# Supposedly funny sitcom plots that make you cringe and wince **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257 "2004-11-01T04:34:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/41 "2004-11-02T18:49:48Z")
While I agree that there are plenty of horrible sit-com plots which drive any sane person nuts, nothing will ever, _ever_ beat the [Wedding Destroyer](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-186/epid-29137/) plot on _Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman_. It wasn’t a sit-com, but it should have been. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/42 "2004-11-02T18:59:19Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > Is that an example of the former or the latter? > 😉 That might fit an episode of _Three’s Company_ where Jack is dating an “older woman” (Claudette Nevins). Janet and Crissy know about this, but havn’t met the lady. At one point, the “older woman’s” very elderly mother stops by to drop off Jack’s (underwear or something similar) that he had left at her appartment, causing Janet and Crissy to panic/go “Eeewwww!”. ---
**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 2, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/43 "2004-11-02T19:10:38Z")
> [@Linus Van Pelt](#): > > Humiliation is common fodder for sitcoms and I couldn’t agree with you more. The more the character is humiliated, the more embarrassed I get. I’ve _never_ understood why mental torture of an otherwise sympathetic character is considered funny by many. In all dairness, it depends largely on the character too. Kelsey Grammer has portrayed Frasier brilliantly as an egoist whose own pompousness backfires leading to his comeuppance. He’s mastered the art of being a blustering, overbearing oaf who usually is the author of his own humiliation, but is still likable enough and sympathetic enough that audiences don’t just hate him outright. Humiliating naive/innocent characters like Coach on _Cheers_, or Bull on _Nightcourt_ would be uncomfortable. Frasier embarassing himself because his own grandiose schemes go horribly wrong manages to be funny. But I do agree that most sitcoms don’t pull it off. _Everyone Loves Raymond_ and a slew of other “family” based comedies tend to humiliate characters in ways that are just uncomfortable or degrading. That’s why I don’t like a lot of the humour revolving around Ross on _Friends_. I feel sorry for him. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/44 "2004-11-02T20:50:44Z")
I always felt bad for Gilligan. Seems every time he tried to help, some accident happened and everybody blamed him! Mean, stupid castaway fuckers! At least he’s trying to help, you lazy cretins. If I were Gilligan,I would’ve taken MaryAnn and moved to the other side of the island and have all sorts of sexual fun with her luscious body. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scarf-Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Scarf-Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarf-Ace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/45 "2004-11-02T21:18:47Z")
I think dialogue can only be organised in so many ways as to be humorous, and after that its simply saying it in a different way. I think all the permutations were exhausted midway through Cheers (was that the 80s?), and after that it was “no its different, because the stupid, but likable guy has homosexual tendencies”. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/46 "2004-11-02T21:43:50Z")
Does every family sit-com do “parents are away, kid’s party destroys house” plot? Or - when the lead male character meets up with his old high school buddy, that character is now of the opposite gender! Oh, what an unexpected comic turn. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/47 "2004-11-02T21:52:29Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > Or - when the lead male character meets up with his old high school buddy, that character is now of the opposite gender! Oh, what an unexpected comic turn. They always seem to cast a fairly well-known actress as a special guest star for the “old buddy” role, which makes the whole thing even cheaper to my mind. I think the audience is supposed to laugh at the main male character’s discomfort over “old buddy’s now a hot chick!” without actually having to experience any such discomfort themselves. After all, _we_ know that Jenny McCarthy or Kathleen Turner or whoever aren’t _really_ transsexual. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/48 "2004-11-02T21:56:26Z")
I remember this specifically from Saved by the Bell, but I remember seeing other sitcoms with this plot. Popular student runs for school president basically to prove his/her popularity and become more popular. His campaign consists of promising his fellow students completely inconceivable items such as hot tubs in study hall and no homework on days ending in “y”. All the students go nuts for his promises, and NONE OF THEM REALIZE THAT THERE IS NO WAY ON EARTH HE CAN MAKE GOOD ON ANY OF THIS!!! THE CLASS PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE THIS KIND OF POWER!!! Invariably, he’s running against a nerd who promises things the school can actually use, such as funding for school clubs. Wacky antics ensue, and somehow the popular student learns that the nerds plan is better, and drops out of the running. However, if any school had this type of person running in a class election, all they would have to do is let the election go on as planned and the nerd would win b/c there is no way an actual student would think that their class council would be able to get them a hot tub. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/49 "2004-11-02T22:32:42Z")
> [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > Popular student runs for school president basically to prove his/her popularity and become more popular. What’s unrealistic about that 😉 > [@](#): > > However, if any school had this type of person running in a class election, all they would have to do is let the election go on as planned and the nerd would win b/c there is no way an actual student would think that their class council would be able to get them a hot tub. I’m not so sure of that. The fact that the promises aren’t plausible doesn’t mean the class wouldn’t buy it. If it’s supposed to be a realistic high school, the popular kid still beats the nerd because that’s how it goes. I’ve seen student council elections won on stupider grounds. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/50 "2004-11-02T22:59:49Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I always felt bad for Gilligan. Seems every time he tried to help, some accident happened and everybody blamed him! Mean, stupid castaway fuckers! At least he’s trying to help, you lazy cretins. > > If I were Gilligan,I would’ve taken MaryAnn and moved to the other side of the island and have all sorts of sexual fun with her luscious body. 🙂 C’mon - it’s commonly known that the Skipper and Gilligan were a gay couple in a dominant/submissive relationship. BTW, the fact that Gilligan’s Island was just plain bad on _so_ many levels aside, I found myself, as a kid, frustrated by the worst plot contrivance of all - that they must try to get rescued every episode, and that Gilligan must screw it up. Sometimes the writers would at least come up with some sort of explanation as to why they couldn’t simply try the same thing again, but most of the time I’d be left thinking, “Why can’t they just try the same thing, except make sure Gilligan doesn’t do that thing he did to mess it up?” ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/51 "2004-11-02T23:02:47Z")
Hey, hey, now! ---
**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 2, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/52 "2004-11-02T23:03:30Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > Or - when the lead male character meets up with his old high school buddy, that character is now of the opposite gender! Oh, what an unexpected comic turn. Well, Night Court did this and it was hilarious. But not because of Dan’s reaction. It was the others trying to explain to Bull what the buddy had done to himself. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/53 "2004-11-02T23:12:18Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > C’mon - it’s commonly known that the Skipper and Gilligan were a gay couple in a dominant/submissive relationship. Which is why I said “if _ **I** _ were Gilligan…” I’m not gay! I cringed when Gilligan was actually flying with those wings he built and Skipper came up and said he couldn’t do it because it was impossible. Naturally, Gilligan fall down, go _ **BOOM!** _ He looks up at skipper and says, “Why’d you have to say impossible? Why?” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/54 "2004-11-03T07:58:30Z")
Sitcom character will do anything to meet Celebrity X. Bonus points if character’s fanship of Celebrity X has never been mentioned before. Various schemes go awry, but X turns up in the last five minutes. > [@Omega Glory](#): > > Most shows also have the episode where a friend helps out with a garage sale and accidentally sells some rare item that wasn’t meant to be sold. The main character gets excited about how much money was made until they realize that the precious thing is gone, then both friends jump through hoops to get it back. Actually, something like that once happened to my sister. And the way it played out, it was pretty funny. Sis bought a blouse at a garage sale–looked great with her green skirt—and wore it the next day on a job interview. That evening, a frantic woman rang several doorbells before finding Sis, and charged into the house immediately. “That’s my blouse! My sister-in-law wasn’t supposed to sell it!! How much did you pay? I’ll give you twice that!!!” Sis rather icily (not that I blame her) requested a moment to change into a new shirt, first accepting the payment. Oh, and did I mention that this woman had her toddler with her? And while Sis was changing, the kid peed on the rug. (BTW, Sis didn’t get the job.) I would probably use that for a movie scene, not a sitcom episode, though. It was just a polyester blouse, for potato’s sake! That’s really why Sis and I think the story is so funny—it was hardly worth driving across town for, much less all that hysteria. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/55 "2004-11-03T12:20:48Z")
Let’s all go on a ski trip. Oh no, it’s snowing heavily and we’re trapped for the weekend. Let’s all reminisce about about our wacky antics over the years to pass the time - yes, it’s Clip Show time. That should give the writers a chance to knock off early and drink themselves insensible. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/56 "2004-11-03T13:03:28Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > “Why can’t they just try the same thing, except make sure Gilligan doesn’t do that thing he did to mess it up?” The saddest part is that Gilligan didn’t _have_ to be a worthless dork. If only the other castaways had killed him, they could have tanned his hide and used it to patch the hole in the _Minnow_, twisted his sinews into strong ropes for use aboard the boat, and enjoyed many tasty stews from eating the bits of him not needed for repairs. The show would only have lasted four episodes, but it would have been one hell of a miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/57 "2004-11-03T13:25:44Z")
Now that’s just mean. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/58 "2004-11-03T14:58:56Z")
> [@Gilligan](#): > > Now that’s just mean. How the fuck did you get here!? 😕 And where the hell is MaryAnn? :dubious: [wink] ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/59 "2004-11-03T16:12:36Z")
**Friends** Lets flashback to Monica being fat and have size 0 Courtney Cox wear a fat suit, because it is so funny to think of her being fat. ---
**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 3, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/60 "2004-11-03T17:03:37Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > **Friends** > > Lets flashback to Monica being fat and have size 0 Courtney Cox wear a fat suit, because it is so funny to think of her being fat. _DING, DING_ Ladies, and gentlemen, we have a winner! Oh, dear Og. I’d forgotten about that nasty shit. Like when she and Rachel are highschool students crashing a college party. Rachel goes off to hit on good looking guys, and Monica, well she orders a pizza and dances funny in her “blubber suit” – har dee har har! Gotta be the most cringe-worthy crap ever! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257.md?page=4)