the?). While not a sitcom, the king of this syndrome when opened to a wider variety of shows is _Brian Kinney_ of _Queer as Folk_ (played by a good looking actor, but not somebody you’d be beside yourself to fall in bed with). A female version, I should add, is Chrissy from _Three’s Company_ or Jennifer from _WKRP_. Both are attractive women, but neither is going to cause an invasion of Troy anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/107 "2005-08-16T21:29:33Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > **The Supporting Character Whom We Overlook Is A Criminal Thug** Hawk on Spencer for hire- hit man. Huggie Bear on Starsky & Hutch: pimp. Fonzie (originally) on Happy Days- juvenile deliquent gang member. And to add injury to insult, these characters are inevitably wussified to make them more palatable. Also in this category is Angel, the two-bit con man from The Rockford Files. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/108 "2005-08-16T21:48:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **Must Be Pheremones** - a character is portrayed as a total stud or total babe even though the actor playing him/her ain’t all that. There’s also the opposite one, where the extremely good looking lead is supposed to be unattractive and nerdy. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/109 "2005-08-16T21:48:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **Must Be Pheremones** - a character is portrayed as a total stud or total babe even though the actor playing him/her ain’t all that. Fonzie is at the top of this list (he’s 5’4, has no money and lives in a dingy efficiency- what the?). While not a sitcom, the king of this syndrome when opened to a wider variety of shows is _Brian Kinney_ of _Queer as Folk_ (played by a good looking actor, but not somebody you’d be beside yourself to fall in bed with). The ultimate, uber-example of this: Martin Tupper (Brian Benben) from _Dream On_. God, that ugly fucker raked it in. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/110 "2005-08-16T21:53:39Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > The **I’m young for my age** syndrome. Where a 30ish year old cast plays high school students. Happy Days and Kotter are examples. Another case of the syndrome being valid but the examples not. The four primary Sweathogs had an average age of 23.5 when the series aired (still older than high schoolers but a fair distance for “30ish”). Even factoring in a 29 year-old Henry Winkler, the four main actors on “Happy Days” had an average age of 23. Without Winkler it’s 21. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/111 "2005-08-16T22:05:26Z")
**Who’s Doing the Cleaning?** : Houses in sitcoms are always spotless and free of clutter, even if there are mitigating circumstances that would seem to counter-indicate that, i.e. it’s a single-parent household, both parents work, etc. The only time clutter is seen is when the parents want to yell at the kids about the state of the house, and even then, it’s not really all that dirty or cluttered. The house is also always perfectly interiorally decorated, with furniture that matches and colors that always go together. This was one of the reasons I loved Roseanne, it was the first time I saw a messy and mismatched house (just like my house) on TV. **Brave New World** : In episodes that flash forward to the future, all the small talk revolves around the new technology that’s come about. We don’t spend all day talking about cars or heart valves, so why do people in the future always talk about their new technology? Then again I don’t think those episodes are meant to be serious in the first place. **Anti-Product Placement** : When sitcoms show generic products that look even more blatant than real products, i.e. a red-and-white can that says “Soda” on it with Coke-style lettering. **Everyone’s from California** : Nobody on the show speaks with a recognizable accent, except for maybe one character, and there it’s done for comic effect (Balki on Perfect Strangers, Fez on That 70’s Show) They also never use colloquialisms; witness the fact that the characters on Mr. Belvedere (which was set in western PA) say “soda” instead of “pop” even though every single person in west PA says pop. That pissed me off so much! **Captive Setting** : Episodes that are set in a single place (not counting the house), i.e. the airplane episode of Roseanne, the Chinese restaurant and parking lot episodes of Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/112 "2005-08-17T01:28:09Z")
**If there’s a pistol in Act I** - it will be the subject of a gun-safety lecture in the last 4 minutes. (_Good Times_, _MASH_, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/113 "2005-08-17T01:31:51Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=330505) made me think of a few others. **Too Cheap to Produce a Pilot** - Where the show only involves the main characters of a sitcom in order to allow a potential test case episode to be part of an existing series. In essence, one of the main series episodes serves as a pilot episode for a potential spinoff. The whole episode will feel like a famous sitcom character is guest starring on someone else’s show. **You got your wings clipped, didn’t ya…MR. BIGSHOT!?** - When a regular cast member gets a spinoff and the show is cancelled while the flagship series is still on the air. The cast member then returns to the original series. The shame must be overwhelming. Especially if the new “star” burned some bridges on the way out. **Angel Heart and back again** - A specialized version of the previous entry. Where the new star gets a spinoff because she appeared in a softcore scene, got kicked off her spinoff for some reason, it continued on to some success, and THEN the star had to return to the flagship show…to a lessened role. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/114 "2005-08-17T01:39:08Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > **LOOK - WE’RE FILMED ON LOCATION!** TV shows that pretend to be set in a well-known city by showing stock footage of those landmarks, when all other scenes are clearly not filmed there. Ex: **Charmed**. Look - it’s the Golden Gate Bridge! Reminds me of the **Background Set Corollary**. TV shows that have a background set that’s patently absurd. The office in _Suddenly Susan_ had an incredible view of the Golden Gate Bridge - because you’d have to be in the middle of the bay to get that angle. > [@davenportavenger](#): > > Everyone’s from California: Nobody on the show speaks with a recognizable accent, except for maybe one character, and there it’s done for comic effect (Balki on Perfect Strangers, Fez on That 70’s Show) They also never use colloquialisms; witness the fact that the characters on Mr. Belvedere (which was set in western PA) say “soda” instead of “pop” even though every single person in west PA says pop. That pissed me off so much! Not to disagree, exactly, because I know what you’re talking about, but that generic accent that actors seem to adapt isn’t actually how ordinary Californians speak either. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/115 "2005-08-17T01:48:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **If there’s a pistol in Act I** - it will be the subject of a gun-safety lecture in the last 4 minutes. (_Good Times_, _MASH_, etc…) Somebody was watching TV Land earlier tonight… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/116 "2005-08-17T01:52:07Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Somebody was watching TV Land earlier tonight… No I wasn’t actually. Which one was it? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/117 "2005-08-17T02:41:37Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Everyone’s from California: Nobody on the show speaks with a recognizable accent, except for maybe one character, and there it’s done for comic effect (Balki on Perfect Strangers, Fez on That 70’s Show) They also never use colloquialisms; witness the fact that the characters on Mr. Belvedere (which was set in western PA) say “soda” instead of “pop” even though every single person in west PA says pop. That pissed me off so much! Corollary: **Everyone’s from New York.** Example: _Laverne and Shirley_, who apparently lived amidst the Brooklyn diaspora community in Milwaukee. BTW, people east of PA really _do_ call it soda. Even when being colloquial. This might be yet another syndrome: **Everybody Writing the Show is from New York.** Which happens. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/118 "2005-08-17T02:48:31Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > No I wasn’t actually. Which one was it? The “Good Times” where James brings a gun home and it goes missing. A kid in the building gets shot and everyone thinks it’s James’ gun. It’s not but a lesson was learned by all. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/119 "2005-08-17T03:37:27Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The four primary Sweathogs had an average age of 23.5 when the series aired (still older than high schoolers but a fair distance for “30ish”). And it’s reasonable to assume that they had been left back several times. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218/120 "2005-08-17T04:54:31Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Alex and Mallory Keaton of _Family Ties_ also went to Who Knew? colleges. Actually, there was an episode in which Mallory (while still in high school) had acquired a boyfriend who was attending (planning to attend? It’s been a while seen I’ve seen the show) a prestigious Ivy League-level institution. She told him he could transfer to Grant College, which was within commuting distance of the Keaton household. In his typical intellectual-snob fashion, Alex indignantly shouted: “Grant College? That’s not a REAL school! **YOU** could get into Grant College!” A couple of years later, she (and Skippy) did just that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-and-exemplify-sitcom-syndromes/317218.md?page=7)