# 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:** 17
**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 22, 2022, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/321 "2022-05-22T11:32:45Z")
Thanks! I’ll have to rewatch that one. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/322 "2022-05-22T11:52:47Z")
I just posted about the _Full English Breakfast_ in a different thread and it reminded me of the old trope about English food being atrocious. This likely started when WWII food rationing created poor quality cuisine that lasted generations. And it didn’t help being so close to France with their fancy-pantsy haute cuisine. You don’t hear the trope much any more because British cuisine (to the best of my knowledge as an American with a dead English mum) improved greatly in recent generations. ---
**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 22, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/323 "2022-05-22T17:48:10Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Here’s one I don’t think’s been mentioned: sitcom protagonists collaborating to write a song. It may be in response to a contest, or to one of the characters having a contact in show business who could get their song heard by show biz bigwigs. > > Invariably, neither partner has ever written a song before, or has any musical ability, beyond what’s needed to be portrayed working on the song, pounding it out on the piano with a pencil behind the ear. > > Felix and Oscar did this once on The Odd Couple, in the episode where Oscar dates Jaye P. Morgan. The song was called, “Happy, and Peppy, and Bursting with Love”. > > Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton did this at least twice. The first was in a “lost episode”. Another was on Jackie Gleason’s 1960s variety show, and was entered in a songwriting contest, which won the four of them a vacation to Hollywood and a meeting with Bing Crosby. The song was called “Love on a Bus”. Let’s not forget the Cranes collaborating on _ **Frasier** _ to put Marty’s “She’s Such a Groovy Lady” down on paper so he could submit it to Frank Sinatra. That episode ended with the song being performed at the funeral of a hated aunt, after Sinatra rejected it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VbMwyT2RjEE/maxresdefault.jpg "Frasier Groovy lady (piano part)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbMwyT2RjEE) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wmAwimQXOM) ---
**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 22, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/324 "2022-05-22T18:13:04Z")
How about celebrities serenading sitcom stars with songs that mirror what’s happening in their lives? They can be part of the story (as often happened in shows with, e.g., Lucille Ball and Danny Thomas) or just appear magically out of nowhere: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EZTZ-jm2XB4/maxresdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - Travel To Capital City") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZTZ-jm2XB4) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/325 "2022-05-22T18:24:03Z")
I hope I didn’t miss this one when looking through the thread. But one I used to see a lot, but don’t recall in a long time, is having a baby in an elevator. I remember it on All in the Family, Benson, Night Court, and a couple more. Has it been done more recently? ---
**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 22, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/326 "2022-05-22T18:33:39Z")
Maybe a baby born in a taxi? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tLVvtTyYWsI/hqdefault.jpg "Frasier - Baby in the Taxi scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLVvtTyYWsI) ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/327 "2022-05-22T20:19:05Z")
Just dropped in to say that I understood that reference. ---
**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 22, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/328 "2022-05-22T20:39:25Z")
Likewise! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/329 "2022-05-24T10:53:31Z")
For a while there were jokes on different shows about scrambled HBO or porn. That wouldn’t work now. ---
**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 26, 2022, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/330 "2022-05-26T19:57:51Z")
When was the last time you saw the “person is accidentally given a posthypnotic suggestion and starts acting compulsively without being aware of it” trope? This was the plot on today’s episode of _ **That Girl** _, which apparently ran through the entire catalog of tropes over five seasons, ---
**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 26, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/331 "2022-05-26T22:58:52Z")
I saw that one on “The Greatest American Hero” in the 1980s, and it came up on The Simpsons and Monk.(in both cases with a character regressing to childhood) -and of course a post-hypnotic suggestion is a significant plot point in “Office Space” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/332 "2022-05-26T23:21:21Z")
I hope this hasn’t been mentioned already, but that reminded me of the trope that getting hit on the head gives you amnesia. Come to think of it Monk did that one, too. ---
**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 27, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/333 "2022-05-27T00:28:35Z")
I seem to remember an episode of _ **The Dick Van Dyke Show** _ where it happened too. IIRC, Rob started to act drunk whenever he heard a phone ring. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/334 "2022-05-27T18:45:29Z")
Somewhat similar: on _Friends,_ Chandler is smoking again and the gang try to get him to quit. Rachel gives him a “sleep-tape” that a friend gave her; the idea is to play the tape as you are falling asleep and you absorb the message subliminally. However, among the “stop smoking” messages are phrases like “You are a strong, confident woman.” Subsequently, Chandler is getting in touch with his feminine side: putting on Chapstick like it’s Mac or Estee Lauder, getting out of the shower wearing a towel just under his armpits, stuff like that. ---
**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 27, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/335 "2022-05-27T21:00:04Z")
Yeah, the post-hypnotic suggestion trope is a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/336 "2022-05-29T01:57:48Z")
I think Voltaire characterized British cuisine as having “only one sauce”. The food has improved but always suffered from comparison to France or Italy. “To eat well in England, have breakfast three times a day” also predates rationing. Still, good fried fish and late night curries should count for something. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/337 "2022-05-29T02:46:16Z")
Main character decides to call in sick from work/school to do something more fun but doesn’t want work or their family to find out it’s a lie. Proceeds to walk around in public and keep accidentally encountering someone who could blow the whole sick excuse. Spends so much time avoiding other people they find they wasted the entire day. Then they find out either something exciting happened at work/school or they all got off early regardless. Happened all the time in sitcoms but I think social media and phones killed this trope too (though it also happens all the time in real life) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/338 "2022-05-29T04:54:23Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HSFW8wB6DoU/hqdefault.jpg "monty python: Asking the man in the street what he thinks...") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSFW8wB6DoU) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2022, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/339 "2022-05-29T05:09:46Z")
The corollary to this is the employee skipping work to go to a ball game, attracting a ridiculous amount of attention during the game’s telecast (by interfering with a play, or getting into a fight with one of the players, or some such), and then going to great lengths to keep the boss from watching the sports report that night. This of course was before the days of social media and “going viral.” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324/340 "2022-05-29T12:45:07Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I think Voltaire characterized British cuisine as having “only one sauce”. The quote I remember is, “England has forty-two religions and only one sauce”. When one of the executives on _Mad Men_ (Duck Phillips) arrived in the U.S. from a stint in England, he expressed interest in putting on weight. Patting his trim waist, he lamented, “English food!”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retired-tropes-of-yesteryear/963324.md?page=18)