# Retired tropes of yesteryear **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324 "2022-04-23T18:11:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 23, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/1 "2022-04-23T18:11:22Z")
While reading the [Dealbreaker screenplay clichés](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealbreaker-screenplay-cliches/961002) thread I got to thinking, what about tropes or cliched sound effects that used to be popular but are never, or at least seldom used these days? One I mentioned in that thread was the “needle scratch” comedy sound effect. Kids these days wouldn’t even know what it was in reference to. How about the “show regular has an evil double show up for an episode, who not only looks but sounds exactly the same, and fools all their friends and relatives. Hijinks ensue”. That used to be very common, showing up not just in sitcoms but dramas as well— Little Joe on Bonanza had an evil double in not one but two separate episodes. Last example I saw of that dumb old trope was an episode of Monk where a mob guy who was a dead ringer for Monk got killed and the FBI convinced Monk to go undercover as him. Hijinks ensued. Another sitcom staple of old was the “long-married couple find out their marriage was not valid for some reason”. Hijinks ensue. I just saw an example of that on a Gilligan’s Island where Mr. and Mrs. Howell find out the minister who married them was not properly ordained (somehow this was such a scandal that news of it reached their radio in the South Pacific). Fortunately the Skipper saves the day by marrying them “at sea” on a raft in the lagoon. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/2 "2022-04-23T20:08:15Z")
I remember an episode of _ **My Three Sons** _ in which Rob had an evil double who was hitting on all the girls at his school and alienating them. So of course they were turned off when Rob would ask for a date, and he couldn’t figure out why. Mother-in-law tropes seem to have gone out of fashion, as has that of the overbearing, overprotecting mother or father like Mrs Morgenstern and Lew Marie. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/3 "2022-04-23T23:08:00Z")
I think that all three of your examples are still being used. Especially the record scratch. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/4 "2022-04-23T23:21:52Z")
Really? I demand cites, sir! Especially with a recent record scratch example. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/5 "2022-04-24T00:03:40Z")
There’s a TV Tropes page about this. > **[Dead Horse Trope - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadHorseTrope)** > > Please don't list this on a work's page as a trope. A trope which has gone way beyond being a Discredited Trope to where the very act of Playing With that trope has itself become a trope. The progression is generally: Clever idea → Trope & … ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/6 "2022-04-24T01:41:29Z")
Drowning swimmers going down for the 3rd time. Haven’t seen that used in almost 50 years. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/7 "2022-04-24T02:05:34Z")
Freeze frame sequences at the end of sitcoms and dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/8 "2022-04-24T10:45:29Z")
The forceful kiss (and general male dominance as successful romantic approach). Male and female leads arguing. She doesn’t want to be told what to do. Then he grabs her, rams his face into hers and suddenly she’s putty in his arms and bends happily to his will. _Hitch_ has a scene where Will Smith literally explains that if you want to kiss a woman you lean in till you’re almost touching and let her close the final distance if she chooses, which is as good an indication as any that the trope is dead. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/9 "2022-04-24T12:04:03Z")
Amnesia after being hit on the head. Fixed by another hit on the head. Very common in 60s sitcoms. Similarly, a hit on the head changes the character’s personality, which changes back if you hit them again. I recently saw _The Addams Family_ use this. The “Oh, no, not again” ending. Character has a wacky problem which is resolved just before the end of the show. And happens again at the vey end. _Gilligan’s Island_ used this often. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/10 "2022-04-24T12:48:58Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > The forceful kiss (and general male dominance as successful romantic approach). Yes, like the romantic comedy of old where the woman shows no interest in a guy and he relentlessly pursues her to the point of full-on stalking until she finally agrees to go out with him. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Amnesia after being hit on the head. Fixed by another hit on the head. Very common in 60s sitcoms. Good one! ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/11 "2022-04-24T14:18:50Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > There’s a TV Tropes page about this. Wow, that’s very detailed. Interesting article. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/12 "2022-04-24T14:58:44Z")
> [@solost](#): > > One I mentioned in that thread was the “needle scratch” comedy sound effect. Kids these days wouldn’t even know what it was in reference to. You are obviously too old to be aware of the vinyl revival. > **[Vinyl revival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_revival)** > > The vinyl revival, also known as the vinyl resurgence, is the renewed interest and increased sales of vinyl records, or gramophone records, that has been taking place in the music industry. Beginning in 2007, vinyl records experienced renewed popularity in the West and in East Asia. > The analogue format made of polyvinyl chloride had been the main vehicle for the commercial distribution of pop music from the 1950s until the 1980s and 1990s when it was largely replaced by the compact disc (CD). ... ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/13 "2022-04-24T15:13:02Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > You are obviously too old to be aware of the vinyl revival. I’m old enough to have known of its existence at one point, then subsequently forgot it was a thing. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/14 "2022-04-24T15:15:43Z")
Monsters created by radiation, a la Godzilla Incompetent dads who can’t do the simplest household tasks or be trusted to watch children for more than a few minutes ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/15 "2022-04-24T15:47:36Z")
In the fifties ‘going steady’ required that you have dinner with the girl’s family. After dinner you helped clear the table and washed the dishes, she washed, you dried. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/16 "2022-04-24T15:49:27Z")
God help me, as I occasionally fall into the abyss that is TikTok. One of the more popular audio memes that gets used is the record scratch effect followed by the, “ Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation…”. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/17 "2022-04-24T17:42:00Z")
Is there a name for the trope where the main character has just “made it” as a big star, and to get this point across we see a montage of real magazines with fake covers depicting the character on them? (Couple of examples below) With the decline of the relevance of magazines it would make sense that we don’t see this one anymore. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EwKR_y93izs/maxresdefault.jpg "Ghostbusters Montage") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwKR_y93izs) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0qSM947wv-M/hqdefault.jpg "Tootsie Montage") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSM947wv-M) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/18 "2022-04-24T17:55:01Z")
A variation of the newspaper/magazine covers trope is the leaves of a calendar being torn away one by one as the hero progresses through life. _ **MAD Magazine** _ parodied this for a young lad who went off to war: **A:** “He was wounded.” **B:** “How?” **A:** “He tripped over a pile of discarded calendar leaves.” ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/19 "2022-04-24T19:34:43Z")
Just remembered one of my favorite tropes of the 80s- the evil punk, also known as the [Quincy Punk](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheQuincyPunk), named after an episode of Quincy, MD. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/20 "2022-04-25T01:46:45Z")
More common in radio dramas of the 40s, but a very common trope was a man who has an invalid wife and decides to try to murder her. _Sorry, Wrong Number_ is the most famous example, but it happened all the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324.md?page=2)