AIO Cliches

[Novatom]

So there are a few cliches in AIO that I can think of at the moment:

Whit is always right. A few exceptions are The Mortal Coil and The Case of the Missing Traincar, and any episode where Whit learns a lesson. Notice those episodes are fairly early on.
The good guys arriving just after the bad guys leave. The exception is at the very end when the good guys finally catch up with the bad guys.
A single mom will have her husband come back and there will be a bit of struggle as her and her kids adjust to him being back. The McKays and the Myers are examples. I cannot think of any other single moms. It is also interesting to note that there's never a single dad, at least not that I can think of.

What are some other AIO cliches?

[Blitz]

Well... How many single dads are there in the world? And Kurt's dad was single so... Whit learns lessons many a times or is not always completely right. Novacom is a great example in general Whit making mistakes.

Well you can't flesh out a saga if good guys arrive late can you? That though is more common in the GRC.

[Novatom]

Ok, I forgot about Kurt's dad, but he wasn't really a major character. I think he's only in one episode and then he's mentioned in at least another one, and that's like it. When does Whit makes mistakes in Novacom? That's actually kind of a good example of him being right. When he was telling Tom how the medicine would reverse and he wouldn't believe him.

Another cliche I thought of last night is the line "you want me to do what?". I don't believe I have ever said that, or heard anyone say it in real life, but the AIO characters say it a lot. I think it's to transition from one scene to another without the use of music (so the episode is shorter). That was at least the intention when Bernard said it in Two Friends and a Truck.

[Rosy]

Well... How many single dads are there in the world?

You'd be surprised.

2.0 million: Number of single fathers in the US in 2013

I also don't think an alcoholic is the best representation of single fathers.

[TigerShadow]

Another cliche I thought of last night is the line "you want me to do what?". I don't believe I have ever said that, or heard anyone say it in real life, but the AIO characters say it a lot. I think it's to transition from one scene to another without the use of music (so the episode is shorter). That was at least the intention when Bernard said it in Two Friends and a Truck.

I wouldn't say that that's exclusive to AIO, though; that's a fairly common scene-transition line.

Arguably, these aren't clichés so much as they are tropes—storytelling devices and archetypes. Yes, some of them may have become clichéd, but they aren't necessarily devices that have been used to the point where they are stale, boring, or trite. (Of course, that's a subjective opinion.)

[Connie G.]

The episode "Clara," which I believe is sometime shortly after the Blackgaard Saga, is where Whit's not really right, and I don't know it you would say that was early on, but whatever, I just thought I'd throw that out there.

[TigerShadow]

"Silent Night" was in Album 45, and Whit had to learn something in that one, too.

[Blitz]

Clara is definitely an episode Whit was wrong in. Whit used to learn more and be corrected by Tom, but since he is gone...

Well, a lot of single dads are acoholic unfortunately. Two million is not a lot considering how many single moms there are which is 10 million.

[Novatom]

Clara was a flashback of a time when Whit was wrong. His past self was wrong, the Whit we all know and love wasn't. (not that we don't love the past Whit or anything...) Because of course Whit has made mistakes, but the Whit who's in the present doesn't make mistakes.

How was Whit wrong in Silent Night? I mean, he learned, but he wasn't really wrong about anything.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone outside of AIO say "you want me to do what?" so, yeah, I didn't know it was really a common thing. And I don't really like the phrase itself. It sounds very weird and unnatural to me.

Whit was wrong in the W.E. Is that what you meant, Blitz, when you said he used to be corrected by Tom?

[Blitz]

Like in Novacom, Whit would go feel sorry for himself, and Tom would correct Whit's misguided thinking.

[HomeschoolCowgirl]

This is in a lot of different shows/media including Odyssey, but no one pays attention to the person who's talking to them!
SOmeone will deliver a shocking piece of news in a conversation and the other person will ramble on for a few seconds and then say "Wait, WHAT?!?!?" I guess it may be just me, but real people don't do that in my experience.

Also the bad coffee. "You're not really gonna drink that coffee, are you?" I hear that a LOT.

[Connie G.]

Yeah and keeping on talking while people say, "What guy?" or something rather quietly and then
"Blah blah blah..." unconcernedly
"What guy?" a little louder
"Blah blah blah..."
"What guy?" Loud.
"Blah blah blah"
"WHAT GUY???" You get the picture