# TV Show Plot Cliches You Hate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2010, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689 "2010-08-09T09:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/101 "2010-08-10T19:55:56Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Battlestar Galactica is one of the single best television series ever produced, in part because of Cylons. Oh, I totally have to disagree. 🙂 But not because of the shapeshifting
but because they use rape and attempted rape as drama in ways I really can’t stand. It really isn’t my favorite of subjects and I don’t watch TV to have to watch that sort of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/102 "2010-08-10T19:59:08Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > > [@El\_Nene](#): > > > > The one’s where the show’s main character is depicted as on the verge of being killed. I don’t care how dire the situation is, I will never believe that Jack Bauer\* is going to die, Dexter is no going to get caught until the last season, McGyver will find a way to rig something up. It’s even worse in movies. I strongly doubt 007 is going to meet his maker in any Bond movie. > > Watch the movie “To Live and Die in L.A.” SERIOUSLY! LOVE that movie! ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/103 "2010-08-10T20:03:08Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > I decided not to watch Battlestar Galactica because they introduced Cylons disguised as humans in the mini-series and I really didn’t want to have to deal with “Spot the hidden cylon” for the rest of the show. Well, to be fair, the writers pretty much selected cast members at random for the final season (with little to no explanation as to how they managed to infiltrate the crew decades in advance), so there’s no need to play “spot the hidden cylon”, as not even the show creators had much of a clue until the last two seasons or so. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/104 "2010-08-10T20:13:49Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > > > Battlestar Galactica is one of the single best television series ever produced, in part because of Cylons. > > Oh, I totally have to disagree. 🙂 But not because of the shapeshifting
but because they use rape and attempted rape as drama in ways I really can’t stand. It really isn’t my favorite of subjects and I don’t watch TV to have to watch that sort of stuff. Only two episodes of BSG out of 5 seasons involve rape in any way. In one case it is only implied with nothing happening on-screen. The other scene is crucial to the story arc. That an entire show would be dismissed based on two short scenes in two episodes is unfortunate. That said, I personally thought it was one of the most realistic depictions of rape and attempted rape I’ve ever seen on a television show. It was treated, appropriately, as a brutal, sadistic, reprehensible act. The characters reacted believably. Most shows on TV treat it like a cutesy plot device; BSG treated it as a war crime with lasting psychological consequences. The show is definitely pretty dark though. The subject matter pushed my own limits at times, so I understand how some would find it disturbing. I just wouldn’t want it to be mischaracterized as ‘‘violence for the sake of ratings.’’ The violence in BSG had a very deliberate philosophical meaning within the context of the show. It’s a show about the brutality of war – that this brutality would include rape is almost inevitable. It would be like asking to portray _Schindler’s List_ without the ovens. War is hell. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/105 "2010-08-10T20:22:49Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh, I totally have to disagree. 🙂 But not because of the shapeshifting
but because they use rape and attempted rape as drama in ways I really can’t stand. It really isn’t my favorite of subjects and I don’t watch TV to have to watch that sort of stuff. One of the things I respect about the series is its largely unflinching look at the human condition. In the real world, nearly every circumstance in which people are put under extreme stress, rape becomes a factor. I’m glad they didn’t flinch from it and I don’t think they treated it inappropriately either. I’m also glad that _Mad Men_ has included rape. Part of the function of fiction is to understand ourselves. If we edit out the worst parts of common experience, it loses its power to exercise this function. Even good people aren’t 100 percent good and I think fiction should reflect that, regardless of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/106 "2010-08-10T20:34:21Z")
I actually agree with both of your points
but it was, quite frankly, too dark for me. And yes, I do sometimes watch dark fiction, but quite honestly, I’d rather read it. I’ll never watch Schindler’s List but I might read it. I didn’t like the movie Sophie’s Choice but the book was incredibly moving. BSG was not what I was expecting or wanting at all. I wanted a mostly action-oriented show about Cylons and maybe a bit of X-files-ish stuff. What I didn’t want or expect at all, was “a largely unflinching look at the human condition”. On a TV show. That I watch for entertainment. Not happening. Don’t set up characters for me to like and then put them in those situations; I just will stop watching, like I did for BSG. I have on occasion thought about watching it again, but I have heard a fair bit about how it all ended and the ending was a huge disappointment to me, so probably not. But sorry for hijacking the thread! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/107 "2010-08-10T20:43:08Z")
The ending sucked. No question. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/108 "2010-08-10T20:46:53Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > > [@Anaamika](#): > > > > Oh, I totally have to disagree. 🙂 But not because of the shapeshifting
but because they use rape and attempted rape as drama in ways I really can’t stand. It really isn’t my favorite of subjects and I don’t watch TV to have to watch that sort of stuff. > > One of the things I respect about the series is its largely unflinching look at the human condition. In the real world, nearly every circumstance in which people are put under extreme stress, rape becomes a factor. I’m glad they didn’t flinch from it and I don’t think they treated it inappropriately either. I’m also glad that _Mad Men_ has included rape. Part of the function of fiction is to understand ourselves. If we edit out the worst parts of common experience, it loses its power to exercise this function. Even good people aren’t 100 percent good and I think fiction should reflect that, regardless of the genre. Beautifully explained, though I do think **Anaamika** touched on one of my personal Plot ClishĂ©s I hate, which is rape used as a cheap and easy way to generate drama or sexual tension, with the male protagonist swooping in at the last minute to Save The Day. BSG’s treatment of the subject is so far from this clishĂ©, however, that this would be a really poor example. On Preview: **Ana** I understand. I can’t watch _Schindler’s List_ either. Some moments of BSG were very uncomfortable for me, particularly the complete dehumanization, rape and torture of the Six copy Gina Inviere once she is discovered to be a traitor but it was just one of those rare moments where I decided the discomfort was worth it because the message was so important. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/109 "2010-08-10T20:56:01Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > On Preview: **Ana** I understand. I can’t watch _Schindler’s List_ either. Some moments of BSG were very uncomfortable for me, particularly > > the complete dehumanization, rape and torture of the Six copy Gina Inviere once she is discovered to be a traitor YES. Fucking yes. It got to me so bad that I didn’t care if I ever saw another episode again. And when I saw the boys mocking it and laughing
 I know this kind of shit happens every day, all over the world. It’s happening right now. Many women are getting brutally, viciously, repeatedly raped this minute. Many women are being treated like that. Men are mocking them and laughing over it. That is some seriously disturbing shit and making movies and shows about it
it brings to mind something from the book It, by Stephen King. When Stan finds out about It, he is not so much horrified or distraught, but he is _offended_. And that’s what it feels like to me. Making movies/shows like that offends me at a deep visceral level that I can’t control. It offends my sense of order and my way of thinking. That’s the best I can describe it. I hope that makes a little sense. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/110 "2010-08-10T21:28:07Z")
Ohhh - kayyyy
 well, descending from “horrific” back to “merely silly”, I hate the “abstemious character becomes inadvertently intoxicated before wedding/speech/public occasion” cliche. First time I remember seeing it: _M_A_S_H\*\* - Father Mulcahy gets drunk before giving a sermon on temperance. Last time I saw it: _Bing Bang Theory_ - Sheldon gets drunk before receiving a major award. Not really funny, anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/111 "2010-08-10T21:49:01Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > > > On Preview: **Ana** I understand. I can’t watch _Schindler’s List_ either. Some moments of BSG were very uncomfortable for me, particularly > > > > the complete dehumanization, rape and torture of the Six copy Gina Inviere once she is discovered to be a traitor > > YES. Fucking yes. It got to me so bad that I didn’t care if I ever saw another episode again. And when I saw the boys mocking it and laughing
 > \ > > And that’s what it feels like to me. Making movies/shows like that offends me at a deep visceral level that I can’t control. It offends my sense of order and my way of thinking. > > That’s the best I can describe it. I hope that makes a little sense. Yeah, it makes perfect sense. Just thinking about that scene makes me want to throw up. I thought you were referring to the later scene where The same crew takes over the Battlestar and begin beating the imprisoned Sharon Valerii (my favoritest TV character ever.) While it’s a harrowing scene, particularly knowing what happened to Gina, it’s pretty short and ultimately Helo and The Chief come in and kill the shit out of those guys before they can rape her. Someone who just caught that scene while channel surfing might not understand it in context and think it was playing the rape angle for cheap thrills. In short, I thought your argument was that you hated BSG for its unrealistic depiction of rape. You seem to be saying the opposite of that – you hated it because it’s _too_ real. In which case I can’t blame you, because I’m sensitive for the same reasons. You mentioned maybe picking the show back up. FWIW what you saw is as brutal as it gets. Things get more manageable from there. And I don’t think the end was _that bad_. It was like a 5/10 on a show that usually scores 9s and 10s, so comparatively it was bad, but I’ve seen worse. It’s certainly not bad enough to invalidate the entire series. [back to regularly scheduled thread] ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/112 "2010-08-10T21:58:36Z")
The “Oh no! I’m pregnant! Whatever shall I do???” that always, ALWAYS ends up with the pregnant character deciding not to have an abortion, but then conveniently miscarrying. Yeah, they don’t want to deal with a pregnant character (and then a baby/child), but for once I wish they’d freaking go ahead and have her have the abortion. The Convenient Miscarriage is just lazy scriptwriting and political expediency. Glee averted this one by having Quinn carry the baby and give it up, and that’s pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/113 "2010-08-10T22:19:07Z")
The guy is divorced/separated, usually with a 8-12 year old kid from the marriage, who lives with his mom but he gets visitation rights, which always ends up in a fight with the ex, he’s a semi-alcoholic and basically a jerk but only because he’s real smart and really good at his job and he doesn’t have many friends, only one or two close ones that see through the asshole-ness to see the softee with a heart of gold underneath, and the ex-bitch will, from episode to episode, go from ‘don’t touch me, I hate you and never want to see you again’ as the guy is trying to make things up with her, to ‘you know, maybe we could make it work again’ just as he’s moving on and dating someone else, to ‘let’s just have sex but don’t let the kids see you, they’d get confused’ etc etc. Yes, I’m looking at you, The Wire, Rescue Me etc. If I have to see one more character like that, I swear I’m going to shoot somebody. I’m not particular as to who. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/114 "2010-08-10T22:35:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Kirk, Scotty, Bones, Spock and Ensign Leibowitz beam down to a planet
 Ah, we’re working our way through the first season, and we JUST watched that last night! Season 1, Episode 12: Stardate 2820.2, Airdate:12-15-66, Prod. #6150-13. From that week’s TV Listing in the _New York World-Journal-Tribune_: The Captain, Officers and a crew member investigate a distress call from a society that has trained a monster to touch them so as to elicit laughter, but the being’s great strength has proven deadly. Each of the officers try in vain to train it, only to find that the monster _can_ “_Tickle for Leibowitz_” (Episode Title). Credits: William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Leonard H. McCoy), Dwayne Hickman (Lt. Malachi “Mal” Leibowitz), Robert Denver (“Griggigan”, in costume) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/115 "2010-08-10T23:38:00Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > The guy is divorced/separated, usually with a 8-12 year old kid from the marriage, who lives with his mom but he gets visitation rights, which always ends up in a fight with the ex, he’s a semi-alcoholic and basically a jerk but only because he’s real smart and really good at his job and he doesn’t have many friends, only one or two close ones that see through the asshole-ness to see the softee with a heart of gold underneath, and the ex-bitch will, from episode to episode, go from ‘don’t touch me, I hate you and never want to see you again’ as the guy is trying to make things up with her, to ‘you know, maybe we could make it work again’ just as he’s moving on and dating someone else, to ‘let’s just have sex but don’t let the kids see you, they’d get confused’ etc etc. Yes, I’m looking at you, The Wire, Rescue Me etc. > > If I have to see one more character like that, I swear I’m going to shoot somebody. I’m not particular as to who. That’s pretty much the premise of Californication. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/116 "2010-08-10T23:50:39Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > The “Oh no! I’m pregnant! Whatever shall I do???” that always, ALWAYS ends up with the pregnant character deciding not to have an abortion, but then conveniently miscarrying. > > Yeah, they don’t want to deal with a pregnant character (and then a baby/child), but for once I wish they’d freaking go ahead and have her have the abortion. One of the girls in _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_ becomes pregnant and has an abortion, although that’s a movie and not a TV show. I can’t off the top of my head think of any other TV shows or movies I’ve seen where this happens, although I have heard of the abortion episode of _Maude_. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/117 "2010-08-10T23:53:26Z")
I’ve always hated the episodes where a misunderstanding gets blown up into this huge thing that could have been solved if one character had bothered to say “Excuse me, can you repeat that because I’m not certain I heard you correctly?”. Fuck, that is just lazy lazy writing! The entire plot is based on the assumption that people are so psychologically cowardly to ask someone to repeat something they said! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/118 "2010-08-10T23:59:03Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > Yes, I’m looking at you, The Wire, Rescue Me Yeah, and in those shows it was the same actress! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/119 "2010-08-11T00:20:16Z")
Don’t think it has been listed yet : the bumbling boss/father who gets outsmarted by the lower ranking guys (or kids) such as Hogan’s Heros, McHale’s Navy, Married with Children, etc. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-plot-cliches-you-hate/549689/120 "2010-08-11T00:50:52Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Ohhh - kayyyy
 well, descending from “horrific” back to “merely silly”, I hate the “abstemious character becomes inadvertently intoxicated before wedding/speech/public occasion” cliche. First time I remember seeing it: _M_A_S_H\*\* - Father Mulcahy gets drunk before giving a sermon on temperance. Last time I saw it: _Bing Bang Theory_ - Sheldon gets drunk before receiving a major award. Don’t forget _Vitameatavegamin_! Back in the mid-to-late 70s, there were lots of shows involving a flight where the pilot gets sick or something and a passenger (always the star of the show) has to land the plane. The ultimate was when this happened on _The Incredible Hulk_!! (I was forced to endure that show because a little boy I babysat just \*lurved \*it!) To add my “me, too” - I truly hate the misunderstandings that are so contrived just for the sake of a stoopit story. I also hate when one series rips off another - NCIS has Abby, so Criminal Minds had to have Garcia. OK, whatever
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