We all know the everlasting common tropes in TV/movies (Chekov's Gun, Lampshading, Dues ex machina, etc) but what are some that were common for a while and then just... disappeared?

One I happened to notice recently was the "quiet drama or intense moment interrupted by someone's ridiculous ringtone" trope. You just don't see that anymore, but it used to be everywhere. I think the last time I saw it was in Thor 2 with Jane's ringtone. The first two times it played the trope straight but became a Chekov's Gun the third time.

I think it was most common in the early to late 2000s when custom ringtones were in their heyday and maybe a little after. Nowadays, IRL, most people have their phone on vibrate or just use the default sounds and current shows are reflecting that trend.

What other tropes can you think of that disappeared just as fast as they arrived?

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[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

30 minutes/30 hours/3 days/etc. ago.

Starting an episode with a gripping moment, then doing the intro, then immediately backtracking a certain amount of time to spend most of the episode getting back to that initial moment.

Very popular in the 2000s, I don’t really see it anymore. Nowadays, shows that bounce around in time don’t indicate it anymore, and sometimes it’s meant to be a secret that you figure out later.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 6 points 2 days ago

Pluribus does that, but also bounces around, so not sure if it fits.

I don't think it ever fully went away, though. I've seen it as recently as 2018.

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