25 TV tropes you’ll definitely recognize but are super tired of seeing

Stuck in an elevator

If this happened in real life half as much as it happened on TV, I would never step foot on an elevator ever again. It’s wildly dangerous to ride an elevator on TV and all sorts of horrible, exciting, and unexpected things happen when you get on.

Also, the elevators on TV are highly manipulatable, unlike an actual lift in real life. I don’t know what sorts of builders are installing elevators that just any ol’ body can make it grind to a halt, but in my town, you kind of need some authority to make an elevator stop.

For some shows, it’s a regular device, used mostly as a symbol. Grey’s Anatomy uses their “stuck in an elevator” in a more metaphorical space, forcing characters to confront uncomfortable situations while they ride, essentially “sticking” them with each other. When an elevator on Grey’s actually stops, however, you better take cover because some really ugly stuff is probably about to go down.

The stuck elevator has been used in countless ways over the decades. Whether it’s to trap two characters in the same space so they can fall in love or have sex, or if it’s to deliver a baby, the elevator is a handy crutch for writers to ratchet up the drama. Besides, every single person on the planet can relate to the panic of a stuck elevator. Sprinkle in some catastrophic events and it’s a literal nightmare.

Examples: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Mindy Project, and The Good Wife