Who doesn’t love a good comedic sitcom? They’re hilarious, relatable, heartwarming, and nostalgic. That laugh track is recognizable anywhere! Whether it takes place in an apartment or a bar, is animated or not, we know we’ll be entertained.
There are a few tropes in many sitcoms that contribute to what makes the sitcom…well, a sitcom. Below, we’ve listed our favorite sitcom tropes:
The Holiday Specials: Dedicating entire episodes to certain holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and so on. If the episode hits, that holiday will be celebrated in the sitcom’s unique way every season.
Our favorite examples include Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Halloween Heists, Friends’ chaotic Thanksgiving celebrations, and The Office‘s Christmas parties.
Will They/Won’t They Romance: An ongoing romantic tension between two main characters that keep audiences guessing.
There’s Ross and Rachel from Friends, Ben and Leslie from Parks and Recreation, Jess and Nick from New Girl, and many more.
The Dysfunctional Family: A family unit where each member has their quirks, and they often clash, leading to humorous situations.
The Simpsons, Arrested Development, and Modern Family revolve around this trope, but other sitcoms occasionally feature dysfunctional families, such as the Gellers in Friends and the Reynolds’ in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The Quirky Neighbor: A character who doesn’t live with the main cast but frequently visits, adding comedic moments with their odd behavior.
Our favorite examples include Kramer in Seinfeld, Mr. Heckles and Ugly Naked Guy in Friends, and Ned Flanders in The Simpsons.
The Misfit Office Environment: A workplace filled with eccentric colleagues, providing a backdrop for various comedic scenarios.
Some of our favorite shows revolve around this trope, like The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, and Parks and Recreation.
Catchphrases and Signature Lines: Characters with memorable sayings that become iconic to the series.
Here are our favorite catchphrases:
- Jake Peralta’s “Title of your sex tape” (from Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
- Michael Scott’s “That’s what she said” (from The Office)
- Joey Tribbiani’s “How you doin’?” (from Friends)
- Sheldon Cooper’s “Bazinga!” (from The Big Bang Theory)
- Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!” (from The Simpsons)
- Arnold Jackson’s “What’chu talkin’ ‘bout Willis?” (from Diff’rent Strokes)
The Vacation Gone Wrong: For one episode, the characters step away from their usual setting to somewhere completely different, usually a tropical getaway.
Our favorite episodes include “The One at the Beach” from Friends, “Hawaii” from Modern Family, “Beach Games” from The Office, and “Beach House” from Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
While these tropes show up in nearly every sitcom we can think of, we still can’t help but laugh at the shenanigans and mishaps that our beloved characters fall into.
What’s your favorite (or least favorite) sitcom trope? Did we mention it in our list?