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Name A 60's TV Story Cliche (1 Viewer)

High C

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Rob_Ray said:
The Rashomon device of different characters retelling the same story in flashback, with wildly different versions. The Dick Van Dyke Show.
This also made it to the 1970s--All in the Family, M*A*S*H and The Odd Couple all did it..
 

Frank Soyke

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Professor Echo said:
Hilarious list, Peter! I'm still laughing.Add I SPY to the list of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME cliche. ;)Great responses from everyone. I only mentioned the 60's so as not to drag down the thread title, but of course other eras are welcome too, particularly the 50's-70's.
Also "The Hunter" ep on Gilligan's Island w/ Rory Calhoun to the Most Dangerous Game plot line.
 

Frank Soyke

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How about a simple one? Two family members (or friends) compete for the same thing. One studies and/or works at it while the other is just overconfident he/she will come out victorious. Of course, the hard worker always triumphs in the end.
 

Frank Soyke

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A Childhood friend visits and the character has to pretend he/she is rich and famous

An overheard conversation is misunderstood and cast members mistakenly believe one of the others is pregnant.

A similar one - A child overhears part of a conversation and mistakenly believes his/her parents don't want them anymore and/or are sending them to military/boarding school.
 

Rob_Ray

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Friends engage in a business transaction (one sells the other a car or a washing machine) and guess what happens.

Residents of an apartment building Put On A Show.

Characters win a trip abroad or take a vacation (usually during a sweeps month).
 

Frank Soyke

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Congratulations to my fellow posters. It is official. The plotline for every single episode of Three's Company has now been mentioned. LOL
 

JohnMor

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Something important and/or sentimental gets accidentally thrown away/donated and everybody has to scramble to get it back.

The leads have to substitute for a friend in a pinch doing something they're totally unqualified for: running a restaurant/ice cream parlor/gas station/shoe store, etc. Hijinx ensue.

The gang organizes a protest to save the neighborhood park from being developed.

The leads get asked to do a televison commercial

A character is (accidentally) hypnotized.
 

Peter M Fitzgerald

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Egads, I've been shrunk!

Examples:

The Wild Wild West - "Night of the Raven"

The Avengers - "Mission Highly Improbable"

Bewitched - "Samantha's Wedding Present"

I Dream of Jeannie - "My Incredible Shrinking Master"

The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - "Strange Experiment"

The Flintstones - "Itty Biddy Freddy"

The Jetsons - "The Little Man"

My Favorite Martian - "Bottled Martian"
 

Professor Echo

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A major plot development can only happen if a regular character dons a disguise and even though he is totally recognizable, no one recognizes him.

A regular character plays a dual role as himself and his own older relative, usually with just an ill fitting gray wig and no other aging features present.
 

Bob Gu

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If you type in "Blindness" on the front TV on DVD page search, you should get an older thread that covers that particular temporary TV character affliction. You know even Lassie and Flicka were blinded for awhile!

As much as I like Combat! they really repeated themselves: Three episodes where a beam falls on someone, two episodes with cave-ins, four or five episodes where Saunders runs into another three-striper who does not want to cooperate with him. The Big Valley had a cave-in show or two and so did a lot of shows.



Episodes set on cruise ships: Hawaii 5-O, Columbo, and even Kolchak!
 

swan4022

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Sorry if this was mentioned already; I checked the other posts but didn't see it...

A lookalike character is introduced (played by the same actor who stars in the show), eventuating in 1-2 split screen scenes where the "two" actors appear to be talking to one another.
 

Peter M Fitzgerald

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Have a famous rock group visit... or form your own!

Trip to London! It swings, like a pendulum do!

Join the Beat Generation, man... like, wow!

Meet a gorilla!
 

Hollywoodaholic

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Bob Gu said:
If you type in "Blindness" on the front TV on DVD page search, you should get an older thread that covers that particular temporary TV character affliction. You know even Lassie and Flicka were blinded for awhile!

As much as I like Combat! they really repeated themselves: Three episodes where a beam falls on someone, two episodes with cave-ins, four or five episodes where Saunders runs into another three-striper who does not want to cooperate with him. The Big Valley had a cave-in show or two and so did a lot of shows.



Episodes set on cruise ships: Hawaii 5-O, Columbo, and even Kolchak!
Don't forget Saunders was blind for an episode in Combat!

Fun topic that could be expanded to cliché guest star characters.

Steve Ihnat as the villain.

Lois Nettleton as the troubled woman romantic interest.

Robert Duval as the disturbed man (variations of Boo Radley) (TZ, Naked City, Route 66, etc.)

William Shatner as the guy with the hyper emotional condition. (Oh, wait a minute, that's just his acting style)
 

High C

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Hollywoodaholic said:
Don't forget Saunders was blind for an episode in Combat!

Fun topic that could be expanded to cliché guest star characters.

Steve Ihnat as the villain.

Lois Nettleton as the troubled woman romantic interest.

Robert Duval as the disturbed man (variations of Boo Radley) (TZ, Naked City, Route 66, etc.)

William Shatner as the guy with the hyper emotional condition. (Oh, wait a minute, that's just his acting style)
Good ones.

Edward Andrews as the weaselly slimeball

Diane Baker as the conflicted love interest with a dark secret
 

Jack P

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The super patriot as phony and/or closet fascist.

Showing us the process of capital punishment in action to sway public opinion on the subject.

California mountains and studio backlots standing in for other parts of the country.

Universal remaking episodes from other shows every few years on another program.

Stars of just cancelled TV series making guest shots on another program right away the following season to show they are breaking the mold of their previous role.
 

Frank Soyke

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Not really an ongoing cliche for other series, but how about scratching your head at the beginning of every Quinn Martin show wondering who the heck these people are that are labeled "special guest stars."
 

FanCollector

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I've actually thought about that a lot. I think the "special guest star" designation was probably in lieu of paying them as much as the regular guest stars, who were usually more famous.
 

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