Ten of TV’s Most Obnoxious, Overused Tropes (2023)

FAQs

What is the most overused trope? ›

Average person takes the crown

There is something about an average person who suddenly discovers that there is something special about him / her. We all wish that this could happen to us, but this has been one of the most overused tropes.

Tropes should serve your story, not the other way around. What is most important in your story are your characters, the relationship between them, and the 'journey' they go on. Tropes work best when you don't notice them, or can subvert them in some way.

A trope is a theme or device used in storytelling. They are usually common or overused. We can think of them like clichés, but on a greater scale. A lot of tv shows use tropes to help guide the audience through their story in a way that feels familiar and digestible.

Some of the most used tropes are metaphor, irony, euphemism, and allegory.

When you see a kid running around with a cape and know they're pretending to be a superhero, you've recognized the trope that superheroes wear capes. That's all a trope is: a commonplace, recognizable plot element, theme, or visual cue that conveys something in the arts.

The word “trope” is often used as a pejorative in and of itself, but it's better to think of it as a neutral term. Tropes are simply communication tools and aren't inherently harmful to use in your stories. In fact, if executed well, tropes allow you to do very interesting things as a creator.

By the same logic, although it is impossible to avoid all tropes, there are some individual tropes writers would be better off avoiding for all manner of reasons. Some constitute lazy storytelling, some are overused and tired – and some can even be offensive.

The cliché character relies on tropes and stereotypes to function, as though every decision were filtered through a singular concept of humanness. This character lacks depth and reasoning; they don't contribute a unique perspective or set of circumstances.

A cliche is a phrase that is overused or stereotypical. Sometimes a trope that has been overdone, is severely dated, or was trash to begin with is referred to as a cliche or a “cliched trope.”

What's another word for trope? ›

In this page you can discover 16 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for trope, like: figure-of-speech, simile, figure, archetype, topos, allegory, metaphor, intertextuality, hypertextuality, meta-narrative and comparison.

Definition of trope

(Entry 1 of 2) 1a : a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech. b : a common or overused theme or device : cliché the usual horror movie tropes.

Now, hangout comedy is a loose term, a subgenre of sitcoms. Since the dawn of television, almost any sitcom to date can be classified in one of three categories: family comedy, workplace comedy, or friends comedy. Go ahead, try to think of a show that doesn't fall into at least one of those three genres.

Antonyms. unsarcastic sarcastic congruity congruousness humility understatement decrease. personification simile irony synecdoche rhetorical device.

On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. A trope is like a song in a familiar key; you may not know all the words, but you can probably sing along with the chorus. A cliché, on the other hand, is hoary and old.

Simply put, a “notion” exists in a mental form, like an idea or a desire. A “meme” exists in a more tangible form and is contagious, like a quirky fashion or a video clip that goes viral. Finally, a “trope” exists in a literary form, like a figure of speech or a thematic device.

The American literary theorist Kenneth Burke described “the four master tropes” to be metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony.

What is the difference between trope and theme? ›

A trope in literature is defined as a recurring theme or a literary device that can be found in many different texts. Tropes often refer to archetypes, stereotypes, themes, motifs, and symbols that are used over and over again.

Tropes exist because they have a universal appeal and understanding—the tale types of fairy tales permeate our literature to this day. I recently have read a handful of short stories and flash fiction that effectively use tropes to subvert them, and make a greater commentary.

Contrary to what you might think, using a trope does not make your writing boring or repetitive. Instead, tropes are one of the basic ingredients for your story. They can fuel the premise of your story or help you out in the middle of your book if you use them wisely.

Love Triangle. The love triangle is one of the biggest clichés, and it occurs much often in romance novels, as well as in other genres that are sprinkled with romance, especially in Young Adult. However, this doesn't mean that you can't have a love triangle in your book – but if you do, you have to make it believable.

: a trite phrase or expression. also : the idea expressed by it. : a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation. 3. : something (such as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace.

Mary Sue is a derogatory criticism for a character that fits either or both of two character archetypes; 1: an author-insert character used for wish-fulfillment and/or 2: an idealized character who is talented at everything and has no meaningful flaws but may have a tragic backstory.

If the audience can't stand your main character, then they probably won't get very far in the story. We call this critical factor a character's “likability.” We've previously described how you can make your character likable by giving them sympathetic, selfless, and interesting traits.

What is it called when a trope is overused? ›

A cliche is either a trope that has become overused (perhaps misused), or a specific, overused metaphor.

Trope sentence example. Of course, the car chase is a standard trope of the Hollywood film, never the traffic jam. Moving from vampires to aliens, she turns the trope of "aliens among us" into interesting scifi through her skill at bringing the characters to life and making the reader care.

History. Trope has been in English about five centuries, and its meaning has been mostly consistent through this time. It descends from the Latin tropus, meaning figure of speech, which in turn comes from a Greek word meaning a turn—itself a trope referring to the figurative turning of words from their literal meanings ...

ready-made, tried-and-true, unimaginative, uninspired, unoriginal.

It's your turn to make the connection between “turning,” figures of speech, and the tropics at our entries for the words. The combining forms -tropic and -tropous can be used as adjective forms of nouns ending with –trope, –tropy, and -tropism.

Meaning of Trope in Tagalog is : tropo

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This wiki is about tropes, which are conventions and tools in storytelling. But not everything we record is a trope, nor is everything in storytelling a trope. Some things that aren't tropes may still be notable enough to get their own pages on the wiki, but others may not.

Trope: (in a romantic novel) a plot, theme, device or character used so often that it has become a convention within the genre. In other words: a romantic trope is the thing readers buy the romance for! Tropes aren't cliches, really, and they aren't formulas. They definitely aren't a paint by numbers novel solution.

Rhetorical schemes describe the arrangement of individual sounds (phonological schemes), the arrangement of words (morphological schemes), and sentence structure (syntactical schemes). Rhetorical tropes are devices of figurative language.

The highest-rated American sitcom on many lists, Friends is, by far, deserving of its accolades. The show allows the audience to bond with the characters and makes them feel as if they are a part of the friend group.

What show has the largest cast? ›

The first US sitcom was Mary Kay and Johnny (DuMont 1947), domestic tales of New York newlyweds.

If you sell an idea or a storyline, you can expect to get $5,000 on the front-end and about $20,000 on the back-end if the movie gets produced. If you sell a treatment, you should expect around $15,000 on the front end and $30,000 on the back-end.

Fantasy Plot Ideas

Everyone is born with three wishes in life that they are not allowed to use until (input age here). A contest for the queen after the sudden death of said queen from a magical realm. The bridge between the realm of the fae and mortal shrinks with each day while tensions run high.

The best plots combine strong writing with original ideas and have a very good understanding of what drives and motivates characters. If you've listened to a friend or colleague tell a rambling story with no coherent beginning, middle, or end, you already understand the importance of structure.

-- Sitcoms allow us to relate to the characters as if they are people we know. In so doing, we enjoy rich social lives, full of interesting people. We may have a sense that we relate to them directly or through other characters we identify with in the story.

A review of the sitcom The Hank McCune Show in a 1950 issue of Variety described the first known use of a laugh track on TV: “Although the show is lensed on film without a studio audience, there are chuckles and yucks dubbed in.

The term sitcom derives from the word situation comedy. This popular format of entertainment is a weekly show that entails a regular cast of characters in a sequence of episodes which mainly take place in the same location.

Love Triangle. The love triangle is one of the biggest clichés, and it occurs much often in romance novels, as well as in other genres that are sprinkled with romance, especially in Young Adult. However, this doesn't mean that you can't have a love triangle in your book – but if you do, you have to make it believable.

What are common literary tropes? ›

On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. A trope is like a song in a familiar key; you may not know all the words, but you can probably sing along with the chorus. A cliché, on the other hand, is hoary and old.

Definition of cliché

1 : a trite phrase or expression also : the idea expressed by it. 2 : a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation. 3 : something (such as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace.

The cliché character relies on tropes and stereotypes to function, as though every decision were filtered through a singular concept of humanness. This character lacks depth and reasoning; they don't contribute a unique perspective or set of circumstances.

1. Love Triangle. One of the most common tropes of romance literature: three characters are competing for each other's love, and only two will pair off. This is a favorite romance trope for creating tension, since the reader wonders who will pair off and who will be left alone with their painfully unrequited love.

a tired cliché (=boring because it has been used so often)The story is based on a series of tired clichés. a worn-out cliché (=very boring)His writing is full of worn-out clichés.

Trope: (in a romantic novel) a plot, theme, device or character used so often that it has become a convention within the genre. In other words: a romantic trope is the thing readers buy the romance for! Tropes aren't cliches, really, and they aren't formulas. They definitely aren't a paint by numbers novel solution.

In this page you can discover 16 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for trope, like: figure-of-speech, simile, figure, archetype, topos, allegory, metaphor, intertextuality, hypertextuality, meta-narrative and comparison.

Simply put, a “notion” exists in a mental form, like an idea or a desire. A “meme” exists in a more tangible form and is contagious, like a quirky fashion or a video clip that goes viral. Finally, a “trope” exists in a literary form, like a figure of speech or a thematic device.

Why do tropes exist? ›

Tropes exist because they have a universal appeal and understanding—the tale types of fairy tales permeate our literature to this day. I recently have read a handful of short stories and flash fiction that effectively use tropes to subvert them, and make a greater commentary.

A cliche is either a trope that has become overused (perhaps misused), or a specific, overused metaphor.

A cliche is a phrase that is overused or stereotypical. Sometimes a trope that has been overdone, is severely dated, or was trash to begin with is referred to as a cliche or a “cliched trope.”