Top 10 Most Stereotypical Traits of a TV Sitcom

This is not meant to be offensive. It's meant to poke fun at sitcoms.

Here are the traits a stereotypical TV sitcom would have.

The Top Ten

There's always a laugh track

Want the characters to say something funny or do something stupid? Then I'm sorry, laugh track required. "You're in a limited trial before you go to pro."
This trait has lasted for decades and decades on TV (dating back to prime-time radio) and will never end. It has gotten annoying and out-of-hand. This "laugh track" thing can even be faked and was even used in cartoons back in the day. It's so weird...

Laugh tracks can get very annoying, especially if it's used every few seconds. In my opinion, it can even ruin a genuinely funny joke. Also, most of the time it's used, it feels unnecessary.
It would be nice to see more sitcoms where a laugh track isn't used as much or at all.
There's always a catchphrase

Similar to running gags, I think the expectation is that people will watch enough episodes that the familiarity alone makes them keep watching the show.

Holy smokes, bazinga, fantastic, you stupid boy, did I do that, Scotty Ms. Cleaver? (Try to guess these British/American TV shows.) Media like TV, movies, comics, and more types of media have catchphrases, especially TV.
It was very common for TV sitcoms and even science-fiction shows to have catchphrases back then. I think that catchphrases have declined a bit now because a lot of classic catchphrases are still remembered more than those today.
There's always a housewife

Yes, a housewife. A woman who stays at home to take care of her children, family's needs, and keep the house tidy and clean. This has been a long-standing trait of TV sitcoms for years and years, including I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Leave It to Beaver, and All in the Family.
It completely declined in the 1990s as second-wave feminism progressed and it became common for women to join the workforce. However, animated sitcoms still have that trait thanks to Family Guy and Simpsons rip-offs.
There's always perfect clothes

Always in a sitcom, you can see the cast wearing these types of clothes every day with no bite marks, rip marks, or even any sauce on them. Everyone looks very nice even if they are at home, and they even always wear shoes. The house also looks "perfect" as well.
There's always set-up food

No one would do this every day, but sitcoms would. Doesn't matter if it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, there will always be food set-up for you. Who even sets out an entire set for breakfast when they should just get some food out and get ready for work, school, and whatever is on their schedule?
There's always a foreign character with a heavy accent

'Allo 'Allo! is essentially a murderer's row of this. Michelle Dubois of the Resistance, all the German officers, even to some degree RAF pilots Fairfax and Carstairs.

That '70s Show? Yes. The Big Bang Theory? Uh-huh. Jessie? Of course! I just hate how some people are told to play characters with offensive stereotypes. It's just unrealistic.
There are also these stereotypes called dumb blondes, the lazy old man, the idiot brother, and a lot more to come.

Fun fact: Karan Brar has no accent. He learned to use one for shows, sometimes for comic relief, sometimes for stereotypes. It's messed up.
There's always clothes worn to bed

Sometimes in sitcoms, you see a couple chatting in bed in the middle of the night with these night suits on. I mean, it's OK to not wear anything to bed because it's healthy for you, but TV censorship, people, sorry...
And to add to this, there are people "making love" without any embarrassing unexpected thing happening or anything dirty.
There's always a couple that breaks up and comes back together

Sometimes, a TV sitcom would have that episode or a few (could be even more like The Simpsons would do) where two best friends or a loving couple have a fight over "some big issue" and guess what... they come back in a happy ending!
This is just done as a cheap way to surprise the audience and answer their minds. I don't remember seeing a TV episode where characters break up after an angry fight and never come back together, but that seems pretty rare to me.
There's always an episode where a character gets a new job but later returns to their original role

Let's say, Marge Simpson for example. She tried doing several jobs for business or entertainment but then just returns to the "housewife" role. I just don't get how The Simpsons get crazy life experiences like going to space but are just seen as a normal family for the rest of the series.
Shouldn't they be like one-time celebrities who just get a new job, then go back to the original job, and it repeats all over and over again?
There's always a stupid-but-loving dad

It seems like these sitcoms today started back in the late 80s-ish and have improved with the idiotic-but-loving father like Peter Griffin or Homer Simpson. To add it up, the woman could save the day.
This may not be an exactly true formula, but just an example. So yeah, this is taking it too far...

The Newcomers

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There's always running gags

Jazz being thrown out of the house in Fresh Prince.
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There's always fake attempts at dodgy accents

Officer Crabtree is the obvious culprit, but you also have Gloria Pritchett and her European accent that floats between French and Italian.

The Contenders

There's always an extremely dumb character
There's always a character with a crush that ends terribly

It could be temporary, like one episode, or it could be long-term, where the person the character has a crush on returns every few episodes. Then it becomes an arc.
The protagonist grows out of character and only focuses on the person they love. If it's a kid or teenager, it's always going to be in school. If it's an adult, it might be in some fancy restaurant or at work, but settings may vary.
I never like these types of episodes because you know there's going to be a downer ending. The character gets dumped and ends up feeling bad. Or the character learns that the person they love did something bad, is no match for them, or circumstances prevent the relationship from happening (the person they love has a strict family, they fall for someone else, etc.).
The main character now feels like a dateless loser, but at least the character "learned" something.
There's always men unable to raise children

This trope died in the early 2000s but was common in the 80s and 90s. It's where the wife has to go to work, and she hands the baby to the husband. He has to hold the fort down until his mistress comes home.
Guess what? He doesn't know what to do, it's hilarious! The oldest children are fighting over the TV, he has to settle that. The baby starts crying, he has no idea what is wrong. Then we get the infamous "diapers are disgusting" scene where dad has to change the baby's diaper, and it's horrifying to him! He gets sick and disgusted. He's vomiting and suffering throughout the whole process.
While it's funny, it's offensive. Thankfully, it's dead now because we live in a society where gender doesn't matter. Women can work, and men can cook, housekeep, and raise children.
There's always a plan or get-rich-quick scheme that goes awry

A prime example is Only Fools and Horses. Derek Del Boy Trotter is a bit of a chancer and will do anything if he thinks there's a money-making opportunity in it, even if it's outside the law.
There's always a saxophone playing during every scene transition
There's always a mom who looks 25 and a dad who looks 45

I am so surprised this wasn't here yet! This is an annoying trope. How often do you see couples like this in real life that are married with kids? Almost never! Most couples I know look the same age.
Why do they cast model-like women as women who have supposedly had four kids and then cast actual men in their 40s to play their husbands? The implications are sexist double standards.
There's always a dad who loves food and sits on the couch half the day

With the exception of Liv and Maddie, I can't think of a TV dad who isn't lazy. It's quite sad.
There's always siblings who never get along

For real, how many "constantly bickering" siblings do you actually know? My siblings and I may bicker, but we are still a team! A trio! Les amis! Freunde! Amigos! FRIENDS!
There aren't enough positive sibling relationships in media.
There's always a vacation or leaving-the-country/state episode
There's always kids' rooms that are either incredibly messy or incredibly neat
There's always subordinates trying to hide something
There's always characters who never wear comfy clothes unless they're sad
There's always jokes making fun of other sitcoms
There's always a gay couple

PSearch List

Top 10 Most Stereotypical Traits of a TV Sitcom

There's always a laugh track

There's always a catchphrase

There's always a housewife

There's always perfect clothes

There's always set-up food

There's always a foreign character with a heavy accent

There's always clothes worn to bed

There's always a couple that breaks up and comes back together

There's always an episode where a character gets a new job but later returns to their original role

There's always a stupid-but-loving dad

There's always running gags

There's always fake attempts at dodgy accents

There's always an extremely dumb character

There's always a character with a crush that ends terribly

There's always men unable to raise children

There's always a plan or get-rich-quick scheme that goes awry

There's always a saxophone playing during every scene transition

There's always a mom who looks 25 and a dad who looks 45

There's always a dad who loves food and sits on the couch half the day

There's always siblings who never get along

There's always a vacation or leaving-the-country/state episode

There's always kids' rooms that are either incredibly messy or incredibly neat

There's always subordinates trying to hide something

There's always characters who never wear comfy clothes unless they're sad

There's always jokes making fun of other sitcoms

There's always a gay couple