# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/81 "2004-11-05T02:16:05Z")
I always hated episodes where the characters would watch a friend’s fish/cat/dog/baby while said friend was on vacatio. But whoops! Fish/cat/dog/baby died! We gotta find another fish/cat/dog/baby that looks just like it so friend will never know! Christ people. Even when I was 6, I yelled at the TV for them to just explain and apologize when the friend got home. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/82 "2004-11-05T08:46:12Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Okay, but you have to admit that the pot brownie episode of _Barney Miller_ was pure brilliance. Oh, man, that was a funny episode! “Mushy mushy” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/83 "2004-11-05T08:55:36Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > “Mushy mushy” 😃 :dubious: I thought it was more… “Mooshie mooshie” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/84 "2004-11-05T10:15:59Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > What the ever loving hell is a cum cake? Cum cakes are semen mixed with flour and egg and fried up light and crispy. You can make sweet ones for dessert (feed pineapple for 48 hours before harvesting) or savory ones for appetizers or side dishes (for very strongly flavored cakes, feed asparagus the day before). ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/85 "2004-11-05T10:32:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > . > Alternate Christmas cringe: the _A Christmas Carol_ episode (Sanford & Son, WKRP, Dukes of Hazzard, etc.), though as with Ab Fab & the “old rival” episode the Britcom _Blackadder_ did a hilarious spin on this.) Let’s not forget the obligatory _“It’s a wonderful life”_ episode. Almost every sit-com will do one or the other every year. ---
**Author:** ![smam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@smam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smam)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/86 "2004-11-05T11:51:11Z")
[Accidental pet death](http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/smamurai/253644) while the owner is away. Rather than explain the situation, this scenarion usually ends with an unsuitable replacement being bought. ( times out of 10 it’s a goldfish that died and the owner forgot to clear it up before he left. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2004, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/87 "2004-11-05T12:08:36Z")
> [@Juniper200](#): > > I always hated episodes where the characters would watch a friend’s fish/cat/dog/baby while said friend was on vacatio. But whoops! Fish/cat/dog/baby died! We gotta find another fish/cat/dog/baby that looks just like it so friend will never know! I don’t know. I’ve always noted the distinct lack of dead babies in sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/88 "2004-11-05T14:26:20Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t know. I’ve always noted the distinct lack of dead babies in sitcoms. Now _that_ would be a Very Special Episode. “Oh, that was just the clone we kept for spare body parts” [Laugh Track: “HAHAhahahahahaha”] “Omygawd! Quick, now we have to sneak _back into_ the maternity ward and put this one back where it belongs!”[Laugh Track: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”] ---
**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:** [November 5, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/89 "2004-11-05T16:01:41Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Okay, but you have to admit that the pot brownie episode of _Barney Miller_ was pure brilliance. The one in _The John Larroquette Show_ was pretty good, too. John was literally climbing the walls! Well, columns, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/90 "2004-11-05T16:17:04Z")
Life imitates art: I was taking care of a friend’s gerbils while she was away, and one of them died (of natural causes, I assume, though the other gerbil showed a disturbing lack of concern.) Actually, I guess I did a rotten job imitating art, because I immediately sent her an e-mail letting her know what happened, and kept the wee corpse in a ziplock in the freezer so that she could bury it in her yard when she got back. (Actually, it only stayed in the freezer until the hubby got home and I told him what had happened. He told me that he refused to have a gerbil in the freezer. It was the dead of January, so I just took it outside and left it in a flowerpot on the porch. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/91 "2004-11-05T16:33:30Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Life imitates art: I was taking care of a friend’s gerbils while she was away, and one of them died (of natural causes, I assume, though the other gerbil showed a disturbing lack of concern.) Some years ago, a friend of mine and his father were watching a buddy’s dogs while the guy and his family were away at a grandparent’s funeral. They came over one day to find that one of the dogs had died. A large golden or something like that. If it had been a sitcom, it would have been a big-time lead-in to that plot, since “We can’t tell him his dog died! He’s burying his grandma!” Yick. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/92 "2004-11-05T18:18:56Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > _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! I agree. But I WILL say that it produced one of the great lines on the show. When the gang is watching a videotape of themselves from back then, with Courtney Cox in the fat suit, she comments, “Hey! The camera adds ten pounds!” Chandler responds with, “So, how many cameras are actually ON you in this?” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/93 "2004-11-05T18:23:46Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Chandler responds with, “So, how many cameras are actually ON you in this?” Not exactly an original joke, though. Wish I could remember where I heard it first. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/94 "2004-11-05T20:52:51Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > :dubious: > I thought it was more… > > “Mooshie mooshie” > > 😃 Moshi Moshi (Moe-she Moe-she) THat’s how they answer telephones in Japan. It’s sort of like saying “hello” only it’s used only on the telephone. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/95 "2004-11-08T16:46:16Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Okay, but you have to admit that the pot brownie episode of _Barney Miller_ was pure brilliance. Oh, man, that was a funny episode! Up there with the WKRP Turkey drop, in my opinion. My two favorite lines: Nick: Barney…Barney… Barney… was your mother from Killarney? & Fish: First time I’ve felt good in twenty five years… and it was ILLEGAL! ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/96 "2004-11-08T23:11:05Z")
My least favorite is the "Tell everyone that a celebrity is coming just to impress them and then realize that he/she isn’t coming. Then of course he/she shows. I believe it first started wth a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film. But I have seen it on; _I Love Lucy, Saved by the Bell, The Honeymooners, the Patty Duke Show, Brady Bunch, Our Miss Brooks, the Facts of Life, The Golden Girls_\* and \*\*Different Strokes \*\*. And those are just the ones that pop readily into my head. I also hate the holiday ones with either of two themes 1.) Christmas Carol or 2.) It’s a Wonderful Life. (OK, I also hate the "Was that really Santa? sit com). I just know some sit com writer is reading this thread and this Christmas we will be having a situation comedy with Santa pretending to be gay and stuck on a ledge because he got a pet and a baby confused after giving out the not-secret recipe of Mrs. Claus’s outmeal rasin cookie. TV TV ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/97 "2004-11-08T23:19:01Z")
> [@TV time](#): > > My least favorite is the "Tell everyone that a celebrity is coming just to impress them and then realize that he/she isn’t coming. Then of course he/she shows. > > I believe it first started wth a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film. But I have seen it on; _I Love Lucy, Saved by the Bell, The Honeymooners, the Patty Duke Show, Brady Bunch, Our Miss Brooks, the Facts of Life, The Golden Girls_\* and \*\*Different Strokes \*\*. And those are just the ones that pop readily into my head. I’ve seen it done on the Vicar of Dibley as well, using Elton John as the bunny. The Reginald Dwight who turned up was not Elton John. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/98 "2004-11-14T16:15:44Z")
One that just occured to me last night, as I lay in bed: Person X is not a sports fan, yet is fairly astute at picking the winners of football games. Usually through some skewed reasoning: “Well, the Dolphins have nicer uniforms than the Chargers.” “A lion would eat an eagle if it had the chance.” And they pick the winners with stunning accuracy, until they realize that the others have been exploiting them. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/99 "2004-11-14T16:19:13Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I cannot watch most sitcoms for exactly the same reasons. They’re just too painful. I blame it on Three’s Company. Precisely the show I thought about when I saw the title. The mis-interpreted overheard conversation in the next room is about as lame as one can get… but this spot of sitcom ground has been mined so much since then that you can look down and see China. ---
**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 14, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257/100 "2004-11-14T16:46:32Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > One that just occured to me last night, as I lay in bed: > > Person X is not a sports fan, yet is fairly astute at picking the winners of football games. Usually through some skewed reasoning: “Well, the Dolphins have nicer uniforms than the Chargers.” “A lion would eat an eagle if it had the chance.” > > And they pick the winners with stunning accuracy, until they realize that the others have been exploiting them. [For example…](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-2335/epid-74061/) Dwayne uses that exact method (which team had the coolest uniform). The game in question had the Raiders against the Buccaneers (who had the foppish pirate as their mascot at the time). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-funny-sitcom-plots-that-make-you-cringe-and-wince/272257.md?page=6)