Pet Peeves and Tired Tropes: 30+ Things TV Needs to Stop Doing Immediately!
You know we adore the magical world of television, but we have looked away from quite a few TV tropes for far too long. Now, we draw the line.
In years past, TVLine delivered a deep-dive investigation into the maddening #EmptyCoffeeCups phenomenon and begged the collective Powers That Be to stop having the resident know-it-all be told to “Put it in English!,” but unfortunately, there are many more absurdities and unpleasantries that continue to grind our gears. In the list below, we’re airing out all of our grievances.
More from TVLine
Killing Eve: The 10 Best Villanelle and Eve Moments, Ranked - Watch Video
Grey's Anatomy: The Most Memorable Moments of Season 17, Ranked
From hospital IVs that get rrrrrriped out of one’s vein with zero regard, to ridiculously ginormous “no cell phone signal” alerts that our iPhones have never, ever displayed, we’re calling these out and begging TV to STOP.
The 30+ examples listed here do not capture every TV Pet Peeve out there, but due to the small screen’s growing mass of repeat offenders, we had no choice but to shine a blinding light on them.
Review our list of pet peeves and tired tropes below, then sound off with those that drive you most batty — maybe we’ll add yours in a future update!
OBVIOUSLY EMPTY COFFEE CUPS
In case you couldn’t tell from them being whipped around as if filled to the rim with air… tilted at 45-degree angles… or by the hollow “plock!” sound made when set down on a counter/desk. We could go on (and once did.) Also see: Obviously empty handbags, purses and suitcases.
THE DOORBELL FAKE-OUT
That thing where your doorbell rings shortly after your roommate/spouse has left — and it’s very late at night, and there is the threat of danger — but you assume, “Oh, silly Suzie, did you forget your keys…?” But no, Suzie never forgets her keys. Instead, it’s the evil person, and he is here to kill you.
THE INSTANT WEDDING OFFICIANT
Don’t get us wrong — sometimes it is rather sweet/meaningful when a couple gets to be wed by a close friend. But more and more it seems as if “I got ordained online during the commercial break!” (as Cisco above did) is a go-to gimmick to insert a major or recurring character into a wedding/vow renewal ceremony.
THE NON-EXISTENT TEXT HISTORY
How is it that when two characters who absolutely, positively, must have have texted before start up a conversation, it often appears as if this is their first exchange ever?
INFO-TEASE-MENT
When infotainment shows (e.g. Extra, Entertainment Tonight) seem to spend two minutes — complete with video/interview snippets — simply previewing “What’s Coming Up After the Break!” Know what? Just go to commercial and come back already!
THE TELEGRAPHED T-BONE
Perhaps made most famous by the Alias Season 4 finale — which here at TVLine, at least, coined the term “Vaughn’d” — too often a director will conspicuously change the framing of a car scene just ahead of a T-bone car crash, so that we can see the approaching vehicle. Related….
WATCH THE ROAD!
As TVLine reader Al suggested, “How about when the driver is talking to passenger with their eyes off the road for much longer that would ever be safe?!”
TEENY-TINY BIG CITIES
At least Jack Bauer sometimes had trouble getting around L.A. as the clock tick-tick-ticked. But somehow, on shows such as The Rookie, getting from wherever you might be in a major metro area to the place where a crime is being crimed usually takes inside of 15 off-camera minutes.
‘BABE,’ I GOT (LOTS OF) YOU, ‘BABE’
Does it seem like both halves of every single couple, on every TV show, are using “Babe” as the chosen term of endearment? And multiple times within a single, brief conversation? Legends of Tomorrow’s Ava and Sara (sigh, remember them?) regularly set per-episode records with this verbal tic, followed closely by This Is Us‘ Kate and Toby. But nowadays we’re looking at you, Ghosts‘ Sam and Jay….
OH, IT’S JUST A SCRATCH!
When wounds that in real life would definitely take you out of commission for at least a short while — like, getting shot in the shoulder — are treated like mere irritations. (“The bullet went through, I’m fine!”)
THE LONG(-ABSENT) GOODBYE
TV characters almost never, ever say goodbye before hanging up the phone.
BIG, FAT CELL PHONE ALERTS
While the rest of us are squinting to see if we have that one sliver of a cell signal bar, TV characters get alerts they can easily read from three arm lengths away! (Heavens, Five-0 sleuth Danny Williams’ phone here says “No Service,” has a giant icon, and then for good measure also says “Signal Strength: NONE.”) Conversely, as TVLine reader SpunkySenior commented, “How about when they show you the face of someone’s phone and the letters are so small you can’t see what’s written?”
‘QUICK, TURN ON THE NEWS!’
Suggested by TVLine reader Cruachan, “There is a phone call to tell someone to change to ‘channel X,’” at which point the news anchors “announce the story… that the person phoning somehow already knew about?”
BIG, FAT COMPUTER ALERTS
Was the villain able to delete the compromising email in time, before the feds barged in? You know he was! (And so, too, does the person in the skyscraper office across the street, because the confirmation message is huge.)
THE SAD SACK
When someone in a family of more than two people goes grocery shopping and comes home with a singular bag (or just maybe a whopping three, if you are Mike “Household of 9 Plus Tiger” Brady). Related: Said crinkle-free paper bag always has some green leafy thing dangling out of the top, or a baguette.
‘A WORD, PLEASE?’
Please, please, please let us know in Comments if in your own life you have ever asked to speak to someone by saying to them, “A word…?”
THE WELL-HEELED COP
Otherwise known as the FBI agent/cop who can give chase, leap across buildings and manage close-quarters combat whilst in admittedly impractical footwear. And hey, we’re not just talking about Castle‘s Beckett up above. Also see: Hawaii Five-0′s McGarett, clambering across rooftops and leaping across alleyways onto narrow downspouts in… flat-soled Chuck Taylors?
BACKUP? I DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ BACKUP!
A person is in imminent peril, so the lead cop/detective ventures out alone — no matter the distance, no matter how remote the location — to facilitate a rescue, always finding a reason to not call for backup. It… seldom ends well.
COMMS ARTISTS
Yes, TV has scores of cops, spies and crimefighters — but at this rate we’re half-expecting an Outlander character to tap their ear to speak through a hidden earwig comms device! Related: Can we talk about the remarkable range and reception that these comms get? We once saw MacGyver above freely banter with his team from inside a stone well and while navigating subterranean tunnels.
SUPER-SHARP SURVEILLANCE VIDEO
Pretty much every single security camera — be it on a lamppost, a traffic cam or in the crummiest of bodegas — record their video in the highest-quality HD, allowing for seemingly improbable, crystal-clear zoom-in on license plates that are 30 yards away. (Except, of course, when it serves the plot that they don’t.)
LIGHTEN UP, TV SHOWS!
As addressed in this TVLine op-ed — and exacerbated during pandemic-era filming, where crew members couldn’t spent as much time on-set, fiddling with lighting — some shows mistake “dark and moody” with “dark and… wait, where is everybody?” We see you, House of the Dragon (above, we think?) and Ozark. (Though technically, we almost don’t!)
THERE’S AMMO WHERE THAT CAME FROM!
Dystopian/post-apocalyptic dramas where there is little regard for expended ammo, even though some poor chump somewhere would have to be saddled with making new bullets from scratch. (See: Falling Skies, Revolution, Walking Dead…)
STOP! OR I’LL… CHASE AFTER YOU!
One would think that a detective tracking down a perp’ would wait until he or she was arm’s length away before whipping out their badge and claiming to be 5-0. But too often do we see TV cops blabbing their identities from across the street (or atop a fire escape), allowing their shady targets to easily flee the scene. The LEOs then grumble, “I hate it when they run,” while we are left to roll our eyes. (NCIS: LA‘s Daniela Ruah once went off on this Trope for us.)
DUMB HEADLINES
Newspaper headlines are written in such a way as to speak to you, the person watching a TV show, as opposed to how they’d ever be crafted by an actual editor. (And don’t get us started on the actual lead paragraphs — the rare times the prop guy attempts to write one.)
TALK NERDY TO ME
Asking the jargon-spewing tech whiz to “put it in English” — because he/she simply hasn’t learned to speak more plainly, even after years of working with you/fielding your inevitable, glazed-eye follow-up question. (As noted here, Arrow once did it three times in a single episode.) Related: “Bitcoin? Ugh, explain this crypto stuff to me!”
THE IMPOSSIBLE EAVESDROP
A character walks into a scene curiously commenting on something they couldn’t realistically have overheard. (“Oh, and what secret would that be, Daphne…?”)
RIPPING OUT IVs
Hey, at least CBS’ Evil got things right when David in Season 1 sought to usurp a nasty nurse by tearing out his IV, and wound up bleeding badly. But in almost every other as-seen-on-TV instance, the untrained, brisk removal of a catheter inserted through the skin into a vein is depicted as being as simple and consequence-free as the ripping off of a store-brand Band-Aid!
AY-AY-AY TUNES
When the pop soundtrack is so aggressive, it drowns out the dialogue — and oftentimes important squad room exposition!
Best of TVLine
The Best Streaming Services in 2024: Disney+, Hulu, Max and More
What's New on Netflix in January — Plus: Disney+, Hulu, Amazon and Others
Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
