Part of what makes a TV show so entertaining is the different plot points — someone falls in love, a main character loses their job, someone dies.
Take this variety away and things tend to get stale. Sadly, this has become the norm for a lot of TV shows today, as we have gotten used to seeing the same recycled plot points.
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Here are 10+ TV shows that are guilty of this.
*Three’s Company*
“In Act 1, one or more characters overhears something out of context and jumps to a horribly wrong conclusion about what was said. In Act 2, those characters grossly overreact with comedic consequences. In Act 3, the misunderstanding is resolved and we all learn an important lesson about properly understanding what we hear.” – Redditor gndn
*Game of Thrones*
The Iron Throne is clearly cursed.
First, King Robert was killed from a hunting accident, then Joffery was poisoned, Tommen killed himself and Cersei was crushed by rocks. Finally, Daenerys Targaryen was betrayed by Jon Snow.
*House*
“Someone has an overdramatic reaction to a foreign disease, etc. in their body. House and his team run down a list of symptoms and what it could be, argue amongst themselves. Obligatory crash/seizure. Obligatory conversation stalling due to sudden epiphany of what’s really ailing them.” – Redditor samdaman44
*Glee*
The whole “love triangle” thing was seriously overdone.
By looking back at just the first few seasons, there were always two people going after the same person and so on and so forth.
Wouldn’t this be extremely awkward?
*Star Trek*
Whether it was Captain James T. Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard, it became quite dull how these two always knew exactly what to say at the right moment.
What planet or space ship are we going to save with our all-mighty social complex this time?
*Curb Your Enthusiasm*
“Larry David loves to use the plotline of X gives Y a gift with a specific purpose in mind –> Y uses it for another purpose / gives it to someone else –> X then wants the gift back.” – Redditor bored2l
*How I Met Your Mother*
How many times can we watch Ted date another woman and get his heart broken, or vice versa?
We understand that it’s the nature of the show, but it got tiring after a while (maybe we’re still pissed over that series finale).
*Mr Benn*
“Very similar to Quantum Leap. Mr Benn visits the costume shop, takes on the identity of that costume and then has an adventure. He returns the costume and goes home.” – Manny Dhoopher
*Stranger Things*
While Stranger Things takes a lot of inspiration from the ’80s, it also borrowed a lot from itself for the third season.
For instance, instead of Jim Hopper believing that what Joyce Meyers was saying was true about the dropping magnets, he thought that she was a nutbar once again.
*Mork & Mindy*
“Each episode Mork learns something new about human nature/behaviour that he reports into Orson at the end of every episode.” – Redditor iicuf80
In Mork’s defense, he was an alien trying to figure things out.
*Scooby Doo*
“Every episode is the same formula – the mystery machine gang investigate a haunting/spooky situation/demon/ghost/goblin etc. who always turns out to be a human in disguise. Along the way, Scooby & Shaggy invadvertantly help the gang. This has got to be the ultimate in rinse/lather/repeat.” – Manny Dhoopher
*The Walking Dead*
We get that they’re in a zombie apocalypse, but it grew so tiring to see each season focusing on finding or living at a new shelter.
This made a lot of viewers abandon the show since it felt like the writers had given up.
*Phineas and Ferb*
“They invent something. Perry turns into James Bond. Dr. Doof reveals his new destroy-the-world-inator. Candace is too late in showing her parents the huge-ass rollercoaster Phineas and Ferb made because it just vanished into thin air.” – Redditor kuokuo
*Two And a Half Men*
It was always the same thing. Charlie brought home a wife and didn’t take care of the house while Alan took care of all of the errands.
Basically, the house (Alan, especially) was in a constant state of panic.
*Gossip Girl*
With Blair and Serena making and breaking up their friendship sooo many times, it made us wonder why they were ever friends to begin with.
This overused plot point only showed what a toxic friendship these two had.
*Quantum Leap*
“The premise for almost every episode is essentially the same and is the general theme of the show. Put right what once went wrong and hope that the next leap is the leap home. During the course of a typical episode, Sam will be told what he needs to to by Ziggy via Al. Al would help Sam achieve the goal and then Sam would leap out into the next episode.” – Manny Dhoopher
*Grey’s Anatomy*
There is clearly a curse on the hit medical show: any patient that a doctor falls in love with ends up dead.
This first happened with Izzie and Denny, then Teddy and Henry, and then finally Stephanie and Kyle.
*Home Improvement*
“Tim (or one of his family/friends) has a crisis or a dilemma (sometimes of Tim’s own doing). Tim gets some words of advice from his neighbour, Wilson, which helps him overcome the crisis or dilemma. Pretty much every epsiode follows this formula.” – Manny Dhoopher
*The Big Bang Theory*
While the show shifted by adding in tons of new characters as it went on, at its core, a lot of the plot points were the same.
A group of nerds go to work, try to work on their game with girls, and eat a lot of takeout.
