20 Awful Sitcom Tropes (We Would Barely Forgive in 'Seinfeld')

Famously, Larry David proclaimed Seinfeld’s humor philosophy as “no hugging, no learning.” His point was avoiding the tropes every other sitcom had, from the edgier ones to the blander ones. All of them feature characters learning the meaning of Christmas, so Seinfeld featured the meaninglessness of Festivus. All of them teach the value of friendship, so Seinfeld had Elaine literally choose another group of friends because she knows hers suck. No hugging, no learning.

Hugging and learning are indeed a classic sitcom trope, like the lovable misogynistic womanizer who today would either get canceled in 17 seconds or become an Internet grifter. In this Pictofact, then, you’ll find a bunch of other awful sitcom tropes, of the sort we would barely forgive in Seinfeld. And in fact, Seinfeld does feature many of them – but of course with its twists, subversions, and ironic reversals, which means we totally forgive them. Which ones of these tropes do you hate the most? Be sure to say out loud. Trust us, the fifth-dimensional audience will absolutely roar laughing at your dry, perfectly-timed delivery.