TV studios must adapt to changing audiences. Tropes audiences enjoyed only a few years ago no longer fly.
Here are familiar tropes of yesteryear that modern audiences wouldn’t watch.
Game Show Kisses
Game show hosts used to kiss female contestants on the lips, not even caring whether she wanted it or not.
That wouldn’t go over well today.
“Joking” About Spousal Abuse
Archie Bunker notoriously joked about what he ought to do to Ethel, and audiences worldwide laughed knowingly.
Today’s audiences don’t find spousal abuse quite as funny.
Predatory Men for the Laughs
Lots of sitcoms from the 70s portrayed sexually aggressive men as funny. They’d take making women uncomfortable to the extreme for the laughs.
Of course, modern sitcoms are just as bad. Barney from How I Met Your Mother is the worst offender – but at least people have started talking about how awful he was.
Outrageous Racial Stereotypes
Far too many shows relied on outlandish stereotypes for laughs. Though by the 70s and 80s, most avoided stereotypes surrounding black Americans, Asians were free game. Many shows had white folks acting as Chinese stereotypes in restaurants and laundry mats.
We all collectively cringe.
Developing Female Characters
Far too many shows rely on sexual assault for female character development. Soap operas are notorious for it, but you can see it even in modern shows like Game of Thrones.
We hope one day male writers will understand that you can develop female characters in most of the same ways you can develop male characters. We don’t need a sexual assault to grow.
The “Very Special Episode”
Some shows made deals with governments to cover heavy topics like drug use or teenage pregnancy to send messages to their viewers. Modern viewers would roll their eyes at such pandering.
We’re not saying that shows shouldn’t cover heavy topics – they should, and modern shows still do. It’s just not done in a heavy-handed government approved way.
Gay Jokes
Sitcoms in the 90s or early 2000s went two ways with gay jokes. They either had an overly flamboyant gay character (caricature) everyone could laugh at or a straight character with “gay qualities” (we’re looking at you, Chandler!) everyone would laugh at.
Body Shaming
Al Bundy is the poster boy for fat jokes, but Married with Children isn’t the only show that relies on body-shaming humor. Home Improvement and even House employed the trope on occasion.
The hit movie The Devil Wears Prada made fun of this trope by having Miranda constantly call the tiny Andy “fat.”
Clip Shows
The clip show was an inexpensive way for the studio to pump out content. In today’s age of on-demand television, a clip show wouldn’t have the same impact.
All White Cast
Far too many shows set in major diverse cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles only featured white people.
Friends and Seinfeld, both set in New York, had suspiciously few characters of color during their long runs. Modern audiences expect shows to be more inclusive.
Boys Being Boys
Everyone loved Barney in How I Met Your Mother, but the character was awful. He constantly lied to women and tricked them into intimacy, but the show made it a gigantic joke.
Howard’s creepiness in The Big Bang Theory was similar, but at least in that show, they generally acknowledged his behavior was creepy and wrong.
Moronic Men
Sitcom men are useless lugs. Raymond doesn’t do anything to help his overwhelmed wife, and Tim Allen can’t figure out how to wash the dishes when his wife is away.
Modern audiences expect men to be better.
Culture Always Adapting
Though some members of older generations scoff that Millennials (and all the younger generations) can’t take a joke, I disagree. I think we learned that it’s not cool to treat certain segments of the population as punching bags. We still joke (a lot!) but we find different things funny.
That’s not sensitivity, it’s growth (and yes yes that sentence was 100% AI coded, but I promise I really typed it out!). Society grows and adapts over time – and that’s a positive thing! We learn from our mistakes and get better.
So that gets me thinking, what television tropes that Millennials love will Gen Z and Gen Alpha cancel?