# 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:** 14
**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 17, 2022, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/261 "2022-05-17T12:07:29Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Was the one from Two Broke Girls a dumb blonde? I wasn’t too familiar with that show, my wife liked it more than I did; but I watched a few episodes. If I recall correctly, the blonde’s dad was a Madoff type who was imprisoned and the family lost everything. So she had to transform from an extremely entitled and sheltered socialite to a normal working person. I’d say she was more of a sub-category of the ‘[fish out of water](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FishOutOfWater)’ trope: ‘[riches to rags](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RichesToRags)’ with remnants of ‘[rich in dollars, poor in sense](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RichInDollarsPoorInSense)’. Completely unequipped to navigate life as a ‘poor person’, at least at first, but no more dumb than Alexis Rose on ‘Schitt’s Creek’. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/262 "2022-05-17T12:46:50Z")
yes, you can … since cordless phones run on rechargeable batteries they have to let you turn on the other receiver if the one you’re using needs to be recharged without having to lose the call… > [@Asuka](#): > > An episode of the Dollop podcast made that claim the reason why bowling leagues disappeared was entire because of a shrinking middle class, in the 50s to 70s every single middle-class family to afford to go bowling every week and buy their own bowling balls, but the shrinking middle class now means there’s less people who can afford to bowl. > > Which I find complete bullshit but it’s one theory I’ve heard in the wild. the reason I’ve heard is bowling has gotten to expensive and its seen as "grandpas " sport ---
**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 17, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/263 "2022-05-17T13:48:54Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the reason I’ve heard is bowling has gotten to expensive and its seen as "grandpas " sport It’s hard to believe that bowling is “too expensive”. I think the perception of it as an “old guy’s sport” is probably closer to the mark. These things go in cycles. Bowling was the big plebian sport from the turn of the century through the 1960s My home town, I was surprised to learn, used to have lots of small bowling establishments dotted through it. By the time I was around, they were all gone, and bowling was concentrated in a few large establishments in shopping malls that used AMF automatic pinsetters instead of hiring kids as “pin monkeys” My parents and uncles used to bowl. I used to bowl, having inherited my uncle’s bowling ball. The closest bowling alley remained there until about 2000, when it was replaced by a health club. It wasn’t that it was too expensive (heck, you didn’t even have to own a ball or pair of shoes – most people rented the shoes and used the balls that were there), but just because it fell out of favor. One of the alleys I used to use is still around down in NJ. Here in Boston, where I now live, not only are the old “standard” bowling alleys and the weird New England “candlepin” alleys still around, but a new bowling alley has opened up at the new “Lifestyle Center” mall – King’s, apparently part of a chain of bowling alley-restaurants. Kings IS more expensive than my old bowling alley was, even allowing for inflation, but it seems to be a thriving business. ---
**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 17, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/264 "2022-05-17T13:59:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think the perception of it as an “old guy’s sport” is probably closer to the mark. These things go in cycles. I seem to remember there was a trend in the late 80s, maybe into the 90s, where bowling alleys were marketing to young people by having “party bowl” nights (not sure if that’s exactly what it was called). They’d play an alternative song list loudly, turn off most of the bright overhead lights and have colored lighting to give the alley sort of a rave / party vibe. I remember going to one of those with some friends from college. ---
**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 17, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/265 "2022-05-17T14:13:54Z")
Jenna Maroney on _30 Rock_. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/266 "2022-05-17T14:26:16Z")
The “too expensive” isn’t really referring to people who occasionally go bowling and don’t own a ball/shoes - for those people $60/hr or $10 a game won’t really make a difference. The people that bowling has gotten too expensive for are the people who in the past would have owned their own balls and shoes and bowled in a league at least one night a week. \* More places have decided to use [this](https://www.framesnyc.com/event-packages/) business model and that raised the prices for league bowling which in turn accounted for _some_ ( but not all) of the drop in league bowling’s popularity. \* I knew people in the '80s who bowled four or even five leagues a week - I know no one who does that now , for reasons ranging from $40 times four leagues is too expensive to being unable to find openings in that many leagues that don’t conflict with each other ( because lots of bowling alleys have closed and many of the remaining ones discourage leagues. ) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/267 "2022-05-17T14:39:32Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It’s true that bowling is less affordable, but that’s not nearly the only reason there are fewer bowling leagues. I haven’t read it, but the decline of bowling leagues, civic organiations like the lodges we’ve been discussing, etc. is the subject of the relatively famous book _Bowling Alone_. > **[Bowling Alone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone)** > > Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community is a 2000 nonfiction book by Robert D. Putnam. It was developed from his 1995 essay entitled "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital". Putnam surveys the decline of social capital in the United States since 1950. He has described the reduction in all the forms of in-person social intercourse upon which Americans used to found, educate, and enrich the fabric of their social lives. He argues that this undermines the active ci... ---
**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 17, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/268 "2022-05-17T14:47:50Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I seem to remember there was a trend in the late 80s, maybe into the 90s, where bowling alleys were marketing to young people by having “party bowl” nights (not sure if that’s exactly what it was called). They’d play an alternative song list loudly, turn off most of the bright overhead lights and have colored lighting to give the alley sort of a rave / party vibe. I remember going to one of those with some friends from college. One of the long-standing bowling alleys here has “Atomic bowling”, in which you bowl fluorescent balls against fluorescent pins under blacklights. That was definitely done to appeal to kids. One measure of bowling being perceived as passe is the fact that it has its own entry in **The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste.** , where it’s characterized as the only sport where you can eat a sausage and drink beer. That’s not really true (as the saying “hold my beer” suggests), but you know what they mean. You don’t see tennis players noshing between serves. > **[Encyclopedia of Bad Taste](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/533042.Encyclopedia_of_Bad_Taste)** > > America's premiere scholars of popular culture present … > **[Encyclopedia of Bad Taste: Stern, Jane, Stern, Michael: 9780060164706:...](https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Bad-Taste-Jane-Stern/dp/0060164700)** > > Encyclopedia of Bad Taste \[Stern, Jane, Stern, Michael\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Encyclopedia of Bad Taste ---
**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 17, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/269 "2022-05-17T14:50:29Z")
Bowling leagues used to be a really big deal - local newspapers had regular columns reporting league scores, news and standings, for example (my birth was announced in the 1960s as “league news” for the league my father was in) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/270 "2022-05-17T14:58:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One measure of bowling being perceived as passe is the fact that it has its own entry in **The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste.** , where it’s characterized as the only sport where you can eat a sausage and drink beer. That’s not really true (as the saying “hold my beer” suggests), but you know what they mean. You don’t see tennis players noshing between serves. > > [Encyclopedia of Bad Taste by Jane Stern | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/533042.Encyclopedia_of_Bad_Taste) When I think of bowling, I think of Homer Simpson and Jeffrey “the Dude” Lebowski. Love them or not, they don’t exactly scream “class”. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/271 "2022-05-17T15:01:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One measure of bowling being perceived as passe is the fact that it has its own entry in **The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste.** , where it’s characterized as the only sport where you can eat a sausage and drink beer. That’s not really true (as the saying “hold my beer” suggests), but you know what they mean. You don’t see tennis players noshing between serves. That’s really not true (independently from your “hold my beer” remark), as there are a few pub sports like darts and billiards where drinking also often is involved. ---
**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 17, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/272 "2022-05-17T15:02:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Love them or not, they don’t exactly scream “class”. Sure they do… “middle-”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/273 "2022-05-17T15:02:38Z")
Exactly: bowling is now seen as a “bar sport”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/274 "2022-05-17T15:06:33Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Sure they do… “middle-”. 😉 The Dude may be many things, but middle class he is not. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/275 "2022-05-17T15:08:48Z")
But in the 90’s, when that observation was made, golf replaced bowling for many in the middle-middle class. Part of white flight to new suburbs. ---
**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 17, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/276 "2022-05-17T15:23:38Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eVo8ruyvHas/hqdefault.jpg "Obviously you're not a golfer - Big Lebowski") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVo8ruyvHas) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/277 "2022-05-17T15:29:55Z")
My dad was in a bowling league when I was pretty little, but I don’t think he bowled at all anymore past 1960 and maybe a bit earlier. I wish I had his golf shirt, though. Cool with embroidered bowling pins. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/278 "2022-05-17T17:35:35Z")
Bowling and bad taste reminds me of a bowling story I’ve shared before. I was on a team from work, and a guy named Duck was eating a cheeseburger in the scoring area. A glob of ketchup and mustard fell on the floor, at which point Larry bent over, wiped the glob off the floor, straightened up, and licked it off his finger. At my wtf!, he merely said, “Duck’s my buddy”. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/279 "2022-05-17T20:20:21Z")
I once went bowling in Moscow. The guy in the alley next to me didn’t lay the ball down in one smooth motion, the way you do if you know how to bowl. He tossed it a good ten feet one-handed before it came crashing down on the alley. He was also chain smoking the whole time. I kept waiting for him to drop dead of a heart attack after each toss. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/280 "2022-05-18T00:49:19Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Sitcoms having a Very Special Episode in which the characters deal with a serious issue, like drug abuse, or teen pregnancy, and such. I heard an interview on NPR recently with some TV writer, or producer (I can’t remember who it was). He said there there used to be a much sharper line between comedy and drama, and networks wouldn’t allow writers to tackle serious issues in a comedy out of fear that it might be seen as making fun of the issue. If they wanted to deal with a serious topic, the only way they could do it was with a Very Special Episode that took on a more serious tone than the rest of the series, so it was clear that they took the issue seriously and weren’t joking about it. With “dramadies” more common now it’s become acceptable to have the characters deal with those kinds of issues in a normal episode, eliminating the need for the Very Special Episode. Wasn’t this mostly a thing in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s? I remember Very Special Episodes (and it’s cousin, the Lesson of the Week) being popular on shows like The Cosby Show, Saved By The Bell (Jessie’s caffeine pill addiction), Growing Pains, Fresh Prince, The Facts of Life, Family Matters, Full House, The Wonder Years, and such. I don’t remember seeing such episodes on reruns of old sitcoms that I watched as a kid. There weren’t any Very Special Episodes of Gilligan’s Island, The Brady Bunch, Leave it to Beaver, the Andy Griffith show, and such. ETA: I’m of the option that this is the reason Seinfeld was such as success. It pushed back against all the sitcoms that were taking themselves too seriously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324.md?page=15)