A friend or family member dies.

A kid is away for a few days and a friend or relative is supposed to care for their pet and through their carelessness the pet dies, so the friend or relative goes out to the pet shop and buys a replacement hoping the kid won't notice, but they always do.

A lie gets out of hand.

A lot of families have a fat, washed-up / crappy, comedian husband, and a thin wife.

A lot of shows involve two or more main characters dressing in drag for one reason or another. Writers seem to be able to milk a lot of performance from main characters' perceptions of the opposite sex.

A minor character who is different (disabled, different ethnic background, etc.) proves to be "just like one of us"

A visiting mother is A) matchmaker B) overbearing C) overprotective (special guest star)

Abandoning your talent for family or A character giving up something s/he wants (bad) for a best friend (or relative).

A character almost dies, leading to a stronger belief in religion

Acting in a commercial

Also, overdosing on prescription drugs / no sleep pills.

Amnesia (Losing his/her memory).

Annoying neighbor or friend.

Applause for children doing nothing.

Arrested by mistake

Arrested for a protest

Asking for a raise

A supernatural occurence (i.e. character is psychic, characters switch lives, characters use a Ouija board)

At least one of the characters will be a great singer and will sing at a public gathering of some sort.

Baby-sitting (maybe an animal)

Baseball or golf (Starting to play & becoming compulsive)

Basketball games.

Battle of the practical jokes

Bomb-defusing.

Borrowing something

Bowling night.

Boy gets asked out by two girls for same night. He says yes to both of them. He either will make both of them angry when they find out on their own about his "double date" or he will try to date them at the same time without either knowing and they'll find out and get angry.

Brace yourself; someone famous will definitely appear someday. Examples: Robert Goulet, Yasmine Bleeth, and Kathy Ireland on Boy Meets World; "Batman" Marques Houston, Sherman Hemsley, and the Olsen Twins on Sister, Sister; Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, and Colin Quinn on the Cosby Show, etc.

Breaking, reassembling, and lying about a prized possession of another main character. Make sure you learn your valuable lesson, though. (This should happen because character was doing something they weren't supposed to be doing in the first place.)

Burglars in the house

Buying a car

Camping

Car accident

Catching a cold

Certain characters avoid honesty regarding a bad character's cooking or some recently acquired talent. The writers usually play with the other characters' reactions throughout the whole episode and reveal the truth at the end.

Character (or the whole gang) goes to jail

Character breaks something valuable and tries to hide it

Character buys a car

Character discovers friend is bulimic/anorexic, "talks to them" and they magically get better. Variation: Character finds out friend is anorexic or bulimic (especially bulimic) and friend makes character promise not to tell anyone; character decides that friend might die and he/she has a serious problem and violates his/her trust by telling his/her parents, friend later realizes it was for his/her own good.

Character discovers something he thinks will make him rich

Character goes on a game show

Character is given some authority and it goes to his head

Character is mistakenly thought to be a hero; he doesn't deny it until the guilt builds up and he confesses at a public ceremony in his honor

Character is reunited with a long-lost relative

Character is trapped in a room or basement

Character meets his hero, who turns out to be a big disappointment

Character mistakenly thinks spouse is cheating

Character must make up with relative after they haven't spoken in years because of some long-forgotten fight

Character runs into someone who was a loser in high school, but is now beautiful and successful

Character takes a sedative...right before the big presentation

Character turns over a new leaf after a close call; this lasts about 10 minutes

Characters make a silly bet

Characters take a self-defense class

Characters take opposite political sides

Characters try to "one-up" each other in some way

Cheating on homework

Child abuse.

Child unknowingly shoplifts and the entire episode is about the character(s) trying to return it

Christmas 1: nobody can find the right gift

Christmas 2: character snoops and finds what he thinks is his gift, but it is meant for someone else

Christmas 3: the gang learns the true meaning of Christmas

Christmas specials where a character learns that the meaning of Christmas is family (or other intangible values).

Costume party

Court (fighting a ticket?)

Crush on a teacher

Dance lessons

Dentist (getting braces?)

Destruction of houses.

Discrimination (race, religion, and more recently, sexuality in particular)

Dreams 1: character has a disturbing dream (usually a sex dream) and tries to analyze it

Dreams 2: character is acting like a jerk until he has a dream that makes him feel guilty

Dreams 3: character dreams himself and friends as the characters in a famous movie

Drinks that are spiked at parties (injuring others).

Driving lessons or driving test

Drug abuse.

Dying/Straightening/Perming hair turns ugly (and we mean ugly)

Eavesdropping misunderstanding

Episodes in which the main characters of the show (or sometimes only one of them) thinks back/talks about all the stuff that happened in the past to that perticular family or group of protagonists. This is a "Clip Show".

Every character has his own characteristic phrases ("I've fallen and I can't get up"...)

Every classic family sticom has the episode where somebody wants to buy their house- usually someone who grew up there and is willing to pay way over market value. And then they have the "I remember all the memories in this house montage" and the dad decides to keep it!

Every time a male character/s makes a bet with a female character/s (usually about something that is considered male dominated like a contact sport or repairing a car) the female ALWAYS wins! It never fails. And the ante of the bet, 99% of the time is "You Have To Be My Slave For A Week."

Everybody gets sick

Evil twin

Father of the Year

Fight leads to passion

Finding lost wallet

First love

Flashbacks 1: how we met

Flashbacks 2: he said/she said

Friends dating the same person

Gambling

Game show (being a contestant)

Gentle bullies hired by bad guys.

Getting caught doing something nasty because of someone coming back earlier than expected.

Girls want to do what boys do, so boys do what girls do.

Going to a therapist

Guy chases girl but they never get together until later episodes

Guy saves some other guy, other guy then offers to do stuff for him... usually ends with the other guy ending up saving the first guy to even things up.

Guy splits with girl, goes on a string of dates to try and get over her, but finally realizes (after several disastrous dates) that he still isn't over the girl, and they were meant to be together after all

Halloween 1: character hits on the wrong person at a costume party

Halloween 2: the gang checks out a haunted house

Handicapped (or should I say "Handicapable") people.

Handyman jobs screwed up by husband.

Have parents-to-be decide to have no painkillers at childbirth, then, when the mother is in labor, have her groan to the husband/doctor/friend to give her painkillers. Switch back to her not wanting them, then wanting them again. Repeat as necessary.

How 2 characters met (includes: Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl.)

If the main character is going to a high school reunion, say 10 years, they will always try to change themselves to make them look successful, but realize that they aren't being true to themselves right before the reuinion, if not after they have already entered. Also, the nerds from high school will always be the most successful when they return.

I'm not mad at you because you did it, I'm mad at you for lying to me about it. (explain the punishment)

In school, feel free to continue that conversation well after the bell rings. You won't get in trouble for being tardy. Ever. Even if you stay outside the room for ten minutes, the teacher will either not notice you are gone, or will show up late the second you sit down.

In sports and other contests, a third competitor wins in a competition with 2 major rivals

In sports and other contests, first hurdle failure by "know-it-alls"

In sports and other contests, friends or family make lousy opponents

In sports and other contests, girls beat boys in competition

In sports and other contests, offspring of former rivals compete against each other... the offspring main character usually gets revenge over their senior's defeat

In sports and other contests, the last person you'd expect to deliver does just that

In sports and other contests, the last person you'd expect to miss does just that

Injured playing a game

In-laws fight, causing couple to fight, then in-laws make up

Is he or isn't he...gay?

Island adventure or tropical getaway cliche, usually resulting in a "situation."

Kid gets into situation with friend and is totally and completely innocent, but all their friends bail out and their parents catch them and get the blame. The kid pleas their innocence but parents won't believe them. Kid runs away or pouts and parent discovers their innocence and apoligizes *hug*.

Kid is caught with drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol

Last minute understudy

Let's not forget the holiday season episode of every sitcom. often these are either yearly or re-runs each year... but anyway, there is always some pathetically poor family like from a dicken's novel and the family or people in the sitcom meet them and forget their own selfish wants for christmas and spend all their money on buying the other family a whole lot of stuff. for some reason, they seem to spend an obscene amount of money half the time in these episodes.

Let's start a business!

Locked out or locked in

Loved one is cheating

Magic act

Main characters get different hairstyles or new clothing or somehow radically alter their appearance and the friends/family members are appalled at first. But then the family realizes this is their way of wanting attention etc, etc...

Makeover, wig or disguise

Marriage counsellor or advice column

Meeting someone famous --- Trying to get an autograph

Men and women switch roles

Middle-aged, 30 something couples may consit of an overweight man and a thin woman but never an overweight woman and a thin man.

Most high school couples end up together because of some bet by the guy's buddies.

Mother Nature strikes

Moving (Considering it)

Never laugh at your co-stars' jokes. Ever. Leave it to the audience.

Never try to get revenge on someone. Someone will always make you feel guilty by telling you that it's not right to be cruel to others, even if they have more coming than you planned.

No time for loved one(s) because of job or one project

On halloween episodes of sitcoms, the charaters have some kind of supernatural experience with a completely predictable "twist" ending, supposedly leaving the audience pondering whether or not is was real.

On nearly every sitcom I've ever watched, the family always has one of those "Swinging Doors" that usually seperates the living room area from the kitchen. TV shows such as Family Matters, Full House, Boy meets World, and numerous others contain that ever so popular swingin' door. I rarely see anyone in real life who actually have one of those doors in their home.

One simple formula... 1) Child does something wrong in the first 7 minutes of the show. 2) Hides it for the next 18 minutes. 3) Parent(s) find out and correct it then have the speech explaining the child is still loved for the last 5 minutes. (hint: for hour long specials, multiply by 2) A lot of sitcoms rely on this plot point formula every week.

Parents not teaching lessons until damage is done.

Parents feud and children aren't allowed to see each other (a la Romeo & Juliet), so they meet secretly and scheme a way to make the parents work together

Parents fight like children; children don't understand the parents' juvenile behavior

Parent teaching child to drive (and by child we mean teen)

Parents tell you to stand up to bully. It doesn't work. You get suckerpunched. In the eye. Always the eye.

Parties lacking parental guidance.

People making love in an elevator.

Pet (bird or dog) escapes

Piano music after an emotional plot point has been made.

Playing hookey gives character worse time than if they stayed in school.

Playing matchmaker

Poker-saavy woman.

Pottery classes with failed results.

Practical joke (a hoax that is believed?)

Prank on someone goes wrong/extremely upsets the victim

Pregnant woman in labor gets trapped in an elevator.

Proms.

Proposing marriage

Rash/zit appears on face the day before picture day (sometimes brought on by a new moisturizer or lotion; if twins are involved, they will trade places)

Relative is actually a special guest star (i.e. Sherman Hemsley as the grandfather on Sister, Sister) but no one notices but the audience.

Remarks that "We learn that is-- oh-my-god-- 's biggest, hugest fan in the whole wide world during the same episode where-- surprise!-- has a guest appearance.

Reunion -- school, parent, lost love

Road trip 1: the car breaks down and nobody can fix it

Road trip 2: they get lost

Running away from home

Running for political office

Santa Claus.

School bully

School play (usually Romeo & Juliet) or a student film

School plays seem to be the topic of alot of sitcom episodes.

Secret admirer letters (or fake ones)

Seeing somebody that they'd rather not see naked (such as parents or a geeky guy).

Sexual tension for several seasons between main character and (pick one: employee, best friend, etc.) before resolving in an actual relationship.

Shameless gameshow plugs: i.e. The Nanny/Mama's Family on Jeopardy. Spin City on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

She's having a baby...NOW!

Should we or shouldn't we (adult version)

Should we or shouldn't we? (teen version)

Slumber party

Sneaking out to concert (despite promise to spouse or parent)

Someone that doesn't like being naked in public at a nudist colony.

Something that's been "secret" from the viewers for a long time about to be revealed, but then at the last moment isn't.

Something unbelievably fortunate happens to the main character that will change their life (as well as the entire premise of the show) forever, like winning the lottery, and it lasts only until the end of the show, when it somehow ends up being reversed or not true...whatever.

Spending a night in a haunted house

Starting a business together

Starting or stopping smoking

Stealing

Streaking.

Stuck-in-a... Where the entire episode is based on a small group being stuck in some place for the whole episode and the rest of the cast tries to get them out.

Stupid people always hold up the wrong amount of fingers when talking about amounts or something. EX: For your information, I've only been arrested three (holds up two fingers) times!

Surprise party (birthday?)

Talent show

Thanksgiving: family secrets revealed at the dinner table.

Teens make fake-id's to get into an over-21 club, but get found out in the end.

That kid who shows up in the first couple of seasons that disappears without a trace in the later years.

That person will occassionally come through by saving someone's life, passing a usually hard test, or showing someone the true meaning of love, etc...

The "just be yourself" story... character changes self radically in order to impress another character... most of the time, ends up impressing the other character most when the character is just himself (or herself).

The "no buts" cliche: One guy does something objectionable (at least the other person thinks so) and the other person continuously berates the first guy, not giving him a word in... and usually the first guy has something to say that would clear things up.

The attractive woman who just can't get a date

The Body (and Voice) Switch.

The boss who's sort of spacey and out of it.

The characters go on a cruise ship

The courtroom episode

The doctor or dentist appointment

The dreaded "WHOOOOOOOOO" from the whole studio audience when two characters kiss for the first time.

The forgotten birthday or anniversary

The funny funeral

The gang deals with the Mafia

The gang goes on a camping trip

The gang goes to a sporting event (will someone get hurt?)

The gang goes to Las Vegas (or Disneyland, New York, or Hollywood, or Europe)

The gang has to hide a corpse

The gang helps a homeless person

The gang is fleeced by a con man

The gang meets a celebrity (special guest star)

The gang mistakenly think someone is dying

The gang mistakenly think someone is pregnant

The gang must raise money to 'save' their school/hangout place from being demolished

The gang teams up against each other in a game of _____

The gang teams up against rivals in a game of _____

The gang tries to fit in at a high-society event

The girl wants to go out with the cutest guy in the school, then he asks her help in the subject she's good at, she helps him, he gets a good grade, he goes out with her, something happens that she thinks he's an idiot, and she doesn't like him anymore.

The grandma cliche (Family Matters, Who's The Boss...) - she always behaves the opposite of the way grandmas should behave. She knows all the MTV lyrics, and she knows all the famous people, and in each episode she's dating a different person."

The invisible character, talked about but never shown ... maybe the writers feel that the character has been talked about so much that actually having an actor play the character would be a disappointment.

The Las Vegas episodes, where they go to a casino, say that everything'll be ok, and they start gambling and lose a lot of money. A variation to this cliche is the one where there's a strict person that says that it's wrong to gamble and you can lose a lot of money... and after a few minutes, we see that person spending hours in front of those [slot] machines...

The men dress is drag for some reason

The perfect replacement - an annoying and/or lazy regular character is temporarily replaced by a "perfect" (polite, hardworking, etc.) substitute.

The school newspaper

The self-directed lecture, where the details gradually shift to apply more to the lecturer.

The temp employee from hell

Then there's the touching "getting a car episode" where the son says he will wait for his dad in choosing, gets gyped, (by a great deal) and in the end turns back to the dad to get him out.

There always seems to be an irrational love choice on these sitcoms.... Take for example the many different proposals to the much too young heroins of the sitcoms. Some way too good to be true guy falls desperately in love with her and must have her as his wife immediately.

There are also the episodes that a person falls asleep on the couch and has a dream of "what would happen if... 20 years from now", then he wakes and finds out that it was just a dream.

There are always episodes about a guy who accepts a blind date from a girl, and she turns out to be taller than he expects.

There are L-shaped sheets that come down to a man's stomach, but only to a woman's neck.

There's always a death in the family that leads to questions of one of the character's own life.

There's always an episode of every sitcom that has this guy or girl that everyone hates and despises because they're a bully or a mean boss. Then at the end of the episode, they discover they were merely misunderstood and that they have something like a terrible disease or no family or something. Then they're really nice to them after that. *tear

There's never any type of weather change on a show unless the weather is directly related to the plot( it always snows on Christmas Eve, or there will be a thunderstorm which causes a power outage ). Otherwise its a beautiful sunny day.

Thinking someone's a witch

Thin guy falls for fat girl

Those crazy in-laws! (special guest stars)

To ridicule "authority figures" (principles, parents, grandparents, salesmen, teachers, city officials, or just older people in general) by making them try to "act hip" or talk slang, using keywords that "the kids" say.

Tough chick with soft spot she's not willing to admit.

Trip together

Trying out for a team

Tutoring the jock with a mental capacity of a cough drop [sometimes: or else he can't go to the championship and the school will face inevitable defeat and it will be all your fault]

Two characters trade lives

Two dates in one night

Two friends fight over a love interest of opposite gender for the whole show until of course at the end, when they realize that dating the other person is not as important as their friendship.

Two people trapped in a room.

Guest musicians/band/singers.

Upstairs bedrooms (also known as "References to love-making made by older people to the shock of younger persons to get applause"). This is usually brought on by "You come upstairs and I'll..."

Variation: character tries to replace a missing pet with a look-alike

Variation: characters wake up the next morning and regret it

Variation: other characters try to help by slipping medication into his drink, not realizing all the other characters are doing the same thing.

Wedding episodes 1: the missing bride or groom

Wedding episodes 2: the families disapprove of the marriage

Wedding episodes 3: the mothers (or the bride and her mother) have different ideas on how to plan the wedding

Well-stocked kitchens, even in poor households

When a group of friends is shown that are young kids, there are always at least three major races represented...the most common configuration being one white boy, one white girl, one asian boy or girl, and one black boy or girl.

When people on a sitcom are discussing a certain topic, it appears on their TV screen one second later.

When trying to impress a date you are supposed to burn something in the oven.

When two charaters kiss in front of a group on the sitcom, and the group applauds! When does that ever happen in real life?

The "Private Eye Fantasy" cliche?!? It has happened on almost every sitcom!

Wrong friends (parents don't approve of them).

You tell parents about bully. Mom tells you to try to talk it out. Dad gets excited and tries to teach you to fight [insert story of a great fight he won here]

You are never proud of your parents, and your parents always are embarrassing.

You can't go out with her, that's my sister!

You may leave the school at any time. You will not get in trouble with the school or your parents for coming home after you broke up with your boyfriend.

You saved my life, so I will do favors for you until you are sick of me, then I'll save your life, so we're even.

You will break up with your boyfriend at least once, even if you are willing to die for this person.