21 Sitcom Clichés That Seriously Annoy The Fuck Out Of People

Seriously, why do women often sleep with a full face of makeup on?

We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which sitcom clichés annoy them the most. Here are some of their responses!

1. One character becoming progressively less intelligent throughout the show.

Disney Channel

"Joey from Friends, Kevin from The Office, Eric from Boy Meets World, Andy from Parks and Rec...Eric from Boy Meets World pissed me off the most!!!!"

– megm4e36c9e7e

2. People's children hardly ever being featured unless it's for a specific plot point.

The CW

"I love the show Reba but her ex-husband and his wife are always at her house, without their baby. And even the baby that lived in her house was always 'napping.'"

– sandrac40f93c5be

3. Episodes that have a kid doing a science project that's invariably about the solar system or volcanoes.

Fox

"Every. Goddamn. Sitcom. Has this episode. Solar system or volcano, nothing else. And a parent, usually a dad, ends up doing it himself and it comes out either embarrassingly shitty or suspiciously perfect."

– kaa

4. People always eating Chinese food straight from the containers.

CBS

"Why does everyone eat Chinese food right out of the container, you can’t put it on a plate? They always have no less than ten containers, and everyone knows how to use chopsticks."

– Cimicats16

5. Dads being useless but fun, and mums being long-suffering nags.

ABC

– allysonj419547582

6. Women wearing a full face of makeup to go to sleep.

CBS

"I can name two sitcoms in which I've seen a woman sleeping in full-on eyeshadow."

– cinnamonrolls

7. Men ending up with a medical problem that puts them in pain at the same time a female character is going into labour.

ABC

"Whenever a woman is having a baby, suddenly the man is sick with appendicitis or kidney stones, e.g. Uncle Jesse and Rebecca, Joey and Phoebe, and probably a lot more that I’ve forgotten."

– jaimeed477425944

8. Everyone living in inexplicably nice apartments that they definitely wouldn’t be able to afford.

ABC

"Why is it that they always have these nice apartments, no one shares a room and they never struggle to pay rent, even in the middle of NYC?"

– jennifero43eb0d1f8

9. Random siblings popping up for an episode or two to cause some conflict.

Fox

"The sibling causes havoc and they make up, then said sibling never returns or is mentioned again on the show."

– Lomo29

10. Anyone with glasses always being shown as smart but unpopular.

ABC

"There's rarely ever been an 'attractive' character who wears glasses."

– kittyartsupplies

11. Episodes that take place in the past or future showing a character looking super different, which can be hard to believe when that character has looked the same for years on the show.

Fox

"You’ll watch a series for six seasons and people barely change anything about their appearance but if once they want to show a scene which either took place in the past or in the future, you suddenly see the characters with crazy hairstyle changes and they almost always look like really bad wigs."

– Cringeforever

12. An "attractiveness gap" between couples that means women are always the more conventionally attractive partner.

ABC

"An average looking guy always has a gorgeous wife or girlfriend, but it’s never the other way around! King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family, even Family Guy."

– cameronw43be99583

13. Women going into labour at super inconvenient times.

CBS

"Sitcoms taught me as a kid that there would be a lot of ladies birthing babies in stuck elevators or the backseat of a car in the middle of a traffic jam."

– michellecarpentierp

14. Will-they-won't-they couples rarely being allowed to be happy once they're together.

Fox

"If they do get together, the relationship is always full of drama, misunderstandings, jealous exes, and would-be suitors to pad out the show. Let couples be happy together!"

– Beverley Carry via Facebook

15. People getting into a job industry with little experience or qualifications.

NBC

"Characters have the easiest times breaking into new fields they don't qualify for. Rachel from Friends went from being a waitress to working as an assistant buyer, and finally an executive at Ralph Lauren...not realistic at all! Lily from How I Met Your Mother was a kindergarten teacher who made some art and then became an art consultant for a millionaire."

– Tavia Henderson via Facebook

16. Shows having one person who everybody hates and is mean to, with no real reasoning behind it.

ABC

"Examples are Janice from Friends, Patrice from How I Met Your Mother or Rose on The Golden Girls. The other characters are always mean to them, talk crap about them or tell them to shut up."

– Matty Cormier via Facebook

17. Women who don't want children becoming parents, even if that storyline doesn't fit with their personality.

The CW

"When a woman, who either adamantly didn't want kids or didn't particularly want them, gets pregnant and ends up keeping it, even though everything in her character suggests she would absolutely have an abortion. Or when a woman who definitely doesn't want kids is made to fall in love with a guy who does and then goes against her anti-kid principles to be with him."

– Millie Olivia Sansoye via Facebook

18. And characters who really want children are always the ones who struggle to conceive.

NBC

"When it turns out that the person who really wants children can't (or has difficulty) conceiving. So obvious!"

– k4f835a1d1

19. A group of friends all dating other people within the group.

Fox

– Sa Rang via Facebook

20. A regular table constantly being available at the group's local hangout.

ABC

– lillou

21. And characters waking up in the morning and being completely shocked by who they've slept with the night before.

Fox

"In reality we know full well when we have had a one night stand and who with."

– jborrett793

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