Sitcoms are known for overusing certain tropes within television. Some of these tropes are outdated at this point and should be done away with.
As society progresses and cultural acceptance for all emerges as a standard for society, accepted cultural representations modify and improve. The 1960s heralded the world's first multiracial kisses on TV both in the US and the UK. Sixty years later, interracial relationships are a common part of mediatic representations, accepted as the norm.
Sitcoms are often a great and yet unpredictable, barometer for reading socio-cultural changes. On the one hand, they enable the normalization of formerly oppressed societal groups. On the other hand, they can sometimes fall behind in reading the cultural and political atmosphere, representing change only after it has become normalized for fear of public backlash. In most cases, sitcoms play it safe, resulting in outdated tropes that are offensive in present day.
When Archer's best friend, Lucas Troy, fakes his own death, he calls Archer to tell him of his plan to start a bed and breakfast under a new identity. Archer's friends are all concerned that Lucas is gay, and in love with him, but Archer dismisses them. Soon, it becomes clear to Archer that his best friend murdered other spies to steal millions in bearer bonds. Once Troy finds out that Lana and Cyril followed Archer to his secret location, he tries to murder them, only to be killed by Lana. As he takes his final breath, Lucas admits to Archer that he drugged and did unspeakable things to him one night.
This is one of many incidents where Archer is forced or coerced into homosexual sexual activity by characters in the show. The joke is simple: forcing a virile heterosexual man to be gay is wrong. It strips him of his power, therefore it is funny because gay men are powerless.
As society began to include lesbians and gays into mainstream culture, it also had to include people belonging to other LGBTQ+ categories. Unfortunately, this resulted in a backlash for LGBTQ+ people, as exemplified when Dave Chappelle did the "Alphabet people" stand up bit. Presently, society is still coming to terms with understanding issues surrounding sexuality. Whereas sexuality was rigid and well-defined in the past, today it is fluid.
Sexually fluid people, pansexuality, is often portrayed as a free-for-all without any moral boundaries, where humanity is no longer recognized. Dean Pelton in Community is portrayed as a pansexual man who has a Dalmatian fetish. This is incredibly inappropriate because it portrays pansexual people as people who are sexually deviant and perverse, rather than people who are simply attracted to all humans, regardless of how they define themselves.
The stupid husband is so ubiquitous in media, that it expands past sitcoms to include other media forms. The stupid (often carefree and fun-loving) husband can be found in advertisements, films, children's television, and more. It involves a husband who would literally die without his wife around. He is also always a bad father, who needs his female partner around to take care of a baby.
In The Simpsons, Homer loses Maggie after one day of taking care of her. This sexist trope presumes that all men are helpless at emotional and domestic tasks, while simultaneously being able to run corporations, hold down jobs, and more. It supposes a lack of emotional intelligence for all men at a time when men are encouraged to learn to become attuned to their emotional side. Sitcoms like Modern Family and The King Of Queens employ this trope habitually.
The hot-crazy scale was popularized by playboy, Barney, on How I Met Your Mother. The scale explains that, out of nearly 4 billion women in the world, it is impossible to find a woman who is attractive but also not crazy. Incredibly patriarchal, the trope suggests that women can only be categorized according to their usefulness to men, as either wives and sexual playthings. Furthermore, the trope is a misogynistic representation of male fear of female sexuality, hence why it deems women who are attractive as naturally crazy, tapping back into Victorian values of female hysteria and the repression of female sexuality.
Sex work has existed since the beginning of civilization. Yet the taboo of sex work has remained with human societies for centuries. In sitcoms, disrespecting a sex worker is common. More to the point, these characters are often portrayed as amoral grifters out to use people for their benefit. Trinette (Archer) and Phoebe's twin sister, Ursula (Friends) are perfect examples of amoral sex workers whom audiences are encouraged to mock. In the episode of Friends where Monica accidentally books for a sex worker to meet Chandler at home, Chandler insults her in very derogatory terms just for doing her job.
Although the amoral female sex worker is portrayed as being deserving of scorn, the male womanizer is portrayed as a good guy with whom audiences should empathize. Joey Tribbiani sleeps with numerous women on Friends and ditches them callously the next morning. Despite this, Joey is represented as a loveable, all-around nice guy. Alternatively, Sterling Archer is portrayed as having to womanize as a defense against being able to form lasting relationships with women. Yet his character arch is given a redemption once he learns that he is to become a father.
The womanizer only ever changes when he either falls in love or becomes a father, essentially portraying men as unable to choose to be respectful to women on their own merit without domesticity taming them.
The speech is the go to of every leader in a group to rile up everyone into trying one last time, inevitably leading to success. Community parodies the speech when Jeff gives speeches to rally the group up after being locked in a mental institution, and, then, after being locked in a Mexican standoff. With the speech, Jeff is shown to be able to get his group through anything. The speech, however, is hyper-unrealistic. Most people do not give speeches to rally people up in real-life workplaces, families, colleges, or stand-offs. It has become a lazy way to engage audiences' emotional investment just before the climax of an episode.
One of TV's most popular overbearing mother-in-law is Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. Marie constantly meddles in her sons' relationships, not caring about hurting their wives. Her emotional codependency with her sons is treated as one sick joke, with Marie herself being the tagline of the joke.
The annoying mother-in-law is another lazy trope because it often does not dive into why the mother-in-law is displaying classic signs of emotional unhealthiness. Rather than try to get her mental help, her family often simply shames her, enables her, or both, and the toxic environment she creates is buried under the rug.
The shrill wife and mother (figure) is a woman who craves control over the people around her. She is often seen shouting at the people around her, and telling them what to do. She is the self-appointed moral compass of the people around her and, as a result, a fun-stealer. The Shrill Wife is The Stupid Husband's counterpart, and they are often paired together. A good example of this is when Lana uses Archer's sperm for conception, without his permission, then tests him first to see if she can trust him to leave their baby alone with him for a few days.
The fat loser has been a canon of TV sitcoms since sitcoms like The Honeymooners first aired. In a time of body positivity, making fun of the fat character, or portraying the fat character as stupid, lazy, dirty, and unsuccessful, is mean-spirited. During The King Of Queens' original run, the fat loser making fun of her/himself for being so was progressive. In the show, Doug makes a lot of jokes about being fat at his own expense. But, today, this is offensive, as fat people are not jokes. The Office, Parks And Recreation, and Mike & Molly all make fun of fatness as a negative character trait. In fact, Mike and Molly meet at an Overeaters' Anonymous meeting.
