10 Tired Sitcom Clichés That Really Need To Die
9. Pop Culture References
That word salad you (presumably) just watched was the opening to Season 3 of 2 Broke Girls, which has aged incredibly badly in just four years. Making pop culture references is a part of normal human interaction so it’s only natural that they crop up in sitcoms. The problem is that our everyday conversations aren’t going to be recorded and broadcast repeatedly in years to come. Hopefully.
This is especially bad for animated shows since, with the exception of South Park, they can take anywhere up to nine months to go from script to screen. It’s why The Simpsons’ Pokémon Go parody aired nine months after the game’s release, and long after its hype had died down.
Pop culture references can be great, but they need to be done well if the joke is going to have any staying power. Basically, keep it broad so that it’s going to be accessible to a mainstream audience, and that it’s going still have relevance years later when the show is picked up for regular repeats. Which is pretty much the unspoken goal for any sitcom producer.
Bonus Points If: A show does an entire episode about something popular that obviously isn't going to last.