User:Atlant/List of film and television clichés

• Characters who are unwilling to communicate creating a major problem from something that could have been fixed just by telling someone. (
  Smallville
  )
• A plot in which characters switch bodies (
  Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Freaky Friday, The Hot Chick, Star Trek: The Original Series – "Turnabout Intruder
  ", etc.)
• Evil soldiers will always miss their targets, while the hero never misses (the Stormtrooper effect).
• When a villain fires a gun at a bulletproof hero, he will then throw the empty gun, and the hero will duck; this applies mainly to Superman in various media, but it has happened elsewhere^{[citation needed]}
• A child who behaves in an unusual fashion (mute, autistic, etc.) will have extreme psychic ability or other gifts which get the heroes out of a jam. A variant of this turns up in straight drama as the mute, differently abled, autistic, or comically foreign individual who has unusual abilities or insights benefiting the main characters (Firefly, Nell).
• The main cast will have at least one token minority; in addition, there will be at least one extremely attractive and provocatively dressed woman/female alien (Star Trek, Stargate SG-1).
• Television heroes are partnered with a less-skilled sidekick/buddy that enables the hero to verbalize his/her thoughts or explain plot points. This sidekick/buddy usually provides comic relief (In Stargate SG-1 this is reversed with the hero being less skilled and making fun of the sidekick’s intelligence).
• In stories involving cryonics, characters in the future tend to be dour, pessimistic, cynical, or any resulting combination thereof, and it usually takes a recently awakened cryonics patient from the past to help them open their minds and lighten up (Futurama, Blue Gender; film example: Demolition Man; exception: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery;)
• When a particularly dangerous mission is about to happen in which the likelihood of someone being killed is an outcome, main characters are accompanied by an unimportant background character or extra. (See
  Redshirt
  )
• Films or television series set in the future will have humanity at war with a hostile alien race. Usually, the story is introduced with the current situation and questions whether or not humanity will survive.
• No matter how high up the series regular’s rank, he or she will always be chosen to perform routine missions that should be done by someone of lesser rank (Star Trek).
• Medical officers are often included in strategy meetings or diplomatic missions (Star Trek, Babylon 5).
• Characters in the future will continue to use present-day slang and pop culture references (Dark Angel, Andromeda).
• Characters in futuristic settings use firearms considered modern or even outdated in reality.

Aliens

• Extremely
  Goa’uld
  ; other times, this is explained by a supposed natural tendency of intelligent beings to walk upright, etc.)
• Humanoid aliens’ only physical difference from humans is their face or forehead or skin color (red, blue, green, etc.) (Star Trek) (In Babylon 5, most aliens are bald.)
• All alien races are capable of interbreeding
• A warrior race in which arguments can only be decided by a one-on-one fight (the
  Klingons in Star Trek, the Sycorax in Doctor Who
  ).
• Enemy forces are all ugly monsters/aliens, have disturbing habits such as eating live rodents, or dress in ominous armor or uniforms (V, Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, although this is made fun of by Jack O’Neill).
• Evil aliens have huge heads, often with brain convolutions visible in their skull or actual external brain tissue (This Island Earth, Mars Attacks!, The Time Machine).
• Alien homeworlds contain only monolithic cultures, with no internal cultural variation. Entire populations of planets speak the same language, share a single government, system of trade, and religion.
• Planets have either global governments or two governments locked in a
  cold war. Alien planets are also mostly monolingual and/or monocultural (Star Trek, Stargate SG-1
  ). Nearly all beings speak perfect English.
• Alien main characters speaking English do not use contractions (Worf, Teal'c, Sarek), even if others of their race do.
• Alien civilians always wear a uniform fashion; there is little variety among them.
• If there are multiple races, there will always be a few aliens aboard Earth ships. Other galaxy-spanning races, however, only seem to have members of their own race aboard their ships.
• One of the main characters is part of an exotic race but is most likely shunned by everyone else and cannot fit in, thus resulting in conflicts.
• Primitive planets will have societies nearly identical to Earth’s history, particularly that of Western cultures.
• If the theological beliefs of an alien race are laid out in any depth, every member of that race will resolutely adhere to these beliefs. In addition, they will strive to follow all of the dictates and customs of their beliefs, and become very depressed and/or moody when unable to do so.
• Aliens will often have physical or mental abilities superior to humans (
  Klingons, Jaffa
  ).
• Beneficial
  mutations will occur far more often than in real life. Often these will result in psychic abilities or other superhuman
  powers.
• Huge alien beings that could not possibly sustain bodies greater than a few tons against the force of gravity, and which would require enormous daily amounts of food to survive (
  The Hulk, much anime
  ).

General sci-fi cliches

• Earth seen from space is always full and in most cases it's
  the same image
  .
• Fashions and technology are usually variations on modern fashion styles (
  Back to the Future: Part II
  ).

Horror

• The protagonists are almost always a group of average (though better looking than average) teenagers.
• Near the end of the film, the heroes believe that they have finally disposed of the antagonist, only to have it rise again for one final battle. If the movie belongs to an ongoing series, there will be a hint at the very end of the latest installment that it has somehow survived.
• Some of the first characters to die will be the most sexual, as they slip away from the group in order to engage in sex
• When encountered or being chased by a villain, the main characters find refuge in a spooky, abandoned house. (Seen also in Michael Jackson's Thriller video)
• There is often a patronizing sheriff or other authority figure who refuses to believe the protagonists, especially if they are teenagers. This authority figure remains unusually steadfast in their disbelief right up until their inevitable death at the hands of whatever they didn’t believe in.
• An extreme close-up on a scream before a grisly death.
• The
  firearms
  ); e.g. in Chupacabra: Dark Seas, the heroine holds off the monster with martial arts when it proved invincible to even heavy firearms.
• The monster is only shown in short, blurry shots, and is never actually seen clearly; this supposedly heightens the mysterious nature of the monster, but could also be used due to the monster looking unrealistic because of a low budget.
• Exploration of dark, ramshackle houses will generally take place at night, during a blackout or storm.
• Teenagers in spooky places have sex or appear nude (especially in 1980s and 1990s horror films), and often die not long after. Usually in these films, the hero or heroine never appears nude (this applies for slasher films).
• The protagonists split up when staying together would give them a better chance at survival.
• Characters will hear a noise and wander, clearly terrified, through a nearly pitch-black house, but will not bother to turn on any lights or retrieve a flashlight. This almost inevitably ends in the characters getting scared by something harmless or someone playing a prank. Nobody stays where they are or tries to escape rather than investigate the noise.
• Most of the protagonists in zombie films are excellent marksmen, even if they've never had training or experience using a gun
• Most killers rarely use firearms, preferring knives or other cutting weapons. Despite the close range needed to use such weapons, a typical killer never runs; he or she only walks at a calm, measured pace. However, even if a victim (usually female) is running, the victim will still get caught and killed, and may trip due to fear or twist their ankle to slow them down.
• If there is a statue of the
  Virgin Mary onscreen, it usually begins to cry blood ^{[citation needed}
  ].
• Any characters trying to start the engine of the car during their escape will not survive.
• In stairways, there are usually conveniently placed items to throw down the stairs at the approaching villain, sometimes in the most ridiculous of places (e.g in the satirical Scream 2, one of the would-be victims gets to the third floor of a stair way and finds a conveniently placed bicycle right next to the stairs and chucks it at the villain).
• The characters that investigate dark hallways or abandoned areas nearly always die, or in zombie films are very lightly armed or are only carrying
  mêlée weapons
  .
• The monsters always uses alternative routes to get from room to room (e.g., air vents, elevator shafts, etc.).
• Very often the character(s) gets hit by blood or mucus dripping from the ceiling, and slowly looks up at the monster, which subsequently eats/kills them.
• Characters of a visible ethnic minority almost never survive to the end. This is known as DBTA (Dead By the Third Act), and extends to the token ethnic friends of the protaganist.
• The film ending with the hero and heroine or surviving female character kissing and leaving the scene of the monster’s/villain’s supposed destruction.
• Characters never just leave a spooky and obviously dangerous place unless they are being chased by the person/monster that is causing the trouble.
• A child will have an "imaginary friend" with an innocent sounding name that is really a demon or serial killer (The Exorcist, Hide and Seek, The Shining)
• Characters with video cameras will die gruesomely, and their deaths will be recorded on the camera.
• If the characters are taking a car trip and are caught in a storm they will go to a place that looks ominous but won’t just pull over and wait for the storm to pass. Also, if one of the people decides to leave the ominous building they used as shelter, the other people will object saying “the storm will kill you,” even though the chances of being killed by rain while walking to a car are slim to none.
• In most horror films, the first character to die by the villain is the rude, snobbish or boorish one.
• A villain who is a child or suffers from mental retardation is usually being influenced by someone else.
• The villain in slasher films who carry large very heavy weapons, usually Chainsaws and gasoline powered weapons, will usually run or jog at a rather fast rate despite the heaviness of the weapon.
• Also, chainsaws wielded by villains will never fail and can cut through everything from walls to steel plates, whereas in reality, chainsaws are extremely vulnerable to everything harder than wood and require excellent maintenance to work as well as shown.
• The setting almost always takes place in rural areas, away from cities.
• In most or all zombie movies, the zombies can be killed by shooting the head or destroying the brain. Automatic firearms are usually ineffective as their blurry fire will generally miss the head or brain.
• In zombie movies, the actual reason why the dead are rising from the grave is almost never explained (exceptions:
  Return of the Living Dead
  ).
• Unless a sequel is made, the main hero usually survives. (Final Destination)
• carnivorous dinosaurs, seem to want to eat humans almost exclusively (Jurassic Park
  ).
• Death or injury of a male character is funny, especially if he looks geeky (Jurassic Park).
• If a woman hears a noise coming from downstairs, she will proceed to investigate it with a very dull light, normally in her underwear or very thin sleeping garments.
• In slasher films, the killer is usually human, with no known supernatural or superhuman abilities. However, until they seem to be invulnerabile to all attacks until they are finally killed, usually in a spectacular fashion.

Martial arts

• A plot in which the hero (or heroes) faces a villain he cannot defeat. He then finds an ancient master or guardian that gives him a new power (better martial arts techniques, upgraded equipment, etc, usually shown with a training montage) with which he trounces the villain in the final scene.( The Karate Kid )
• Alternately, the hero starts the film with unstoppable martial arts abilities, and defeats most opponents with little difficulty, finally struggling only with the similarly skilled villain.
• The main villain is always an experienced martial arts master or otherwise excels at hand-to-hand fighting.
• A group of minor thugs will surround the hero but only attack one at a time. This rule is only violated when the plot dictates that the hero be captured, at which point they finally gang up on him. In a Saturday Night Live episode with John Goodman, a skit was used which specifically parodied this.
• Guns never interfere with a good mêlée. Often they are drawn only to be kicked away, forcing the combatants to go hand-to-hand. Sometimes retrieving the kicked-away lone gun is the object of the fight, as it continually gets knocked around the room during the martial arts battle (notable exception: Raiders of the Lost Ark).
• A hero can easily defeat a whole room full of enemies, but will then have abnormal difficulty with a one-on-one battle (which they will then eventually win after the villain’s “You fool, I… and you… and I…” monologue.
• The hero starts as reluctant to fight, until the villain kills or assaults someone close to the him (typically his brother, master, or wife/fianceé).
• The hero usually has an excuse to rip off his shirt and flex his muscles in a defiant pose before fighting the bad guys. (This rule does not apply to female martial artists, of course.)

Pornography

• A pizza boy arrives at the door, only to be greeted by a busty, scantily clad woman who apologizes for the fact she doesn’t have any money. The woman (or the pizza boy) suggests an alternative way in which she could pay him. An episode of Robot Chicken featuring Conan O’Brien as the pizza boy parodied this.
• A nurse and a patient discuss ways in which the nurse could help the patient feel better.
• A housewife is shown watching the poolboy, or the teenaged neighbor.
• A cheerleader and football player underneath the bleachers or in the locker room.
• A teacher and a student (most often, the student is portrayed wearing stockings, a plaid skirt, pigtails, a tied-off blouse and a tie).
• While someone is having sex in an office or woods, a third person is seen watching from afar in intrigue.
• In hardcore pornography, the female performer is expected to receive sperm (or cum) on her face or mouth (this can be varied, typically to breasts).
• A mysterious figure watches as a woman masturbates, only to later inadvertently attract the attention of said masturbator and be invited to join in the festivities.
• While a couple is having sex, a second female (often the man's wife) walks in and, after a moment of shock, joins them.
• Extremely poor or overexaggerated acting, or brief, inane dialogue.
• Most of the sets are crude, and set in either mansions, hotel rooms or in sound stages. Sometimes, studio lights can be seen above the walls.
• Sound quality is horrible. Traffic, echoes, and other white noise is common.
• The woman is enjoying the sex more than would be expected (i.e. theatrical screaming, moaning, and fake orgasms.)
• An attractive model appearing on the cover of the movie or DVD case and does not appear in the film at all.
• Purported "Teen" models look like they haven't been a teen for ten years or so.
• In some films (not "reality based or amateur" ones) the women, and even some men, appear to be under lots or heavy make-up.
• Lots of women have gone under extensive plastic and cosmetic surgery. Men have had penile enlargement or enhancement procedures.
• Men are able to produce seemingly endless amounts of semen. This is either done with pills, camera tricks, either naturally.
• Large-budget productions have more cut shots and elaborate camera angles. Sometimes, none of the girls or men appear to be sweating.
• Two girls sharing a bed end up finding a sex toy.
• Some low budget films feature footage overlapping. In some cases, sound doesn't synch up with the performers.
• Unarousing, usually poor music is a staple of the pornographic industry. Featuring saxophones, synthesizers, and more modernly, rap beats.
• Unimportant cutaways to interview sessions with the performers before or after their scenes. Most common questions revolve around their involvement in the industry. (i.e. "How long have you been doing this?" "Do you remember your first scene?" "What was your first time like?" "Do you enjoy sucking cock?" etc.)
• Most commonly during fellatio, a woman will pause to look directly into the camera (implying she is looking directly at the viewer) and ask arousing questions and talk dirty.
• Women will always be wearing shoes, even though to take off the clothing they are implied to have taken off would mean removing the shoes and putting them back on. (This is beacuse soundstages are dirty places you wouldn't want to walk around barefoot)

Professional wrestling

• If a match is slow and the audience does not respond, the announcers say quote that they are watching a "classic, old-school wrestling match."
• A new character, with a costume and gimmick that would be deemed laughable or silly, is shown to be dominant, and a serious threat.
• When the audience begins chanting an obscenity at the villain, the commentator will say, "What are they saying?"
• Any town in the American south, the audience are referred to as "hicks" by a heel during a promo.
• Any feud involving more than three people might at some point have a match between two of the feuding characters, with the third one as the special referee.
• Feuds over valets. One of the characters will be abusive.
• At the start of a battle royal, everyone will immediately gang up on the largest competitor.
• During a battle royal, everyone will become incapacitated except for the two largest men in the match, who are usually both monster heels, who will then fight each other
• During singles matches with extra competitors ("triple threat", "fatal 4-way", certain matches with ladders), all but two wrestlers will be incapacitated for long periods of time, with one of them recovering just in time to stop an attempted pinfall or submission.
• Faces are seemingly better fighters than heels. If a face wrestler and heel wrestler turn heel and face respectively, the newly turned face will then be the superior fighter.
• Heel champions will try to avoid/dodge having to put their title up for challenge, while Face champions will be "fighting" champions, even if they both only defend their title at the Pay Per View, held once a month.
• During a tag team match, the heel team will provoke the face partner, causing him to try to enter the ring. The referee will then rush to keep him out, leaving the heel team to perform dirty double-team moves on the face wrestler in the ring
• Members of tag teams rarely, if ever, compete for singles titles
• One member of a tag team will eventually be chosen to be a singles competitor, making their partner angry, starting a feud
• Singles wrestlers the company has no current plans for will form a tag-team, usually winning the championship in a short period of time. Within a few months, they will lose the championship (or finally fail to win it), causing a split, starting a feud between the two
• If a large wrestler or "hoss", is very athletic and moves quickly for his size, he will play a face character
• A wrestler will go through the announcers table. However, they are not made out of wood and seemingly are designed to collapse.
• Wrestlers involved in backstage will act as if the cameras and crews aren't even there, although they will lineup in a manner to make sure every face can be seen by the camera
• When a heel wrestler is losing a match or has taken a great amount of punishment, he will get on his knees and place his hands above his face, or call a time-out.
• When a heel wrestler doesn't get a pinfall, he will complain to the referee.
• During a crucial part of a match, a referee will get "knocked unconscious". (i.e. Referee bump)
• Face wrestlers use "clean" and acrobatic moves, while heel wrestlers use "dirty moves" like eye gouges and low blows.
• Wrestlers who portray characters that are "mentally unstable", are allowed to compete despite the fact that in reality, this would create unsafe working conditions.
• Face wrestlers never physically assault anyone, unless they have been "pushed over the edge."
• Wrestlers physically assault each other outside of competition, even though this would technically be a crime.
• Wrestlers cheat behind the referee's back, but don't acknowledge the audience as witnesses.
• No wrestling organization ever implements "instant replay" such as found in football or basketball
• Female wrestlers (eg,
  WWE Divas
  ) always wear, fight and speak in a suggestive manner in order to receive a positive response from the male-dominant audience.
• The referee seemingly cannot hear the sound of someone being hit with a chair or other foreign object. Also, the referee seemingly doesn't have the common sense to know that a heel wrestler's valet, manager, or partner is distracting them for that very reason.
• The heel women's Champion, whom the other female heels follow around, similar to a clique
• Two major rivals will end up teaming up and becoming Tag Team Champions; it is implied that tag teaming together is similar to the "two opposites stuck together" plot.
• Any time someone goes to the ring to talk or make a presentation, their current rival will interrupt them.
• Heel wrestlers commit hateful crimes such as attempted murder, kidnapping, and rape, but upon turning face, people seemingly forget about the former heel's transgressions and they are instantly redeemed (See: Big Boss Man who was a corrupt, abusive policeman until he turned face, at which time he became a paragon of virtue)

(See Kayfabe)

General

No matter what kind of dispute two people in a relationship are having, it will always be resolved by one finding out the sex of their unborn child.

• Male Character: "I'm going in". Female Character: "I'm coming with you". Male Character: "No, it's too dangerous"
• Computers have a much more advanced user interfaces than in real life. Graphical user interfaces tend to have very flashy color schemes and animations, and little text (the text on the screen will be in big, bold fonts). Often, every keystroke or button click will have a loud sound effect which, while mostly trivial to implement in real life, would most likely annoy when used on a real computer. Performance is almost instantaneous.
  • A
    command line interface
    almost always accepts and understands commands in plain English.
  • When receiving
    E-mail, a letter will fly across the screen and open. (Mission: Impossible
    )
  • When hacking into a computer, the “hacker” only uses a keyboard and the screen displays DOS, running at a very low baud (letters visibly appear on the screen in sequence). If there is a password, there will be a large “ACCESS DENIED” on the screen and “ACCESS GRANTED” will appear when the hero cracks it (which usually takes only seconds). The password is usually something personal or easily guessable. Occasionally, systems will be trivial to bypass, either by typing a word/phrase such as BYPASS or OVERRIDE (Demolition Man), using a "hacking program" or connecting some sort of "hacking device" (often a cellphone containing a hacking program).
  • If there is a virus being uploaded to a computer, the screen of the target computer will glitch, or show visual evidence such as a skull and crossbones (Hackers, Independence Day).
  • If people are surveying a building, a wire-frame model with all features (such as security systems) of the building is mapped out. (Ocean’s Twelve)
  • Security guards can zoom in a grainy surveillance tape with impossibly high clarity to make out a person’s face, license plate, or other information. (The Chase)
  • However, no matter how advanced a computer is, it will shut down displaying a shrinking white dot/line in the middle of a screen, similar to an old vacuum-tube based television.
• Cops don’t have to use the least amount of force possible. An officer just has to say “Halt it’s the Police” and if the suspect runs he can be shot at, and if the cop is close he can knock the suspect unconscious, instead of simply pinning him or using handcuffs.
• Characters who are ghosts can often walk through walls, but conversely do not fall through floors.
• A character shown speaking on a telephone hangs up angrily without saying good-bye.
• Characters rarely ever wear the same thing twice unless it is crucial to the plot that they do so (Notable exception: Clark Kent in
  Smallville, who nearly always dresses in red and blue, and Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy
  , whose character constantly complains of her limited wardrobe, blaming her husband's cheapness to comic effect. In animated cartoons, the characters almost always wear the same clothing, which is explained in some cartoons by the character's clothing containers containing nothing but several copies of the character's trademark attire).
• Characters in a school are very rarely or never suspended, even if they have committed something generally viewed as tyrannic behavior. (Harry Potter, Mean Girls, Kim Possible, Recess, That’s So Raven.)
• A school-going character who has received As his/her whole academic life gets a B or lower and freaks out (Episode 60 of The Simpsons, Episode 51 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Hey Arnold!, Saved by the Bell).
• The ongoing, on-again-off-again relationship. Most often the two characters involved will finally get together on a permanent basis towards the end of a series. (Friends, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, etc.)
• An episode that radically changes the major situation will be revealed at the end as having been nothing more than a dream or hallucination. (See Reset button technique)
• In modern films set in a historical era, the women are often portrayed as just as capable as men in combat (Danielle de Barbarac in
  Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, and Elena in The Mask of Zorro and The Legend of Zorro
  ).
• In stories involving racing competitions, the villain is more focused on attacking the hero than winning the race (obviously leading to his doom, or, at least, losing the race in the last few seconds.)
• A main character will have a near-death experience and gain a new aspect on life. This often leads them to have major personality change, usually a more positive one (Gregory House in House, M.D., Joe Banks in Joe Versus the Volcano, Georgia Byrd in Last Holiday)
• If a woman has long hair, she almost always wears it down, even in situations (food preparation, combat, etc.) where it would be safer or more convenient to have it tied back. Her hair will blow around in the wind and rain, but it will never snarl or tangle. The worst she will get is a fairly attractive case of bed head. Exception: If the female character has glasses, she always wears her hair tied back or up. She will then become strikingly beautiful when she removes her glasses and either gets her hair cut or lets it down. (Laney Boggs in She’s All That, Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality)
• A character (usually a father) discovers a pregnancy test and assumes it to be a teenage girl's, when in reality it is their wife’s or friend’s. It usually turns out that the wife or friend is not pregnant after all, (e.g., Grounded For Life,Neighbours).
• Heroes in historical settings generally have modern values (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Patriot, Shrek).
• In plots involving high-tech information stored on a computer disk, it never occurs to those affected to make backup copies.
• A large and physically intimidating character is often nicknamed “Tiny.”
• A character can only invite a limited number of people to an event. Invariably, more people want to go, often creating a dilemma.
• Staying in one place. The episode's plot will revolve around going somewhere, but the event will either be cancelled or the episode will end with the characters leaving for said place.
• At the end of the episode, either everyone will end up going to an event or none of them will go. (The Brady Bunch, Full House, Episode 37 of Malcolm in the Middle, The Cosby Show finale.)
• A character who lost their prior job in a humiliating and/or high-profile way will then go to a new job interview full of hope, only to be shot down by the interviewer, who is only interested in teasing them about their past misfortune (Fun with Dick and Jane, Jersey Girl).
• If a character lends his/her cell phone to another, no one calls to speak to the owner of the phone.
• Cell phones do not have ringtones, except for comedic purposes.
  • These ringtones are always monophonic, even though the cell phone is modern enough to support polyphonic ringtones or better.
• In order to fill time, people will not call someone else’s cell phone, but will “go to find them” which will take enough time for a situation to get worse, or for the group’s geek/genius to find a solution.
• When discovering an unknown person, artifact, vehicle or villain’s lair, plans or real face, the hero or team-member never take a picture, and instead try to describe what they saw, which delays the solution.
• People tend to read IMs and text messages out loud to themselves as they send or receive them.
• Similarly, people will read letters they are writing out loud to themselves as they write them.
• When computers are processing information, thet usually make beeping or clicking noises that are uncharacteristic of real computers.
• A character, usually male, will suspect that his wife/girlfriend is having an affair and later find out she is not.
• A child or teenager who does something naughty almost always gets caught.
• An adult caucasian male character playing a game with someone who is not an adult caucasian male will generally lose.
• Amounts of money are never said out loud, only read off a piece of paper (usually with a shocked/amused, etc. reaction to tell the audience the approximate amount).
• A main character who is portrayed as a loser or as someone who has difficulty finding a date is played by an actor/actress who would be considered attractive by most people’s standards (e.g.,
  Rachel Leigh Cook in She’s All That
  ).
• When a character gives a passionate speech, the American flag and/or fireworks will be shown in the background.
• In a sports movie, (particularly boxing) the protagonist will lose, but the audience will chant his name and he’ll be a hero anyway. (The first and last
  Annapolis
  also Cars)
• When the antagonist finally catches his enemy, the hero will say defiantly, "You'll never get away with this!"
• Despite a series being set in a certain region, i.e. (New York, New Jersey, Hawaii) the majority of the characters will not speak the local dialect and will instead speak
  General American
  .
• Despite a series being set in locations with significant minority/non-white populations, the regular cast will have zero or at most one or two token non-white characters, but will have plenty of attractive white characters. (
  Laguna Beach, Acapulco H.E.A.T., North Shore (TV series)
  )
• Split personalities will occur far more commonly than in real life. When it is explained at all, it is often attributed to a single minorly traumatic event (Two-Face on Batman: The Animated Series). Often a character will "develop" a split personality with no previous signs of major mental disorders (Latka on Taxi, Steve Urkel on Family Matters
  ).
• Tourette's syndrome
  is invariably portrayed as producing only profanity, when this is in fact a relatively uncommon symptom. No other symptoms (muscle twitches, etc.) ever accompany the cursing.
• At the moment of plot resolution, one character in a crowd will begin to clap slowly, and more people will join in, turning into enthusiastic applause. (Cool Runnings, Rudy, Revenge of the Nerds)
• Night-time outdoor scenes set in a town nearly always have streets that are wet and shiny, probably as a result of rain, however the wet streets and the rain rarely have any connection with the plot, and are never mentioned (this is usually done to increase lighting and exposure while filming at night).
• Gay male characters completely based on stereotypes (i.e. confirms or overrules her fashion sense, has effeminate voice, is sought for potential criticism of her boyfriends) often serve as accessories to female characters. However, if the show or movie is a drama, these gay characters will be "straight acting" as if they are trying to avoid acting like a stereotype.
• Many storylines feature gay male characters struggling with their sexuality, yet lesbian characters are seemingly more accepting of their sexual orientation.
• Vikings always wear helmets with horns (real Vikings never did).
• Scenes in a living room will almost always include a baby grand piano, yet the piano has no connection with the plot and is never played.
• Cartoon characters being able to defy gravity until they realize that they are doing so.
• Characters enjoying cuisine, but when they learn the ingredients of the dish they are eating, it is no longer appealing, and they may become disgusted, nauseated, or have an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients.
• Despite the knowledge and education/training required, tradesmen such as mechanics, plumbers, or TV/film crew are often portrayed as slovenly people with low intelligence.
• People wear shoes when they are at home, although in real life, most people do not.
• Any white person of Hispanic/Latino or Middle Eastern descent will be recognized by their ethnicity, despite not having any visibly ethnic features.
• Legal documents can be rendered null and void simply by tearing them into pieces, and no party will make an effort to enforce the conditions of a document once it has been destroyed, although in real life, a party can still file a lawsuit for not fulfilling the terms of a contract if they have any other proof that an agreement was made
• Teenage characters are often played by actors well into their twenties. This is in order to display teenage characters engaging in sexual acts without having to get an actor's parental consent, as well as possible issues with child pornography laws.
• Characters with some sort of secret, with the possibility of negative consequences if it were revealed. Often an antagonist is the only other person who knows this secret and focuses all of their energy into exposing it. Everyone will often think that the antagonist is insane.
• Characters having a fantasy sequence will be seen acting out the fantasy once it is over. Another character has to snap them back to reality, leading to an awkward moment.

See also

• Lists of clichés
• Television-originated phrases

External links

• The Big Fat List of TV Cliches
• Television Tropes & Idioms Wiki
• The Movie Clichés List
• Things you would never know without the movies this list is reprinted on different websites – original author: Aldo Nadi.
• Ebert's Movie Cliches
• List of Movie Rules Part 1
• List of Movie Rules Part 2

[[:Category:Clichés]] [[:Category:Lists of films|Clichés]] [[:Category:Television lists|Clichés]]